I am a teacher at a girls' school in Tokyo

Last week, Tetsufumi Hirakawa used the sunset to describe the wind orchestra. I didn’t expect Shinohara Shiori still remembered it.

He nodded to show that he heard it, and continued.

"Teacher, I thought of the guillotine."

"...Sunset, guillotine?"

Miss Shinohara said she couldn't understand.

Tetsufumi Hirakawa explained with a smile.

"The orange afterglow of the sunset brings a touch of nostalgic warmth to everything, even the guillotine."

The tone is plain and calm, but the content seems inappropriate at this moment.

"This is……"

“Written by Milan Kundera.”

"..."

Looking at the girl's puzzled look, she probably wanted to ask a question like "So what does this have to do with the present?"

However, Tetsufumi Hirakawa did not choose to answer her, but continued to ask.

"And what comes to mind when one thinks of the guillotine?"

"..." The girl continued to hesitate, and after a long while she answered, "...Louis XVI."

A famous person under the guillotine.

"The teacher's answer is... Robespierre."

Ibid.

"What do you think of next?"

"France?"

"Well, continue."

"This... is romantic?"

What Tetsufumi Hirakawa was thinking was "surrender", hmm.

terribly sorry.

Thinking of this, she wanted to continue making associations, but the girl couldn't help herself. The question that had appeared earlier was reflected in her eyes and words.

"Teacher Hirakawa, let me ask you, what is the purpose of doing this?"

Well, since he was asked this question, Tetsufumi Hirakawa stopped playing this associative game.

"It's nothing much. It's just that——"

Tetsufumi Hirakawa turned his head and looked at Shinohara Shiori who was looking at him with a puzzled look.

"Mr. Shinohara, who is obviously worried, your footsteps are too heavy. Please relax a little."

"..."

"Also, no matter what you're struggling with, it's better to speak it out loud. It's like playing an association game... It's fun to speak out your first thought."

"..."

Having said this, the girl fell silent and was unable to speak for a long time.

It was not until a long time later that I heard a distant call from somewhere, vaguely a name.

Shinohara Shiori then sighed.

"Teacher Hirakawa, you like to beat around the bush when you speak."

"Indeed." Hirakawa Tetsufumi did not deny it. "After all, we have to deal with students all the time...some words that are too straightforward can easily make students sad."

Adolescent boys and girls are always sensitive, and this kind of beating around the bush is something they learned in their previous life.

Anyway, this kind of beating around the bush is very different from Shinohara-san's lack of frankness.

Beating around the bush is a way of expressing one's thoughts in a tactful way. It is a social skill. Not being frank...

"If you try to assassinate my mother with your weak body, you will be pinned to the ground by the bodyguards before you can even make a move", and "For the sake of the brass band".

——Look, what a typical example of dishonesty.

"Anyway... Mr. Shinohara, who is obviously worried, please tell me what you think. I can answer your question."

"..."

No words were spoken, but Tetsufumi Hirakawa was not in a hurry either.

The two walked one after the other in the deserted campus in the evening.

The setting sun in the evening brings a sense of desolation to everything, even the school gate that looks magnificent in the daytime.

As the two of them walked out of the school gate one after another and were about to part.

Shinohara Shiori, who had been reluctant to speak, finally revealed her true feelings.

"Teacher Hirakawa..."

The voice is very soft.

"Yes, Shinohara-san."

Tetsufumi Hirakawa stopped walking towards the tram station and slowly turned around.

"that……"

He saw the girl playing with her long hair on her shoulders with her hands.

"how to say……"

The sound became softer and softer.

"I want to ask you..."

"..."

"..."

"As a teacher, what do you think of Shiori who is too straightforward... She has a bad personality or something..."

It was intermittent and I didn't know where his eyes were.

"..."

The orange sunset shone on the girl's face and turned it crimson.

Tetsufumi Hirakawa looked at her and found it a little funny, but after thinking about it, he answered seriously.

“I don’t hate students like this.”

"..."

"..."

"Goodbye, Mr. Hirakawa."

"See you tomorrow, Shinohara-san."

When he looked over, all that was left of the girl was her back.

He always acts tactfully, but she is always direct when pointing out other people's mistakes, so she is worried about leaving a bad impression on him, right?

This is probably what the girl was thinking.

Tetsufumi Hirakawa was walking leisurely on the way to the tram station, and came to the above conclusion after thinking for a long time.

The girl who musters up the courage to be frank is also quite cute.

Chapter 44: Teacher Pingchuan, I do

In the next few days, Tetsufumi Hirakawa temporarily did not go to the wind orchestra, and it was definitely not because he was lazy.

After all, I just gave suggestions to Mr. Ogasa. If he goes there again, it might seem like he is supervising me, which is not good.

However, although he did not go, he was also paying attention to the dynamics of the wind orchestra. He took the initiative to ask Shinohara Shiori whether there were any changes in Teacher Ogasa.

The answer was positive, which is cause for celebration.

Although it is currently in:

"Teacher Ogasa, Teacher Ogasa, can you give me a cheer?"

"Yeah, come on, please start."

"That can……"

"Don't waste any more time. Please get started."

"Eh?!"

"Well...don't make that expression, come on?"

"Okay."

It’s at this stage, but at least now Mr. Ogasa is consciously controlling it, which is a good sign.

Leave it to time.

Everything returned to normal teaching life, but it only lasted for one day. He was a really hard-working teacher.

April 23rd was Wednesday. The weather was not very good. The sunny weather that had lasted for more than twenty days finally came to an end. Looking at the gloomy clouds piled up in the sky, there would definitely be a heavy rain at some point in the next few days.

That afternoon, Tetsufumi Hirakawa returned home very early because he did not go to the wind orchestra and finished school before four o'clock.

When he opened the door, the white cat heard the sound and ran to the entrance to welcome him.

But he has gotten used to it, and the embarrassing thing of being scared by a cat will never happen again.

"good afternoon."

"Meow."

I changed my shoes as the cat greeted me.

In fact, it is quite nice to have a cat at home. If there is only one cat at home, this three-story house with an area of ​​more than 200 square meters would be a bit lonely.

After changing his shoes, Tetsufumi Hirakawa walked up the steps to the entrance and prepared to go back to the bedroom to change his clothes. Although he lived alone, it seemed that it didn't matter where he changed his clothes, but his home was not so messy that clothes would be thrown around.

He thinks he is lazy and unfocused, not lazy, especially laziness that affects the quality of life.

At least his home was always kept somewhat tidy.

A house that is too messy can affect one’s mood and give one a decadent and negative feeling, which is not good at all.

That's how Hirakawa Tetsufumi walked up the stairs to the second floor, but as soon as he stepped up, he felt his legs being dragged by some creature.

The only creature in the house that could do this is obviously...

He stopped and lowered his head. The cute creature with a round face and pointy ears used its front paws to pull at his trouser legs, meowing.

Are you hungry?

Speculating this, Tetsufumi Hirakawa retreated down the stairs.

Then go feed the cat first.

He walked towards the corner of the living room, where the cat family of four was, with the white cat leading the way in front of him, looking back at him from time to time.

Even if you're hungry, you're being too impatient.

Tetsufumi Hirakawa couldn't help but find it funny when he looked at the cat.

"I'm coming."

Saying this helplessly, he first went to the cabinet beside him to take out cat food, and then slowly walked to the cat's bed.

But after glancing at the food bowl, he silently put the cat food down and squatted down.

"what's wrong with you?"

Rubbed the white cat's head.

There is only half of the cat food left in the food bowl.