Chapter 397: Only Shot at Escaping the Crisis

Meeting that glare of hers, I kept my calm and whispered to her again.

“I can explain. Can you hear me out?”

With this kind of position with her, even if I was a big pervert, I had no time to revel at how soft and how good it was to hold her body in a place like this.

I was completely aware that if I loosen up even for a bit, Orimura-sensei would have no problem throwing me down.

As I waited for her answer to my question, the scared talkative girl outside began calling out to her. “Sensei? Are you fine there? Is there really a ghost?”

The shower was still running and they most likely noticed the door closing as soon as Orimura-sensei stepped inside. Checking on her situation was a natural and another expected move.

But I couldn’t just remove my hand from her mouth without coming into an agreement with her.

“I know what kind of situation I am in right now. I am not asking for you to make this pass. I only want you to hear me out without letting them know that I’m here.”

Instead of answering me with a nod or a shake of her head, one of her arms that were gripping on mine loosened up as she pointed at my hand covering her mouth.

“No. I can’t remove it yet. There’s a possibility for you to shout or scream as soon as I remove my hand. I won’t take the chances… yet.”

Naturally, I had to remove it for us to talk but not now when she was still glaring at me. And perhaps, I would still not remove it even if her gaze relaxed.

Anyone could act. I had to become the judge myself if it was already fine to remove my hand from her mouth.

Upon hearing my answer to her gesture, Orimura-sensei’s shoulders dropped as her struggle to get out of my grasp toned down.

She’s still trying to squirm her way but it was already weak enough that it could be called negligible.

Nonetheless, it’s still not enough for me when she’s yet to answer my question on whether she would hear me out or not.

“Alright. I know it will be hard for you to truly hear me out so sensei doesn’t need to answer my question anymore. Instead… I’ll just give my explanation like this. It’s up to sensei to believe me or not.”

I was aware that lying my way out of here was not plausible. That would just make this teacher think that I was here with a mischievous intention.

Well, I was also hoping that she could understand that if I was here to peek, I wouldn’t hide myself inside a stall where I needed to jump and climb up the seven-foot wall separating the stalls before I could see paradise.

But, that’s most likely my wishful thinking. Anyone with common sense would naturally attribute my being here to me trying to peek at the girls showering.

That’s why… I needed to use this glib tongue of mine to get out of this crisis.

Among the excuses I thought of earlier, only one of the three would be plausible. The truth.

That I was here with my girlfriend wherein we used the stall as a place to have sex.

Since there’s the chance that one of those girls would go and check on Orimura-sensei, I continued my retelling of the events of why I was here to this teacher without any pause in between to check her reaction.

“And that’s it sensei. I already thought of leaving but… the Volleyball Club members entered the room before I could slip out. To prevent them from seeing me, I went back here and pretended to be someone from another club.”

“Truthfully, I also planned to slip out using the thick steam as my cover. You can guess now why I failed to do that…”

“What’s worse, one of the girls mentioned the strangeness of this stall. So I had no choice but to act as if there’s a ghost in here to scare them off but here you are… I’m not asking for you to forgive me for slipping inside this exclusive room for girls. I only want you to believe my explanation. Either way, I am ready to receive any punishment you may deem fit for me.”

Ending my explanation like that, I slowly removed my hand and my hold on her before stepping back and kneeling down on the floor like a criminal waiting for the verdict.

With my lowered head, I could now only see her feet as she slowly turned around to face me.

Soon afterward, Orimura-sensei shouted.

My heart naturally skipped a bit but the words that left her mouth kindled the hope of my escape in my mind.

“There’s no one here. You girls. Someone left the shower open.”

“Eh? But it was turning on and off… You also heard it.”

“Nakamura, do you think I am possessed by a ghost now? This matter is over, go and finish your showers. This knob was broken, I’ll report it to the administration.”

After saying that, I could see her feet moving as she turned around to face me.

Along with the sounds of the girls doubting that kind of explanation from her, Orimura-sensei stepped forward and called out to me.

“Shiori-sensei’s pet, lift your head.”

Following her instruction, I looked up and saw her face that was riddled with mixed expressions.

Her brows were still furrowed but the way she looked at me was filled with puzzlement.

“Who’s the girl?”

“That… Our relationship is a secret, sensei.”

“If you don’t tell me then I will treat everything that you said as a well-crafted lie.” Orimura-sensei lightly sighed and continued with a cold voice. “You pervert What do you think about being expelled? Sneaking into this side of the Gymnasium and entering the shower stalls… You’re guilty without any doubt but… in light of what you did for us, I will give you a chance to prove if what you said is true.”

“I thank sensei for this leniency but first, let me apologize for restraining you like that, I had no other choice but to do that to prevent you from lashing out at me.” I lowered my head and bowed to her in apology,

This time, although I chose to tell the truth, I had to act very apologetically for her to believe me. As long as I’m still here, the crisis hasn't been resolved yet.

Only by leaving the Gymnasium unscathed would it be called a success.

“Heh… You’re very strong, Onoda-kun. But if I really want to get out of that hold, I could throw you down myself.”

She’s lying, of course. Holding her like that, it was enough for me to gauge her strength. Unless she used an underhanded method like hitting my balls then there’s no way for her to get out of my hold.

But let’s leave it at that to please her.

“I know and I’m thankful to sensei for letting me finish my explanation. As for my girlfriend, I can tell you who she is but…”

“No buts. You’re not in a position to give me a condition for knowing who that girl is. I can drag you out of here and bring you to the administration anytime I want. So… out with it.”

Well, I also resolved myself to tell her that it was Satsuki. I only acted as if I was finding it difficult to name her to be more convincing.

This was my only chance, if I blew it up then… the worst-case scenario would really happen.

“It’s Mae--”

I was about to answer her question, however, she suddenly lunged at me and covered my mouth, cutting me off from completing my words.

And the reason for that was…

“Sensei, is it just me or there’s someone else inside there. Who are you talking to? Could it be…”

Someone was outside the door… the Volleyball Girl again!