It's another day in the irascibly confused Kurashina sensei's life at the decidedly oddball all boys school that he himself attended not that many years ago before returning as a newly minted teacher, cat in tow. It was bad enough being duped into doing a bit of school uniform cosplay at the school fashion show, but then recieving an unexpected kiss from star student and events committee member Asano rendered him not only speechless but made him unsure of what to do about it. He feels awkward and ill at ease, and is thrown even more by Asano's nonchalant attitude when they next meet. If that is not enough on his plate, next he finds himself embroiled in what seems to be a personal row between Megumu Inoue, the student council treasurer, and Sakamoto.

Sakamoto has been angling to get a separate budget for the events committee for some time, but Inoue keeps blocking his request. The student council DOES have a discretionary fund, as Kurashina recalls from his own student council day, and thinking to diffuse the situation he mentions it. Bad move! But the student council president, Satomura, seems keen on the idea, as long as a contest between himself and Asano decides the outcome. There is a catch however, as more than just the proposed separate budget is at stake. If Asano loses, the events committee must give up Kurashina as their supervising teacher, and he must oversee the student council instead. Just what is he up to and since when is he a prize?

With his future once more snatched out of his hands by the youths, all he can do is watch as the decided upon basketball one on one competition unfolds rather dramatically. It is enough to make him forget all about that kiss. Or has he? Is Kurashina watching the game truly, or just Asano? Just what the heck is happening to him anyway?! What is it with these guys?! Kurashina may have come back to his alma mater to teach, but it seems he has a lot to still learn. Even the cat's expressions tell us he knows this to be true!

Volume two ratchets up the laughs as the poor naïve Kurashina once more finds himself running around in circles. We do get to see him in possession of himself at the front of the classroom (briefly), but once away from the chalkboard, he is out of his depth. There may only be a few years between him and the students he is working with, but in many ways they are wiser, and perhaps more experienced, than he is. The contradictions he encounters between this and the times when their youth is revealed by their insecurities makes him feel even more at sea, though fond of them despite their antics. The fact that he is the one being pursued and is extremely ill at ease about it admittedly makes this a much more comfortable read than it would be otherwise.

This guy is simply not a predator, nor are any of the boys his actual students taking his classes, he is just a clueless fella who checks in on the committee and signs the documents as needed. This no doubt adds to the lack of student/teacher feelings of formality by the committee members, especially when coupled with Kurashina's own youth. Asano is revealed to be actually shy and awkward about his emotions despite the confident air he normally radiates, making him a much more realistic character than one normally encounters in a somewhat frothy high school romance series. He is standing at the cusp of adulthood, just a short time away from graduation and university entrance exams, and how he handles his feelings for Kurashina (and vice versa) will no doubt impact his view on relationships ever after. Like Kurashina and Asano, though, how it all ends up is still up in the air, so we too shall have to wait and see.


***I would like to thank Digital Manga Publishing for providing me with a review copy. ***