NABC Page 256
Page 256
Audiovisual classroom.
Kitahara Hakuba had just sat down, while Saito and Nagase were still drawing back the curtains of the audiovisual classroom, when Kanzaki Eri brought over a steel pipe chair and sat down next to him.
"I want to talk about it separately."
She spoke softly and delicately, like a young lady secluded in her chambers.
"If I were to talk about this separately, I wouldn't be jealous since I can't see it."
Kitahara Hakuba turned his head to look at her, the girl's bangs neatly hanging between her eyebrows, like a soft curtain, vaguely revealing her clear eyes.
No? What do you take him for?
"It's just that it's more convenient this way."
As a teacher, it's always best to gather students together to teach; teaching them individually is a waste of time.
Before Kanzaki Eri could speak, Saito and Nagase came over.
A sullen expression crossed her doll-like face, as if she were about to raise her two little hands, shuffle along, and say, "I want to talk to you alone! I want to talk to you alone!" to whine and beg for attention.
"Eri, get down quickly. Don't sit next to Kitahara-sensei. Students should act like students," Nagase Tsukiyo said, raising her eyebrows as she sat in the front row.
However, Eri Kanzaki ignored her completely, leaning towards Hakuba Kitahara with her eyes fixed on the screen.
Not only that, Saito Haruka also brought a chair and sat down next to Kitahara Hakuba, as if her words could be automatically ignored by the two of them.
So now the situation has become that she, a good student, is sitting below, while two old friends are sitting very close to him.
It was as if she was the only outsider in this audiovisual classroom.
Suddenly, a complex light flashed in Nagase Tsukiyo's eyes, a mixture of jealousy and regret, like a tangled mess in her heart.
However, her years of upbringing and self-confidence did not allow her to act like the two of them; she had to remain calm.
Even if you want to, you absolutely cannot do it.
“You two should go down and listen too, don’t sit up there,” he said deliberately in a teacher’s serious tone.
Seeing that he had spoken, Nagase Tsukiyo breathed a sigh of relief.
Not because of her, Kitahara Hakuba just felt that this was strange. If a teacher came and saw this scene, they would think he was enjoying himself.
I could faintly hear Eri Kanzaki groan for a moment, but she still stood up and walked away.
The three girls sat far apart in the first row, like a tripod.
Kitahara Hakuma told himself that everything was alright; they were all well-behaved students, focused on their studies, and would never have any ulterior motives.
Since things have come to this, let's first "give them some pointers".
Chapter 205, Page 204: Do you prefer being a teacher to being a boss? (4K)
By the time we had helped the three of them roughly determine the pieces they would play for their interviews, it was already past 8 p.m.
The mountains of Mount Hakodate in the distance were faintly visible in the night. Kitahara Hakuba withdrew his gaze, and the two figures on the street were elongated by the streetlights.
Kanzaki and Nagase lived in Motomachi, while Saito Harutori deliberately lived near the Kitahara Hakuba family's house, so the two of them took the tram back together.
The tram car was empty at night. Kitahara Hakuba found a seat and sat down. Saito Haruka sat down next to him naturally. "Sorry for staying up so late. You finally got to rest today." Saito Haruka stared intently at his profile.
Kitahara Hakuba glanced at the girl beside him and said calmly:
"It's alright. Providing guidance to students from my own school is also within my job scope."
Saito Haruka gently brought her legs together, and under the light, her legs beneath her skirt shimmered with a faint glow.
"Want to come to my house?"
Kitahara Hakuba's right eye twitched, and he subconsciously glanced around. There were only a few people who looked very tired, sitting with their eyes closed, resting.
What would I do at your house?
Saito Haruka pinched a strand of hair between her fingertips and said with a smile:
"I'll give you a massage. If you're tired, you can go to sleep. I've replaced the air conditioner; it's quiet."
"No, I'll just go back to sleep."
It's like he has nowhere to live, and he has a girlfriend, so even when he gets a massage, he has to have Shinomiya Haruka do it for him.
And it seems she really hasn't been working lately, spending his money without any restraint.
"You didn't seem to be very nice to Nagase-kun today. Since you two have finally gotten together again, why don't you think about making up?" Kitahara Hakuba suddenly asked.
"Hmm, I'll think about it carefully."
Saito Haruka's lips were closed in a straight line, clearly indicating that she was saying one thing and meaning another.
Kitahara Hakuba looked up as the red warning lights at the intersection flashed past his sight.
"You two applied to the same university, so you can take care of each other when you first arrive in Tokyo."
1
Saito Haruka's gaze fell on his sneakers, and her legs involuntarily tilted to the right, her soft thighs pressing firmly against his.
"You tricked me and Eri into going to Tokyo, and now you're not coming back?"
"listen--?
Kitahara Hakuba was a little confused; the heat emanating from her thighs was constant.
A sentence suddenly came to his mind: "You are not studying for me, but for yourselves."
“Saito-kun, your idea might be a bit naive,” Kitahara Hakuba said in a clear and cheerful tone.
The sound of Saito Haruka swallowing was like a groan of suppressed emotion:
"I'm not childish anymore."
Are you worried about being alone in the future?
Saito Haruka's gaze fell on the cherry-pink fingernails, her voice, beneath the surface of rationality, was no different from usual.
"I'm worried about you if you're not by my side."
Kitahara Hakuba's eyebrows twitched again; the ominous atmosphere made him hold his breath.
Ha—he let out a loud sigh, feigning impatience.
"You seem to be overestimating yourself. Do you really think I'll be there for you from now on? Don't forget what you did to me. You still owe me a lot."
Kitahara Hakuba's words stirred Saito Harutori's heart. She instinctively pulled back from his leg, lowered her eyelids, and whispered:
.....Feel sorry."
The thin film of water in the girl's eyes shimmered in the light of the carriage.
Kitahara Hakuba glanced at her; her face was filled with bitterness, and the light in her eyes flickered.
He suddenly realized that bringing up the past was a very petty thing to do, and Saito Haruka was no longer the girl she used to be.
But once it's said, it can't be taken back.
Kitahara Hakuba's chest heaved slightly, as if releasing his inner turmoil, and he let out a breath:
"You played the euphonium very well today, I liked the sound."
The word "like" that he uttered without any emotion made Saito Haruka's heart skip a beat, and she looked at him with some surprise.
Kitahara Hakuba closed his eyes to rest as if nothing had happened, looking no different from the other passengers around him.
For some reason, her eyes suddenly stung with tears. Saito Haruka pursed her lips, her eyelashes fluttering gently, like a butterfly struggling in the wind.
"Yeah, I like it too."
Kitahara Hakuba got off the power and called Shinomiya Haruka as he walked toward her music store.
"I've switched off the mains power."
"Ah."
"I'll sleep at your place tonight."
Have you eaten?
"Yes, I ordered takeout from school."
The meal I ate at school was ordered by Nagase Tsukiyo; it was delicate little sushi that Kitahara Hakuba had never tried before.
"I came over quickly, I missed you."
Kitahara Hakuba smiled slightly as he looked at the words that popped up on the screen. He had intended to go to the music store immediately, but after thinking about it, he decided to buy some gifts instead.
Hakodate is no longer unfamiliar to Kitahara Hakuba. He often accompanies Shinomiya Haruka shopping and knows exactly where to go and what to buy.
His girlfriend wasn't particularly wealthy; her family was only middle-class. The car that Kitahara Hakuba had secretly bought for her wouldn't be ready for pickup for another few weeks.
Actually, giving a gift to your girlfriend is a very troublesome thing.
Kitahara Hakuba thought and thought but couldn't decide what to buy, so he went into a flower shop and bought a bunch of pink roses.
The female shop assistant wrapped it for him with soft paper, and while she was wrapping it, she kept talking.
"You're buying roses so late? If you had been ten minutes later, I would have closed the shop."
"Yeah, I got off work a bit late," Kitahara Hakuba said with a hint of relief.
"What do you do for a living?" The female shop assistant's voice was soft and coquettish, which gave him goosebumps.
"teacher."
Upon hearing that he was a teacher, the female shop assistant's eyes immediately lit up with longing, and her face flushed as she said:
"That's great, you must teach physics? You seem so rational."
"No, I teach music."
"You've already wrapped it all up, so why don't you give me the flowers?" Kitahara Hakuba thought.
The saleswoman's eyes shone even brighter as she handed her the flowers, saying, "Wow, music... no wonder you're so sentimental."
Unlike older people, this girl in her early twenties immediately thought Kitahara Hakuba was very prestigious when she heard that he was a music professor.
They completely failed to consider that the employment situation for this profession is extremely poor.
Kitahara Hakuba smiled, picked up the flowers, and left.