Chapter 885 - 885: Long Time No See. I Want to Marry Her

And just like that, the matter of replacing the snacks was happily settled.

After a brief silence, Eiren Kanagawa continued,

"Actually, I resigned from Kyoto University and came to Sobu High School because of something I need to take care of. It isn't anything major, but it will take some time to accomplish. After weighing everything, I decided to resign from Kyoto University and come here."

"It may not be anything major, but it must be very important to you, right?" Kotomi Izumi asked.

"Exactly. You really hit the nail on the head. At the same time, I don't want too many people knowing about it, even close friends. That's why when Chihiro asked me earlier, I kept playing dumb. At least just now, I could say I was quite an expert at playing dumb. I do feel a little bad for Little Chihiro, though."

After saying that, Eiren Kanagawa smiled.

"In that case, I won't ask any further. Judging by the way you're acting, it doesn't look like you're trying to drag me onto your pirate ship.

"Besides, even if you really wanted to drag me onto some pirate ship of yours, you'd first have to see whether you were capable of it. I'm not nearly as harmless as I look.

"You probably didn't call me out here alone because you wanted to tell only me the true reason you resigned. It's simply because we already knew each other before, and since you've only just arrived at Sobu High School and don't know many people yet, you wanted to chat with me to relieve some of your boredom.

"As for why you didn't choose to chat with Ms. Sengoku instead? You're probably worried that Ms. Sengoku would keep digging until she got to the bottom of things. You're her friend, so you should know her personality better than anyone."

Kotomi Izumi chuckled as she spoke.

Faced with Kotomi Izumi's analysis, Eiren Kanagawa first stared blankly for a moment, then let out a long breath. She lazily sprawled across the desk and narrowed her eyes at Kotomi.

"Kotomi, sometimes you're just too smart... If my heart didn't already belong to someone, I'd be tempted to ask you out on a weekend night so the two of us could spend a wonderful evening together."

"Oh my, what a relief. After all, you're not my type."

Kotomi Izumi grinned. When it came to a woman like Eiren Kanagawa, Kotomi preferred keeping their relationship as friends and had no desire for anything beyond that. A few flirtatious jokes in everyday conversation were fine, but if Eiren Kanagawa genuinely tried to make something happen, Kotomi would reject her without the slightest hesitation.

The reason was exactly as Kotomi Izumi had said. Eiren Kanagawa simply was not her type.

"Mm—Little Kotomi really is heartless. But I suppose that makes sense. With a girl like you, I don't even need to ask about your love life to know you're extremely popular. Your romantic experience... must be very extensive~ Even if it isn't yet, I'm sure it will become extensive in the future."

I feel like it's already starting to get extensive... Kotomi Izumi's lips twitched as she thought to herself.

However, Kotomi Izumi did not continue discussing that subject aloud. Instead, she asked curiously,

"By the way, you just said your heart already belongs to someone. Is that true? Who do you like? Come on, tell me. Tell me."

"Wow. I never expected you to have a gossipy side too, Kotomi."

Eiren Kanagawa deliberately exclaimed in surprise, then grinned mischievously as she intentionally kept Kotomi in suspense.

"Of course it's true. With my looks, my figure, and my income, if I genuinely wanted a relationship, I'd definitely have an advantage over people my age! Besides, the person I like is even a few years younger than me~ As for who she is? Hehe, I'm not telling you. It's a secret."

"Tch. How stingy. You called me all the way out of the classroom, yet you won't even share a little gossip with me. I'm leaving."

"Hehehe, sorry. How about I treat you to a meal this weekend? What would you like?"

"No need. I've already made plans for this weekend. We'll talk about it next time." Kotomi Izumi waved her small hand and smiled casually.

"All right, then."

Although Eiren Kanagawa did not know what Kotomi Izumi was doing over the weekend, she did not ask.

However, just as Kotomi Izumi was about to leave the office, Eiren Kanagawa suddenly remembered something and hurriedly called out to her.

"Right, Kotomi, wait a moment. There's something I want to ask you!"

"Huh? You won't tell me the real reason you resigned from Kyoto University, yet you keep asking me questions. Ms. Kanagawa, do you think I'm running a charity?"

Kotomi Izumi deliberately spoke with a look of distaste, then revealed her true intentions by rubbing her fingers together in a money-counting gesture and grinning wickedly.

"I can answer your question, but as my new homeroom teacher, shouldn't you at least treat me to lunch?"

"Hiss... I only wanted to ask you for directions... I could ask someone else, but since I've only just arrived, it feels a little strange to immediately start asking for directions. Especially since the place I'm asking about isn't somewhere either teachers or students go very often. If I ask too directly, someone might get suspicious."

"So you're saying I'm the only person you can ask?"

"Exactly."

Eiren Kanagawa nodded. Seeing that Kotomi Izumi was still making the money-counting gesture with her hand, she could only sigh helplessly. Then she took out her wallet, pulled out a ten-thousand-yen bill, and handed it to Kotomi.

"Here. I'll cover your lunch expenses for this month."

Kotomi Izumi naturally accepted the ten-thousand-yen bill without the slightest hesitation. She flicked it lightly with one finger and sighed admiringly.

"As expected of a former professor from Kyoto University's Department of Fine Arts. You're certainly generous. Although ten thousand yen isn't enough to cover an entire month of lunches for me. I eat a lot, after all. Still, I can see your sincerity. Go on, then. Which route do you want to ask about?"

"I want to know which staircase leads to the rooftop. When I came to work today, I took the staircase by the west entrance, but once I reached the sixth floor, the stairs simply ended. Yet when I looked at the new school building from outside, it seemed like it should have seven floors, counting the rooftop."

Eiren Kanagawa asked her question.

Kotomi Izumi had assumed Eiren Kanagawa wanted to ask about some road in Chiba City. Eiren Kanagawa had always lived in Kyoto before this, so having only recently arrived in Chiba, it would have been perfectly normal for her to be unfamiliar with certain routes. Unexpectedly, however, she was not asking about the roads of Chiba City, but rather the route to the rooftop at Sobu High School.

Still, it was perfectly normal for her to be confused about which staircase led to the rooftop.

In the past, Sobu High School did not allow teachers or students to enter the rooftop freely. The rooftop door had always been locked, so most staircases in the school building only went as far as the sixth floor rather than continuing to the seventh floor where the rooftop was located.

Later, for some unknown reason, Sobu High School lifted the restriction on access to the rooftop and began allowing teachers and students to go up there.

However, the staircases in the academic building remained unchanged. Among all those staircases, only one could reach the rooftop.

If someone had not asked an upperclassman beforehand and instead tried to find the staircase leading to the seventh floor on their own, it really would take some time.

As a newly arrived art teacher, it was perfectly normal that Eiren Kanagawa did not know which staircase led to the rooftop.

"It's perfectly normal for most staircases to end on the sixth floor. A long time ago, back when this new school building had just been completed, students weren't allowed onto the rooftop, and the door was kept locked. But it's open now. Lots of young couples like going up there together during lunch break.

As for the stairs, use the staircase in the school building's courtyard. That one goes directly to the seventh-floor rooftop. When you reach the seventh floor, you'll notice that both the stairs and the landing have changed to bare concrete. That's how you'll know you've taken the right one.

Well, it's not as though you can really get it wrong anyway. That's the only staircase in the entire building that reaches the rooftop."

After listening intently, Eiren Kanagawa nodded and thanked her sincerely.

"I see. I understand now. Thank you."

"There's no need to thank me. Don't worry about it. After all, you already treated me to lunch."

Although Kotomi Izumi loved joking around with Eiren Kanagawa, being thanked so formally by her still made Kotomi feel somewhat awkward.

As the bell signaling the start of second period rang, Kotomi Izumi said goodbye to Eiren Kanagawa, turned around, and left the office.

After Kotomi Izumi departed, Eiren Kanagawa was the only person left in the entire faculty office.

After all, she did not have any classes for the entire day. The only first-year art class scheduled today was being taught by Chihiro Sengoku, while the other teachers in the office generally had at least one class every day.

"So quiet. Compared with my professor's office back at the university, it really isn't all that different." Eiren Kanagawa stretched lazily and spoke with a chuckle.

She sat in her chair and played with her phone for a while. After roughly ten minutes had passed, Eiren Kanagawa stood up, picked up her coat, and left the office. Following the route Kotomi Izumi had described, she made her way to the rooftop door.

Standing before the rooftop entrance, Eiren Kanagawa could not help lowering her gaze toward the ground beneath her feet before letting out a quiet laugh.

"It really is exactly as Kotomi said. The floor beneath my feet has turned into bare concrete."

After saying that, Eiren Kanagawa took a deep breath. As though carrying memories of the past within her heart, she pushed open the rooftop door.

The rooftop door of Sobu High School's new academic building had long since ceased to be locked, yet for some reason, the moment her hands touched the handle and she tried to push it outward, she felt as though an incomparably heavy mass of air behind the door was resisting her and preventing it from opening.

"Just like back then..."

Eiren Kanagawa murmured softly before stepping onto the rooftop with a complicated expression.

She did not look around. Instead, she walked directly toward the right side of the rooftop with clear purpose, as though she had already decided where she wanted to go long before coming to Sobu High School.

Standing on the right side of the rooftop, she gently rested a hand against the protective mesh. Through the high railing and fencing surrounding the rooftop, she could see the old school building in the distance.

"Long time no see. Have you been sleeping well? I'm back..."

Sorrow seemed frozen within Eiren Kanagawa's pale eyes as a thin sheen of tears formed across them. The hand that had been gently resting on the protective mesh gradually tightened its grip.

Only after a long while did Eiren Kanagawa let out a faint laugh. She removed her hand from the fence, turned around with her back to the old school building, and slowly lowered herself to sit on the ground.

"Why did I come back? I didn't want to come back either. But you know how much I owe her. If she hadn't helped me back then, what could a little girl like me possibly have done to avenge her father...

"She didn't just help me get revenge. She taught me how to study, taught me how to paint, and even sent me abroad to study. Without her, there would be no me as I am today.

"Who could have imagined that a little girl who survived a plane crash would one day become a professor in Kyoto University's Department of Fine Arts? Hahaha... At least when I was a child, I never would have dreamed of such a thing."

"I told you before that she was like a second mother to me. I had never experienced maternal love, yet she gave me a love that felt just like a mother's. No matter what, I have to repay what I owe her, even if an entire lifetime may not be enough to repay her kindness."

"What I owe her is simply too great. Far too great... So great that when I discovered the utterly unconscionable, inhuman things she was secretly doing, not only did I refuse to expose her, I even became her accomplice, despite knowing perfectly well that what she'd done was enough to deserve execution ten thousand times over."

"Mm, that's right. I came back this time to help her guard the old school building. If the secret hidden there is ever discovered, then the image she'd built as a kind, approachable teacher devoted to educating her students would be completely destroyed! I can't just stand by and watch her reputation collapse at the very end of her life. Even though I know what she did was wrong, what else can I do? She's my benefactor..."

"Forget it. We haven't seen each other in so long. There's no point talking about the past anymore. Let's talk about the present. Although I returned to Sobu High School this time to protect the secret of the old school building, I actually came back for a girl as well."

"Oh? You already figured it out? Haha, I really can't hide anything from you. That's right. It's Hibiki Naegi. I met her some time ago. She entered this year's Tokyo Metropolitan University National Youth Painting Award and qualified for the first exhibition. The first exhibition was held at the National Museum of Modern Art in Kyoto. She came to Kyoto at the time, and I was one of the teachers assigned to receive them."

"Is qualifying for the first exhibition impressive? Yes. Compared with many art students, reaching the first exhibition is certainly impressive. But to win the Tokyo Metropolitan University National Youth Painting Award, you have to make it through every round until your work becomes the sole painting selected for the third exhibition.

"Obviously, with her current skill and talent, there's no possibility of her winning the Tokyo Metropolitan University National Youth Painting Award. Forget the third exhibition. She might not even qualify for the second. No matter how hard she works, when it comes to painting, once effort reaches its limit, you need talent to break through that barrier.

"Ah... It's really strange. Compared with you, Hibiki Naegi isn't like you at all. You were so extraordinarily gifted. The brush in your hand could always create paintings that moved people's hearts. If you were still painting now, you would definitely have become the brightest star in the art world."

"Really. Really, I'm serious. Hibiki Naegi isn't like you at all. Whether in appearance or talent, the two of you don't resemble each other in the slightest.

"But why—! Why did I still fall in love with her!!!

"At first, I only wanted to fool around with her to relieve my boredom. I'd even figured out how I would compensate her afterward by helping her get into Kyoto University's Department of Fine Arts. But by the time I realized what was happening, I'd already fallen completely in love with her!"

Sitting on the ground, Eiren Kanagawa alternated between murmuring softly and crying out hysterically. At times, she seemed to be asking and answering her own questions. At others, it was as though there truly were a girl in the empty air speaking with her.

As her words were about to fade into the air, Eiren Kanagawa suddenly raised her head and covered her face with one hand. Paying no attention to the tears sliding down her cheeks, she asked softly,

"I really do love Hibiki Naegi. I truly love her! Tell me... once everything is finally over, will I have the right to propose to her? I want to marry her."

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