Kissing My Student, It's Over if We're Caught-Chapter 1Volume .2 - Favorite perfume: Citrus

Kurei-san’s composed face suddenly turned cloudy.

“...Was it tough?”

“Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything good about my memories of the previous company.”

Without exaggeration, nothing good happened since I joined the company.

After the entrance ceremony, I was supposed to undergo training with my colleagues, staying overnight, but on the first day of training, I fell ill with a high fever and ended up bedridden in the hotel. That was the beginning of my bad luck.

The fever didn’t subside for a week, and my training ended with me just sleeping through it.

Naturally, a gap formed between me and my colleagues

.

There were three of us from the same period in the department, but I was the only one who continuously received disdainful looks and scoldings from our boss.

—What on earth did you join this company for?

—You can’t keep acting like a student forever.

I was the first to understand when I did something wrong, and I was the one who most wanted to make things right. It was my life and my mistake, so I had to be the one to fix it.

But every time I made a mistake, and every time I was scolded for asking something my colleagues already knew, I gradually started making quiet mistakes continuously.

Even the colleagues who initially sympathized with me either got tired of it or didn’t want the focus shifted to them, and they started avoiding me.

From there, not much remains in my memory.

My evaluation never changed from “He was top in the entrance exam but can only study and is useless at everything else.” In the end, I left the company after half a year and spent the next half recuperating at home.

Only my mentor, Kurei-san, and the principal were informed about these circumstances.

Being spared from becoming a club advisor was a consideration from the school.

As for being a homeroom teacher, the main homeroom teacher is on maternity leave, so I’m the assistant homeroom teacher. The work content is no different from a homeroom teacher’s, but “it makes a big difference not having the title,” they said considerately.

Despite being treated more than kindly, Kurei-san still worried about me.

“Don’t dwell on it too much.”

“Thank you. ...I’m sorry for everything.”

“No need. Not at all.”

Kurei-san shook her head lightly.

“By the way, the day after tomorrow is when you’ll observe my class, right?”

“Yes. I’ll be learning a lot.”

“I dont like that... Hashima-sensei, you’re so good at teaching, there’s probably nothing for you to learn from me.”

Kurei-san starts off using polite language when she first speaks to me, but as the conversation goes on, she shifts to a more casual tone as if she’s speaking to a junior.

I prefer it this way. It feels easier than speaking with a senior colleague at work; it’s like talking to the sister next door, with no need to be tense.

“The principal and vice-principal also saw the printouts you made, Hashima-sensei. They were well-received. Normally, they would say, ‘Printouts are convenient and easy but don’t overuse them,’ but they didn’t say anything. You must be really good at organizing information because you’re smart.”

“...Thank you. It’s encouraging.”

She probably chose this topic to praise me.

She’s truly too good of a senior teacher for someone like me.

“How are things with your students? Are you getting along well?”

“Not really. I haven’t been directly complained to, but sometimes I feel like they don’t take me seriously.”

The students genuinely looked at me only during the first three days.

After the class shuffle, students will listen to any teacher or homeroom teacher during this period, no matter what. It’s the “golden three days,” as written in educational theory books. It was exactly as described.

“After the first three days, the students stopped seeing me. They listen to what the school says through me, what adults say, but they seem to have judged that I myself and my words are worthless.”

Kurei-san nodded with an almost divine expression.

“That’s the tough part about being new. Kids around that age are incredibly sharp and merciless.”

The kind Kurei-san didn’t deny that I was being taken lightly.

“It’s a path everyone goes through. But the fact that you’re aware of the current situation is admirable.”

She ends up praising me after all. As expected.

“Did Kurei-sensei also experience this bitterness?”

“Yes, of course.”

“How did you overcome it?”

“I guess I just gave up on things that were impossible.”

“...That answer is unexpected.”

“Because no matter how much you struggle, some things just won’t change. At the end of the day, it’s a job where there’s a class shuffle every year. Not dwelling on it is a valuable skill. It’s not good to not worry at all, but once you’ve done your best, the rest is out of my hands. It’s important to accept that some things are just impossible.”

But Kurei-san continued, saying it wasn’t entirely wrong.

“After all, we’re dealing with children, but they’re still human beings. It’s impossible to have everything go your way.”

“...I see. That’s very insightful. Thank you for the great advice.”

Without being modest, Kurei-san simply replied, “You’re welcome.” Everything she does, truly everything, is so adult.

“Teaching is a strange profession, isn’t it? Even someone like me becomes a teacher the moment I’m in the position. Even if I’m inexperienced and lack confidence, I have to act like an adult.”

“I told that to a university friend who got a job at a railway company, and he replied, ‘Me too.'”

“True. Whether the person driving the train I’m on is a newbie or not, I see them as a professional.”

“That’s how it is. Pretense is sometimes necessary. Since students are human too, why not start by finding kids in the class you vibe with and build a trustworthy relationship? There must be some who sincerely listen to you, right? Kirihara-san was one of them, wasn’t she?”

A sharp pain pricked my heart.

“Is it still going well?”

“Ah, well.”

“If she likes you, you’ll be fine. Having her on your side will eventually help you manage the students without any major incidents.”

“I suppose.”

The sourc𝗲 of this content is freēwēbηovel.c૦m.

The school and Kurei-san have been very good to me, very considerate.

If they knew what I was doing with Kirihara in the audio-visual room earlier—they’d be disappointed.

“But remember,in the end she’s still a student. I’m sure you know, but don’t get too close.”

“Yes. I understand.”

...Truly, filled with an apology and fear, my heart was heavy.