Chapter 402: The Right Way to Date
Chapter 402: The Right Way to Date
Himekoji had seen the music box shop as his last lifeline. He went in carrying that last bit of hope, and came out carrying only the feeling of disappointment.
Mashiro’s missing sketchbook wasn’t there either.
There was no choice. Himekoji had to retrace his steps all along the paths he had walked.
He searched again, searched twice more, searched three times more…
But even after searching all the way back along North Avenue to the Park by the river, Himekoji still found nothing.
His energy ran out completely. After dashing around two more times inside the Park, he finally couldn’t hold up any longer. He sat heavily on a bench, gasping for breath.
He tried to calm his ragged, hurried breathing. His head felt dizzy, like it was lacking oxygen. His ears felt strange too, ringing constantly. He swallowed many times, but it didn’t help.
It was already night.
Himekoji didn’t know how much time had passed. He only knew that at some point, without notice, the park’s street lamps had quietly lit up.
The view of the riverside lit by the lamplights felt different than in the daytime. Lights began to glow, dotted like stars.
How romantic…
Maybe it was an illusion?
Just as Himekoji leaned back on the bench, staring blankly at the night scenery, a familiar figure suddenly appeared before him.
“Sensei?”
He never imagined he’d meet the Female Teacher here.
“How coincidental…”
Not having recovered his stamina, Himekoji tiredly pulled at the corners of his lips, forcing a very weak smile.
“Coincidental? What coincidence? I specially came all the way here to find you! Looked for ages. I’m exhausted.”
However, hearing Himekoji, Hiratsuka-sensei immediately looked annoyed. She rolled her eyes and started complaining.
“Huh? Looking… for me?”
Himekoji didn’t understand.
“Mm. What else? Here.”
The Female Teacher said as she took something out from her shoulder bag.
It was the sketchbook.
“Huh?!”
The instant he saw it, Himekoji’s hand shot out instinctively.
He grabbed the sketchbook firmly in his hand.
“This is… Shiina’s?”
Holding it in his hands, he still felt a dizzy disbelief. He had searched for so long, tried so hard, pushed himself so desperately for so long. He had nearly been forced to give up. Never imagining the solution would arrive just like this, at this moment.
“Hmm, it’s definitely Shiina’s. Earlier at the Hotel, when I called ‘wait’, that was when I wanted to hand this to you. Didn’t expect you to ignore me completely and run off so fast.”
Saying this, the Female Teacher seemed to still hold a bit of resentment.
“Huh? That happened?”
Himekoji had absolutely no memory of it. Probably, at that time, his mind had already been completely filled by Mashiro. No room for anything else.
“Oh right, why did you have the sketchbook, Sensei?”
Finally remembering to ask, Himekoji suddenly questioned her.
“Huh? Ah… this? Well… it’s a long story…”
The Female Teacher unusually avoided her student’s gaze.
“It was like this… Ayano was worried about Mashiro… so she suggested we should come along to check things out…”
“W-wait a sec! Isn’t that stalking?!”
Halfway through hearing this, Himekoji suddenly sensed something deeply wrong and exclaimed loudly.
So that meant… the entire “date” between him and Mashiro this afternoon… had been secretly watched all along by these two disrespectful middle-aged women hanging out together?!
So embarrassing! So awkward!
“N-no! Not stalking!”
Hiratsuka Shizuka immediately put on her teacher persona, her face stern as she corrected him.
“We just happened to see you guys at the Park! Then after leaving the Park, we also just happened to be planning to go for a stroll on North Avenue…”
Except her teacher persona faltered halfway. The Female Teacher’s voice became increasingly mumbled as she spoke.
Probably, even she realized her explanation had no real credibility.
Himekoji summed up the Female Teacher’s vague statements.
“So… it was stalking after all!”
“Really, sometimes it’s really hard to reason with you students.”
Who knows what face the Female Teacher was making as she stubbornly doubled down.
Himekoji could only respond with an eye-roll.
Maybe feeling a bit awkward and losing face herself, the Female Teacher dug in her pockets.
She probably wanted to take out a cigarette to reset the mood, but unexpectedly, her hand came out empty.
“Um… I’m gonna go buy some cigarettes from a nearby store. What do you want to drink? I’ll get it for you.”
Himekoji was just about to wave his hand and decline. But when he opened his mouth, he instantly felt how terrifyingly dry his throat was. True, he had been running for so long, sweating multiple times over. So he changed his reply.
“Water. Plain water is fine.”
“OK!”
The Female Teacher flashed him a gesture, turned smartly, and walked out a few steps.
Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she looked back.
“Oh right, aren’t you gonna look?”
“Look at what?”
“The sketchbook.”
“Is that okay?”
Himekoji looked hesitant. It was personal property. He didn’t have the owner’s permission.
“What’s not okay? I say you can look, so look.”
Tossing that sentence over her shoulder, the Female Teacher’s figure soon vanished behind the bend in the Park’s stone path.
……
Should he look?
His mind was still tangled, but his hands moved faster.
He opened the sketchbook.
The first few pages in a row were of the river scenery drawn that afternoon.
Even though Himekoji knew these were only Mashiro’s rough sketches, they far exceeded the level of rough sketches.
Pictures like this were way more than enough for any exhibition or prize competition.
The scenes captured in the drawings felt even more beautiful than what Himekoji had seen with his own eyes.
Exquisite.
Even though he was used to it, he still felt amazed by Mashiro’s skill.
How could she be this incredible?
The Park and river scene took up four pages. After finishing them, he still felt a lingering desire for more.
So, hoping to see what else Mashiro had drawn besides these, he flipped through the sketchbook with this anticipation.
“This…”
But what appeared before his eyes was a completely different, unexpected image.
A manga.
On pages without neat panels, pictures were arranged simply – a set of manga scenes depicting a couple’s date.
The boy in the couple looked just like Himekoji. The girl looked like Mashiro.
At the start, the two met in front of the station. “Your dress is so cute,” and “Your hair’s different,” their conversation was shown with simple speech bubbles like these.
When praised, the girl’s face showed happiness. When called by her first name, her face blushed shyly.
While walking on the street, they walked side by side, held hands tightly as if they were very close. The boy was gentle and thoughtful, realizing the girl’s sandals made walking difficult. So he quietly slowed his pace, matching hers.
Hand in hand, they wandered through the Park, wandered along the riverside.
Time just for the two of them. Space just for the two of them. All inside this drawing.
……
……