CH 33

Due to the thunderstorm Sakuramiya-sensei stayed at our house for the night and there were some misunderstandings, but no major problems have occurred since that day.

Because of the unforeseen events which were really bad if someone were to see us in that state, I decided not invite Sensei to my house if there were no serious problems to deal with.

October 23, Friday, the time was after school.

Right now my thoughts were diverted to something else.

“I borrowed the key to the student guidance office so that no one would hear our conversation. I have something really important to talk to you about.”

“Sure, Hanamura-sensei. I have no problems. You can ask anything you want.”

“So…”

“Before that I have something to ask from you and it’s urgent.”

“What is it?”

“Hanamura-sensei, please teach me the secrets of dating.”

You might be wondering why I am blabbering something like that all of a sudden. The reason is the supposed amusement park date with Shinozuka-san, which I agreed to accompany her there out on a whim.

I reluctantly agreed to go with her with half a mind because I didn’t really have anything to do that day, and more than that I felt pity for her who got dumped without confessing. Though all of it seemed to be a lie, I didn’t pursue her more because we were just classmates and pestering in someone’s private life is definitely a no.

“Are you kidding me? I am a teacher. You should talk about these things with your friends.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t have any real friends. I’m not going to ask you for anything else. Hanamura-sensei, you’re a good-looking guy, so you must have a lot of experience in love, don’t you?”

“Yes, well. When I was a student, I…”

“As expected of Hanamura-sensei! How about helping your favorite student here.”

I clasped my hands together and bowed deeply.

Hanamura-sensei pinched his temples with his fingers thinking of what to reply in this situation.

“But Segawa, didn’t you introduce your girlfriend to me at the cultural festival? And at the beauty contest you also confessed to Sakuramiya-sensei… What you’re saying right now is completely contradicting the things you did a few days back.”

That was a completely natural remark.

Come to think of it, I’ve been lying to him a lot since both of us started being familiar around each other.

Let’s clear up this thing right here, I will reveal only those things which will remove the suspicion he has of me, obviously the pretend fiancé is out of the question.

And so I began my tale. While listening to it, Hanamura-sensei showed various emotions like confusion, anger, jealousy, curiosity and last but not the least bewilderment.

“—Hanamura-sensei was suspicious about the relationship between me and Sakuramiya-sensei, so I introduced my cousin to you as my girlfriend.”

“Okay I understand that part, but why did you confess to her at the beauty pageant competition?”

“That was because of you, do you remember how she looked when you unexpectedly ran to the stage and confessed? You did something so bizzare and what I did was to help you, if you were to be rejected your reputation right now would be rock bottom.”

“Ugh… How do I put it? When I saw her in the wedding gown, I couldn’t control my emotions. I regret doing it even now, that was too embarrassing.”

“You deserved it.”

“But now that I think about it, If you wouldn’t have saved me at that time I wonder what would have been my condition.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, and Sakuramiya-sensei also defended by saying, ‘He livened up the place’.”

Hanamura-sensei remembered Sakuramiya-sensei’s words with an ecstatic expression on her face. Seeing it I felt cringed so I decided to change the topic as soon as I could. I placed my elbows on the table and rested my head on my intertwined fingers.

But it is true that she refused my confession. With this I’ll put an end to my feelings here. In fact, no matter how hard I try, it seems unlikely that she will ever be interested in me. I would rather spend my time on something more important.

Unexpectedly, he decided to give up on his one-sided crush on Sakuramiya-sensei. I somehow felt relieved after hearing it?

It looks like when he was rejected in front of everyone he decided to put an end to his unrequited love.

“I guess that is for the good?”

“Yeah and as you helped me so much, I will give you some tips which I used when I was in high school.”

“Really? Thank you very much!”

“Ok, listen to me carefully…”

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[Point of View ] Kaede Ayase :

“EMERGENCY!! It’s an emergency, Yumi-nee!”

“What’s wrong? And don’t scream on the phone, I can’t understand you properly.”

Right now I was so frustrated that I couldn’t think straight and was screaming over the phone, on the other side was Yumi-nee.

It was an emergency situation indeed and I wanted to talk to someone urgently, so I contacted Yumi-nee even though it was so late at night.

“There’s no way I can calm down right now. You know, Ki-kun was talking to someone on the phone.”

“Eh? But, isn’t that pretty normal?”

I don’t think that’s normal. I rarely see Mi-kun talking with someone on the phone. The problem is that the person on the other end of the line was a woman. Though I could faintly hear it, she was definitely a woman.”

“Huh? But he…”

“And they were talking about something like going to an amusement park tomorrow. And Mi-kun was also acting strange and nervous all day. They are definitely going on a date.”

“What? No, no, that can’t be…”

Yumi-nee’s voice started fading with every word she said, and I couldn’t hear what she said at the end.

“Anyways, are you free tomorrow Yumi-nee?”

“I’m free but… Don’t tell me, you are not thinking of following them?”

“Yes, of course. Wait, Yumi-nee are you fine with Mi-kun having a girlfriend?”

“Well, it’s not that I have any romantic feelings for Segawa-kun…”

“There’s no point in fooling yourself anymore, you will regret it later. We are in the same situation, so let’s cooperate anyway we can.”

I can clearly tell that Yumi-nee was a little fond of Mi-kun. It was clearly evident from her actions that she couldn’t properly hide.

I’m his cousin and Yumi-nee is Mi-kun’s homeroom teacher. Both of our relationships have barriers in terms of romance. I think it’s fair to say that we are sailing in the same boat.

“……”

And now I can’t hear Yumi-nee’s voice anymore. It’s like she is in a state of shock.

But the call is still connected. Soon after, a melancholic voice is heard from the other side of the phone.

“But tailing someone is not good, we might get arrested by the police if someone caught us.”

“If that’s the case… Then I guess I’ll have to go alone.”

“I think Kaede-chan should quit thinking about it. If Segawa-kun finds out you were following him he might come to hate you.”

“Well, that’s…”

Certainly if I am caught stalking, then there will be a backlash if I get caught. Certainly I don’t want to get hated by Mi-kun for the rest of my life.

But I’m not going to just sit back and let it happen.

With a tensed expression on my face, I walked around the room in circles. Contemplating about what I should do in order to get hated by him.

And then there was my little watching me while dozing lazily on the sofa, but suddenly she extended her hands toward me and said,

“Onee-chan, give me the phone for 2 mins.”

I don’t know what her purpose is, but the person on the other end of the line is Yumi-nee, and she was asking to talk to her.

Can I put Shi-chan on the phone?

“Yeah, sure!”

After getting Yumi-nee’s permission, I handed my phone to Shi-chan. She held the phone with both hands and brought it near her ears. It looks like it was still hard for her to hold the phone with just one hand.

“Yumi-nee, do you remember…”

“Eh? Yeah…”

And then they started discussing something. I don’t know what they were talking about, but it seemed like there was some kind of deal going on. I’m not going to interrupt the conversation, so I just stood there silently and waited for the results of their conversation.

“Take me to the park tomorrow with you.”

“But that’s…”

“You don’t have to worry, it’s completely safe.”

“Un, I understand. If you keep it a secret, I’ll take you to the amusement park tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Yumi-nee.”

Satisfied with their deal, Shiina’s face broke into a smile and she handed back my phone to me.

While I was still stunned I put the phone near my ears and asked for the details.

“Yumi-nee, what’s going on with you and Shi-chan?”

“Well, nothing important, we decided to go to the amusement park tomorrow. Will you accompany us as well, Kaede-chan?”

“Sure!!”

I wonder what kind of secretive talks they were having, though I’m curious about it. Shi-chan won’t tell me anything so I have no choice but to give up asking her.”

Anyway, I was happy that I will be able to stalk— cough, I mean keep tabs on Mi-kun. And if both of us were to get there together, we won’t get caught.

After that, I discussed tomorrow’s plans with Yumi-nee and hung up the phone after we came to a conclusion.

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