'You're having that? Have what, a ghost? Didn't you just finish maturing? If you were having that, how could you do that with Hikari!'
But even though she desperately wanted to retort internally, Takamine Ayako's words reached her lips only to be held back.
After all, if she really said that, it would be too awkward.
Whether for Serizawa Yukiha or for herself, it would be extremely awkward, so Takamine Ayako's retort remained unspoken.
Just holding it in until her face turned somewhat red, she helplessly said, "Alright, since Serizawa-san isn't feeling well, having… having that, then you should go home and rest properly. It's fine for Hikari-kun to see you off, but Hikari-kun, after class, come to the office once."
"Hmm?", Hikari looked somewhat puzzled at Takamine Ayako.
The one asking for leave was Serizawa Yukiha, not him, and even if he were the one asking for leave, he should report to Tsukishima Kyoko or Shirakawa Miwa, right? Takamine Ayako is Serizawa Yukiha's homeroom teacher, not his.
Seeing Hikari staring at her with a strange look, Takamine Ayako quickly said, "It's just… just that I have some things I want to say to you, Hikari-kun. If you don't want to come to the office to find me, I can come to your classroom to find you after class instead."
Hearing Takamine Ayako's words, Serizawa Yukiha felt both puzzled and nervous, afraid that Takamine Ayako was going to scold Hikari because of her matter.
But Hikari wasn't very worried; instead, he nodded and agreed, "Okay, then I'll go to the office to find Takamine-sensei after school."
"Mm…"
After nodding, Takamine Ayako seemed not to want to stay any longer either, and directly hurried into the library.
Seeing this scene, Serizawa Yukiha finally breathed a sigh of relief, then pulled Hikari to leave quickly.
Accompanying Serizawa Yukiha back to her home, and properly comforting her who had just matured into an adult at her place, also giving her a full-body massage from the inside out to help ease the soreness from being messed up in the library as soon as possible, Hikari then returned to school.
Although the class bell had long since rung and the class had already started halfway, and he was spotted by the teacher when slipping in through the back door.
But Hikari wasn't flustered, because this class was Japanese class, and the teacher was none other than Shirakawa Miwa, who often let him use the 'back door'.
So when she saw Hikari sneaking in, Shirakawa Miwa gave him a fierce glare but didn't say anything.
.
.
.
Soon, the class ended.
Before Shirakawa Miwa could catch him for a lecture, Hikari hasleft the classroom and went straight to the office, heading towards Takamine Ayako's workstation.
"Takamine-sensei," Hikari called out.
Originally, Takamine Ayako was seriously bent over her desk grading assignments. Upon hearing Hikari's voice, she immediately stood up.
"Hikari-kun."
"Takamine-sensei, what did you want to talk to me about?", Hikari asked curiously.
"Mm… There are many people here, it's a bit inconvenient. Let's change locations first, come with me," Takamine Ayako stood up and took the lead in walking out of the office.
Hearing Takamine Ayako's words, a few question marks appeared on Hikari's forehead.
'It's inconvenient because there are many people here?'
'Could it be that what Takamine-sensei wants to say to me cannot be heard by others?'
With a face full of confusion, Hikari followed Takamine Ayako out of the office.
Next to the teachers' office, there was a staircase, but usually the door downstairs was locked, so few people used this route.
And Hikari followed Takamine Ayako to this deserted staircase landing.
"Hikari-kun, today you and Serizawa-san, in the library, did… did some not very elegant things, right?", Lightly biting her red lips, Takamine Ayako got straight to the point from the start.
"Mm," Hikari couldn't be bothered to lie, or felt it was unnecessary to lie, and directly and readily nodded in agreement.
Hearing Hikari's crisp and decisive reply, Takamine Ayako couldn't help but be momentarily stunned.
She had thought Hikari would deny it or hedge for a while, after all, this was a teacher's inquiry, and about such an embarrassing and shameful matter too.
She didn't expect Hikari to answer so straightforwardly, but it seemed that for him, it really wasn't something unspeakable, and Hikari's personality seemed to be like this as well.
After an unexpected moment of silence, Takamine Ayako had no choice but to, in her capacity as a teacher, directly start admonishing, "Hikari-kun, neither you nor Serizawa-san should or can do such things. After all, a student's primary duty is studying."
"Although it seems like you still have several years until the midterm exams, the time really isn't as much as you imagine. You must seize every day and study hard…"
Facing the admonishment, Hikari nodded from time to time, compliantly agreeing all along.
After all, although today Takamine Ayako didn't see him and her student Serizawa Yukiha joined together, it was almost the same as being caught red-handed, just without the visual confirmation.
So it's fine to let the other homeroom teacher say a few words.
And seeing Hikari's attitude so good, without even making excuses like 'I actually went to the library to study,' after Takamine Ayako said seven or eight sentences in a row, she couldn't continue either.
After all, educating Hikari, a student not under her charge, was already overstepping her bounds. She could only say something by using Serizawa Yukiha as a pretext.
And seeing Takamine Ayako fall into silence.
Hikari also promptly spoke up, "Takamine-sensei, I understand what you've said. I won't do this again in the future. If there's nothing else, I'll head back first."
"This…", Takamine Ayako suddenly showed a conflicted expression.
Originally, Hikari thought Takamine Ayako would just say her piece and that would be it, but what he didn't expect was, just as he was about to turn and leave, Takamine Ayako suddenly stopped him.
"Wait a moment," Takamine Ayako suddenly spoke.
"Takamine-sensei, is there something else?", Hikari asked her curiously.
"Mm…", Looking at Hikari's face, which she hadn't seen much in reality but was already extremely familiar with from her dreams, Takamine Ayako seemed to hesitate to speak.
After silently struggling for a good while, finally, Takamine Ayako couldn't help but express what she truly wanted to say in this conversation.
"That… Hikari-kun, tonight I'd like to invite you to my home for a meal," Takamine Ayako said, lightly biting her red lips, her cheeks slightly blushing.
"Hmm? Why does Takamine-sensei want to invite me to a meal?", Facing this sudden invitation from Takamine Ayako, who had just been urging him to seize time and study well, Hikari asked somewhat puzzled.
Takamine Ayako nervously.explained, "Hikari-kun, didn't you previously save me and Serizawa-san from that handyman Onigashira Masami."
"And also later, when that Kitou Masami tried to dr*g me, it was also Hikari-kun who helped me detox… detoxify the poison."
"And I haven't properly and formally thanked you for these kindnesses yet, Hikari-kun, so today I want to invite you to my home for a meal…"
Hearing this, Hikari raised an eyebrow, "Ah, didn't all those things happen a while ago? Moreover, Takamine-sensei, didn't you say we should act as if those things never happened? Especially the matter of me helping you detoxify; if you hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten."
Hearing Hikari's words, and looking at his expression that seemed to have truly forgotten, Takamine Ayako didn't know whether he really didn't know or was playing dumb, wanting her to say it explicitly.
In any case, Takamine Ayako felt somewhat inexplicably displeased and angry at Hikari saying he had forgotten about it.
But since she had already spoken up, now there were only a few thin layers of window paper left.
Takamine Ayako, her heart itching unbearably, could no longer hold back. With a red face, she directly said, "Actually, besides thanking Hikari-kun through cooking, I also want to do some other things to show my gratitude."
"That is… I want to do the thing you did with Serizawa-san in the library today with Hikari-kun!"
After saying these words, Takamine Ayako's face turned completely red, like a peeled tomato.
"Ah?", Hikari looked at Takamine Ayako in surprise, slightly raising his eyebrows, "Takamine-sensei, are you serious?"
Although he had previously had a vague guess in his heart, seeing Takamine Ayako, given her personality, actually be so direct, directly saying she wanted to do some love-making things, Hikari was still somewhat surprised.
And in response to Hikari's words, Takamine Ayako lightly bit her red lips and nodded again.
"Mm…"
Looking at this young female teacher's fair and delicate face tinged with crimson, her beautiful eyes staring directly at him revealing a contradictory mix of moistness and heat, Hikari largely determined that Takamine Ayako seemed to truly want it.
After all, she was an older single woman without a boyfriend.
And Hikari's physique and ability were exceptionally strong, you could say, in this world he was top-tier.
So Takamine Ayako's thoughts didn't seem strange.
Based on his understanding of this young female teacher's personality, Hikari knew that Takamine Ayako must have been a good student who studied hard in the past, definitely never dated, perhaps didn't even interact with other boys, fully devoting herself to studying during school.
And after graduation, she directly entered work, becoming a hardworking and serious people's teacher.
So even though she was already a teacher, Takamine Ayako was still as innocent as a blank sheet of paper in certain aspects.
And that day at her home, when he cremated the Kitou Masami who had dru*ged her, and helped Takamine Ayako detoxify, undoubtedly equated to dripping a drop of black ink onto that blank sheet of paper.
Or rather, dripping a drop of thick milk onto red colored paper.
That's not important.
The main point is, although there was only that one time, meaning he only dripped one drop, the pure white paper was quickly stained entirely across its surface.
Once stained, the paper seemed to naturally crave more ink.
After all, his powerful physique and skilled techniques were evident.
Coupled with the subtle influence of the pure love aura.
It didn't seem strange that Takamine Ayako, a female teacher with a truly serious and strict personality, would say such things to him.
After roughly figuring out Takamine Ayako's thoughts, Hikari nodded and agreed to her invitation to visit her home.
"Let's go back together, Takamine-sensei."
"Really?"
Receiving Hikari's reply, Takamine Ayako was overjoyed, as if a beautiful dream had come true.
Hikari, on the other hand, remained quite calm and steady, seemingly still pondering something.
Hikari went back to pack his schoolbag and left the school first.
And Takamine Ayako also returned to the office to pack her briefcase, following Hikari out a step later.
———
After they were quite a distance from the school, Takamine Ayako boldly walked side-by-side with Hikari outside the school.
The two casually chatted a few words on the way, and before long, arrived at the apartment Takamine Ayako rented.
Looking at the layout of Takamine Ayako's home, Hikari felt both unfamiliar and familiar.
Familiar naturally because he had been here last time when dealing with that dean, plus he had a good memory.
And unfamiliar because he noticed that Takamine Ayako's home seemed to have many strange things added, and there were quite a lot of papers and crumpled paper balls placed on the dining table, sofa, and tatami.
Seeing Hikari notice these, Takamine Ayako's pretty face slightly reddened, and she hurriedly cleaned up a bit.
"Sorry, the house is a bit messy. Lately I've been a bit… a bit busy and couldn't clean," Takamine Ayako apologized.
"It's fine," Hikari shook his head, smelling that strange odor but not calling it out.
"That, Hikari-kun, here, have some tea first," Takamine Ayako enthusiastically poured a cup of tea and quickly brought it over to Hikari, seemingly trying to cover up that strange smell.
But perhaps because she was in too much of a hurry, she accidentally stumbled, the teacup tilted, and tea spilled on the floor.
She herself even lurched forward heavily.
But luckily, Hikari was right in front of her.
Hikari, quick-eyed and swift-handed, opened his arms and caught the about-to-fall Takamine Ayako in his embrace.
"Be careful, Takamine-sensei," Hikari kindly reminded.
"Hikari-kun…", Feeling Hikari's warm body temperature and the familiar, dream-like masculine scent, Takamine Ayako's raised face was already slightly blushing for some reason, her beautiful eyes seeming to hold water, sparkling.
Her pink, plump lips also trembled slightly, a silvery strand unintentionally already seeping out.
With just one embrace, Takamine Ayako actually became somewhat disoriented and dazed.
And seeing this scene, Hikari didn't hesitate much either, directly lowering his head and capturing those pink, moist lips.
———
A long time later, the two separated.
Takamine Ayako panted heavily, her tongue out.
Looking at the female teacher in this state, Hikari asked, "Takamine-sensei, are you okay?"
"Mm, still… still okay…", Takamine Ayako shyly nodded, her face red as she snuggled into Hikari's embrace, her jade-like arms gently encircling his waist.
Feeling her head already resting on his chest, her softness also pressing against his front.
Hikari knew that although she didn't speak, she already wanted him to do as he pleased.