CH 61

“…I can’t even keep upwind of a teacher.”

After finishing explaining my role as Sakuramiya-sensei’s fiancé, as well as a brief overview of what had happened from September until now, Shinozuka-san’s cheeks twisted diagonally.

She glared sharply at Sakuramiya-sensei while looking at me frequently.

“Well, I had to resort to desperate measures too…”

“You just wanted to fool around with a high school boy, didn’t you?”

Shinozuka-san gave her a suspicious look.

After taking a sip of tea from her cup and suppressing her irritation, she continued.

“Anyway, why Minato? If you needed someone to play the role of your fiancé, there are plenty of other options. If you wanted a delay, someone born in March would have been more reasonable. Minato’s birthday is June 11th, so I don’t think he was suitable for this task, right?”

Shinozuka-san made a very reasonable point.

In response, Sakuramiya-sensei weakly retorted.

“I-I mean, if I’m going to ask someone to play my fiancé, I should be able to be a little picky, right?”

Correction. It wasn’t a retort, but just her own feelings.

Furrowing my brows, I interjected into their conversation.

“Eh? That’s not right, is it? It’s because of that incident when Shii-chan got lost, right?… I said I’d take responsibility, and that’s where it all started, right?”

“Y-yeah… well, that’s one of the reasons… but to begin with, I already had a high opinion of Segawa-kun… yes… I’m sorry, I’m not fit to be a teacher. I’m ashamed.”

Sakuramiya-sensei, consumed by self-blame, began to bow her head repeatedly.

At this point, a shocking truth was revealed.

“You were using Minato to actually become your fiancé…”

“T-That’s not it… I didn’t mean that. I didn’t have any feelings for Segawa-kun as a man at the time… I’m not lying.”

“Oh, okay… but why Minato? There are more handsome guys than Minato at our school, right?”

“Are there? Who, for example?”

“No one, I guess.”

“You’re talking nonsense, Shinozuka-san.”

“I’m sorry. I worded it wrong. For me, Minato is the best, but objectively speaking. For example, Hanamura-sensei.”

Hanamura-sensei had tried, but failed miserably because he was acting too clingy to her.

Hanamura-sensei is handsome. Setting aside his personality, there’s no argument about his looks.

“That’s why I can’t see older guys as potential romantic partners. Besides, it wouldn’t buy me any time… Or, to put it another way, you’ve misunderstood my intentions, Shinozuka-san. Just because someone has a good-looking face doesn’t mean they’re likeable… I’m actually not a fan of handsome guys.”

“Huh? I think Minato is handsome, though.”

“Yeah, I know. Lately, he seems to be getting even more handsome, like he’s got some kind of filter on him. It’s hard to notice because he always has that bored look on his face!”

“You’re saying something completely contradictory. Weren’t you just talking about how you don’t like handsome guys?”

“Oh, sorry… I mean, it’s not that I can’t handle handsome guys, but I think it’s more accurate to say that I can’t handle the good-looking guys who are popular and outgoing.”

“What a convenient set-up…”

Shinozuka-san says this as she was amazed because of sensei’s reasoning. I wonder if these two have forgotten about my presence. My face is turning bright red from embarrassment.

I averted my gaze toward the sofa, trying to escape their attention. Then, I saw Kaede playfully squeezing Shi-chan’s cheeks with both hands.

“Why are those two so openly praising Mi-kun? How can they say such embarrassing things about him in front of him like that? And here I can’t even be honest about my feelings…”

“P-Please don’t play with Shiina like this. it’s too much even for me.”

Shi-chan resisted as her cheeks were messed around with, but perhaps due to the difference in strength between a middle schooler and a toddler, she just ended up going along with it.

“Anyway, I just want to say, Sakuramiya-sensei will get into a really big problem if you will date Minato, so please end your relationship with him..”

As the conversation deviates from its original path, Shinozuka tries to get it back on track.

Sakuramiya-sensei furrowed her brow.

“What’s that supposed to mean? Isn’t that a bit presumptuous? Why should I back off?”

“…Because you can’t win.”

“What?”

“I said you can’t win. You’re a perverted teacher!”

“Ah, you called me a perverted teacher! You definitely said something unnecessary!”

“I can call anyone who makes advances on their students whatever I want.”

Shinozuka-san turned away with a pout.

Sakuramiya-sensei was teary-eyed as she continued to complain. Is she really in her thirties? She seems so emotionally immature.

Then, Shii-chan, who had become a toy for Kaede, raised her voice loud enough for us to hear.

“What do you mean by ‘she can’t win’? Mizuna-onee-chan.”

“It is what it sounds like.”

Shii-chan asked a direct question, and Shinozuka-san gave a brief response. Shinozuka-san then lowered her gaze and continued in a downcast tone.

“I can’t win against her in terms of looks, style, or popularity. Even if I were to win that Beauty Pageant Contest, in the end, only Sakuramiya-sensei would receive attention. The boy I had a crush on was also taken away. I can’t win against Sakuramiya-sensei. Why do I have to lose Minato too?”

Her emotional voice shook the living room.

After a brief silence, I was the first one to break it.

“…That’s not true.”

“Minato?”

“Shinozuka-san, you’re insanely popular with the guys. When it comes to that, you’re undoubtedly more popular than Sakuramiya-sensei.”

Of course, there are also issues of age and position, such as being a teacher and a student. But even so, the fact remains that when Shinozuka-san publicly confessed her feelings to me in class, I felt the jealousy emanating from all the boys.

If Sakuramiya-sensei had confessed to me publicly, the reaction wouldn’t have been the same. There would have been surprise and confusion, but not jealousy, at least not at that level.

“It’s okay… don’t worry about it.”

“I’m not worrying about it. In any case, popularity is something that cannot be measured. The degree of recognition is different between a teacher and a student. It’s meaningless to compare faces and styles when the ages are different.”

“But… when it comes to Sakuramiya-sensei…”

“There are many things that Shinozuka-san can do that Sakuramiya-sensei cannot, and there are many things that Sakuramiya-sensei can do that Shinozuka-san cannot. It’s a waste to have a sense of inferiority based on arbitrary judgments.”

“……”

I nonchalantly denied Shinozuka-san’s words.

In my case I also have low self-esteem and tend to feel inferior easily.

That’s why I can’t leave people who are in the same state as me alone. I want to deny that there is nothing like that. I can’t help but feel that I want her to be more positive.

It was an honest statement driven by those feelings.

Shinozuka-san looked at me with a dreamy expression, tears pooling in the corners of her eyes.

“Minato… I.. .I really …like you. I love you!”

“Ehhh…..??!!”

I was taken aback by her direct confession.

She stood up from her chair and hugged me tightly.

I managed to receive her embrace, though I was bewildered.

Shortly thereafter, I noticed that Sakuramiya-sensei was glaring at us.

Oh…this is going to cause a scene again…