I Became a Kindergarten Teacher for Monster Babies!-Chapter 585 Distracted

Alina began the lesson.

The class responded well, as always. They answered questions. They wrote in their notebooks. They followed along with the exercises. It was a good lesson, a solid lesson, the kind of lesson that Alina would normally be proud of.

But something felt off.

Alina noticed it almost immediately.

Boo was not paying attention.

At all.

Usually, even when he talked too much or interrupted or floated in circles while she was explaining, he was still present in his own chaotic way. He absorbed things while pretending he wasn’t. He listened while making noise. He learned while causing chaos.

But today, he sat unusually still, his floating form slightly lower than usual, hovering just above his desk instead of his usual bobbing height. His chin was resting on his hand, his elbow propped on the desk, his whole posture drooping.

His eyes drifted toward the empty seat.

Drake’s seat.

He didn’t even realize he was doing it. His gaze just kept sliding there, like a compass pointing north, like his attention had a magnet he couldn’t fight.

Alina continued teaching, her voice steady, her explanations clear. But her gaze softened as she watched him.

She watched his eyes drift again.

And again.

And again.

"...Boo," she called gently.

He blinked, startled out of whatever thought he had been circling. His head snapped up, his cap wobbling slightly.

"Yes, teacher?"

"What did I just explain?"

There was a long pause.

Boo looked at her. Then looked at the board. Then looked at Felix for help.

Felix stared back at him with the expression of someone who had been asked to help a drowning man and was considering whether drowning was really that bad.

"...Something important," Boo said carefully, his voice uncertain.

Felix closed his eyes briefly, the way he did when the universe was testing him.

Luna muttered under her breath, loud enough for everyone to hear, "Hopeless. Completely hopeless."

Alina smiled faintly, her voice soft.

"You were not listening," she said gently. Not an accusation. Just an observation.

Boo lowered slightly, his form dipping toward his desk, his cap drooping with him.

"...No," he admitted. His voice was small, missing its usual drama.

There was a small silence.

Then he spoke quietly, without any of his usual flourish, without any of the theatrical grandness he always carried like a second skin.

"I was thinking."

Alina’s voice was gentle. "About what?"

Boo hesitated.

His gaze drifted again. Toward the empty desk. Toward the chair that didn’t have a dragon in it. Toward the space where Drake’s wings should be bumping into things.

"...About my dragoon," he said softly.

The room went quiet.

Not the comfortable quiet of children working. Not the peaceful quiet of a classroom settled into its rhythm. A different quiet. The quiet of something missing.

Luna looked away quickly, her jaw tightening, her hands gripping the edge of her desk.

Kelpie’s expression softened, his water stilling for once, not a single droplet falling.

Rocky held his stone a little tighter, pressing it against his chest like it might fill the space.

Even Felix didn’t say anything this time. He just looked at the empty desk, then looked away, his book forgotten in his hands.

Alina’s heart softened.

"He will come back soon," she said gently, her voice warm and certain. "He is resting. He is growing. And when he is ready, he will come back."

Boo nodded slowly, his cap bobbing with him.

"I know."

But he still looked at the empty seat again, his gaze lingering there.

"...It is boring without him," he said quietly. "No one argues about snacks. No one asks a million questions. No one says fire is the best element. No one falls asleep during math."

Luna crossed her arms tighter, her voice low.

"...Yes," she muttered quietly. "It is boring."

Kelpie added softly, his water droplets falling slowly, one by one.

"He makes everything louder. And sometimes he steals snacks. But it is better when he is loud."

Rocky nodded, his stone clutched against his chest.

"And warmer. He is warm. The room feels colder without him."

Felix adjusted his book, his voice flat but not unkind.

"...And more chaotic. The chaos is acceptable. Sometimes."

Lucien spoke calmly from his desk, his voice measured.

"The class dynamic has shifted. There is less noise. Less movement. Less Drake."

Sable nodded vigorously, his small face serious.

"I don’t like the shift. The shift is bad."

There was a quiet agreement in the room. A small, soft acknowledgment that something was missing. That someone was missing.

Alina looked at all of them, at their small faces, at the worry they carried in different ways.

Then she smiled softly.

"Then when he comes back," she said, "you can all welcome him properly. You can tell him you missed him. You can show him what he missed. You can make sure he knows he was not forgotten."

Boo nodded immediately, his energy coming back in small bursts.

"Yes."

His eyes brightened just a little, the first spark of his usual fire.

"I will tell him everything. I will tell him about the festival. About the energy ball. About my cap. About the gossip. About the ceremony. About all of it."

Felix sighed, the sound long and theatrical.

"That is exactly the problem," he said. "He will never stop talking. Drake will come back and Boo will talk for three days straight. We will never have quiet again."

A small ripple of laughter moved through the room, soft and surprised.

Luna snorted. "Like you want quiet."

"I enjoy quiet," Felix said primly.

"You talk more than anyone."

"I talk with purpose."

"You talk to hear yourself."

"That is purpose."

Everyone laughed, lighting up the classroom.

When recess time came, the classroom burst into movement again.

Chairs scraped against the floor in a symphony of chaos, small footsteps rushed toward the door like a tiny stampede, and laughter filled the air as the children ran outside one by one. Kelpie splashed his way out first, leaving a trail of water droplets behind him that caught the afternoon light. Rocky carefully followed with his stone clutched against his chest, his small feet pattering softly. Luna walked ahead, pretending she wasn’t excited, though her tail was already swishing with anticipation. Vlad Jr. followed her. Felix left with his usual calm pace, looking bored. Lucien and Sable went together, Sable already talking a mile a minute about some game he wanted to play, while Lucien listened quietly, nodding at appropriate intervals.

Within moments, the classroom was quiet again.

Except for one.

Boo stayed back.

He floated near the desk, his little ghostly cap still slightly tilted from his earlier dramatic adjustments.

"Teacher..." he said softly.

Alina looked up from arranging her notes, her hands pausing over the papers. She smiled, setting down the stack she had been organizing.

"Yes, Boo?"