Can I Still Be Your Heroine Even Though I'm Your Teacher?-Chapter 3Volume 1 .6 - A Relationship Like Waves

A Relationship Like Waves 6

“You keep showing me these kinds of openings…”

“It’s only inside the house! And I’m in a good mood today!”

“Is it about Kuhouin? You know, I’m the one waking her up every morning.”

I blurted out those words before I realized.

Suddenly, Tenjō-san put down her chopsticks.

“What do you mean?”

She looked at me with a serious expression.

I couldn’t comprehend her reaction to my words.

After all, she had been in a good mood until just a moment ago, and now she seemed angry.

Not understanding the reason, I inadvertently fell silent.

“Nishiki-kun, explain. Are you related to the fact that Kuhouin-san is no longer late?”

I was the one caught off guard.

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I just wanted praise, knowing that her joy was due to my own efforts.

From my own vanity and a faint irritation within me, I had revealed the truth.

She waited earnestly for my explanation with a serious look on her face.

Unable to bear the awkward silence, I began to explain the situation.

“I’ve been giving her a morning call every day. That’s why Kuhouin has been making it to homeroom in the morning.”

“When? You’re also busy preparing meals in the morning, right?”

“It’s just a quick call before Tenjō-san arrives. Sensei, you were also happy that your worry decreased, weren’t you?”

I stood my ground, believing I hadn’t done anything wrong.

In fact, no one was at a loss.

“Do you really need to go that far, Nishiki-kun?”

She questioned as if my actions were a bother.

“I just helped Kuhouin because Sensei asked me to.”

Feeling as if my actions were being criticized, I defended myself a bit heatedly.

Tenjō-san let out a small gasp.

“——I see, that’s right. It was because I asked you to help.”

Remembering her own words, she visibly slumped in disappointment.

“I’m sorry I put you on the spot again. I’m really taking advantage of you, don’t I?”

Tenjō-san hugged her knees and curled up like a ball, emitting a gloomy aura.

Seeing her more upset than I anticipated, I was confused.

“I thought Tenjō-san would be happy too.”

“I was happy. I thought finally my words had reached a student, but maybe I was mistaken…”

Tenjō-san, still hugging her knees, rolled over and lay on the floor.

It seemed like she was sulking because I had taken credit for her initiative.

“But still, Yuunagi-kun, you seem quite close to Kuhouin-san, making phone calls and all. Ah, you were in the same class last year.”

The homeroom teacher, talking in an exaggerated tone, lay on the floor of the student’s room, curled up like a pill bug.

“You know about that too?”

“I’m the homeroom teacher, after all.”

“I only exchanged contact information with Kuhouin for this matter. Nothing more, nothing less.”

I hurriedly corrected myself.

“You are kind to girls in trouble, aren’t you?”

Only her large eyes were looking at me.

“If you deny that, it would shake the very foundation of the relationship between me and Tenjō-san.”

Tenjō-san slowly moved back to her original position.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea for our conversation here to affect our outside behavior.”

“Tenjō-san, you talked about the strawberry jam in the classroom too, so it’s mutual, isn’t it?”

I hoped she would let it slide, but Tenjō-san wasn’t willing to let go.

“Yes, it’s my fault because I was the one who let my guard down first.”

I was concerned about her attitude of taking all the blame herself.

“I need to cool my head a bit. Sorry, but I’ll go back to my room tonight. Apologies for leaving the dinner.”

Without looking back, she quickly left the room.

It was the first time she had left a meal unfinished.

“…..”

I couldn’t bring myself to finish dinner either and just lay down on the bed.

After staring blankly at the ceiling for a while, I came to a conclusion.

“Did I unknowingly gotten in the way of her..?”

Ugh, my concern had backfired.

I was left with nothing but frustrating and unresolved feelings.

“Tenjō-san probably wanted to solve it by herself.”

Did I act too pretentious? If I had hurt her pride as a teacher, it made sense why her attitude changed.

No matter how well-intentioned I was, if Tenjō-san didn’t want it, it was meaningless.

It was indeed an unwarranted meddling.

With a sigh, I regretted my actions.

Maybe it would have been better if I hadn’t done anything at all.

“I hope she doesn’t start talking about terminating the Neighbor Agreement…”

I had grown quite accustomed to our semi-cohabitation life.

A secret relationship outside of school on weekdays.

As per the initial rule we set, we spent weekends separately.

I thought we had clearly delineated our personal and private lives.

But living together and seeing each other day and night, perhaps both of us had unconsciously become accustomed to various things and loosening and blurring the lines.

The room felt colder with Tenjō-san’s absence.

My small room suddenly seemed too spacious, and only quiet and boring time flowed.

I was reminded of my solitude for the first time in a while.

“It’s a bit lonely now.”

Such a feeling was a first for me since leaving home.

The days with Reiyu Tenjō, less than a month in total, seemed to have completely changed me.

Reiyu Tenjō had too much influence on me.

Feeling lonely in someone’s absence was, in a way, a proof of yearning.

***

The next morning, Tenjō-san woke up at her usual time and sent me a message.

【Reiyu: Good morning. There’s a staff meeting this morning, so I won’t need breakfast.】

“Is this her avoiding me? Or maybe…”

Either way, the timing was bad, and it made me worry.

While still thinking about last night’s incident, I called Akira for her morning wake-up.

Akira answered immediately.

I ended the call after hearing her cute, sleepy grumbles.

Normally, I would prepare breakfast, but I didn’t feel like cooking just for myself.

I toasted some bread, spread the last of the strawberry jam on it, and ate standing in the kitchen.

The freedom of living alone means no one to scold me for my manners.

Sitting on my bed and sipping coffee aimlessly, I realized I had missed my usual time to leave for school and hurriedly grabbed my uniform jacket before heading out.

I winced at the heat of the sunlight.