Kissing My Student, It's Over if We're Caught-Chapter 1Volume .3 - Favorite perfume: Citrus

While harboring feelings of guilt, there was a reason I couldn’t completely reject Kirihara.

Even though I had lost my place in society soon after becoming a working adult, I hadn’t entirely lost my purpose for life.

While my workplace environment was the worst, the company, being a leading firm, had strict attendance management, and there was no unreasonable overtime work like the kind that’s been criticized lately.

I was able to go home, at least.

The one-room apartment a few stations away from the company was dark and cold when I returned, but there was someone waiting for my return.

“Are you back yet? Can you play?”

ARIA always sent me messages timing my return.

Generally, I would accept her invitation and play with her.

At first, I declined because I wanted to study to catch up on the delays at work, but as the pressure from my boss increased and my bottled-up emotions grew, I spent more time with ARIA.

The more I didn’t want to go to work, the more I ended up playing into the night.

Looking back, that was the cause of the increase in my work mistakes, creating a vicious cycle. But without those times, I might have died.

There was a sense of inferiority for not fully transitioning “from a student to a working adult—from a child to an adult.”

On the other hand, there was a conviction that “that was my limit at the time.”

Eventually, after leaving the company and returning home, my interactions with ARIA continued.

I never told her about my struggles at work or that I had quit my job.

I wanted to pretend to be an adult in front of her.

It was a trivial pride, but the last one I had left.

After months of quitting my job and being in a daze, I couldn’t rely on my parents support forever. The final choice I made in searching for my next job was to utilize the teaching license I had acquired in university. “If I could only study, maybe I could be somewhat appreciated for that”—that was my thought in choosing this path.

The result, as you know.

Being good at studying is a given for a teacher, so I was disregarded by the students in three days.

But I wasn’t as depressed as when I messed up at my previous company.

I hadn’t become a teacher out of passion, after all.

It didn’t matter if I didn’t try hard. As long as I could work without dying and create a foundation for living, that was enough. That was i belief.

The sensitive students must have sensed my true nature to some extent.

Yet, Kirihara—the student council president, Kirihara, was somehow different.

A glasses-wearing girl who was good at studying but didn’t dress fashionably, belonging to the plain category. She seemed quiet and timid, perhaps because of her character, she often got burdened with troublesome tasks.

Kirihara, who seemed like she would dislike a teacher like me, who harbored insincere feelings, somehow smiled at me and grew attached.

During breaks or when we passed each other at school—casually, she showered me with genuine smiles and charm, not just affectionate laughter.

I found out the reason for this when I was wandering around the school during a break from my office work.

When I passed by the student council room, I unexpectedly met Kirihara, who was about to leave after finishing her work.

“Still busy with student council work at this time? That’s tough.”

“No… You too, Sensei. Aren’t you going home yet?”

“I still have a bit more preparation for tomorrow’s class. I’m taking a break now.”

After a moment of thought, Kirihara spoke up as if she had made up her mind.

“There’s something I’d like to discuss about the class. Can we talk in the student council room?”

Her tone was serious, so I felt a jolt of anxiety inside.

—Could there be bullying in the class?

I wanted to avoid touching on such heavy topics as much as possible, but I couldn’t refuse.

The fact that it was Kirihara asking also played a big part. I didn’t want to be disliked by her.

Entering the student council room, Kirihara locked the door from the inside.

“I don’t want anyone to hear this.”

What could she possibly want to discuss—?

As I braced myself, Kirihara didn’t face me and quickly fiddled with her smartphone, finishing her operation swiftly.

Then, my cell phone vibrated.

“Did your cell phone ring?”

“Huh? Yeah… But right now, I think Kirihara’s story is more”

“It’s okay. Please check your phone.”

With a gentle smile, Kirihara made me feel a slight sense of discomfort as I checked my smartphone.

It was from “ARIA.”

“In front of Kirihara Touka now, it’s GIN, right?”

…

…

I froze and awkwardly looked at Kirihara.

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With a grin, Kirihara, without looking back at me, tapped her phone’s screen.

My phone in my hand vibrated.

Through the messaging app, “ARIA” was calling.

Kirihara showed me her phone’s screen.

“We’re connected now, aren’t we?”

For the first time, I truly understood that when humans are genuinely shocked, they can freeze completely.

“This can’t be real?”

“It’s not a lie. It’s ARIA. Sorry, I knew from the beginning.”

It wasn’t a strange story. I had sent her a photo once.

“But, you said you were a university student…”

“Sorry, that was a lie.”

“You mentioned living alone…”

“That’s true.”

“As a high school student?”

“My parents are laissez-faire, and it’s a bit of a complicated family situation. It’s not rare these days, right?” (tln : a policy or attitude of letting things take their own course, without interfering.)

Is that so?

My mind wasn’t working well, and I couldn’t find the words to say.

Moreover, Kirihara’s demeanor was different from usual.

“I was happy. Because I could meet GIN.”

The “ARIA” I played games with and talked on the phone was nothing like the Kirihara in class.

“ARIA” was clingy, unrestrained, and transparent. She was the complete opposite of Kirihara in class.

“Are you happy to see me?”

“That is… yeah.”

She was the girl who had become my reason for living when I was mentally down.

Though I was confused, I couldn’t think that it would have been better not to meet her.

“I’m glad. But I never thought GIN would become a teacher. And my homeroom teacher at that! Isn’t that amazing?”

“…It’s surprising.”

Without exaggeration, it was a miraculous probability.

What should one do in such a situation?

“Does it bother you that I am ARIA?”

Kirihara cut straight to the heart of the matter without beating around the bush.

“…Given my position, it inevitably does.”

We were close in age and shared the same interests. Had the situation been different, I might have even wanted to date her, but as a student, it was a different story. I hesitated even to interact with her as a friend.

“As a teacher, do I have to treat you the same as the other students?”

“Yes.”

I felt relieved inside. Kirihara was indeed Kirihara.

She understood well.—However, that wasn’t the case.

“I see. But that would be boring for me. Can’t we have a little fun when we’re alone?”

“Sorry. Please forgive me for that.”

I may lack passion, but I thought I had at least the minimum common sense.

“Come on. We’ve exchanged photos through the app. Do you still have my sexy photo on that phone?”

I was hit where it hurt and fell silent.

“Ah, you’re keeping it safe? That makes me happy. Hehe.”

Reluctantly, I decided to delete it later.

“Kirihara, let’s calm down and talk.”

“No, sorry, Sensei. It’s too late.”

Kirihara took something out of her sailor uniform’s chest pocket.

It was a thin device with a square shape, slightly smaller than the palm of her hand, with a blinking red light.

“This is a voice recorder. I’ve been recording. Sorry.”

Kirihara lightly stuck out her tongue and cutely put her hands together in apology.

What she was doing was far from cute.

I moved to take it away, but Kirihara pulled back and quickly loosened her scarf, hiding the voice recorder in her chest.

Inside her bra.

A groan escaped from the depths of my throat. I couldn’t make a move now.

“GIN is really kind. That’s why I like you.”

No matter the circumstances, if it became known that I had images of a student half-naked, I wouldn’t get off easily.

As long as that data exists, I can’t defy Kirihara.

On the surface, I’m the secret playmate of a well-behaved student.