I am a teacher at a girls' school in Tokyo

So this childish game had to be stopped.

'Actually, it would be better to say that we have completed the game.'

Thinking of this, Tetsufumi Hirakawa raised his head while amusing himself.

Then--

The slight smile on his face, immersed in his own world, disappeared immediately.

His expression became somewhat... complicated.

"Good morning, Mr. Hirakawa."

Miss Shinohara stood at the school gate, at the end of the shade of the trees, with a little light shining on her body. Her figure looked like a princess in a level-breaking game waiting to be rescued by a brave man.

She has a dignified temperament, outstanding looks, and comes from a prominent family. It is not inappropriate to call her a princess in a fairy tale.

But Tetsufumi Hirakawa is not a hero, he is a teacher.

Facing Shiori Shinohara who greeted him with a smile, Tetsufumi Hirakawa now had the urge to turn around and leave——

Of course I restrained myself.

Just take a step back, create some distance, then smile and say hello again.

"Good morning, Shinohara-san. What are you doing standing at the school gate?"

Shinohara Shiori smiled unchanged and replied, "Of course I am waiting for Mr. Hirakawa."

"... Just stand here and wait?"

"Ah."

Faced with the surprised question, he nodded slowly.

In this case, Tetsufumi Hirakawa was speechless.

However, Miss Shinohara glanced at Tetsufumi Hirakawa who was standing there and made an invitation.

"Teacher Hirakawa, let's go to the wind band together?"

“…Well, no.” Tetsufumi Hirakawa turned around and looked, and there was no one behind him.

"why?"

"Waiting for someone." He made up an excuse.

"Then Shiori will wait with Mr. Hirakawa."

"..."

In the past, for Shinohara Shiori who had not yet confessed her feelings, there was nothing she could do despite such a perfunctory reason.

But now it's different. After confessing her feelings, this reason doesn't work for Shinohara Shiori.

“……”Tetsuru Hirakawa turned back and stared at Shinohara Shiori.

The girl didn't mind and gave him a nice smile.

"..."

-

On the campus corridor, Tetsufumi Hirakawa was walking in the sunshine, and not far away from him was Shinohara Shiori.

The two walked together, without making any sound.

However, the silence did not last long. Soon, Shinohara Shiori stared at the ground illuminated by the sunlight and suddenly spoke.

"Teacher Hirakawa."

"..." Hirakawa Tetsufumi did not respond, but since they were so close, it was impossible for him not to hear.

"There's no shade for you to play with here now."

"..." Tetsubun Hirakawa reacted, his face froze, and he looked at Shiori Shinohara.

The girl smiled and chanted.

"See?"

"nature."

"..."

Facing Hirakawa Tetsufumi, whose expression was a little bit ugly, the girl smiled and comforted him: "Teacher Hirakawa, it's okay, you are quite cute like this."

“…Don’t use the word cute.”

"That..." The girl murmured in thought, then spoke, "Interesting?"

"never mind."

Hirakawa Tetsufumi looked ahead again, wondering how far it was to the wind band, or if Teacher Ogasa would show up. He didn't want to be alone with the girl, nor did he want to get entangled with her.

Unfortunately, this voice was not heard by Mr. Ogasa, but instead——

Shinohara Shiori lifted her long hair and said, "You are thinking about leaving me quickly, right?"

The answer is by default.

"It seems that Shiori's confession yesterday caused you a lot of trouble."

The girl continued speaking, and after a moment's hesitation, Hirakawa Tetsufumi nodded affirmatively.

"It's good that you know, Shinohara-san."

"However, Mr. Hirakawa has not responded to my confession yesterday."

"..."

Actually it was a response, but in the girl’s mind, rejection was not considered a response, that’s it.

"It's impossible, Shinohara-san, just give up." Hirakawa Tetsufumi could only say this over and over again.

"Actually, Shiori is not asking Mr. Hirakawa to respond to me right now."

"what is that?"

"Even after graduation, I am very satisfied that Mr. Hirakawa can respond to me."

"Even after graduation, this kind of relationship is completely wrong." Hirakawa Tetsufumi's eyes remained unmoved, but his voice remained firm.

"OK."

Miss Shinohara was not surprised by yet another rejection.

but it does not matter.

The mind will change. The wind band in the summer vacation is the time for her and Mr. Hirakawa.

As we walked, the building came into view.

-

Busy times always pass quickly, and a day's practice is over quickly.

In the wind orchestra, where all the students were present, Shinohara Shiori did not do anything out of the ordinary and was just immersed in serious practice.

When it's time to be serious, this girl will be serious.

Just the next day, on the 25th, the girl was once again standing at the school gate waiting for him.

"Good morning, Mr. Hirakawa."

"..."

However, faced with such greetings, Tetsufumi Hirakawa could not say anything.

"The competition is tomorrow, Shinohara-san."

All we can do is to steer the conversation back to the competition, which is better than listening to the girl talking about random things.

"Ah."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course - if Mr. Hirakawa can cheer for Shiori."

"..."

"It's not excessive to cheer for students, Mr. Hirakawa."

"..."

The willful girl walked in the deserted campus, with the summer morning light above her head, waiting, waiting for his reply.

Under the clear and bright sky, where there was no shade from trees, an almost helpless voice finally sounded.

"Come on, Shinohara-san."

The game is about to begin.

Chapter 195 Don't Step on the Sunlight, Don't Look at the Sun

July 7th is the regional qualifying round for the wind instrument competition.

As the instructor of the wind band, he had to arrive at school early on the day of the competition, so Hirakawa Tetsufumi got up very early. However, there were people who got up earlier than him.

On one side of the Moriya school gate, a girl stood upright with a sheet of music in her hands.

It was not until Tetsufumi Hirakawa walked to the school gate that the girl closed the music score, raised her eyes, put her hair behind her delicate ears, and then spoke.

Then, under the shade of the trees, a clear and pleasant voice was heard.

"Good morning, Mr. Hirakawa."

"..."

I wasn't that surprised anymore - it's right to use the word "shocked" here, after all, I had expected it.

"Good morning, Shinohara-san."

After the greetings, the two walked out of the dense shade of the trees and entered the campus together.

"It seems that Mr. Hirakawa has gotten used to me." said Shinohara Shiori.

"Habit? Not really." replied Tetsufumi Hirakawa.

"There's none?"

"It's just something I expected, not something I'm used to. If Shinohara-san wasn't around, I'd be more used to it."

"It's a bit hurtful for Mr. Hirakawa to say that."

"I'm sorry." Hirakawa Tetsufumi apologized with regret, and then said, "But rejection always hurts people, so I can't just not refuse."

"Ok."

Shinohara Shiori nodded calmly.

In this way, the two of them maintained the safe distance determined by Tetsufumi Hirakawa - about one meter, and walked towards the wind orchestra together.

The next conversation started with Shinohara Shiori when she saw the shoe cabinet.

"Teacher Pingchuan, do you know?"

"what happened?"

"Shiori has been thinking about a question lately."

Hirakawa Tetsufumi looked over and met Shinohara Shiori's eyes, expressing his inquiry with his eyes. Then, Shinohara Shiori replied: "I'm thinking about how to make Mr. Hirakawa agree."

Immediately, Hirakawa Tetsufumi frowned and rejected the idea without even thinking: "I've told you many times that it's impossible, Shinohara-san."

However, Shinohara Shiori obviously didn't take this rejection, which she had heard countless times, seriously, and said to herself: "In fact, Shiori did think of a way."

"is it?"

Staring suspiciously at the girl who seemed to be so confident, Hirakawa Tetsufumi didn't believe there was any solution, but out of curiosity he still asked, "What solution?"

A smile suddenly appeared at the corner of Shinohara Shiori's mouth, which looked a little bit evil.

"Fire Mr. Hirakawa, then you are no longer a teacher."

"..."