Tall buildings outside the window obscured half the sky, while the other half held a large cloud edged in gold, making it look almost transparent.
Through the gaps between the buildings, one could vaguely see a delicate pink hue, even redder than cherry blossoms.
Because his floor was too low, making it difficult to even see the sunset clearly, Sasaki quickly withdrew his gaze from the window.
Sitting cross-legged on the sofa cushion, he shook the bottled drink in his hand and spoke to Kurumi, who was sitting behind him. "Kurumi, aren't you going to help Tomoe in the kitchen?"
"Don't want to move~."
With a lazy voice, as if she had eaten and drunk her fill, she lay diagonally on the sofa, eyes half-closed, watching a variety show on the TV.
She extended her slender foot and lightly stepped on his arm resting on the sofa, then winked and gave an ambiguous smile.
"Compared to me, you should be in the kitchen more. If you dawdle a bit, something good might happen~."
"..."
He wanted to go too, after all, Tomoe looked too damn sexy in an apron.
But if he went into the kitchen, what would Miyuki and Ayako eat when they arrived later?
Not wanting Tomoe to be embarrassed in front of her colleagues, Sasaki thought better of it, as he grabbed the foot resting on his arm and pressed the cold bottle against her sole.
"You really are a succubus, with nothing but sex on your mind. Can't you think of something proper?"
"Eek~"
The cold temperature made her fair, round toes curl instantly, like the closing leaves of a mimosa plant as she struggled from his gasp.
After breaking free, she wiped the moisture from her sole on his shoulder, her tone puzzled.
"What you're saying is strange. I told you I'm a succubus, what else would I be thinking about if not sex?"
Hearing her words, the boy caught her ankle again and turned to look at her.
"So that means you're thinking about it right now, too?"
Lightly wiggling her toes, she opened her clear blue eyes, her girlish face showing that same lustful smile again.
"Of course, I am. But I have to say, young people are so energetic.
You recovered so quickly. Or maybe you're just so different."
Not even thinking about the risk of being discovered, she took the hint and quickly sat on his lap.
Well...Sasaki hadn't expected her to dare do this in the living room, while her colleague was in the Kitchen and two would be coming over anytime soon.
He hurriedly grabbed her hand as it slipped downward.
"Wait — hold on. There's silencing magic, right? What if someone hears us...?"
It wasn't satisfying to suppress her voice, so she turned and chuckled.
"Don't worry, don't worry. I can just make us both invisible. How about that? Isn't it fun?"
He'd been to parties before… but this kind was a first.
Feeling a bit strange, he glanced toward the kitchen, where Tomoe was still busy, and released the hand reaching for his zipper.
Zzzzt~
...
...
"Miyuki-sensei, hasn't Kurumi-sensei been inviting us to gatherings more often recently?"
After leaving school, Ayako drove straight to Tomoe's house and asked in a puzzled tone while walking beside Miyuki, who wore a light blue business suit.
Carrying a leather bag on her shoulder and groceries in her hand, Miyuki climbed the stairs in clicking heels and thought for a moment.
"It has increased. Before, we only gathered once a week, but now it's every two or three days. Maybe Kurumi ran into something happy."
She was closer to Kurumi and didn't rigidly use the "sensei" suffix in private the way Ayako did.
"Something happy..."
Ayako pursed her lips into a small frown and adjusted her glasses without showing much emotion.
If Kurumi invited them because she was happy, then Ayako came because she was unhappy.
The reason was the recent string of arranged blind dates.
If that were all, it would be manageable...after all, she just had to endure them and then move on.
But what infuriated her was that each time, she was the one being rejected.
Called old-fashioned, serious, rigid, lacking charm, completely without feminine appeal, once or twice might mean that the other party had bad taste.
But if everyone said it, then the problem had to be her.
Realizing this left her both angry and wronged.
She was angry because she never wanted blind dates in the first place, and still got rejected.
She felt wronged because those men didn't understand why she could become a homeroom teacher at such a young age.
It was precisely her seriousness that kept students disciplined, and her strictness that prevented lateness and sleeping in class.
Still, with her constant stern expression, simple hairstyle, and old-fashioned glasses, she inevitably gave off a "middle-aged" impression.
Men in their mid-twenties naturally didn't want to marry someone who looked like an auntie.
It was unavoidable.
Thinking too long about unhappy things would only make her stressed… she needed something pleasant to balance her mood.
Recently, the only happy moment had been when a student sincerely praised her beauty.
Being called beautiful by a student she taught seriously, didn't that prove she had charm?
Those blind-date men were too shallow.
They weren't as perceptive as her students.
Thinking of the student who had been on leave for a long time and recently returned, she naturally recalled his exam performance.
The midterm was organized by Eiko Academy itself, and the test papers weren't sealed immediately after collection.
That allowed certain teachers to review them.
As someone only one step away from becoming a grade head, she was one of those teachers.
And among her students, Sasaki Fuyumi was a key focus, both officially and personally.
After reviewing the papers, compared to the messy weekly quizzes, his midterm progress exceeded her expectations.
Since grading wasn't finished, she could only estimate roughly.
From what she'd seen so far, his scores in every subject had reached the passing line.
For most students, that was nothing special.
But he had been away for half a year, and reaching this level so quickly was already difficult.
Learning is generally fair to ordinary students.
With enough time, effort, and full commitment, it usually gives a good return.
The premise is diligence and steady work.
One could easily imagine how much effort he put in each night to achieve this improvement.
Otherwise, such progress wouldn't make sense.
Thinking about it, her fondness for this student with a difficult background deepened.
While climbing the stairs, she started asking Miyuki more about him.
"How has Sasaki been performing recently?"
It was normal for teachers to discuss students, so Miyuki answered naturally.
"Quite well. He hasn't been sleeping in class and hasn't disturbed anyone."
"..."
Knowing she usually categorized him as a back-row student, Ayako paused briefly, then continued:
"What about quizzes and answering questions?"
"His small quizzes aren't great, but there's obvious improvement.
He answers correctly when called on, just not very proactive."
"I see, then..."
While discussing him, the two reached Tomoe's door.
Knock knock~
Ayako raised her hand and knocked; however, even after waiting for a while, she didn't get any response, so she tried the doorknob.
Click~
It opened unexpectedly.
She turned and stopped Miyuki from pulling out her phone, then entered together.
Anyway ...it wasn't their first time here.
"Excuse us," they said in unison, beginning to change their shoes.
Just as she took out her slippers, she noticed a pair of men's shoes on the rack and pushed up her glasses in confusion. "So much bigger! These must be men's shoes. Does Ms. Tomoe have a boyfriend?"
As she spoke, she glanced toward the living room.
Hearing this, Miyuki Kisaragi, who was standing nearby, also noticed the men's shoes on the rack.
"I haven't heard Tomoe mention anything like that."
"Or maybe some relatives came to visit?"
Unable to figure it out, the two changed their shoes and carried the ingredients inside.
On the coffee table in the living room were several opened drink cans, some snacks, and a few bags of treats, but no familiar faces could be seen.
Picking up the damp remote from the table and lowering the TV volume, Takamine Ayako carried the groceries toward the kitchen.
"Teacher Tomoe."
Wearing casual clothes with an apron tied around her waist, Tomoe, who had been focused on chopping vegetables, turned her head and nodded in greeting.
"Ayako, Miyuki."
After placing the ingredients into the basket beside the sink, Ayako turned on the tap, washed her hands, and asked:
"Hasn't Teacher Kurumi arrived yet?"
"Kurumi…"
Tomoe turned around after hearing the question. Not seeing her lover or Kurumi in the living room, her delicate brows knit slightly.
"Isn't he here? Did he go out? I wasn't paying attention…"
"They probably went out to buy alcohol."
She didn't have a habit of drinking, so she naturally kept very little alcohol at home.
Whenever they gathered, Kurumi usually went out to buy sake, so Tomoe assumed it was the same this time.
But even if Kurumi had gone to buy alcohol, where was he?
The bathroom? The bedroom?
Before she could think further,
Ayako, who had finished washing her hands and had begun helping with the ingredients, asked casually:
"Does Ms. Tomoe have a boyfriend?"
Boyfriend…
Tomoe instinctively wanted to nod, but remembering who was in front of her, she quickly stopped herself and shook her head.
"No. Why are you asking, Ayako?"
"Because I saw men's shoes in the cabinet, so I wondered."
Ayako looked up, surprised.
If men's shoes suddenly appeared in the home of a woman living alone, the most likely explanation was a boyfriend.
Her guess wasn't wrong, but Ayako was strict and serious, and Tomoe knew that if she learned the truth that her boyfriend was a student, she would strongly object.
After all, the teacher-student relationship was quite against the ethics...so, she didn't intend to explain further, and hence, shook her head.
"No. They belong to one of our students. We met him on the way, and Kurumi invited him over."
"I see…"
Hearing her words, Ayako's expression stiffened slightly.
She clearly didn't like the idea of a student attending a teacher's gathering.
However, just as she was about to speak—
Click~
The sound of a doorknob turning came from the bathroom near the entrance.
The door opened, and Sasaki walked out, neatly dressed.
Seeing Miyuki sitting on the sofa watching TV and Ayako helping in the kitchen, he raised an eyebrow and smiled in greeting.
"Teacher Kisaragi, Teacher Takamine, you've arrived."
A young man suddenly appearing in the gathering of four women made Miyuki a bit flustered.
As she sat up straighter, crossing her long, black-stockinged legs, then tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her face faintly flushed, and shifted her gaze back to the television.
"Mm."
Ayako stopped washing the vegetables and glanced at Sasaki, then at Tomoe.
"That student, is he Sasaki?"
"Yes."
Tomoe also didn't know why Sakashiro Kurumi wanted Sasaki to join their gathering.
But Sasaki was her lover now, so if he was truly invited, even if she didn't know the reason, she wouldn't refuse.
What's more, Kurumi had already found an excuse for her, so she had even less reason to refuse.
Having received an answer,
Takamine Ayako's gaze shifted back to Sasaki.
Then lowered her head slightly, adjusted her glasses, and nodded with an expression that was neither cold nor warm:
"Mm."
Her plain, almost as if meeting a stranger, demeanor wasn't because she disliked this student; in fact, it was quite the opposite.
It was simply out of fear that Sasaki might say something like, "Teacher, you look so beautiful when you smile," again.
Before, it was in the Student Guidance Room, and there were no other people… it was fine for him to say that to her then.
But now, with two of her friends present… if he were to say something like that again, regardless of the occasion, she wouldn't know what expression to make.
Her worries were not unfounded…
After all, what student would agree to a teacher's polite invitation to join a teacher's gathering?
Didn't he worry about being awkward?
However, because it was him…
Although Takamine Ayako felt awkward and uncomfortable all over, she no longer had the thought of leaving.
No matter what, he had complimented her beauty…
In front of him, letting go a little should be fine, right?
.
.
.