Kissing My Student, It's Over if We're Caught-Chapter 5Volume 1 .6 - Painful thing: Love

The lights in Kurei-san’s room went out just past 10:30 PM.

Considering she got home at 8:30 PM, had dinner, took a bath, and then factored in the time to watch a foreign drama, the math pretty much added up.

Based on our casual conversation, I could tell there were no lies.

Just to be sure, I tailed her in the same way the next day, and again, the lights went out at 10:30 PM.

—As expected, Friday night and the weekend are the times to keep watch.

With that conviction, I prepared for the weekend.

…Unfortunately, that’s where the smooth sailing ended.

***

The week began. Summer vacation was over.

The students, having returned to the classroom after the all-school assembly, seemed a bit out of it, possibly due to the summer break hangover. Among them, I was the one who looked the most exhausted.

“Sensei, you look super tired?”

“…Can you tell?”

As I responded, I reflected on the hellish three days.

It wasn’t strange to expect Kurei-san to make a move on the last weekend of summer vacation—so I thought I’d try keeping watch at her apartment from Friday night, but it was a complete miss.

Friday was still okay. Kurei-san’s room lights went out at the usual time, and she didn’t come out after that, so I could go back home. I hadn’t had a proper meal after work and was a bit tired from keeping watch, but I was still energetic.

The hardship started from Saturday morning. Since there was a chance that Kurei-san might go out at the first train, I called a taxi before the first train and moved to the usual park.

Until the nearby café opened, I spent a few hours listening to a radio I bought to kill time. I had decided to actively keep watch until someone approached me as a suspicious person, but well, it was tough.

After the café opened, I was seated by the window and spread out a college entrance exam red book. If asked, I was prepared to say, “I’m a ronin student who can’t study at home.” Occasionally, I pretended to solve problems, but mainly I watched outside, not to miss the moment Kurei-san went out.

To be blunt, it was excruciating. Time passed incredibly slowly, and it required both patience and concentration.

Sitting and keeping watch was hard, but it was also tough after spotting Kurei-san leaving.

I quickly packed up the problem book and notebook, paid the café master, and left the shop. Following Kurei-san only to end up at a convenience store or supermarket would suddenly bring on a wave of exhaustion.

…And then, when Kurei-san returned home, I went back to the café again. Naturally, the master gave me a suspicious look.

“I took a break,” I said, and he just gave a wry smile. I stayed in the shop for a long time, but since I ordered light meals and coffee refills several times, I wasn’t kicked out.

The café closed at 9 PM. Kurei-san’s room lights went out at the usual time.

Sunday followed a similar pattern (except for Saturday night when I was so tired that I spontaneously stayed at a nearby business hotel…).

Since there was school the next day, it was unlikely for Kurei-san to make a move. I left at 9 PM.

…Or rather, it was more accurate to say I fled back home because both my body and spirit had reached their limits.

There was no way I’d be rested by Monday morning.

“What kind of intense play were you into, huh? Trying too hard just because summer vacation’s ending.”

A boy, who often joked around, said, causing laughter in the classroom.

Among them, only Kirihara wasn’t laughing.

She seemed expressionless, but I wondered if she was worried. Or maybe she was just disbelieving.

“Well, I’ll get used to it bit by bit.”

Though I wasn’t rested, work is work. I managed to finish homeroom to some extent and dismissed the students. Since today was only the opening ceremony and homeroom, I planned to finish early and rest…

“Hm?”

On my way back to the staff room from the classroom, I felt my phone vibrate and checked the screen. There was a message from Kirihara.

“Your face looked really bad, are you sure you’re okay?”

I stopped in the hallway, looked around, and replied.

“It was tough, but I’ll go to bed early today.”

“I see. You said it was tough, but it must have been really bad.”

Kirihara and I had exchanged messages quite a bit during the weekend stakeout. Without that conversation, time would have felt even longer, and I would have been more mentally drained.

“Are you going to continue tailing?”

“Of course.”

“…Okay. Just don’t break your body.”

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She had shown concern over the weekend, but there were times when she was oddly indifferent, and her replies suddenly became slower in the middle of the conversation—a strange change considering how clingy she used to be.

But I appreciated her concern.

Feeling a bit brighter, I headed back.

“Hajima-sensei? What are you doing here?”

“I was just about to head back.”

By coincidence, I ran into Kurei-san and returned to the staff room together.

…While lightly probing for her weekend plans, I headed back.

Sadly, I couldn’t gather any new information from Kurei-san, and the first week of the second term passed by.

And then, Friday night. I found myself keeping watch from Kurei-san’s homecoming time again. But, as usual, the lights went out around 10:30 PM.

I should have gone home at that time, but I was still not rested, so I decided to stop by a nearby hotel. The room was available, so I checked in.

After finishing my shower and getting into bed, my consciousness was cut off instantly.

As a result, I completely overslept the next morning.

I woke up around 8 AM, hurriedly left the hotel, and headed for Kurei-san’s home.

Luckily, Kurei-san hadn’t gone out anywhere. I rushed to the location and saw her hanging laundry on the balcony.

If she had gone out early in the morning, this whole week’s effort would have been for nothing.