My Favorite Teacher, Ishihara Eri
The gentle model student and class president, Asanagi Haruna, who is the protagonist’s childhood friend.
The karate club senior, Yumena Natsumi, who trains relentlessly with her eyes set on winning the national championship.
The playful freshman, Tachibana Kaede, who loves teasing others with a dash of adorable charm.
And finally, the cool beauty gyaru, Ichika Yuki, who couldn’t care less about school life yet still draws every eye in the building.
All four of them are, of course, the heroines of the ultimate romantic comedy manga *Four Seasons of Youth*.
Since it’s considered a foundational work in the rom-com genre, each heroine possesses incredibly distinct personalities and charms.
The monthly popularity poll rankings even shift every single time.
“So, who’s your favorite?”
Even so, everyone has that one character they love most.
In other words, everyone has their *best girl*.
“Ishihara Eri.”
“Huh? Who’s that?”
She only appears occasionally as the homeroom teacher for the main cast, with screen time barely above that of an extra.
Ishihara Eri.
“She’s my wife.”
——
“…What do you mean by that?”
“…Huh? Wait?! What?!!”
“I told you to write a reflection essay. Were you sleeping?”
“Ah…”
A reflection essay?
I was the one who had no idea what that meant or what the hell was even going on.
“Haa…”
The person who sighed and picked up the sheet of paper in front of me—which I assumed was the so-called reflection essay…
It only had the words [I’m sorry.] written in big letters. Whether or not this actually counted as a reflection essay wasn’t important right now.
The real question was: who exactly was the person who had made me write it?
Even with that slightly furrowed, expressionless face, the only thought that filled my head was how beautiful she was.
Add to that her violently curvaceous figure—everything pushed out where it should be, everything pulled in where it should be.
She radiated an overwhelming aura of superiority.
Above all, the gap created by her formal suit made it impossible to look away.
“…Ishihara Eri.”
This was exactly how I imagined my favorite character from *Four Seasons of Youth*, Ishihara Eri, would look if she ever appeared in real life.
The idea of a manga character manifesting in reality was ridiculous, of course…
“Still, you at least remember your homeroom teacher’s name correctly?”
“…Yes?”
Why was this person so casually confirming that she was, in fact, Ishihara Eri?
She stood up smoothly.
“You may leave for today.”
As if she had no further business with me, she told me to go home… Ishihara Eri?
No matter how I thought about it, such a perfect being could only be Ishihara Eri herself.
Pinch—
“Ouch…”
It hurt.
But even that wasn’t enough to convince me that what was happening right in front of me was real.
Crack—
Pop—
Reality check.
If I bent my finger back just a little more… it would definitely break.
…
‘This isn’t a dream.’
If it wasn’t a dream, then what the hell was going on? I looked around and my eyes met the teacher’s, who had already stood up.
“It’s getting dark outside. Please head home now.”
She looked down at me with an indifferent expression and tone.
Seriously…
In all my twenty years of life, I had never been this happy.
‘So this is what her voice sounds like.’
The firmness in her voice came across as a calm kind of charm. Even though I could sense the thorns hidden in her words, I wanted to keep listening.
Like reaching for a rose even though you know it has thorns.
“It would be better if you dyed your hair black as well. It disrupts the school atmosphere.”
“Ah… Yes! If that’s what you want, ma’am.”
I had no idea what color my hair was right now, but I was going to do whatever she said.
“It would be nice if you actually listened to half of what I say.”
“From now on, I will be a model student. Please believe me.”
“…”
“Sigh… I don’t know what scheme you’re cooking up this time, but we’ll continue this conversation tomorrow—no, next Monday.”
“Understood. I hope you have a peaceful weekend, ma’am.”
“!... You as well, Amuro.”
For the first time, her expressionless face cracked, showing a hint of surprise.
She quickly returned to her usual blank look, but the strange sharpness that had been in her voice had softened considerably.
Creak—
“…”
I opened the door to leave, but regret kept my feet rooted in place.
She seemed quite busy; she didn’t even glance in my direction… probably focused on her work.
The sky visible through the window was indeed growing dark, just as she had said.
‘…Is this because of me?’
I still didn’t know what I had done wrong, but I now understood why the usually cold Eri had been even colder than usual.
…
“But why am I at school?”
I had been so swept up in the emotional whirlwind of meeting Ishihara Eri that this question only occurred to me now.
Actually, I had already come up with one possible answer a while ago.
I desperately hoped that the answer I had thought of—one that I neither knew nor had predicted—was correct.
Creak—
The moment I stepped into the hallway, I opened the bathroom door and walked straight in.
Just like any other school, there was a sink and mirror right by the entrance.
If I looked at my reflection in that mirror, surely—!
“Huh?”
‘…Who the hell is that?’
It definitely wasn’t me.
But it also wasn’t the answer I had expected—Nagao Takuya, the male protagonist of *Four Seasons of Youth*.
Then it had to be one of the other characters from the manga.
Let me think.
A guy this handsome with muscles this ripped couldn’t possibly be a nameless extra.
Plus, that striking combination of dark skin tone and bright yellow hair…
“Wait a second?”
It hit me.
The vicious character who only targeted girls who were already taken, the one who made dedicated readers of *Four Seasons of Youth* tremble in fear.
The blonde, tanned delinquent character—Taiyo Amuro.
Come to think of it, the teacher had called me “Amuro” earlier too.
“Haa… Fuck…”
I had just discovered the second reason why Eri had been especially cold toward me.
Of course she would act that way toward a guy like this.
It looked like winning her over was going to be an incredibly rough road.
Especially since the manga never once even hinted at a romance route for her, and now I was starting from rock-bottom favorability.
The cold reality hit me even harder because I had just experienced the overwhelming joy of meeting her.
“…I see.”
I had become Taiyo Amuro, the infamous Golden Sun of *Four Seasons of Youth*.
Once I accepted that fact, one more probable reason for all of this floated into my mind.
—
Please let me marry Ishihara Eri.
Please let me marry Ishihara Eri.
…
…
Please let me marry Ishihara Eri.
—
Roughly something like that.
I had been sending emails like this to the author every single day without missing one since the day I first started reading the manga.
That’s almost eight years now.
The author must have finally taken pity on my desperate plea.
I still didn’t understand why I was possessed as Amuro instead of the protagonist, though…
Slap!
“No, that’s not it.”
I smacked my own cheek for having such a disrespectful thought.
The author must have had a deeper purpose.
He must have decided that possessing Taiyo Amuro gave me the highest chance of marrying her, considering Ishihara Eri’s taste in men.
“Haa… Fuck…”
I really wanted to believe that. I truly did.
Please…
——
Step. Step. Step.
I had finally entered the world of *Four Seasons of Youth*, only to end up as the Golden Sun.
No matter how much I tried to deny it, this pitch-black skin and bright yellow hair forced me to face reality.
I looked like the kind of guy who would grab any passing woman and go, “Hey, babe!” to hit on her.
Apparently everyone else thought so too.
From the moment I stepped out, every person I passed gave me strange looks full of wariness and deliberately avoided me.
This wouldn’t do.
Even if this was a manga where sincere feelings were supposed to get through to people, this was way too much.
No matter how sincere your heart is, you still need at least some basic human goodwill before anyone will even talk to you.
“Right.”
Feeling the crisis, I instead steeled my resolve even more firmly.
If I worked hard, the teacher would definitely recognize it.
And that effort included changing and maintaining my appearance.
I reached into my pocket.
‘There it is!’
Thankfully, I immediately felt a smartphone in my pocket.
I didn’t know the pattern lock, but fingerprint recognition unlocked it easily.
Once I turned it on, I felt the urge to check my messenger and gallery to learn more about myself, but I held back since I had something more urgent to do first.
‘Nearby hair salons.’
I opened the maps app and searched for salons close by.
‘It would be better if you dyed your hair black as well. It disrupts the school atmosphere.’
Her tone had suggested she didn’t expect me to actually listen, but this was the first request she had ever made of me.
Since she probably wasn’t expecting anything, the impact might be even greater.
“Hehe…”
Imagining that sweet future, I opened the door to the hair salon.
Jingle—!
The girl who greeted me looked far too young to be the owner.
In fact, I knew she was definitely a student.
“W-welcome… oh!”
She let out a startled squeak, clearly flustered, and immediately fled deeper into the shop.
…
I hadn’t made a reservation, so I figured I should wait. I sat down on the sofa right by the entrance.
“…Mom, Mom!”
“Yeah~ We have a customer? I’ll be right out~”
“No, no! That’s not it…!”
There must have been a space behind the pillar.
The shop didn’t seem very big, because I could hear their entire conversation whether I wanted to or not.
“A guy with blonde hair, tanned skin, and piercings just walked in with this creepy smile…!”
I touched both of my earlobes.
A cold metallic sensation greeted my fingers.
“Ah…”
Fuck. I even had piercings.