Kotomi Still Unaware of the Issue

The moment the words left her lips, Shizuka Hiratsuka regretted it deeply, feeling a sudden urge to give herself a few good smacks. Watching Kotomi about to turn and leave, she had impulsively called out without thinking.

Sure, Kotomi was stunningly cute, the very embodiment of her type—but she was her student. Even worse, her female student! Just picturing herself taking Kotomi home to meet her mother and announcing her as her partner was terrifying. Shizuka's mother wanted her to find a partner quickly, ideally to get engaged the very next day and marry as soon as possible. But that was intended to be a boyfriend, not a girlfriend.

As soon as the image of introducing Kotomi as her girlfriend popped into her mind, Shizuka felt a cold sweat trickle down her forehead—she knew this was fear.

"November 6th?"

Kotomi looked at her, puzzled, having no idea what Shizuka meant by that.

Under Kotomi's curious gaze, Shizuka's cold sweat only intensified, making her feel drenched. Here she was, a teacher, yet she was the one feeling so nervous before her own student. She could practically hear herself scolding: Pathetic! Too weak!

When it came to choosing a partner, Shizuka's standards were high—even if she were only play-acting, it would have to be someone who truly suited her tastes. And Kotomi? Kotomi wasn't just suitable—she danced on the very stage of Shizuka's deepest preferences.

If Kotomi had the same feelings, Shizuka imagined she would scoop her up over her shoulder, toss her into her car, and make a beeline for city hall to fill out the marriage license. No stoplights, no hesitation.

To be honest, if she really were to think about who she'd want to spend the rest of her life with, Shizuka had to admit she might actually prefer a woman.

After mulling it over briefly, Shizuka decided: as long as Kotomi was available on November 6th, she'd take her to meet her mother.

"Are you free on November 6th? I'd like to take you out to eat," she said cautiously, deciding to take things step-by-step to avoid scaring her away.

"You… want to take me out?" Kotomi looked genuinely surprised. She couldn't quite grasp why her teacher would suddenly want to treat her. Was this a thank-you gesture for her agreeing to stay in Class F? As if she'd ever say no to free food!

"Yeah, just a meal. A teacher-student get-together," Shizuka explained, trying to come up with a plausible excuse. "It's, um, for team bonding… well, or a friendly outing… hmm."

"Shizuka-sensei, you sure you're an actual language teacher with how you just put that?" Kotomi laughed.

"Don't underestimate me!" Shizuka huffed, then, unable to keep up the charade, let out a sigh. "Alright, let's put it this way—November 6th, good food. Are you coming or not?"

"Well, it's a Saturday, and I'm not exactly one to loaf around. You know, I'm a diligent student and all…" Kotomi teased, exaggerating her tone.

Shizuka chuckled; she knew Kotomi too well to buy that. "I heard there's a nice restaurant in Ginza."

Before Shizuka could finish, Kotomi perked up. "If I'm free that day, count me in!"

Just as I thought, Shizuka mused, giving Kotomi a knowing smile. After wrapping up their conversation, Kotomi excused herself, remembering that Megumi was waiting for her.

"Well, if there's nothing else, Shizuka-sensei, I'll be heading out. It's finally Friday afternoon, and I don't want to spend a second longer here than I have to," Kotomi declared.

"Doesn't sound like something Japan's top-ranked student would say, but I get it. And one more thing—can you stop calling me 'Ms. Hiratsuka' all the time? Feels way too formal."

"Oh? So what should I call you?"

"Just 'Shizuka-san' is fine."

"Got it, Shizuka-san. See you~!" Kotomi waved, already at the classroom door by the time Shizuka looked up.

"Take care!" Shizuka called back, watching Kotomi leave. After ensuring the classroom's doors and windows were all locked, she headed to the office to grab her car keys, muttering to herself.

"I actually went through with making Kotomi my pretend girlfriend… I'm a terrible teacher."

"To make things worse, I even threw in a fancy dinner in Ginza just to seal the deal. Ugh, a Ginza restaurant could end up costing me half a month's salary." But then it hit her. "Wait, my mom's footing the bill. Heh~ Looks like I scored there! Let's see which Ginza restaurant has the highest prices."

On her way to the school entrance, Kotomi hurried her steps to avoid keeping Megumi waiting. She found her by the shoe rack near the entrance.

"Sorry, Megumi, did I keep you waiting long?" Kotomi apologized.

"It's fine. Did Shizuka-sensei… say or do anything?" Megumi asked with a gentle smile.

"Nothing serious. She just wanted to ask why I chose to stay in Class F when I could've moved to a class with better funding and resources," Kotomi replied, slipping on her brown loafers and swapping her indoor shoes for her school shoes.

Together, they left the school grounds as the last two students remaining on campus.

"So she's still dwelling on the class transfer, huh? She must be really invested in you," Megumi commented playfully as they walked home.

"Yeah, Shizuka-san was super tense when I met with Yachiyo-sensei in the faculty office. Honestly, I think it's sweet how she cares," Kotomi said, smiling.

The term "Shizuka-san" hadn't gone unnoticed by Megumi, whose gaze subtly shifted toward Kotomi, as if she was a little curious about something.

Although Kato Megumi was quite concerned about Kotomi's shift in how she addressed Shizuka Hiratsuka, she weighed it carefully and decided against asking about it directly. Their current relationship was still only at the level of friends; they hadn't yet reached the point of adding the word "girlfriend" in front of "friends."

She knew that if she asked too many questions about things like this, it might annoy Kotomi. Based on her understanding of her dear Kotomi's personality, she knew Kotomi disliked being prodded about personal things. A few inquiries were fine, but too many might trigger a reaction. So, she decided to act as though she hadn't noticed the change in Kotomi's wording and continued chatting about other topics.

To ensure they had more to talk about together, Megumi had even downloaded Azur Lane on her phone, sneaking in some gameplay here and there. Whenever she played, she'd either mute her phone or use headphones.

This was a precautionary measure; if she didn't keep the volume down, her mom might overhear and lecture her. Kato Ikumi was already displeased if Megumi spent even a bit too much time on her phone, fearing it would impact her studies—let alone the idea of playing games.

Reflecting on this, Megumi sighed internally, finally understanding why her mom had only bought her a 32GB phone.

Before long, they reached the Izumi family home.

"Megumi, want to come over for a bit? Aimi bought a delicious box of cookies yesterday," Kotomi offered.

It was rare to have a Friday night free, and though they were going out for dinner later, they still had a bit of time before Aimi got back from school, so inviting Megumi over seemed perfect.

Though Megumi was ecstatic at being asked over, she remembered that her mom had planned for them to eat out tonight, so she had to reluctantly decline.

"I'd love to, but I need to head home since I'm going out for dinner with my family tonight."

"Ah, I see. Well, next time then," Kotomi nodded with understanding.

"Not to worry—we still have the whole day tomorrow just to ourselves!"

The mention of tomorrow's plans at Aqua Park had Megumi practically glowing with excitement.

Spending an entire day in Shinagawa might be a bit much—especially since they'd be heading back after dinner—but Kotomi kept that to herself.

"In that case, we'd better get a good night's sleep tonight! If we're late tomorrow morning, we might miss our train," Kotomi said with a hint of concern.

Traveling from Chiba to Shinagawa meant not only covering quite a distance but also switching between several train lines. Each line had its own schedule, and not every train came frequently. Missing even one could mean a long wait for the next, potentially making them late for the next transfer.

While being a few minutes late to the aquarium wouldn't be a big deal, if they missed one of the last trains on the way back, they'd have to find somewhere to stay overnight, just like the time they were in Roppongi. So, she made a mental note to check the timetable from Chiba to Shinagawa before bed.

"No worries—I used to ride the train all the time when I'd go camping before I got my motorcycle license, so I'm used to memorizing train schedules. As long as we leave by 8:15, we should be fine," Megumi replied, waving off her concerns.

Hearing this, Kotomi felt relieved. She completely forgot that the last time they'd missed the train in Roppongi, it was Megumi's delay that had caused it.

After bidding each other goodbye, Kotomi stepped into her home.

Tonight, even her dad was home early for a change.

Apparently, he'd wrapped up a big project at work and wouldn't need to work overtime for at least the next six months. Additionally, Kotomi's dad, Izumi Kaneyoshi, had performed so well during a recent business collaboration that his promotion was already confirmed, and soon he'd become a department manager.

Perhaps to prevent other companies from poaching him, his company had already arranged a salary increase, bumping his monthly salary to 520,000 yen.

So tonight, the Izumi family had two things to celebrate: Kotomi's outstanding test score and her dad's successful raise and upcoming promotion.

"When Dad becomes the department manager, I suppose Mom will officially be known as the 'manager's wife,' huh?" Kotomi remarked while munching on an apple her dad had peeled for her.

"Really? Is that how it works?"

Kaneyoshi looked a bit surprised by Kotomi's observation, as he hadn't thought much about it before.

The neighborhood moms often gathered to chat about various things, typically gossip that somehow went on for hours at a time. Kotomi didn't understand how the network of information could be so widespread, but she figured it was probably due to the sharing of personal stories.

Soon enough, word of her dad's promotion reached the surrounding housewives, and they began congratulating Kotomi's mom, Izumi Akina.

Speaking of the promotion, Akina set a bowl of freshly washed grapes on the table and teased with a smirk:

"Well, now that your dad's about to be promoted, the girls at his company might start flocking to him. After all, career men are very popular with young women—especially fresh grads. And given how popular he was in high school, with over 30 love letters dropped into my hands alone to pass along to him…"

"Wait, that many? I don't remember any of that," Kaneyoshi said, genuinely surprised.

"Why would they give the love letters to Mom to pass along to Dad?" Kotomi asked, curious.

"Well, they thought of me as Kaneyoshi's 'best guy friend' back then…" Akina admitted, slightly irritated at the memory. After all, she'd been the undisputed campus queen at the prestigious Homurahara Academy for three years straight.

"Pfft…" Kotomi couldn't help but laugh at this.

"What's so funny?" Akina asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, nothing, just thought of something amusing," Kotomi quickly deflected.

"What is it that's so amusing?"

"Since we're going out for dinner, I was thinking of ordering ice cream later," Kotomi said, coming up with an excuse.

"No way! You're on your period, and you think you're having ice cream? Go ahead, eat some and see if you don't end up with cramps all night," Akina warned her.

With that, Kotomi instantly felt a dull ache in her lower abdomen, and she reflexively shrank back.

"Alright, alright, no ice cream… Why did my period have to come today of all days?" she muttered in frustration.

After finishing up, Aimi returned home, and about twenty minutes later, the family locked up and headed out. Kaneyoshi went to the garage to get the car.

The Izumi family owned a GT-R50, a gift from Kotomi's grandfather to her father on his 40th birthday.

Since Kaneyoshi thought it too flashy for his daily commute, especially without a company parking permit, he usually kept it in the garage.

Settling into the car, Kotomi asked curiously, "Mom, where are we going for dinner?"

"Ah, that's a secret~"

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