Chapter 782 - Melancholy

Everyone has their own stories, tales and memories that will be placed near their hearts or minds to keep remembering or be locked away in a bid to forget.

Any random person one can encounter on the street will also have one or two stories of their own. Unforgettable ones and ones that they vowed to forget.

And going by that line of thought, Eguchi-sensei or even the sleeping Orimura-sensei have it. Whatever it was, it’s clearly rude to pry it out of their mouths. Nonetheless, for the usually stalwart PE Teacher to show that kind of melancholic expression upon looking at the dark clouds and the pouring rain outside, my curiosity and perhaps, my slight concern compelled me to ask her about it.

Now that I blurted that out, I quickly decided to push through it. To understand Eguchi-sensei better. Whether this was about my growing interest in her or just a normal curiosity on my part, I had no idea. Either way, considering my record, it’s probably the former.

I was suppressing my desire to steal or make a girl I took interest in be mine but that cork on how a girl could take my interest was nonexistent.

That’s what’s happening; this time and all the other times I would involve myself with girls not included in our complex relationship.

However, Eguchi-sensei’s reaction to my question was met with silence. She then calmly turned her head towards me and put on a kind, reassuring smile. It’s like her way of saying… ‘Whatever it is. You don’t have to worry about it, Onoda-kun.’

Normally, that should be enough to stump me. But with my mind already geared up to dig through the meaning of that look on her face, I straightened my back and stared at her intently.

Sensing that, Eguchi-sensei quickly picked up the papers on the table as she tried to escape by standing up to put them somewhere.

However, before she could do that, I opened my mouth and lowered my head slightly.

“I glimpsed an unusual expression on your face, sensei. Uhm, I can’t help but get curious. I apologize if you see this as me trying to invade your privacy.”

Eguchi-sensei’s posture that’s already half-squatting from her seat froze as she slowly sat back down.

She met my gaze and bitterly smiled, “I see. You caught that. Hmm… You seem to always have these keen eyes, Onoda-kun.”

Well, I'm an observer. At this point, she’s already aware of that but… in this case, she had every right to escape. I just didn’t let her.

Uh… That sounds bad if taken out of context, huh?

“Rather than catching it, you showed it just enough for me to notice. And twice at that. That’s why…”

As my voice trailed, I waited for her to shut me down. However, instead of my presumed scolding or rejection, Eguchi-sensei chuckled lightly. Seeing her doing that, that melancholic expression I caught seemed to be a nonexistent illusion.

Instead of that, I really prefer seeing her smile and chuckle like this. Even her overly serious expression when she’s in front of her students was a lot better than that one where she seemed too lonely and fragile.

Fragile, not in the sense of her slight fear of direct contact with the opposite gender, but because she looked as though she was going to break down in tears at even the lightest touch.

“Let’s just say, I’m not fond of rain, or more specifically, I can’t stand the sight of rainclouds and the sound of pouring rain too much. It’s making me remember something from my childhood.”

For just a moment, her lips arched to the opposite direction of a smile. It’s quite adorable, really. Nonetheless, it’s the exact same expression she wore earlier.

So… It’s from her childhood, huh? I guess it’s a bad enough memory that shouldn’t be dug in the first place. Should I take back my words about pushing through?

Uh… Let’s try a few more times. This is just my guess but… there’s also a possibility that if she opened up to me, that fear she had would diminish slowly. I mean, she’s already comfortable with my presence. If I got her more comfortable enough then it would just be a matter of time when she’d remove the label of being the terror teacher.

Nonetheless, if she’s adamant about not letting it bother me then I only had to respect her decision. In all honesty, it’s not my place to know about it anyway. It’s just me being too meddlesome.

“That’s oddly specific, sensei. If there’s rain there’s obviously a raincloud and the sound of the pouring rain, right?”

“Yes. That’s right. However, I have my own reason why I specified it. Tell me, Onoda-kun. Why are you curious about my expression? Are you going to solve it for me again? The same way you solved my difficulty in enacting my creative activities and my glaring problem towards male students?”

Upon saying that, Eguchi-sensei leaned forward by putting her hands on the table. This way, her face quickly approached mine. With our eyes fixed onto each other, the sight of her pretty face closing in on mine made me lean backward just in case she failed to stop herself and it resulted in us headbutting each other.

“If I say yes here, will you let me try, sensei?”

“No.” Eguchi-sensei’s answer came quickly. At the same time as that, she chuckled once more and returned to her seat.

Huh? Did she just outplay me?

Asking that straightforwardly and rejecting me right after… No doubt. I got caught in her net.

“I appreciate the sentiment, Onoda-kun. But as my Student Assistant, that’s not in the scope of your job, is it? I might have been inexperienced about the matters between men and women but shouldn’t your girlfriend be the sole focus of your concern and not another woman? Moreover, I’m your teacher. That instance in the Guidance Counseling Room should be the end of it. Stop teasing your teacher.”

Eguchi-sensei said, elevating herself in a moral high ground as she continued to chuckle.

Right. She thought I was hitting on her.

Uh. In hindsight, she’s not wrong. If we consider how I tried to offer my help.

At this point, I decided that it was time to drop my persistence. Acting utterly defeated. I scratched my cheek and wryly smiled before raising my arms in surrender.

Fortunately, Orimura-sensei remained sleeping or else I wouldn’t hear the end of her nagging at how I was trying to hit on her friend.

“I understand, sensei. I’ll stop prying but if ever… you need some help. Or even someone to talk to concerning that, I can lend you my ears.”

“Really, this student is too much. No wonder Shiori-sensei is too fond of you.” Eguchi-sensei helplessly sighed.

Before the fifth period started, the outpour of rain stopped. It’s a short yet heavy rain but it successfully lowered the temperature this afternoon. By that time, I excused myself. I haven’t changed into my PE uniform yet.

Surprisingly, Eguchi-sensei chased after me and offered to walk out of the Administration Building together, leaving the sleeping Orimura-sensei in the room.

When we were about to separate right in front of the School Building, I heard Eguchi-sensei whisper something before quickly hurrying towards the direction of the Gymnasium, not letting me respond at all.

“Grow up to be a fine man, Onoda-kun.. If at that point you still held the same concern, I may be compelled enough to share it with you.”