Conversation Practice (1)
She's finally gone.
I never expected her to come all the way to my classroom.
I'd thought leaving early to avoid her waiting in front of my house was just me being overly dramatic, but apparently not.
...
At this point, I realized there was really no avoiding it.
Besides, I wondered if there was even any point in forcing myself to avoid her.
Constantly plotting how to stay uninvolved and waking up at the crack of dawn like I did this morning felt entirely meaningless now.
Besides, the only people I can actually call friends right now are Oku and Tachibana.
If I wanted to lead a normal academy life, I needed at least a few friends.
Romance is romance, and friendship is friendship.
Once I reached that conclusion, my mind instantly felt at ease.
It was an impossible task from the start.
Shaking off Tachibana, whose curiosity had already been piqued, was one thing.
But completely keeping my distance from the main characters in my own class was flat-out impossible.
If I obsessed too much over avoiding them, it would only breed more misunderstandings.
If anything, interacting with them might actually help rehabilitate my terrible reputation.
Clap!
"Okay."
Having sorted out my thoughts and steeled my resolve, I noticed Oku Nobuhiko peeking through the cracked classroom door, testing the waters.
"What are you doing? Come on in."
"O-Oh..."
Slide—
As expected, he was trying his absolute best to make as little noise as possible.
Even as he set down his bag and took his seat, Oku didn't stop stealing anxious glances at me.
It made me feel guilty to see the guy who had gifted me such a nice drawing acting so terrified.
Ah.
"Right. I left my bag behind yesterday, so here."
I reached into my bag and pulled out the anime girl clear file he had left with me.
"Do you mind if I borrow it for just one more day? I'll definitely return it tomorrow."
"O-Oh... Y-you can take your time..."
Perhaps Oku had already said his final goodbyes to his beloved anime girl in his heart.
Given my reputation, it would be par for the course for me to steal it and never return it.
I really need to give it back tomorrow.
If I dragged this out any longer, I'd lose my only friend and end up completely isolated.
And if that happened, Ms. Ishihara would think I was failing to adjust to academy life.
...
Wait, isn't this perfect?
I had just found the perfect excuse to approach her.
I was the academy's worst troublemaker.
A student who wanted to shed that image and live like a normal teenager, but who was clumsy and prone to misunderstandings.
Just as she had said, I was a student in need of help—someone who could seek her guidance at any time.
"Hey, thanks."
"Huh? F-For what...?"
Oku looked utterly bewildered by the sudden, inexplicable expression of gratitude.
"I said, thanks."
"O-Oh, okay..."
His face fell into an expression of pure despair.
He must have misinterpreted my thanks as a declaration of ownership, officially parting ways with his clear file.
Well, the misunderstanding would clear up once I returned it tomorrow. For now, I needed to head to Ms. Ishihara.
There was no reason to waste any time.
"..."
"..."
It was still early, so there weren't many students around.
Seeing how only Oku and I were in our classroom, I figured the other classes were probably in a similar state.
Because of that, the hallways were already quiet, but the moment anyone spotted me, they gasped, shut their mouths, and froze in their tracks.
Well, this is actually pretty nice.
If I had to choose, I preferred quiet over noise, so I counted this as a win.
Besides, visiting Ms. Ishihara at a time when the halls were empty was definitely the right call.
With all those rumors floating around, it would be troublesome if someone saw us and fueled the fire.
Since the area around the staff room was completely deserted, I could walk right in without any worries.
Knock, knock.
"Come in~"
Slide—
"Oh..."
The teacher who had told me to enter froze solid, seemingly shocked to see me of all people standing there.
She was remarkably short for a woman, and she looked so timid that she was practically trembling just from facing a single student.
I had planned to ask her where Ms. Ishihara was, but that seemed like a bad idea.
"Just passing through."
Left with no choice, I relied on my memory from the first day and headed toward Ms. Ishihara's desk.
Is she not here yet?
I thought she might have arrived early, but her desk was empty.
I had no choice but to go back and ask the timid teacher from earlier.
"Excuse me, do you know where Ms. Ishihara is?"
"W-What is it about?"
"She's my homeroom teacher."
"Ah... Follow me, please..."
I gave a brief reply since I didn't want to explain my business, and she surprisingly agreed to guide me without much fuss.
"She usually spends more time in her personal research lab than in the shared staff room. Ms. Ishihara's office is right he—"
"Thank you."
"!"
Seeing her face light up with obvious joy at a simple thank-you, I figured she must be a rookie teacher.
I found it a little cute, but my heart belonged solely to Ms. Ishihara.
Knock, knock.
...
Knock, knock.
I knocked and waited, but there was no response from inside.
Is she not in?
That couldn't be.
If she wasn't here, the other teacher would have told me instead of leading me all the way to her door.
Knock, knock.
After one final knock, I decided to wait, thinking she might have stepped out to the restroom.
...It would be so much easier if I had her personal contact info.
But that was probably asking for too much right now.
The class president or other students might have it, but getting it from anyone other than her directly would be meaningless.
...
After waiting for about ten minutes...
Huh?
A sound echoed from beyond the door.
I doubted my ears for a second, but it was unmistakable.
Click—
Clack—
The sound of high heels, presumably belonging to Ms. Ishihara.
Click—
The moment I heard the doorknob turn, I straightened my back and stood away from the wall.
I was glad she was inside.
She must have been working on something so important that she couldn't answer the door right away.
Creeeeak—
The moment the door finally opened...
I heard it.
"Hic!"
A incredibly cute gasp of surprise from my teacher.
Slam!
And the door slammed shut in an instant.
But I had already seen her.
Ms. Ishihara, looking completely disheveled with sleepy eyes and stray hairs clinging to her cheeks—a stark contrast to her usual put-together self.
Creeeeak—
"...What is it?"
A moment later, her voice drifted through the tiny crack of the slightly reopened door.
"Um... I had something I wanted to get counseling for, so I knocked and was waiting."
I explained the purpose of my visit, making sure to mention that I had knocked so she wouldn't misunderstand.
"Wait a moment."
Click—
The door clicked shut once more with her instruction to wait.
I had already waited this long, and now that I knew she was inside, I could wait forever.
Creak—
"Come in."
Though, of course, it didn't take long before she let me in.
Oh...
She had already reverted to her usual, flawless self.
While this was the look that had stolen my heart, I couldn't help but feel a pang of regret that I couldn't gaze at her disheveled state a little longer.
"Have a seat over there."
"Yes. Thank you."
I pulled out the chair and sat down.
Only after sitting down and looking at her did I begin to take in the rest of the personal research lab.
Truth be told, there wasn't much to look at: bookshelves lining one wall, a work desk, and a table with four chairs.
It was exactly what you'd picture when you thought of a research lab, though it felt a bit cozy.
"Would you like coffee or black tea?"
"Um... Do you happen to have water?"
"...Of course I do."
A faint smile brushed across her lips for a fleeting second at my reply.
I'm so glad I came...
Regardless of why I was here, just spending this one-on-one time with her was bliss.
Besides, she had only been startled because she hadn't expected me. Seeing how quickly she let me in, she didn't seem annoyed or troubled by my visit.
She slid the cup toward me.
"Here is your water. Drink up."
"Ah... Thank you."
I took the cup and checked to see what she was drinking.
Green tea...?
I had assumed she'd be drinking coffee or black tea. Did she offer me those because she figured I wouldn't want green tea?
Next time, I should ask for green tea.
"So, you said you had something you wanted to discuss?"
"Ah, yes."
Right. That was it.
I had come here because I wanted counseling.
But what was it I wanted to talk about again?
I didn't care about anything else in the world besides her.
"I didn't expect you to come find me so soon."
"Ah, thank you for yesterday."
"Rumors are just rumors. If you keep making an effort like you are now, Amuro-kun, you'll be able to clear them up in no time."
"..."
It seemed she assumed my worries were about the rumors.
Personally, I didn't care about clearing up the rumors at all.
To be precise, as long as she didn't misunderstand me, the rumors didn't matter one bit.
"I think what you need right now, Amuro-kun, is communication."
"Is that so..."
But since it was advice from her, I intended to listen closely and follow it willingly.
"To be honest, when I was first assigned as your advisor, I was quite worried too."
I'm sure she was.
Anyone would have been.
"But things are different now."
She had indeed cleared up her misunderstandings quickly.
So quickly, in fact, that I had wondered if she even knew about the rumors in the first place.
"Because we took the time to talk in the staff room and on the rooftop, we were able to clear the air. The same can happen with the other students."
While there were cases like Tachibana where we got close quickly, there were also cases like Oku who still found it difficult to be around me.
Either way, it was true that my relationships with both of them had improved, so I believed her words were absolutely correct.
"I think it's still a bit difficult. A lot of kids are just scared of me from the start."
"In that case, you can just become friends with the students who aren't. You can't be friends with everyone, after all."
A solid point.
It was an excellent counseling technique, blending empathy and logic perfectly.
However.
The one I wanted to grow closer to wasn't the other students. It was her.
"Could you help me, Ms. Ishihara?"
"Of course. That's my job, so feel free to ask for help anytime."
Which meant I needed to be a little bolder.
"I think it would be great if I could practice talking like this with you, early every morning."