The next morning, Wednesday.
Kiyoharu got up on time, went out for his morning run, returned for a shower, and headed to the kitchen to make breakfast.
There were frozen steamed buns in the refrigerator, made by Kiyoharu according to his tastes from his previous life. He would make a large batch each time and keep them in the freezer, enough to last a long while. In any case, the mansion's refrigerator was big enough.
Two steamed buns, a bowl of plain congee, and a small plate of pickles—Kiyoharu's usual breakfast.
Today's buns came in two fillings: beef and radish, and cabbage with glass noodles.
While he was at it, Kiyoharu also prepared Airi's breakfast—whole wheat sandwich bread and freshly squeezed juice.
He drove to Chihaya Academy. Traffic was fairly light today, and he entered the office more than ten minutes early.
The other teachers did not seem to have arrived yet. Only Shimaura Hitomi, who taught the same grade as Kiyoharu, was already seated behind her desk. She seemed to be about to open a delivery box, but the instant she saw Kiyoharu, she swiftly hid it beneath her desk, a clear flash of panic crossing her face.
"Morning, Teacher Shimaura."
"G-Good morning, Chihaya-senpai..."
"How many times have I told you? You don't need to call me senpai." Kiyoharu smiled helplessly. "Since you're close with Airi, just call me what the other friends do."
"Mm-hmm, okay, senpai!"
Honestly, Shimaura Hitomi was not unattractive. Her innocent features and cute round face gave her a fresh, youthful charm. Though she was a teacher, she had the energy of a high school girl.
Her petite frame paired with her exceptionally ample chest was an utterly lethal combination for men.
However, Shimaura Hitomi was introverted and always spoke timidly. She was not good at dressing up, wore a pair of dowdy black-rimmed glasses all day long, and favored conservative outfits. Compared with the many glamorous professional women at Chihaya Academy, she was truly inconspicuous.
Perhaps it was precisely because Shimaura Hitomi lacked feminine allure that Airi had arranged for her to teach the same grade as Kiyoharu. They usually worked in the same office, were often assigned to the same groups for teaching seminars, and even ended up together during the teachers' events at the sports festival.
Kiyoharu seriously suspected that, besides teaching physics, Shimaura Hitomi was also responsible for monitoring his activities at school.
After all, Airi was the Red-Eyed Devil whose possessiveness had gone completely overboard!
After greeting Shimaura Hitomi, Kiyoharu sat down at his own desk opposite hers and began organizing his lesson plans.
Chihaya Academy was a top-tier integrated school directly managed and operated by the Chihaya Conglomerate, offering everything from kindergarten through university. When Kiyoharu and Airi had first become engaged, his mother-in-law had offered him free choice of any mid-level position within the conglomerate.
Kiyoharu decisively chose the work he knew best—high school teacher, the profession he had held longest in his previous life. He knew the ropes inside out.
What, you asked why a Todai law graduate did not become a lawyer?
Come on, Kiyoharu was here to coast through life. Becoming a lawyer would just be making things harder for himself!
He taught mathematics. Math education here differed somewhat from what it had been in China in his previous life. Put simply, it placed greater emphasis on breadth of knowledge and less on technique, even though technique was actually the harder part to train.
Kiyoharu adapted easily. His clear thinking and ability to explain difficult concepts in simple terms earned high praise from his students.
For a variety of complicated reasons, his work pressure was far lower than in his previous life. Using his free time during the day to prepare lessons was enough for him to stay fully on top of things.
As Kiyoharu focused intently on his lesson plans, Shimaura Hitomi across from him used student test papers as cover to steal glances at him.
Whenever Kiyoharu concentrated on something, it was the perfect time for Shimaura Hitomi to secretly watch and admire him... No, this could not be called "admiring." She was merely carrying out the Young Lady's assignment and conducting routine observations of her senpai.
Shimaura Hitomi's father and Chihaya Genichiro had been family friends for generations. Since childhood, she and Airi had called each other best friends. Back then, Shimaura Hitomi had especially admired Airi. She found Airi's forceful, domineering manner particularly captivating, so she spent much of her time, in and out of class, following at Airi's side—a green leaf serving to set off a red flower, perhaps!
From her babbling toddler days until she entered high school, Hitomi had always felt that being a green leaf was nothing bad.
Until she met Ito Kiyoharu.
It was on the day of the sports festival. In the stands overlooking the athletic field, Kiyoharu had grabbed Chihaya Airi's hand. The scene had been like the first meeting of a princess and prince, though Shimaura Hitomi had only been part of the background.
Breaking free from her memories, Shimaura Hitomi looked at Kiyoharu's hand as he wrote. Its defined knuckles and long, handsome fingers seemed strong as well. They were probably the most beautiful hands that could grow on a boy, and Shimaura Hitomi liked them no less than Kiyoharu's handsome face.
At that moment, Shimaura Hitomi felt quite fortunate that she had opened her delivery a little late and had not let her senpai see what was inside. Otherwise, she simply could not imagine how she could continue staying in this office.
"By the way, senpai, you came in early today. Is there some special reason?" Shimaura Hitomi probed indirectly.
As for the reason, there had been no games to play, so he had gone to bed about an hour earlier, which meant he had gotten up earlier too.
He had already finished his morning workout and breakfast. Rather than remain at home and risk Airi waking up early to torment him, he might as well come to school.
Still, the "punishment" was a private matter between Kiyoharu and Airi. Even though Shimaura Hitomi was Airi's best friend, it was not something he could conveniently reveal. So Kiyoharu answered vaguely, "I unexpectedly went to bed very early last night, so I came in ahead of time to prepare lessons."
"I see. Senpai really is responsible toward his students."
"Not at all. I just follow the usual routine. If we're talking about being responsible, Teacher Shimaura has me beat." Kiyoharu sighed in admiration. "That delinquent girl who gave every teacher in the school a headache last year found a good path forward after your guidance. I recently ran into that student's parents, and they couldn't stop talking about how grateful they were to Teacher Shimaura."
"It wasn't that exaggerated..." Shimaura Hitomi immediately blushed at Kiyoharu's praise.
Fortunately, several other teachers entered the office together just then. Their conversation naturally came to an end, sparing Shimaura Hitomi further embarrassment.
Kiyoharu continued preparing lessons, finishing the course outline for the coming week before stretching in his chair.
At that moment, the teachers chatting in the hallway caught his attention.
"Really? She's only going to be an adviser for the literature club. Isn't hiring someone that impressive a little excessive...?"
"It isn't that exaggerated. I heard that Young Lady had only just returned to the country and it wasn't convenient to assign her anything too complicated yet, so she was going to relax at Chihaya Academy for the time being."
"Tsk, tsk. That talented lady is practically the ideal image of a Yamato nadeshiko."
"What era are you living in? You're still talking about traditional Yamato nadeshiko?"
The more Kiyoharu listened, the more something felt wrong. Smiling, he joined the conversation. "What, is the literature club hiring a new adviser?"
"That's right." Haneda Miho, the office's reigning gossip expert, answered him. Seeing Kiyoharu join the topic, she waggled her eyebrows at him. "Chihaya-sensei should know her well, right? Kitahara Ayano, your fiancée's good friend."
"I know her. We're not close."
After trading a few meaningless jokes with everyone, Kiyoharu returned to his desk without showing any reaction, though cold sweat had already begun to form on his back.
Damn it!
He had thought that working at a proper school would allow him to avoid women's harassment most of the time.
But Kitahara Ayano refused to play by the rules. She had actually found a job at Chihaya Academy. Others might not be able to guess her intentions, but Kiyoharu was certain—Kitahara Ayano had come for him.
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