A couple of days after Hiroyuki Inui's 23rd birthday, he found himself standing inside his old high school.
It was Career Day, and somebody from the school had hunted him down on social media and requested him to come and speak to the students about his quite tedious business work. This included a lot of things he did not honestly care about: public speaking, school, children... Yet, here he was.
Why? Sawatori-sensei.
She had been his crush, most well-liked teacher, and to this day his dream lady. Her feminine clothing, her thick brown hair kept clipped back with side-swept bangs, her beauty... oh, her beauty. She was not one of those rail-thin starved looking ones but nor was she fat. She was well-proportioned and had the perfect curves at the perfect places.
The rounded bend of her butt within her outer garment. The stunning bosoms not really covered up by her blouses. Her smooth slender legs. (Yeah, her perfect figure was by far his largest subject of study in high school.)
Hopefully, today she would no longer be just an unattainable crush.
5 years ago…
Inui counted. How many years had it been? Two, three? Three tormenting years he had spent infatuated with this single lady. Three tommenting years he had spent attempting to preoccupy himself with other females. Three tommenting years he had spent attempting not to reveal to her what he felt. It was simply not right.
He nearly exhaled but focused on the beautiful woman before him. He was on a date, for goodness sake. He could not be thinking about somebody else. He used the same approach with every female. He found them to be rather uncomplicated. Their responses differed, but his persistent routine still succeeded.
He grinned, moved in nearer to the female, and made out with her. She had been swayed. He took her back to his residence and reveled in her body. He guessed it was not bad. He was not deceiving anybody and he unfailingly broke off with them following a couple of days or weeks. Relationships were not his thing. He just slept with a woman and moved on. There were no bad feelings between him and his partners. He made certain of that at least.
He woke up with her in his arms the following morning. He had felt pleasure. She had felt pleasure. So why was he anxious now? He excused himself to the bathroom and cleaned up. When he got out, she was clothed. She kissed him farewell and thanked him for a beautiful night, told him to phone her whenever he felt lonely, and wished him well.
Wish him well? With what?
He frowned and rubbed his forehead. He put some clothes on. He could not be late for school.
As he approached the entrance of the school, something captured his eye. A lady dressed in feminine clothing was walking along a man with a thick beard and hat. He reduced his walking speed and realized that the lady was none other than Yukari Sawatori. His heart dipped as he watched the target of his love with her husband. Wish him well? He chuckled. He needed it.
Brushing that off, he continued to make his way to the classroom.
He came back home more depressed than ever and spent the remainder of his day in bed sleeping.
He wriggled out of bed the following day, graduation day. His head ached from having slept too much. He groaned as he went to school.
Sawatori-sensei was a school secretary at the Morinomya Academy. She was amiable and had a kind nature. He had never seen her in a bad mood before. Despite her husband's constant travelling away from home due to his job as an archaeologist, she stayed dedicated and loving to him despite his lengthy leaves. She was also good-natured and kind to all the students in the academy. He was attracted to her, but she was not like the females he dated. She had never yielded to his flirting. Perhaps she never perceived it, or perhaps she chose to ignore it.
However, something out of the ordinary happened today. He was summoned to Sawatori-sensei's office after his graduation ceremony.
"Congratulations in your first step to adulthood, Mr. 'I Forgot Something' Inui-kun!"
Sawatori-sensei was standing in front of him with a smile on her face. He had always been the one to greet and talk to her. She had never called him up like this before. Aside from the two of them, the only other one present in the room was Midori, the baby daughter of Sawatori-sensei.
"Thank you, sensei!"
"How are you doing?"
"I am well, thank you."
"You don't seem to look so well these days. I've been observing you for a while, and you seem to be very anxious about something. Recently, I've noticed that you look even more bothered. I don't want to get into it if it's something that is very personal and you aren't comfortable sharing with me. However, you have always been so kind to me so I would like to help if I can."
It was a big surprise for Inui, but a pleasant one nonetheless. He was happy that she cared about him.
"Does it seriously seem so?" Inui scratched his face. "I'm sorry for worrying you, but I can assure you that I'm ok."
She stared into his eyes for a while in silence before replying. "If you say so."
He hesitated and then firmly clasped her hands in his.
Her eyes widened and looked at him with surprise at the sudden act.
With his face red as a boiled octopus, he struggled to get the words out of his mouth as his voice cracked slightly, "I want to help you, sensei."
He cleared his throat before continuing. "I, um..well...I've always lov…"
However, as if on queue, he was cut off by Midori, the baby daughter of Sawatori-sensei, suddenly bursting into tears.
"Midori?" she said as she looked to her baby daughter.
"Excuse me a moment, Inui-kun." She released her hands from his firm grip and hurried to care to her daughter.
As soon as she took her daughter into her arms, Midori immediately stopped crying.
Inui had almost forgotten that Midori was in the room. What was he thinking? She was a mother and a wife. That feeling again. When your heart fell and you could not do anything about it. He felt it.
"There, there. That's a good girl. Don't cry now. Papa finally came back home yesterday. So smile, okay." she said as she lightly patted Midori's back, making her to laugh happily.
She then returned her attention to Inui.
"That reminds me, I'm sorry Midori interrupted you earlier. It sounded like you were about to tell me something important…"
"No, it's just...I mean...I'm always forgetting things and making you take time out for me. And it's just… I wanted to pay you back… Like, something like when you want to have a date with your husband, maybe I could watch the kid."
"Inui-kun…Thank you. The sentiment is more than enough." She gave him a warm genuine smile.
Whenever she uttered his name, he felt his heart jump. He felt more anxious than he ever did now.
"But Inui-kun.."
"Yes?"
"Be more honest with yourself."
What did she mean by that? He was in front of the door now, Sawatori-sensei standing behind him with Midori in her arms. She watched his back as he stepped out.
"Bye, sensei."
"Bye, Inui-kun."
He spinned around suddenly.
"Sensei."
"What is it, Inui-kun?"
"I-"
"I know." She smiled.
He gazed at her. He stayed still for a while. And so did she. She knew.
"Why?"
"There are more significant things to consider in your life right now, Inui-kun. You need to work on yourself. Work on making yourself happy, get a job, and settle down. You are still young, but after that..." she carried off, pushing her hair back behind her ear.
"It's a promise then."
"On your part, yes."
"After that, I'll..."
"Yes." She cut him off again.
"After that you'll hear me without cutting me off. All of my feelings. Everything."
"Yes."
"Bye, sensei."
"Bye, Inui-kun. Spend your youth wisely."
To be continued...