Chapter 476: Living for the Truth
Chapter 476: Living for the Truth
“Himekoji.”
It was Hiratsuka-sensei’s voice.
The female teacher beeped the horn twice and waved at him from inside the car.
Himekoji had spotted this car earlier when he brought Rikka back, but hadn’t paid it much mind.
So… she’d been waiting for him for a while?
Himekoji started to awkwardly re-wrap the bandage, but the female teacher stopped him.
Opening the door, getting out, walking over, grabbing his hand – Hiratsuka-sensei’s moves were quick and refreshing.
She looked at Himekoji’s changed left eye with slight seriousness for a moment—
“It’s just as beautiful as the Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye.”
She said that.
“…”
Himekoji wasn’t sure how to respond, so he just smiled quietly.
“Rikka is already back?”
“Yes.”
He nodded, keeping the smile steady.
Then, Hiratsuka-sensei smiled too.
“Holding back your tears… it hurt, right?”
Himekoji shook his head and denied it.
Hiratsuka-sensei gave him a hefty thump on the shoulder, sounding exasperated—
“Honestly! Why hide in front of your teacher? Go on, cry. My shoulder is yours. Cry until you’re done.”
“What are you even saying, Sensei?”
Despite his stubborn words, he couldn’t resist the tender, mature warmth an older woman offered.
Himekoji pressed his forehead hard against the female teacher’s shoulder.
But he didn’t cry.
He was stronger than he thought.
Just like the Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye, who held back her tears until the very end.
Those tears were saved for the joy of meeting again.
Meeting an important person once more. Holding onto that belief, he could smile and be strong.
He let himself be like this for just a quiet moment. The next instant, Himekoji pulled himself together.
He lifted his head, stepped back, slipping out of the female teacher’s gentle hold without hesitation.
Seeing this, Hiratsuka-sensei smiled a truly genuine smile. She turned towards the car, opened the door, and beckoned Himekoji with a raised hand.
“Alright, get in.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll take you for a drive.”
He had no reason to refuse.
After leaving Rikka’s house, his goal had been to get some air anyway.
Himekoji didn’t want to lie to himself.
He still couldn’t face Rikka naturally. Seeing that identical face, he couldn’t help but remember the Lady of the Wicked Lord’s Eye.
So, maybe… it was better not to go back just yet?
A drive sounded great.
Thinking that, he got into Hiratsuka-sensei’s car.
And immediately regretted it—
“Sensei! Terribly dangerous! So dangerous! Speeding! You’re speeding! This is no drive! All I feel is that death rides the wind! Please, have mercy! Mercy!!!”
Hiratsuka-sensei didn’t seem bothered.
“Relax, it’s barely anything. We’ve all been through this road; no need to pretend. Last School Trip was way wilder, and you weren’t even spooked.”
“Are those the same?!”
Back then, he was driving! His life at least felt like it was in his own hands.
But now? How could he feel safe with this woman driving, calm and confident while pressing down on the accelerator with her high heels!
“At least! At least take off your high heels!”
“Oh? What a suggestive request. But seeing how today is special, I’ll indulge you.”
Hiratsuka-sensei bent down as if to take them off, teasing him with a wink and a grin.
“W-wait! Let me!”
So please, keep both hands on the wheel!
And stop glancing over here! Eyes on the road!! Eyes on the road!!
How on earth did this person even get her license?!
It defied belief how someone driving so dangerously could remain accident-free!
He took advantage of a red light. In a flash, he wrenched the female teacher’s high heels off her ankles.
After the car started moving again, Himekoji sat trembling in the passenger seat, hugging Hiratsuka-sensei’s high heels.
The seatbelt offered zero sense of security!
Only when they reached the quiet, wide-open mountain road with no cars around could Hiratsuka-sensei drive freely, and Himekoji finally managed to breathe again.
He wound down the window. The wind roared into the car. Himekoji closed his eyes, letting the breeze tussle his messy bangs.
“I WILL DEFINITELY GET MARRIED!!!”
Suddenly, a voice like this exploded right next to his ear. But the very next moment, it was snatched away by the wind towards the back of the car, unheard.
Himekoji opened his eyes and looked at the female teacher beside him in surprise.
She just shot him a challenging grin, urging him to yell something too.
Himekoji hesitated for a moment, but then followed her lead—
“I… WILL DO IT!!!”
He shouted it out the window at the top of his voice. The words vanished instantly, swept away to who-knows-where by the roaring wind.
“Huff—”
He blew out a heavy, pent-up breath.
The suffocating pressure, the gloom that had gathered and weighed on him for weeks, months, years… it felt like the wind had simply carried it all away.
Hiratsuka-sensei watched him with a soft smile. She didn’t ask what he would do. She just lifted her chin slightly, silently encouraging him to continue.
“I will do it!”
“I will!!”
“Just you wait and see!!!”
Such a voice constantly rang out and circled over the highway. It was carried away by the wind and then blown apart by it.
Finally, the car stopped at the mountaintop.
They overlooked the scenery of the whole town.
Himekoji sat.
“Hey, catch it~~”
Hiratsuka-sensei threw the drink over from far away. It was just bought from the vending machine.
Because it was too sudden, Himekoji was not ready at all. Luckily, with his good reflexes and reaction, he managed to catch it steadily.
Himekoji was about to complain a bit. But the female teacher had already come close. And she spoke first—
“Himekoji, I believe in you.”
The complaining words got stuck in his throat right away.
In just this moment of hesitation, the female teacher had already pulled the ring off on her own. She lifted her head and took a big gulp. Her bold way was just like her true character as the female teacher.
But it really was sneaky!
She bought beer for herself, but gave him juice.
Himekoji wanted to say something. Yet once again, the female teacher got ahead of him.
“We all believe in you.”
The subject changed from “I” to “We”. Because of this small difference, Himekoji froze for a bit.
So the female teacher kept full control of the words from there.
“What you asked Yukinoshita to do, it’s dangerous, isn’t it?”
For some reason, she suddenly brought this up.
“Although that’s true, but…”
Himekoji was about to give an explanation. But without surprise, he was softly cut off by the female teacher again.
“It was like using her life for a big gamble. For Yukinoshita, she doesn’t gamble—she only does things she’s sure about. If it’s not 100% a win, she rethinks and prepares until it is certain. But this time, she didn’t do that. She agreed right away. Why?”
“Why?”
Himekoji repeated the female teacher’s words without thinking. But deep inside, he already had an answer.
“Maybe it was because it was Himekoji’s rare first time asking for help? Or to pay back the favor from the school trip? But when I asked her, she answered me this way—’I don’t gamble. I just believe in Himekoji. He fears failure more than I do? So if he says it can be done, it must be.’ It really didn’t seem like Yukinoshita to say that. The reason? Simply because she believed.”
Hiratsuka-sensei patted Himekoji’s shoulder meaningfully. She looked out from the mountaintop and smiled with relief.
“You’re the first to make Yukinoshita say such things.”
Himekoji copied the female teacher’s earlier action. He lifted his head and took a big gulp. He didn’t say anything back.
At times like this, he wished even more that the juice in his hand could be changed to alcohol.
“All right, let’s get back to the first question.”
“Huh?”
After hearing that, Himekoji thought without thinking. But what was the first question really?
Luckily, Hiratsuka-sensei soon gave the answer back right away—
“What you asked Yukinoshita to do, it’s dangerous, isn’t it?”
Himekoji hadn’t given a full answer earlier. Now, the female teacher gave the chance to him again.
He blurted it out almost without thought—
“Although that’s true, but, I believe in her.”
He believed in Yukinoshita, just like she believed in him.
At that moment, the wind on the mountaintop started howling. It felt like the wind blew into her eyes, so Hiratsuka-sensei turned her face away. Her eyes reddened as if stinging.
After a pause, she curled her lips like nothing was wrong and teased Himekoji.
“Didn’t you say you wouldn’t believe in anyone? Our lonely hero, our proud warrior, our grand pervert?”
Himekoji’s old face flushed red. In this situation, he was rarely honest. Even if his honesty was very soft.
“That… that was all lies…”
“What?”
The female teacher put her hand to her ear in an exaggerated way to show she hadn’t heard a thing.
The feeling of shame suddenly went through the roof.
What kind of shameful play was this?!
He stood on the mountaintop, his cheeks hot, and Himekoji decided not to care anymore. He admitted it loud and clear—
“I said! That was all lies! Yes! That’s right! The teacher must have seen it already! Himekoji Akito has been living a fake life! Believe in others, want to believe in others—isn’t that what people are like? Only, only because I was too fake!!!”
After spilling it all out like this, Himekoji thought the female teacher would make fun of him badly next. But things didn’t go that way.
The female teacher just rubbed his head and pulled him gently into her arms.
“Then, is this Himekoji that I’m holding now the real one?”
Was it the real one?
He asked himself.
One second.
Two seconds.
Himekoji reached out with his hand. At first, it trembled and hesitated. Finally, he made up his mind without looking back. He wrapped his arms tight around the female teacher’s waist. He buried his head in her chest.
He didn’t say yes, and he didn’t say no. Himekoji just gave this promise—
“From now on, I’ll live for what’s real.”
Him…
He finally understood.
Even if it was late, even if he had gone the long way around, even if the journey was embarrassing and messy.
But at least he understood!
Him…
He wouldn’t make choices against his heart anymore!
He wouldn’t push away the kindness from others anymore!
He wouldn’t shove away the people who came close one after another!
He would try a whole lot harder!
Not to act like a pervert.
But to become Himekoji Akito.
To live for what’s real!
…
…