Chapter 1381 Departure

"Ruru, good morning." With a smile brighter than the morning sun, Shio's greeting sounded so soothing to my ear.

I had just entered the Administration Building and to my luck, I ran into her on my way to Eguchi-sensei's office. I was also supposed to come and check on her before leaving but with my time reduced to less than a few minutes, I couldn't make the trip here to see her before getting caught by the start of the homeroom.

In any case, I'm still lucky to run into her before she arrived at our classroom. Although she's wearing the same suit today, I still couldn't help but take a moment to admire her charming appearance.

And perhaps noticing that, Shio lowered her arms, giving me the full view of her wonderful figure.

Only for a few seconds though. She's already rushing to our classroom, after all. Yet, here I am, blocking her way.

In my defense, my Shio also paused in her steps to admire me. And so, in response to her greeting, a genuine smile naturally formed on my lips for this lovable woman. "Mhm, good morning, Shio."

Since she called me by the nickname she gave me, I also did the same for her. No one's around, anyway.

Seeing that, Shio, like a lovestruck teenager, blushed profusely. Her undeniable affection for me peeked through her eyes. Perhaps, if not for the place and not having enough time, she'd possibly throw herself at me in response to that.

And I know for myself that I am the same as her.

Although it hadn't been long since we spent quality time together, running into her like this was enough to awaken my desire to hold her again.

Unfortunately, unlike with the other girls, we have to be more careful when it comes to our relationship. It's the only one that couldn't be made public even if we wanted to or else... it could spell trouble for her.

Anyway, thinking about the chaos that I left behind, I decided to at least tell her what to expect. "Uh. I think the classroom will be a bit rowdy. Something happened."

"Something? Let me guess. You did something absurd again."

Spot on.

"Yeah. Guilty as charged." I raised my arms. Even if I wanted to deny it, there's just no going around it.

I then started to tell her the short version of the event. Once I was done, amazement with a hint of disbelief covered her face.

She then put a hand on her forehead to digest it all.

"Geez, Ruru. A day won't pass without you doing something that will make your name become everyone's topic."

"Yeah. Now that you mention it, I'm probably racking notoriety and popularity at the same time because of my actions."

"It's good that you're aware. You have to tone it down in the following days. Or else you're going to make it harder for you and the other girls to move." Giving her own adult advice, Shio gently shook her head before looking at me with concern.

"Mhm. Thank you for the reminder, Shio. I'll do that."

There's no need to argue about that. She's correct on her evaluation, after all. Because everyone's attention would fall on our heads, every movement of ours would be monitored. It's completely fine to be high-key with our relationship but we clearly have to do it in moderation.

It would feel like we put shackles on our feet otherwise.

Anyway, after a few more exchanges, Shio went on her way. Before separating from me, Shio also wished me to take care on my trip with Eguchi-sensei. Moreover, she told me to also update her. Like the other girls, she's just as worried about me.

Really, my girlfriends are all wonderful.

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When Eguchi-sensei returned to her office around five minutes after I arrived, I found her gasping for breath.

Nonetheless, she's smiling excitedly as if she just couldn't help but sprint here to see me right away.

Without pointing that out, I stood up and went to her mini fridge to get her something to drink.

Even though I wasn't looking, I could feel her gaze lingering on my back. When I turned around and approached her to hand the drink, Eguchi-sensei acted suspiciously as though a child caught stealing cookies from a jar.

With an awkward laugh, she thanked me, "You're the best, Onoda-kun."

"Am I? I'm only doing my job as your assistant, sensei. It's only right to get you a drink when I see you looking like you need one." Although my response was a little distant, I put on a smile at the end which drew a relaxed expression from Eguchi-sensei.

Perhaps that's all she needed to return to her normal self, Eguchi-sensei took a sip from the bottle. Once she downed half of its content, she looked at me and asked, "Are you ready, Onoda-kun?"

"Mhm. I'm looking forward to helping you today, sensei. Please take care of me." I bowed as a sign of respect which Eguchi-sensei pleasantly accepted.

"Un. I'll be saying the same, Onoda-kun. You've been nothing but helpful to me. I'm ashamed to always rely on you these days. That being the case, you can relax and leave most of the hard work to me today."

Upon saying that, Eguchi-sensei put her hand on my shoulder, signaling me to raise my head again.

I did that and the first thing that caught my eye was her beautiful smile. Somehow, she appeared more reliable today than before. And while she still appeared very affectionate to me, Eguchi-sensei was holding up her dignity as an adult and as my teacher.

How long can she keep that, I wonder? Although I have no plans in closing our distance, I'm ready to respond with whatever she's going to try once we're out there.

Although she appeared very excited earlier, perhaps in relation to the reward that she was going to grant me for yesterday's activity, that seemed to be lulled down into the corners of her mind.

For now, Eguchi-sensei started briefing me again as to what we're going to do on the three schools that we're going to visit.

Ten minutes later, after visiting Hayashi-sensei to inform her of our departure, I followed Eguchi-sensei to her car.

"Our first destination will be the Third High School. It's the nearest one from here." Eguchi-sensei said as she began revving up the engine of her car.

Although the three schools are all within our city, they're just too far apart from each other. And if we counted the traffic as well as the time we will be spending in each school, there's no doubt that we'll take a day to finish.

In any case, Third High School. I can finally see Nao again. As for my task, well, that's secondary. I brought the folder with me, anyway. I'll review it later.