I am a teacher at a girls' school in Tokyo

"Be serious and don't laugh."

"Yes." Hirakawa Tetsufumi obediently put away his smile.

Hisada Masu stared at him.

"Excuse me - what was Mr. Pingchuan's birthday yesterday?" The female teacher at this moment was in a state very similar to how she usually taught her students - although this state was very rare.

Upon hearing the question, Tetsufumi Hirakawa cooperated and recalled the story seriously.

"Well... roughly speaking, it's about——"

I don't know what happened, but as he was thinking, he suddenly seemed to realize something and his eyes suddenly became dead.

"More than forty..."

"--What?"

The voice was so soft that it was covered by the sound of rain, and Hisada Masaki couldn't hear clearly what Hirakawa Tetsufumi said.

"...No, it's nothing."

The sound is still very small.

It took him several seconds to regain his composure, raise his left hand and extend two fingers.

"Actually, it's my 23rd birthday."

"..."

Hisada Masaki was confused for a moment, but after seeing the way Hirakawa Tetsufumi answered, she stared at him with the authority of a teacher.

"Then Mr. Pingchuan, it's already your 23rd birthday, why are you still so childish?"

"This one……"

Tetsufumi Hirakawa thought for just a moment, then quickly answered in a lazy tone that made it hard to tell whether it was a joke or serious.

"Maybe it's because I met Mr. Hisada, and I couldn't help it. After all, Mr. Hisada pretending to be angry is really cute, I want to see it."

"..."

"..."

For a long time afterwards, Tetsufumi Hirakawa was unable to see the face of Masaki Hisada.

Ok……

-

It was not until they were almost at the shoe cabinet that Tetsufumi Hirakawa was able to see the young and beautiful face of the female teacher through the rain.

Of course, the expression on his face was helpless.

"Teacher Hirakawa."

"Yes."

Hirakawa Tetsufumi now looked like a student admitting his mistake, with his head slightly lowered and his eyes looking diagonally downward.

The female teacher's words then rang out faintly.

"I told you a long time ago, Mr. Hirakawa, you are not allowed to take teasing me for fun."

"Eh……"

"What does eh mean?"

"It's just...um..."

Tetsufumi Hirakawa started procrastinating again.

"correct."

I thought about it, looked into Hisada Masu's eyes, and met her interrogating gaze.

"Come to think of it, why did Mr. Hisada come to school so late today? And he actually ran into me."

"I'm so happy to meet Mr. Pingchuan..."

"Yes."

It is quite natural for Tetsufumi Hirakawa to use himself as the standard of "slowness".

"..."

"..."

Not knowing what to say, Hisada Masu had no choice but to ignore this little problem.

And of course, the trick of changing the subject couldn't be hidden. But there was really nothing I could do about this teacher.

Hisada Masu took a glance at the collar of Hirakawa Tetsufumi. He was wearing a suit jacket, a white shirt underneath, and the tie she had given him yesterday.

There was a slight smile on the corner of his mouth, but it immediately disappeared.

"It's just that I didn't sleep well, so I got up a little late."

"Well, didn't you sleep well..."

Hirakawa Tetsufumi repeated it.

"Teacher Hirakawa, what's wrong?"

"Because I was thinking about some things, I didn't sleep well."

"..."

As they walked towards the office together, Hisada Maki did not ask why she didn't sleep well.

Probably, the same as her.

The flame of the candle, the promise of August.

What has happened in the past and what is to come are equally fascinating.

-

It was Monday morning, the beginning of a new week. Although it was raining, it didn’t matter because I met Hisata on the road. It didn’t affect my mood.

I finished the class in a very happy mood and dealt with teacher's affairs.

——The final exams are in mid-July, less than a month away. Even for the lazy Tetsufumi Hirakawa, there is not much time to rest at this time.

After finishing my duties as a homeroom teacher and Chinese language teacher, I will go to the wind band as a club instructor after school in the afternoon.

Well, with so many things to do, even if you meet Mr. Hisada, you will feel tired.

What's more, this kind of thing did not happen just in one day. Until this Friday, the 20th, Tetsufumi Hirakawa was busy with various affairs.

so……

"Finally relieved."

It was Friday night after school, so it’s no wonder that Tetsufumi Hirakawa cheered so much the moment he walked out of the concert hall.

"Teacher Hirakawa."

However, Miss Shinohara who suddenly appeared behind him interrupted his mood.

Hearing this voice, Tetsufumi Hirakawa restrained himself and put away the smile on his face.

"It's Shinohara-san, what's wrong?"

He looked at Shinohara Shiori.

The girl's expression was unusually calm, as was her tone.

"I want to talk to Mr. Pingchuan about something."

"..."

Hmm... I don't know what it is, but as a teacher, even if I want to take a holiday, I can't refuse if I encounter something like this.

"OK--"

Tetsufumi Hirakawa said in a drawling tone.

-

The rain was still falling, and I could hear the rustling sound of rain and the sound of the girl's footsteps.

"Shinohara-san, so, what's going on?"

"..."

"Speaking of which, Shinohara-san's study state seems to be not very good this week. He is distracted in class. When he is in the wind band, his state is not as good as before. Why is that?"

"..."

"Is it because the final exam is coming up and you are too tired?"

Walking side by side, Tetsufumi Hirakawa looked at the road ahead and wondered about the girl next to him.

What comes is a long period of silence.

Shinohara Shiori seemed to be thinking about how to start her speech, while Hirakawa Tetsufumi was waiting for her reply.

Finally, when the school gate was in sight, the girl's clear voice and firm tone cut through the rain.

"Teacher Hirakawa——"

"Well, what happened?"

"Actually, Shiori has encountered a problem and doesn't know what to do. I would like to ask you for advice."

"Is that so? It's okay. Just tell me."

Tetsufumi Hirakawa nodded, not yet realizing the seriousness of the matter.

Shinohara Shiori finally lifted her long hair, her eyes always fixed on the profile of the teacher next to her.

Time is running out, and some things will be too late if you don’t say them out loud.

I must, I must speak.

"She fell in love with her teacher."

Plain and calm words, accompanied by the sound of rain and footsteps.

Then the footsteps stopped.

Tetsufumi Hirakawa turned his head.

The girl's gaze, through the hazy night rain, was still extremely serious.

……

……

……

June 22nd was still a rainy day.

At night, the lights on the roadside pass through the floating raindrops, and the raindrops in the air are illuminated, reflecting the crystal light.

Tetsufumi Hirakawa walked towards the supermarket holding an umbrella.

The food at home has run out and needs to be replenished.

And... relax at the same time.

In fact, it is possible that relaxing is the main purpose and shopping is just a by-product.

Forget it, it doesn't matter what happens. Inexplicably entangled in such an insignificant matter, feeling a little depressed, Tetsufumi Hirakawa pushed the shopping cart into the supermarket.

I pushed the cart along the way, and whenever I saw something I wanted to eat, I would just pick it up and put it in the cart.

In short, I wandered around quite capriciously, and in the end I didn't buy much food, but I did buy a lot of snacks.

It was not until the end that Tetsufumi Hirakawa, who had inexplicably arrived at the snack area, came back to his senses and looked at the half-cart of snacks in front of him.

"..."

Well...it’s okay to buy too many snacks, but if you do that, there won’t be enough space for the ingredients to cook.

As a last resort, I walked around the snack area and put some snacks back on the shelves.

As expected, he couldn't calm down right now, which was why he did such boring and stupid things.