"The room next to Teacher Haihara's..."
"..."
It was her room.
And now that she looked closely, the pajamas Sakaki Chika was wearing seemed more and more familiar.
They were her old clothes.
Before she knew it, Kazama Kiriori had clenched her fists.
It seemed the two of them needed to have a serious talk.
She could understand Sakaki Chika's situation, but she also wanted to stay with Haihara for the next couple of days.
So someone would have to compromise.
But...
Kazama Kiriori thought it over.
If Sakaki Chika took over her room, would that mean she'd have to sleep with her mom?
"In that case, I guess there's no other choice." Kazama Kiriori nodded. "Then I'll share a room with Mom."
"?"
Sakaki Chika froze, apparently not expecting Kazama Kiriori to be so devious.
She seemed at a loss, her head lowered as she wavered uncertainly. In a small voice, she said:
"Um... isn't it a little weird for a high school student to sleep with her parents?"
"What's wrong with me sleeping with my mom?"
Kazama Kiriori declared, righteous as could be.
Sakaki Chika lowered her head. Her gaze dimmed, though it was hard to tell whether she felt bitter or disappointed. She murmured:
"In that case... I want to sleep with Teacher Haihara, too."
"?"
Kazama Kiriori felt like she'd just heard something strange.
This girl...
She wanted to sleep with her mom?
At last, clever Kazama Kiriori understood why she'd felt wary of Sakaki Chika for no apparent reason.
It was the instinctive wariness one felt toward a rival.
This woman was eyeing her mom!
She acted as innocent as a little white rabbit, but she was actually up to no good with her mom!
"So, how do you feel about my mom?"
Sakaki Chika stammered:
"Um... I... like... Teacher Haihara."
"I like her too."
"Huh?"
Meanwhile, Haihara was out of the house, completely unaware of what was happening at home.
Normally, she spent her Saturdays paying JKs to hang out with her.
But today, she had something more important to do than go shopping with a JK.
Haihara had never felt this nervous before.
On a city street, she waited patiently, filled with anticipation.
She looked at herself in a pane of glass.
In the reflection stood a slender woman with a somewhat androgynous, cool style. She wore a sheer black dress that ran from her neck to her calves, cinched at the waist with a belt.
She'd even taken off her glasses for once and put on light makeup.
Quite a few people around her glanced her way.
There was no denying makeup was a miraculous thing. She looked almost like a different person—she'd gone from plain to someone who could be called beautiful.
Or maybe she was just flattering herself.
Haihara looked down at her phone. Their agreed-upon time was about ten minutes away.
—That's right. Today was her date with Ms. Suzuki.
They were going to shop, eat, drink, and have fun until evening.
Heh heh...
She'd already figured it out. As long as she took things step by step, left a good impression on Ms. Suzuki, and gradually built up her affection, one day she'd be able to start dating her!
Oh, though, it seemed Sakaki Chika would be the only one at home today.
Nothing should happen, right...?
Besides, she'd be home tonight.
Tonight's Magical Girl
Ms. Suzuki was a young, beautiful music teacher who taught the same grade as Haihara. She had a lovely voice and a gentle personality, so she was very popular with the students.
Since she was young, single, and unmarried, a few single male teachers had tried to court her, but none of them had gotten anywhere.
If there was anything special about Ms. Suzuki, though, there really wasn't.
She was just an ordinary, popular teacher.
Which meant she was someone an ordinary person like Haihara could hope to reach.
Besides, Ms. Suzuki had a great personality and was willing to be friends with someone like her.
Come to think of it, other than Ms. Suzuki, she didn't really have anyone she could call a friend. She had people she could talk to online, but that was all.
That evening, the two of them went to an izakaya, planning to say goodbye after dinner.
Ms. Suzuki wasn't much of a drinker, but she could handle beer. She occasionally got drunk, and when that happened, Haihara had to take her home.
On the somewhat rowdy street, Haihara brushed sauce onto her skewers while Ms. Suzuki beside her gulped down her beer.
Teachers tended to act a little differently at school than they did in their everyday lives.
Of course, Haihara herself barely changed.
She was lazy and listless both at school and at home.
Ms. Suzuki put her half-finished glass of beer back on the table, rested one hand against her slightly flushed cheek, and complained:
"I've been so irritable lately. My family keeps pushing me to go on matchmaking dates... but all the men they find are so unreliable."
Ms. Suzuki was twenty-eight, a year older than Haihara. She was approaching thirty, and her family was rather traditional, so they'd been pressuring her to get married lately.
But she hadn't been satisfied with any of her matchmaking prospects.
Actually, Ms. Suzuki was such a catch that it was strange she was still single.
Plenty of men had pursued her, but none of them had appealed to her.
"Wasn't that doctor last time pretty good? I heard he had a great education and made a lot of money."
"He had a Kansai accent. I couldn't stand dating someone like that."
Ms. Suzuki shook her head.
"Mm..."
Haihara only nodded in agreement, without any particular thoughts of her own. She was probably a little happy, since it meant Ms. Suzuki was still single.
As she thought, she put a skewer in her mouth and chewed slowly.
Beside her, Ms. Suzuki looked at Haihara with flushed cheeks and a hint of drunkenness in her voice.
"Speaking of which, Haihara, have you ever thought about getting married soon?"
"...Not really."
To be honest, she'd barely dated anyone, and she didn't know what was so great about marriage.
She'd never been very interested in romance or marriage, even as a child.
While her female classmates were all obsessed with idol dramas, she preferred horror movies. A few times, she'd tried inviting classmates over to play, like the other girls did, but they'd all ended up running away in fright.
After that, people thought she was a weirdo, and no one played with her anymore.
"Don't you ever get lonely?"
Ms. Suzuki lightly held a skewer between her fingers and tapped it against her glass.
"Sometimes, but there's not much I can do about it."
Even if she really was lonely, it wasn't as if anyone would come keep her company.
Later, she'd felt so lonely that she got a snake to keep her company.
"Me too. I used to think being single was great, but one by one, all my coworkers started getting married. Sometimes I feel a little lonely, and I envy them..."
Ms. Suzuki sighed.
Haihara thought back. It seemed a few of the teachers had gotten married recently.
Her old college classmates had been posting about their weddings on social media, too.
These days, there seemed to be fewer single people around her than married ones.
"So, what's your type, Haihara? We've all been guessing," Ms. Suzuki said with a smile.
"Guessing?"
"Haruko and Shizuka both think you like younger men. That kind of older woman with a younger guy seems really popular these days."
Haruko was the English teacher, and Shizuka taught chemistry.
"Am I an older woman already?"
Haihara didn't actually like younger men very much.
Besides, she wasn't all that interested in men.
"But that new intern, what was her name, Takahashi? That cute junior of ours said you were really charming. She even asked what kind of men you like."
Ms. Suzuki got a little gossipy when she was drunk.
Haihara tried to remember her, but honestly couldn't. She barely knew the teachers in her own grade and hardly paid attention to the others.
Still, she patiently nodded and listened as Ms. Suzuki went on.
Ms. Suzuki lifted her head.
"Oh... come to think of it, quite a few of the women teachers think you're charming, too. There's that beautiful teacher in her early twenties from Class One. Didn't she ask you out to dinner once?"
"That did happen..."
Haihara remembered.
But she'd turned her down at the time because the teacher looked a little too young for her taste.
"Mm... why does it feel like you're so popular? And now that I look at you, you really are beautiful today. Hehe..."
At some point, Ms. Suzuki seemed to have gotten drunk. She swayed all over, smiling with a dazed expression.
A little later, Haihara felt something pressing against her shoulder, making her neck itch.
She turned her head and found that the drunk Ms. Suzuki was leaning gently against her shoulder, looking even cuter than usual.
"..."
Haihara's face turned slightly red.
Before you continue