Chapter 406: Revealing Feelings
Chapter 406: Revealing Feelings
“You really…”
The female teacher smiled wryly, slowly shaking her head.
Himekoji hung his head.
After all, this was the first time he admitted publicly that he liked both Nanami and Mashiro at the same time. He knew he might be looked down upon.
But what could he do?
He just liked both of them!
By now, denying or running away from it wasn’t possible anymore.
“I-I know! I think I’m ridiculous, too! Liking both Shiina and Aoyama at once is definitely weird… Is my brain messed up? I’ve thought that myself…”
“It’s nothing. It’s not really that weird.”
“Huh?!”
He thought he’d at least get scolded.
“And no, your brain isn’t messed up.”
Instead, the answer Himekoji got from the female teacher was the complete opposite.
That made him unable to accept it.
A two-timing jerk like him shouldn’t get comfort. He deserved harsh words.
He wanted someone to yell sense into him…
“But-”
He tried to argue, but was cut off before he could explain.
“Do you really believe stuff like ‘one destined person’ exists? That’s just stories for little girls, you know.”
“……”
Himekoji didn’t know how to respond.
“Humans haven’t mastered liking only one person. Such pure devotion? We can’t do that yet.”
“But-”
“Liking someone… it’s not a feeling you can control easily. Feelings that you can control easily? Even if real, they’re hard to believe in, I’d say.”
“But… but… Even if true… why me? I keep messing up… one mistake after another…”
“There are no perfect people in this world. Actually, it’s the opposite. A perfect person who never makes mistakes, never worries, never misunderstands? Sounds pretty boring. I have zero interest in someone like that. Mashiro and Nanami probably feel the same? Everyone… Mashiro, Aoyama… they were drawn to you, Himekoji-kun, because it was you…”
The corners of his eyes and inside his nose warmed. Drinks lowered his guard. His emotions were easily swayed.
All his feelings spilled out more strongly today than ever this year.
“Sensei…”
“What a heartbreaking face.”
The female teacher commented, her expression complex.
“Tears… are warmer than I thought…”
After speaking all this out, only this thought remained.
He always thought tears were cold.
But today, he learned they were this warm.
This comforting.
“Himekoji.”
“Yeah…”
“Thank those two. The ones who taught you all this.”
“Y-yeah…”
He could barely speak.
His voice choked in his throat.
So, Himekoji just nodded before Hiratsuka-sensei. Again and again.
Mashiro’s and Nanami’s faces floated in his mind.
“Seriously… I’ve made myself tear up too.”
Saying this, Hiratsuka-sensei turned away, her back to Himekoji.
She seemed to be wiping her eyes…
Maybe it was just his imagination?
After a long pause, the female teacher finally rose. Still facing away.
This teacher who loved drinking hadn’t drunk much tonight. She even drank less than Himekoji.
But despite her high tolerance, she seemed a bit tipsy.
“Then… I’ll head back.”
A quiet goodbye.
“Goodbye, Himekoji-kun.”
“Right… goodbye, sensei… and… thanks…”
Hiratsuka-sensei just waved vaguely behind her without turning back.
This mature teacher image should have lasted to the end.
But then came something she never expected.
Opening the door, she saw who stood outside. Hiratsuka-sensei froze in surprise –
“M-Mashiro?! And… Nanami?! Why are you both here?”
Her first instinct was to partly cover her tear-stained eye makeup.
Luckily, Mashiro and Nanami outside looked distracted. Though standing there, their attention was fixed inside. Their gazes shot straight past the teacher at the genkan, clearly searching for Himekoji.
Relief mixed with complex uneasiness.
So… Mashiro and Nanami probably heard her earlier conversation with Himekoji?
Then her role here was done.
Not interfering further, Hiratsuka-sensei simply nodded at them and left.
She left the remaining time to them.
…
“M-Mashiro?! Nanami?!”
The most shocked was Himekoji.
Seeing Mashiro and Nanami walk in together, his amazement was overwhelming. He didn’t know how to face them next. What feelings to show.
“You… both heard?”
“Yep.”
Nanami answered with a tangled look. Mashiro silently nodded.
They definitely heard…
His confession to both Mashiro and Nanami… heard by both at once…
Countless emotions crashed inside him.
Embarrassment over pouring out his feelings. Guilt for liking them both equally. Fear, pain, confusion and panic over the reality he now had to confront.
Regardless, this moment had arrived.
Himekoji wouldn’t run.
…
…