Chapter 123

The aroma of coffee filled the laboratory.

The two of them had a long time together.

Moreover, the nights are very long.

At night, looking at the empty room, and thinking about how she had spent the past few days alone, Haihara inevitably felt a little lonely.

Although the holiday is relaxing, not being able to see the students every day also means that I'm alone again.

Kiriori is currently in her third year and will graduate next semester. Although the pressure of getting into a higher grade isn't too great, it's still better to give her some space.

And it's already very late.

As Haihara scrolled through her text message list in the dimly lit room, the first person she thought of was Kougami.

Maybe the other person is very busy...

But in the end, I still sent the text message.

During this time, Haihara sat quietly on the sofa, without turning on the lights or doing anything else. After about an hour, Haihara finally received a reply from her childhood friend.

Late at night, when she answered Kougami Kage's call and heard his voice, Haihara was reminded of her past crush on her childhood friend.

But right now, it seems there's no chance to tell anyone.

The other person didn't seem interested in romance, and even if they were, she didn't know if they might be interested in her.

Are you... free lately?

Haihara subconsciously touched her neck.

After a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, Kougami Kage responded:

[I'm free anytime, Lily. Is there something you need?]

"I think..."

She stopped halfway through her sentence.

The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he found it difficult to say them to Kougami Kage, even over the phone.

Haihara opened her mouth again, then said very softly:

"... I'd like you to come with me back to my hometown, is that alright?"

They went to school together and lived close by when they were little.

In previous years, Kiriori would usually accompany her back home.

She doesn't really want to go back alone this year.

A hesitant voice came from the other end of the phone:

[To keep you company... to keep you company, right?]

Hearing the other person's reaction, Haihara felt a little nervous.

"Is it not allowed?"

[No... no, of course, anytime is fine. I'll be with you. Oh, and I'll drive you...]

Kougami Kage's tone changed from blank at the beginning to joy later.

So, next week, she and Kougami will go back to their hometown.

Chapter 57 Kirishima Ai is sleeping

It's worth mentioning that, when Teacher Haihara felt lonely at night, although she only called Kougami to invite him to accompany her back to her hometown, she also sent text messages to several other people before that.

So, that evening, several other girls also received text messages from Teacher Haihara.

At night, Sakaki Chika, a young idol who is currently on a short vacation, has been doing nothing since finishing her makeup exams.

Although she was doing nothing, she did have things on her mind.

For example, what should we ask Teacher Haihara eat during this holiday? What gift should we give her to make her happy?

Thinking of this, Sakaki Chika took out her rabbit-shaped wallet, pulled down the rabbit's tail, revealing the bulging banknotes inside.

She recently withdrew a considerable amount of money.

Inviting the teacher out for hot pot would be a great idea... But then there would be lingering smells afterward, and the teacher might be disgusted by the kissing.

During my last performance in the city, I saw a really pretty dress on the shopping street; I could give it to the teacher...

"Hehehe..."

Before she knew it, Sakaki Chika found that besides work and study, her mind seemed to be filled with thoughts of her teacher.

There's nothing wrong with that.

I just sometimes feel unsatisfied and want to ask for more.

To stop herself from thinking about these things all the time, and also because she's been gaining weight recently, Sakaki Chika decided to do some light exercise at home to lose weight.

Because she has to sing and dance as an idol, her physical strength is actually quite good, and she can do quite a few challenging fitness exercises.

As is her habit, she puts her phone aside when she exercises in her room.

Before she knew it, she had been exercising for over an hour, and her midriff-baring tank top was already soaked with sweat.

She tugged at her collar and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

After showering, go to sleep...

By the time I finished showering, it was already ten o'clock.

Lying on her bed, Sakaki Chika carefully picked up a small rabbit doll that was placed beside her bedside, looked at the fluffy little thing with affection, and then gently rubbed her face against it.

This was a gift from Teacher Haihara.

If we don't count the training and activities scheduled for work, Sakaki Chika actually has pretty good habits. She's used to going to bed early and waking up early, so she's usually already asleep by this time.

Perhaps because she was too tired from exercising, and because lying in bed after a shower felt so comfortable, she soon became so sleepy that she could barely keep her eyes open.

Therefore, even though her phone beeped several times with special notification text messages, she barely noticed and slowly closed her eyes.

"Good night..."

Without even turning off the room lights, Sakaki Chika peacefully fell asleep.

The phone screen remained lit, displaying text messages from the "teacher" she cared about so much.

After dozing off for about an hour, Sakaki Chika felt a chill in her stomach. She instinctively touched it and then woke up from her drowsy state. She realized that she had fallen asleep without turning off the light or covering herself with a blanket.

And it seems the phone isn't charged yet.

She rubbed her eyes, got out of bed, and then, in a daze, found her phone, which she had left lying around. Instinctively, she pressed the power button, and the screen lit up.

Then she noticed that she seemed to have several unread text messages.

She blinked hard, and when she opened her eyes again, Sakaki Chika discovered that the unread text messages were from Teacher Haihara.

"... Huh?"

She blinked, then frantically opened her phone and read the text messages she hadn't seen, only to discover they were from over an hour ago.

In other words, she made Teacher Haihara wait for more than an hour.

Upon seeing the text message, Sakaki Chika's face gradually turned pale.

[Are you free? What are you doing tonight? Nothing's been happening lately, has anything?]

Can you chat with me for a while?

I'm a little bored, and there's no one else at home right now, so I thought of you.

Are you asleep?

Each time Sakaki Chika read a sentence, she was first delighted, then regretted not having seen it earlier, until she read the last sentence.

[Excuse me, the teacher seems to be a little drunk.]

Sorry to bother you, it's alright now.

The young idol's expression gradually darkened, and he pinched his face in disbelief.

Her face turned extremely pale in an instant.

Why... why didn't she see it?

She didn't even reply to the teacher, making the teacher wait for so long.

The teacher should still be online...

Sakaki Chika picked up her phone and started sending replies to the teacher:

[Teacher, are you still there? I accidentally fell asleep and didn't see you, I'm so sorry!]

I'm free; I can chat with you about anything you'd like.

[Teacher?]

[Teacher?]

At Kazama Kiriori's house, during this last break of her senior year of high school, she was indeed more tired than usual, but only relatively speaking.

She wasn't under much pressure to get into university, and getting a guaranteed admission wouldn't be difficult if she wanted to. However, during this holiday, her Student Council had a lot of activities to organize related to university admissions, which left her feeling overwhelmed.

If I had known it would turn out like this, I wouldn't have become the Student Council in the first place...

She just wanted to make her mother happy.

Compared to school matters, during the holidays, Kazama Kiriori was more concerned about Haihara, since it would be strange if she couldn't spend the holidays with her mother.

Moreover, at this time of year, she would go back to her hometown with her mother to visit her deceased maternal grandparents.

She never met Haihara's parents.

During the winter holidays, Haihara will accompany her to visit her deceased biological parents.

After finishing with the materials she needed for the past two days, Kazama Kiriori yawned, thinking it was probably time to go to sleep.

Just as she was about to go to sleep, Kazama Kiriori turned on her phone and glanced at her text messages.

"... When did I turn off the silent mode?"

It seems she forgot to turn off her phone when she was out giving a presentation today, after putting it on silent.

When she saw that the contact labeled "Mom" had sent her several text messages that she hadn't read, a hint of panic finally showed on the face of this Student Council president who was usually so adept at everything.

She glanced at the text message that had been sent to her.

[Kiriori, do you have time?]

[If you have nothing else to do, chat with me for a while; I seem to have trouble sleeping.]

[I also wanted to talk to you about going back to my hometown next week.]

[Hmm? Are you busy?]

Kazama Kiriori's expression gradually changed from blank to regretful.

And the last few text messages Mom sent were...

Why aren't you replying to me?

I'm angry.

"... Mother?"

In an instant, Kazama Kiriori seemed to freeze, her whole body stiffening, and her eyes turning incredibly dull.

At 10:30, Takanashi Shiori had just finished taking a bath and was staying in her new home.

She shook the clothes she had just washed and hung up, a curious expression on her face.

One of the sets of underwear was the one Haihara bought for her.

Tonight, quite unexpectedly, she received a text message from Teacher Haihara.