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

…However, it’s not like I could just easily start doing such a thing right away.

“Since you’re here,” I said while cleaning Kirihara’s room, and she asked me this:

“You said you’d try tailing her on the way home from work, but is it really that simple?”

“…I don’t know.”

I think most people would agree, but I’ve never had any experience tailing someone.

“Maybe I’ll look it up.”

After tying up a large garbage bag, I searched “how to tail someone” on my smartphone.

Immediately, I came across several sites warning, “Do not tail people if you’re an amateur!”

“What’s wrong?”

“…Nothing.”

Feeling somewhat gloomy, I accessed each search result one after the other.

In conclusion, every site stated that tailing someone is not easy.

The purpose of tailing someone is to investigate them. To do that, you need to get as close as possible but being too close risks getting caught.

If that happens, at worst, you could be accused of stalking.

So, you need to maintain a distance where you won’t be noticed.

However, if you’re too far away, you risk losing sight of the target.

You might get separated by a traffic light change, they might jump on a train, or suddenly take a taxi.

Successful tailing requires a delicate balance of distance, which in turn requires training and experience.

It seems that the advice against amateurs doing it comes from the physical and mental strength required, more than I imagined.

“It’s no good.”

“…Yeah, it’s not good.”

“Why don’t you hire a pro? Like a detective agency…”

“No, that’s definitely not good. If I’m asked why I’m investigating Kurei-san, I wouldn’t have an answer. Besides, if a professional starts thinking I’m a stalker, it’s all over.”

“So, what will you do?”

“…Even if it’s hard, even if it’s not something I should do, I have no choice but to do it.”

“Will you be sticking around after work and on weekends for a whole month?”

“I won’t do that. If tailing is hard, risky to get caught, and difficult… then I have to reduce the number of times as much as possible.”

I knew it was reckless. But I had no other choice.

●

The next day, I went to work as usual and worked next to Kurei-san’s seat as usual.

“Kurei-sensei, I have a question…”

“Yes, go ahead.”

Thankfully, Kurei-san was treating me the same as always.

There were no signs of her looking down on me or being wary.

If anything, she seemed more concerned about me.

“Are you sleeping well?” or “If there’s anything I can do to help, don’t hesitate to ask” she would say.

She had said things like that before, but it had increased recently.

Taking advantage of that, I initiated casual conversations during break times.

“I’m thinking of finding a new hobby, do you have any recommendations?”

“Uh… that’s difficult. What kind of hobbies are you interested in? Sports? Something you can do at home…?”

“Anything fun. What do you usually do on your days off, Kurei-sensei?”

“I mostly relax at home. Sometimes, I go out for drinks with friends.”

“Is hanging out with friends your hobby?”

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“Well, it’s a change of pace. It might not be a hobby per se. Oh, I do watch a lot of foreign dramas.”

“Ah, I’ve heard they’re interesting.”

“There are hits and misses, but if you get into it, it’s enjoyable. You can watch an episode in about an hour, so it’s doable on weekdays.”

“…I’ve been curious, Kurei-sensei, you often work late, right? What time do you usually leave school?”

“About eight o’clock at night. After I get home, eat dinner, take a bath, and watch a drama, I’m exhausted. I sleep soundly till morning.”

“Mornings are early for you.”

“If I want to be at school by seven, it has to be.”

—I desperately memorized the content of our conversation.

After Kurei-san left her seat, I quickly took notes before I forgot anything.

Right now, what I needed most was information.

If Kurei-san had a secret, I wanted to find out when she had the time to do “something she wanted to hide.”

The work of a high school teacher means late nights and early mornings. There shouldn’t be much free time on weekdays.

If I knew when that time was, I could significantly reduce the number of times I needed to tail her, avoiding the worst-case scenario of getting caught—that was my plan.

(Excluding Fridays, weekdays can be disregarded. If there’s something, it would be on Friday night or sometime during the weekend.)

I have no memory of seeing Kurei-san looking sleep-deprived and struggling in the morning. I also eliminated possibilities from that perspective.

And so, just in case, I decided to confirm the nights of the first few weekdays as well.

Tuesday night. I intentionally slowed down my daytime work to create an opportunity for overtime.

Around 7:30 PM, I said goodbye to Kurei-san and left the school. Then, I retrieved the disguise gear hidden in a nearby coin locker… After changing, I returned to the vicinity of the school.

It was ten minutes before the time Kurei-san usually said she left work.

After waiting a bit, Kurei-san came out of the school. She started walking. She must be commuting by bus, like me. I came out of hiding and followed her, trying to empty my mind as much as possible.

Pretending it was a coincidence, I lined up at the same bus stop. All the disguise gear was newly acquired, and Kurei-san showed no sign of looking back. Still, I was quite nervous.

The bus was crowded enough that all seats were taken, which was just right for tailing.

Kurei-san sat towards the front and was constantly on her smartphone. I stood at the back, pretending to look out the window while waiting for Kurei-san to get off.

After about twenty minutes, Kurei-san finally got off the bus. Naturally, I got off at the same place.

It was a relatively wide two-lane road through a residential area. Kurei-san walked briskly along the sidewalk. There was enough car and pedestrian traffic that following her wouldn’t seem suspicious. I just needed to be careful not to lose her.

Several apartments and smaller condominiums lined the road.

One of them was Kurei-san’s home.

It was a not-so-large, two-story apartment. She probably lived alone. It felt like a traditional residential building, without a gate or entrance.

It seemed a bit risky for a woman to live alone, but there was plenty of foot traffic, and there was a police box nearby. The area might not have been that bad in terms of public safety.

I didn’t enter the apartment grounds but passed by, noting the door Kurei-san stopped at.

There were five rooms on both the first and second floors. Kurei-san entered the corner room on the second floor, furthest from the sidewalk. The only way up to the second floor seemed to be the staircase along the exterior wall facing the street.

There was no other exit leading to a different street from the apartment. The only place facing the road was where I was standing now. Luckily, there was a privately-owned café across the street. If I sat by the window, I could keep an eye on the apartment entrance. Even better, there was a small park on the side opposite the entrance, visible from the balcony, complete with a bench. It was the perfect condition for surveillance.

Grateful for the unexpected fortune, I moved towards the park.

The lights were on in Kurei-san’s room.

…I planned to watch until the lights went out tonight.

Even though it’s still August, the night is quite chilly. While buying unseasonably hot coffee from a vending machine, I simply waited for the lights to go out.

—Indeed, this is physically and mentally taxing.

Classes will start next week with the end of summer vacation. It would be even harder then. Moving today might have been the right decision.

●