Chapter 520: Talking About Development

They were home. The female teacher’s home.

It took every last bit of Himekoji’s strength to drag the unconscious, drunken woman out of the passenger seat. He couldn’t help but let out a bitter, helpless sigh.

She was way too irresponsible!

After using the alcohol to do that thing, she just tilted her head and passed out, dumping this whole mess entirely onto Himekoji.

Seriously way too irresponsible!

And Himekoji couldn’t even get mad.

He carried the female teacher all the way to her door. Only then did he carefully set her down. He held her steady with one arm, while his other hand searched her clothes for the key.

The female teacher didn’t have a purse. Himekoji had no idea which pocket held the key. He started fumbling more urgently. In his haste, his hand unavoidably brushed places it shouldn’t.

Her mature curves felt completely different from Mashiro’s. Soft and pliant in his arms now, like a pool of warm water inviting him to take whatever he wanted. He felt his mind wander distractedly. Himekoji took a deep breath, forcing down the frantic energy threatening to burst right out of his chest.

“Mmmph~~”

The teacher in his arms let out a soft moan just then, slowly waking up. Perfect timing. She lifted her head, her eyes dazed and unfocused. When wearing her high heels, she was almost the same height as Himekoji, but now, drunk and weak, she seemed a little more petite. Even so, as she raised her head, those deep red lips stained with his blood grazed across his cheek.

Himekoji froze, a flicker of unease running through him.

Then, the hand he’d been using to search her for the key was suddenly grabbed. In his panic, he realized Hiratsuka-sensei’s hand felt delicate and boneless, as cool as moonlight.

“It’s not what it looks like! I-I was just looking for the key!”

Afraid of being misunderstood, he blurted out his excuse before she could say anything.

“W-We need to… to get inside! We can’t… can’t stay standing out here forever…”

“Pfft~~”

A low, amused chuckle reached his ears, carrying the faint, intoxicating scent of alcohol mixed with her perfume.

“It’s a code lock.”

“Huh? Ah! Ah, right!”

Himekoji practically jumped, snatching his hand back from Hiratsuka-sensei’s grasp. He smacked his forehead hard, feeling utterly embarrassed and annoyed at himself. How could he have forgotten? The keypad lock was clearly visible right beside the door handle, and he’d completely looked past it.

He knew the code. Punching it in quickly, he pushed the door open and slipped an arm around her waist, guiding the teacher, who stumbled heavily, inside.

Feeling around in the dark, he got her settled on the sofa first. Only then did Himekoji free up a hand to find the light switch. The teacher, half-awake and half-drunk, casually picked up the remote control from the coffee table and turned on the TV.

So, the first light to brighten the room actually came from the TV’s glowing, large LCD screen.

What was playing on TV startled Himekoji. It was a promotional live-stream for Kasumigaoka’s new book release.

On-screen, Kasumigaoka smiled gently, her eyes sparkling brightly. It felt like she was looking right at him and the teacher. Himekoji felt the nervousness he’d just calmed starting to wind up again.

Casually, he took the remote from the teacher’s hand and changed the channel.

Only to find another channel showing Kasumigaoka. Damn it!

“Young people these days… really develop well…”

Hiratsuka-sensei’s gaze lingered on the TV screen for a moment before she spoke softly, almost to herself.

Himekoji felt this was a topic he probably shouldn’t engage with.

Still, his eyes instinctively darted back to the screen. Well… Kasumigaoka was very well developed…

Thinking critically about the cleavage displayed on TV, though… ahem… felt undeniably strange.

Just as Himekoji had that thought, he raised his head. For a split second, his eyes seemed to meet Kasumigaoka’s on screen… Wait, no! That was impossible! TV Kasumigaoka couldn’t see him…

Yet that feeling of being stared at was incredibly strong, absurd and bewildering. Seated on the sofa, Himekoji’s guilt spiked. He quickly scrambled to his feet.

“I… I’ll get you some water, Sensei.”

He added honey to help sober her up. Carrying the glass, Himekoji walked back into the living room and handed it to her.

“When I was in high school, you really had to work to get even a hint of cleavage.”

When the teacher began to speak, Himekoji thought she was going to say “Thank you.” The words “You’re welcome” were already on the tip of his tongue when he suddenly realized they were wrong. The teacher had instead picked up the earlier topic again!

Wasn’t this… not appropriate conversation between teacher and student?

With just the two of them alone together like this, it felt loaded with potential meanings.

The absurd scene that had happened earlier in the car instantly flashed back into his mind. Himekoji lifted a hand, unconsciously brushing his fingertips across his lips. The small wound where she’d bitten him still held a lingering trace of pain and that choking feeling. Suddenly, his whole body felt uncomfortably hot; he could barely breathe.

“It’s true, you know.”

Seemingly displeased by Himekoji’s silence, Hiratsuka-sensei turned her drunken, hazy gaze fully onto him.

Himekoji coughed nervously, composing his face into a forced look of indifference.

“I am not the slightest bit interested in Sensei’s… development history.”

Standing beside the sofa, looking down at her, Himekoji surreptitiously lowered his line of sight.

No cleavage in high school?

Looking at her now, she was just as well developed as Kasumigaoka!

Her white blouse strained across her chest; the top two buttons were practically pulling apart. It was undeniably a highly successful pair she could be proud of.

If Hiratsuka-sensei made that comment around Yukinoshita, Yukinoshita might feel excited and hopeful about her own future.

“Not interested, hmm?” Hiratsuka-sensei challenged softly, her voice still laced with alcohol. “The way you’re looking tells a different story.”

“Eh? Uh…”

She’d actually caught him. Flustered, Himekoji squared his shoulders defiantly.

“I-I was just… just observing out of respect for the topic! Since we brought it up, not even glancing would be rude, right?”

Looking wasn’t rude; not looking was the rude part. And while looking, it was best to show just the right amount of appreciation. That was often the illogical way women’s minds worked, but Himekoji felt he was at least starting to grasp the basics.

Of course, you could also see this as Himekoji finding a reassuring excuse for his eavesdropping eyes.

“I thought you’d say it was just a man’s instinct,” Hiratsuka-sensei murmured.

“……”

He couldn’t deny that. Himekoji was momentarily at a loss for words to argue back.

Into this momentary silence, a third voice unexpectedly intruded – Kasumigaoka’s voice, coming from the TV screen:

“Because there was a need for it, I suppose.”

It was a line Kasumigaoka used in the live interview to answer the host. Somehow, it fit perfectly with the topic they had just been discussing…

“Oh… So, it was because there was a need?”

The female teacher instantly adopted the phrasing. Her body slowly slouched, leaning most of her weight against the arm of the sofa. Cradling her water glass, her eyes seemed misty as her gaze flicked fleetingly downwards towards Himekoji’s lower body.

Himekoji knew his own situation. He flushed deeply, embarrassment washing over him. Frantically, he hunched his shoulders and bent forward awkwardly.

While Himekoji tried desperately to hide and deflect, Hiratsuka-sensei did the opposite. She stretched subtly, making sure the impressive view was clear –

“Every time your gaze lands there,” she announced with a hint of intoxication coloring her voice, “it fills this chest with a rather substantial sense of superiority.”

Those same, stunningly red lips that had recently tasted him were now moving, speaking words that were absolutely not what a teacher should be saying.

Himekoji curled into himself even tighter.

Damn it!

He was drunk too! Drunk! He couldn’t hide it anymore!

Young people these days, they really did develop well. Both the girls… and the boys.

Himekoji began to search his memory.

When exactly… had he developed to such a… noticeable degree?

Was it in high school?

Or even earlier, back in middle school?

……