I am a teacher at a girls' school in Tokyo

"I know." said Tetsufumi Hirakawa, and then he walked to the side.

"But wait a minute, Mr. Hisada. I have a gift for Mr. Hisada."

"Gift?" Hisata Masu blinked, she couldn't have imagined that there was such a thing.

"Yes."

Tetsufumi Hirakawa picked up a bag of beautifully packaged gift boxes from the cabinet next to him.

"I bought it from Uji City when I was on a business trip to Kyoto. Uji's matcha is quite famous. I thought about it and realized that Hisada-sensei usually drinks tea... and he was from the afternoon tea department. So -"

Tetsufumi Hirakawa handed over the gift box.

"Thank you Mr. Hisada for taking care of me all the time."

"..."

Seeing that the female teacher didn't seem to react, Tetsufumi Hirakawa smiled.

"I took an hour-long train ride to Uji City on Saturday and then back along the Uji River. It took me a long time to select this gift."

"..."

"Teacher Hisata, please accept it."

Hisada Masu came back to her senses, her eyes swept past the gift box and stared at Hirakawa Tetsufumi's face.

"Teacher Pingchuan, were you sick on Saturday?"

"……Eh?"

"You ran around just because you were sick, so you got sick again at night, right?"

"..."

"I didn't take good care of myself."

"..."

Hirakawa Tetsufumi smiled in confusion.

This female teacher's focus is somewhat unexpected.

Chapter 167 I Wish You Knew Me

"Tick tock."

This is the sound of rain.

On Tuesday, June 10, Tetsufumi Hirakawa went to school for the first time after returning from Kyoto, and what greeted him was the rain in Tokyo.

No matter what, the rainy season is really annoying.

Opening his umbrella, he walked out of the tram station, and walked slowly towards Moriya in the space separated by the umbrella.

The scenery along the way and the figures of people around him who were either going to work or school gave him a feeling of being away for a long time.

It has been a long time indeed. It was the first time I went to school in five days.

Even when I arrived at the gate of Moriya and looked at the school gate of Moriya in the rain, I felt a strange sense of strangeness.

——Maybe it’s because I just recovered from a serious illness. In short, when you just recover from an illness, all the senses of your body become a little strange.

why?

Tetsufumi Hirakawa was making boring guesses.

Maybe it's because...when you're sick, your senses become dull, and when you get better, you gain a whole new experience. So even the scenery that was once familiar to you becomes unfamiliar.

Maybe?

It doesn’t matter if it’s wrong.

Speculating casually about such unimportant things, Tetsufumi Hirakawa walked into the gate of Moritani.

Next to me, high school girls were walking with umbrellas in their hands, their skirts swaying in the wind. Even the rain could not cover up the vitality of the high school students.

However, not all high school girls are so energetic.

There are many people who walk quietly, but there are also those who make people feel sad that "school is so annoying" just by looking at their figures.

There are also some who have a straight posture like a noble lady.

——Oh, it’s not as if, this is the eldest lady.

Just a few steps away, Tetsufumi Hirakawa walked forward.

"Student Shinohara."

"..."

The girl paused, raised her umbrella and looked over here.

A delicate but expressionless face appeared before her eyes, and only when his figure came into her sight did a look of surprise appear.

"Teacher Hirakawa?"

It was as if something on her mind was accidentally revealed. It was not until several seconds later that the look of surprise disappeared. The girl reacted and greeted him.

"Good morning."

"Is Shinohara-san thinking about something?"

"……nothing."

Shinohara Shiori withdrew her upward gaze and lowered her umbrella.

Hirakawa Tetsufumi didn't care whether he was really worried or not, he just asked casually.

"Is that so? So you are planning to join the wind band now?"

"Ah."

"..."

"..."

The raindrops falling from the edge of the umbrella formed a rain curtain, separating the two people, and silent silence was born under the two umbrellas.

The sound of rain and footsteps.

Tetsufumi Hirakawa looked in surprise at the girl who was completely hidden by the umbrella.

"Shinohara-san, why don't you ask about the wind orchestra?"

Logically speaking, since he had brought up the topic, the girl should have asked, but she didn't.

"… Mr. Hirakawa is now well, so he's thinking about the wind orchestra?"

"Of course, I am a dedicated teacher."

"..."

Shinohara Shiori stared at the raindrops falling in front of her and said nothing.

Hirakawa Tetsufumi said to himself, "Also, didn't Shinohara-san say that he would supervise me in fulfilling my duties as a wind band member?"

"..."

"what happened?"

"..."

Shinohara Shiori held an umbrella and remained silent as the sound of rain surrounded her.

Wind ensemble, wind ensemble again.

No matter what, the only thing she could talk about when she saw me was the wind band.

She bit her lower lip.

This is the distance she maintains, always that of an ordinary student.

This is indeed risk-free, and Mr. Hirakawa would not have any doubts about it.

But, at the same time, in the eyes of this teacher, she was just an ordinary student. No matter what, even when she graduated, she would never have any ideas that met her expectations.

But she is not willing to do this.

For the first time, the girl's heart had someone to rely on, but it just died in silence. This kind of thing should never happen.

What she wanted was to be closer, to be able to touch and belong to his daily life, rather than just being a student, wandering on the outside of his daily life, and becoming a part of his work.

Yes, after all, for so long, everything between her and him was just "work".

She only existed at the outermost edge of the teacher's life circle, using her identity as a student and the work of the wind orchestra to maintain the few remaining connections.

Besides, no more.

Apart from the responsibilities of work, there is nothing.

The shared umbrella in the rain, the journey of camping together, were just bubbles in her fantasy filter, which would burst with a poke. Once exposed, it would be found that the distance between him and her was quite far.

So far away that she had never entered his daily life. She knew nothing about him outside of work.

This is definitely not what Shinohara Shiori expected, and it is definitely not just about the affairs of the wind orchestra.

She wanted to get closer and touch his daily life.

She made up her mind.

-

Tetsufumi Hirakawa heard the girl take a deep breath amid the sound of the falling rain.

The umbrella was raised again.

Gray clouds blocked the gloomy sky from the sun. Under the umbrella, the dim light illuminated the young lady's undecorated and exquisite face, which came into view.

The girl's pleasant voice, mixed with moisture, entered her ears.

"Teacher Hirakawa."

"..."

Hirakawa Tetsufumi was stunned for a moment, looking at the girl next to him who suddenly looked at him, not knowing what to do.

"……What's wrong?"

Shinohara Shiori's eyes were full of seriousness and some kind of incomprehensible expectation.

"I don't want to discuss the wind orchestra matters with Mr. Hirakawa right now."

"...Eh? Why?"

"No reason." The girl answered capriciously.

"Aren't you happy?"

"possible."

"possible?"

"Ah."

"This……"

Tetsufumi Hirakawa was a little confused.

He stared at the eldest lady who suddenly became willful and blinked his eyes in confusion.

"If Shinohara-san is in a bad mood because of something bad, you can talk to the teacher. As a homeroom teacher, it is one of my responsibilities to solve students' problems."

"Shiori doesn't want to talk about it either."

"...Okay." Now Hirakawa Tetsufumi was at a loss for words, "Then what does Shinohara-san want to do?"

"Anything is fine." The willful eldest lady still answered willfully.

"Anything is fine?"

"Well, anything is fine."

“……”Tetsufumi Hirakawa was stumped.

In many cases, requests that mean "whatever" are often the most difficult to satisfy.