Kissing My Student, It's Over if We're Caught-Chapter 5Volume 1 .9 - Painful thing: Love

Kurei-san was perplexed by my stern demeanor as I spread the photos across the desk towards her.

The change in her was dramatic. Kurei-san’s eyes widened, and she seemed to freeze.

“…This?”

“These are photos from the other day, Saturday. We have a video too. After dining at the restaurant with that man, we filmed you all the way until you returned home.”

“You were tailing me!?”

Her expression of disbelief pained my heart.

Licking her dry lips nervously, she continued.

“We also captured you receiving what seems to be money from the man.”

In an instant, Kurei-san’s expression shifted.

What surfaced was clear resentment. A look of hostility I had never seen before.

“I don’t know the nature of your relationship with this man. But if you’re meeting in disguise, it’s something that can’t be openly acknowledged by society—”

“It’s not like that at all!”

Kurei-san leaned forward, slamming her hands on the desk in protest.

“Don’t joke around! You know nothing! That person is… that person is!”

I had anticipated various scenarios, but this vehement response was unexpected.

Silently, I waited for Kurei-san to calm down from her rough breathing.

“…But, Kurei-sensei. Everyone seeing this would misunderstand.”

Kirihara’s words, sharp as they were, drew Kurei-san’s ire towards her.

“Adultery, or sugar dating. That’s what everyone will think.”

“Hey, Kirihara.”

I intended to reprimand her clear-cut assertion, but Kirihara stopped me with a “No way.”

“I understood from your reaction, Gin. For Kurei-sensei, this man is very important. It’s not the kind of relationship we were imagining. But Kurei-sensei will respond. It’s the same as the relationship between us two. Kurei-sensei definitely wants to avoid causing trouble for this person. Even if it’s something that would be quickly understood as a misunderstanding, she wouldn’t want him involved in such a foolish commotion.”

“…Why do you think that?”

“A woman’s intuition.”

Being given a reason with no scientific basis whatsoever left me internally deflated.

However, Kurei-san seemed to have her anger dulled.

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With a troubled look, she sighed deeply.

“…It’s ridiculous, but you’re right. It’s all, all of it, your misunderstanding. Even if the photos were spread, it wouldn’t cause any definitive loss to me or to him… if I can explain properly.”

Against this, Kirihara argued.

“But explaining to everyone is impossible. You know about the risks of being flamed online, right? Once it ignites, for the vast majority, the subsequent explanations don’t matter. It’s impossible to completely extinguish it.”

“I know that. That’s why I said it’s ridiculous but true.”

Kurei-san shook her head in dismay, as if to say she was fed up.

Then, she murmured with a very sad look.

“It’s a foolish story, but it’s not like there’s no damage to him or me… I absolutely refuse to involve him in such a matter.”

The strong expression Kurei-san occasionally showed me returned.

She directed a rational gaze at Kirihara and me.

“So, what do you two want? To seek revenge by destroying me along with yourselves?”

“No, that’s not it,” I immediately responded.

“It might sound strange after all this tailing but—I don’t want to mess up Kurei-sensei’s life. I’m not interested in your relationship with that man. We just want you to keep quiet about us.”

“All this preparation for that?”

“It was necessary for us… It’s a deterrent.”

A smaller nation arms itself with nuclear weapons to avoid being dominated by a superpower.

Direct confrontation would surely result in the superpower’s victory, but the fear of nuclear retaliation prevents war.

“If you leak our secret, we will leak this secret too. We want Kurei-sensei to become our accomplice.”

In today’s society, a relationship where “this person alone will never betray me” likely exists like this.

Partners who know each other’s dark sides and protect each other.

My strategy was to involve Kurei-sensei in the relationship between me and Kirihara.

“I see. Becoming acquaintances through the sharing of secrets, huh?”

Kurei-san nodded.

“It’s fine by me. Honestly, if that’s what you two want, I have no intention of interfering.”

Negotiations concluded surprisingly smoothly, almost leaving us breathless.

“Just don’t involve me in it. If it gets leaked through another route and everything collapses, don’t take it out on me. Also, if things get bad, I won’t cover for you anymore.”

“That’s fine. Even if that happens to Kurei-sensei, we won’t get involved.”

“Then it’s settled. Let’s each protect our own… Is the discussion over?”

“…Yes.”

I returned the photos to the clear file and tea envelope.

“I’ll head back to the staff room first… I think you know this, but don’t get too cozy around the school. Maintain at least a minimum level of decency.”

With those final words, Kurei-sensei left the student council room.

“…Good work.”

“…Yeah.”

Though Kirihara and I remained in the student council room, we had no energy left. There was no afterglow.

We both sat back on the sofa, silently drained.