Can I Still Be Your Heroine Even Though I'm Your Teacher?-Chapter 3Volume 1 .8 - A Relationship Like Waves
A Relationship Like Waves 8
“Hey-hey, Reiyu-chan Sensei, aren’t you a bit low on energy today?”
Ririka Mayuzumi pointed out.
“Is that so? I’m as energetic as always.”
“It kind of looks like you had a fight with your boyfriend and are feeling down?”
I’m certainly not her boyfriend or anything, but why is Mayuzumi-san subtly sharp?
“It’s just your imagination. I’m not dating anyone right now.”
Her declaration of being single set the classroom abuzz.
As Tenjō-sensei left the lively classroom, she glanced at me one last time with a meaningful look.
It seemed like she had something to say about my intense staring earlier, but this time, I pretended not to notice.
***
The incident happened that night.
Since it was Friday night, it would normally be the day to have dinner in my room, as usual.
However, since Tenjō-sensei hadn’t sent any messages, I couldn’t decide whether to prepare dinner or not.
I could have just asked her, but somehow, her attitude from the afternoon was still lingering in my mind, and I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
Intending to rest on my bed when I got home, I unexpectedly fell asleep.
What woke me was a piercing scream, like silk being torn.
“What’s that!?”
I hastily sat up, trying to locate the source of the scream.
I stood up and turned on the light in my room. The small screams continued incessantly.
“It’s coming from Sensei’s room, isn’t it? Is she okay…?”
It was obviously not something trivial.
Even now, I could hear the sounds of thrashing and commotion from the other side of the thin wall.
Screams of “Eeeek!”, “Aaah!”, and “No!” didn’t stop.
“Should I call the police? No, it’s not yet confirmed as an incident…”
While I hesitated, the intense sounds from the next room continued.
“I’ll just check what’s happening.”
As an excuse to understand the situation of my neighbor, I pressed my ear against the wall.
“It’s definitely Tenjō-san.”
I thought, recognizing her voice.
“Why are you coming here on your own! Stop it, just stop!”
Sensei was clearly rejecting a ‘third party.’
“──Damn, what am I hesitating for!!”
So far, Tenjō-san has come to my room, but never the other way around.
It was a matter of basic courtesy, a line not to be crossed.
I had no intention of breaking it on my own accord.
Unless Reiyu Tenjō specifically asked for something, I should never intrude.
I mistakenly thought that such an understanding attitude was mature.
But now, I felt like a child sulking over my own failures.
As long as I harbored a sweet yearning for the adult woman Sensei, I was merely looking up to her.
Remaining passive and getting swayed by her reactions would keep me forever seen as a younger, unreliable person.
Our age difference would never close.
But if I genuinely wanted to support her, I needed to show I could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with her as a person.
To prove I could be steadfast even if she entrusted me with everything.
To learn from my mistakes and take initiative.
I dashed out of my room without even putting on sandals.
“Tenjō-san! Are you okay? Please open the door!”
I furiously pressed the intercom and knocked on the door of room 103, her adjacent room.
Then, the door swung open with force.
I stumbled backward as if pushed away.
“Help me!”
I caught Tenjō-san, who had burst out crying in her camisole.
I was surprised that a grown woman could easily fit into my arms.
Feeling her close to me for the first time felt incredibly right.
It was different from the common thrill or emotion of touching the opposite sex.
It was a special feeling that made me certain there could be no substitute for her.
Realizing this, I could no longer lie to myself.
I desperately didn’t want to be apart from the person in my arms.
I wanted to protect her, the one with tears in her eyes.
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“Why is this happening to me?”
Tenjō-san looked up at me, her face streaked with tears.
“Tenjō-san, what happened?”
I had completely forgotten about last night; I just wanted to help her.
Tenjō-san seemed unable to walk properly as if her legs had given out, so I quickly took her to my room for refuge.
“Thank you for coming. I thought I was going to die——”
She was so exhausted that she could barely speak.
As soon as she entered my room, she collapsed at the entrance.
“Don’t think you’re bothering me by coming for dinner today.”
I said it before Tenjō-san could apologize.
“────I actually wasn’t planning to come tonight.”
“This morning too, right?”
“It really was a staff meeting this morning!… and after behaving like that, I couldn’t bring myself to go have breakfast.”
Tenjō-san was troubled too.
“Were you upset because I secretly helped Kuhouin?”
“No, as a teacher, I’m obviously happy about it… It’s more like I was jealous of you.”
She muttered, sounding frustrated.
“Jealous of me?”
“Because you effortlessly solved a problem that had been troubling me as a teacher. It’s like I’m useless even though I’m a teacher.”
In short, Tenjō-san is in a bad mood because she feels defeated that my help has improved Akira Kuhouin’s tardiness.
“I’m relieved, I thought Tenjō-san hated me. So it was jealousy.”
Realizing the truth, I too sat down at the entrance.
In the narrow entrance, we sat side by side, almost shoulder to shoulder.
“Still, Kuhouin-san trusts you quite a lot.”
“I’m just a convenient alarm clock.”
“About her, don’t you think Kuhouin-san is cute?”
That question was cruel.
There’s nothing sadder than when a woman you are interested in does not consider you as a member of the opposite sex.
“What will you do if I admit that I do? “
“…If you like her, then I’ll support you.”
Her beautiful face was close by. A single tear she had shed earlier was still clinging to her long lashes.
I couldn’t help but gently brush it away with my finger.
Tenjō-san turned towards me, and I couldn’t help but complain.
“If you’re going to be jealous, I’d rather you be jealous about me interacting with women other than Tenjō-san.”
“——Well, at least I know I could never easily come to dislike you.”
“Oh, you mean…”
“I-I mean like a younger brother. It would be strange for me, as a homeroom teacher, to be jealous if a student got along well with other female students. We’re just neighbors, after all. Ah, let’s add a new rule to the Neighbor Agreement: if either of us gets a romantic partner, the agreement ends immediately.”
Tenjō-san rattled this off in one breath.
I was reminded of a stark reality. Yuunagi Nishiki was, after all, just her neighbor.
I could help with daily life, but I couldn’t truly be a support for her in a deeper sense.
At least not as things stand now.
