I am a teacher at a girls' school in Tokyo

Shinohara Shiori quickly looked away and looked towards the door of the health room.

"Shinohara-san." the teacher called her.

"Yeah." Shinohara Shiori responded.

"Um, don't worry too much about the competition, Shinohara-san. We got here early, so even if we lose a little time now, we can still catch up with the preliminaries."

He explained in a comforting tone.

“……”Shinohara Shiori was silent.

It turned out that she was thinking about the wind band just now... In fact, she had completely forgotten about this matter.

"...Yes. Shiori knows."

"That's it... I'll call Mr. Ogasa now to inform him of the situation. Please wait a moment."

"Ok."

Tetsufumi Hirakawa loosened his hand, and after seeing that the ice pack had not slipped, he stood up and walked out of the health room under the gaze of Shinohara Shiori.

Shinohara Shiori's eyes were still fixed on the door until her back disappeared at the door. In the quiet room, the sound of breathing seemed a little noisy.

It was not until a long time later that Shinohara Shiori blinked her eyes, and her thoughts, at this moment, returned.

Starting from when she sprained her foot, the teacher helped her take off her shoes and socks, and put them back on, and supported her from the fifth floor to the first floor, to the health room, to take care of her.

Such memories began to play in my mind.

——She looked at the ice pack wrapped in gauze on her right foot. It was a little painful, but it was cool.

"..."

A little...shy.

In the room where no one was watching, Shinohara Shiori's face was flushed. This blush looked very beautiful on the girl's fair skin.

This was her first time to have such intimate contact, and she let her right foot be held in his hands.

Thinking back, the feeling that seemed to be between numbness and itchiness reappeared in my mind.

"..."

Shinohara Shiori took a deep breath and calmed herself down.

Then, she thought of something and looked up at the door of the health room. Outside the door, the voice of the teacher making a phone call was still faintly audible.

She lowered her head, reached into the pocket of her plaid skirt, and took out the balled-up socks she had put there.

Hesitantly, she looked at the white socks.

"..."

She brought the socks to her nose and sniffed them gently.

"..."

Shinohara Shiori breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, there is no strange smell. Beautiful girls' feet are all fragrant.

I put my socks away again and finally felt relieved.

Then, while waiting for the teacher to come back, Shinohara Shiori continued to examine her appearance just now.

Well, even she had to admit that just now, from the moment her shoes were taken off, she seemed a little... uneasy, or should I say shy.

To the point that he was stiff the whole time, like a docile little white rabbit whose ears were grabbed and who dared not move at all.

But it's the first time, so it's understandable.

The proud eldest lady defended herself in her heart.

After completing the inspection and finding the shortcomings, Miss Shinohara sat up slightly.

She won't do this anymore.

"Student Shinohara."

After finishing his call, Tetsufumi Hirakawa walked in from the door. When he looked at Shinohara Shiori lying on the hospital bed, he was stunned for a moment.

This girl, for some reason, had looked embarrassed just now, with no trace of the aura of a young lady. Now, inexplicably, she had regained her appearance as a young lady.

She sat up on the bed, straight.

"Teacher Hirakawa."

"..."

No matter why, Tetsufumi Hirakawa walked in and spoke.

"I've already called Teacher Ogasa to explain the situation. When the time comes, we can go directly to the school gate to catch the bus. We don't have to go back to the activity room."

"Yeah." Shinohara Shiori responded very gracefully.

"As for Shinohara-san's trumpet, there will be classmates to help take it down when the time comes."

"Okay." Miss Shinohara understood the situation.

There was no more communication after that. Tetsufumi Hirakawa sat aside, waiting quietly.

Shinohara Shiori was thinking about something.

Wait until the time is up.

Tetsuo Hirakawa got up from the edge of the other bed and walked in front of Shinohara Shiori under her gaze.

"It's almost time for the ice pack." After explaining, Hirakawa Tetsufumi took off the ice pack on the girl's right foot. "How do you feel now?"

He saw the red and tender feet that were iced move, and the girl frowned slightly.

"It still hurts, but I should be able to bear it."

"Yeah." Hirakawa Tetsufumi nodded, "It shouldn't be a problem to participate in the competition. After all, we're all sitting down."

"Yeah, no problem."

"Rest for a while. When the time is up, we will go to the school gate to meet up with other students."

"Ok."

The health room fell silent again, and Tetsufumi Hirakawa sat aside again.

But this time, Miss Shinohara didn't want to keep quiet, she had something to say.

"Teacher Hirakawa." A scrutinizing look from the eldest lady.

"What's wrong?" Tetsufumi Hirakawa turned around and responded to her, his eyes revealing doubt.

"Shiori wants to ask you a question." He saw the girl flipping her long hair and suddenly asked, "What was Mr. Hirakawa hiding from in the club building just now?"

"..."

In the eyes of Tetsufumi Hirakawa, the girl's eyes were a little sharp, and he couldn't help but avoid them.

"Avoid... No—"

The voice that wanted to deny was interrupted by the girl.

"——Please answer directly, Mr. Hirakawa."

"..."

How to answer this kind of thing directly?

The girl's feelings were too passionate, and as a teacher, he wanted to avoid her, that was all.

"Is Mr. Hirakawa shy?" Shinohara Shiori suddenly guessed the answer and stared at him with blinking eyes.

"…shy, of course not."

"what is that?"

"..."

Tetsufumi Hirakawa ultimately chose to refuse the communication.

Shinohara Shiori returned empty-handed, but the smart young lady already had her own guesses in her eyes.

-

It's almost time to reunite.

After helping Shiori Shinohara put on her shoes, Hirakawa Tetsufumi supported her and walked with her to the school gate.

On the way, they met the wind band led by Teacher Ogasa, so a student was replaced to help the young lady with the injured foot.

However, before the person was replaced, Shinohara Shiori suddenly spoke in a voice that only the two of them could hear.

"Teacher Hirakawa, Shiori guessed it. What you want to avoid is Shiori's love. But... you clearly rejected her righteously before, why did you suddenly avoid her just now?"

A slightly playful upward tone, followed by a self-questioning and self-answering:

"You realize that Shiori likes you, right?"

"..."

While Tetsufumi Hirakawa remained silent, a classmate took Shinohara Shiori from him.

"Thank you." Shinohara Shiori thanked politely.

"It's okay."

"..."

"Teacher Hirakawa, what's wrong with you?" Ogasa Suzuki walked up to him, stood on tiptoe, and waved in front of him who was in a daze.

"...No, nothing. Let's go, Mr. Ogasa." Hirakawa Tetsufumi came back to his senses.

"Yeah, okay." Ogasa Suzuki walked beside him, "Come to think of it, it seems that Mr. Hirakawa didn't come to participate in the preliminaries last year."

"..."

Because it was summer vacation, and no one seemed to have told him that the game had started, um...

"Because I trust Mr. Ogasa, I don't need to worry about the regional qualifiers. I will definitely pass it."

"Eh...I see."

"Yes, of course."

With the sun shining overhead, Tetsufumi Hirakawa spoke casually without changing his expression.

-

Even though it was nonsense, there was at least one thing that was true -

It’s not like Moriya will be stopped in just the regional qualifiers.

Take a bus to the competition site, go on stage, and then win the gold medal in the regional competition.

The regional qualifiers ended without any suspense, and Moritani advanced to the Tokyo metropolitan competition.

The only thing worth mentioning is that when Shiori Shinohara took the stage, the lady's posture and steps did not pause or limp at all.

The same is true when stepping down from the stage.

Only when he was completely gone and disappeared from the judges' sight did he frown with a pale face.

So, during the next few days of wind band practice, Tetsufumi Hirakawa didn't see her.

It was not until Thursday, July 7, four days later, that Tetsufumi Hirakawa saw Shinohara Shiori, who had fully recovered.

The girl's straight figure appeared at the school gate again.

"Teacher Pingchuan, long time no see."

"..."

In the summer breeze, the girl's skirt fluttered gently. She stroked her hair, and the leaves above her head rustled.

The time is right.

Because, Tetsufumi Hirakawa has already thought through some things.

Chapter 197 The Last Rejection