Chapter 38: Calm Winds, Restless Waves

Chapter 38: Calm Winds, Restless Waves

When Yatsuno Gen said this slightly low and helpless sentence,

Sakuraba Yuki’s mind was filled with countless images.

Images of herself forcefully pressing this young man against a wall and kissing his mouth.

Images of herself in her own room, going mad as she frantically tore at his shirt.

There were even more blood-stirring images. She had practically imagined every scene of drunken recklessness she had ever seen in television dramas throughout her life.

No way, right?

Had she done that kind of thing to him?

No, that was not right... She had clearly checked after waking up in the morning. There was nothing strange about her at all, and there were no special marks left behind. If she had wanted to force herself on a grown boy, how could there have been no traces at all?

She forced out a smile with difficulty.

“Stop joking... Saying it like that, what did I do?”

Although she spoke very calmly, her stiff expression betrayed her guilty conscience.

Yatsuno Gen seemed to furrow his brows slightly, as though troubled, and sighed. He leaned a little closer.

Narrowing his eyes, he stared at her.

“Are you truly sure you did nothing? Of course, if Teacher Sakuraba were the victim, it would be very easy to check whether anything unexpected happened. But what if the victim was me?”

“...Th-this can’t be possible, right? I only drank a little too much. I... I’ve never gotten drunk in front of anyone before. I...”

“Since you’ve never gotten drunk in front of anyone before, how do you know what you do after getting drunk? Is it possible that for me, it was a nightmare?”

Perhaps it was because she had no confidence in herself.

Or perhaps it was because Yatsuno Gen’s expression and tone at this moment were too convincing. Even the most professional actor seemed incapable of performing the expression he wore right now.

Helplessness, remorse, struggle.

She seemed to see many things, and her heart rose into her throat.

Even if, judging from her own body, it seemed the thing she dared not imagine most had not happened, if she had merely violated his body... that would still be extremely terrible, wouldn’t it?

Not only would she have betrayed the trust they had built many years ago, but they were also teacher and student. How could she have done something so irresponsible, and how was she supposed to face it?

She suddenly felt a little broken.

Even her face seemed to turn a few shades pale.

“You... listen to me. I-I really was drunk, and I don’t remember what happened. But if after getting drunk, Teacher did anything to you...”

“Teacher Sakuraba, after something happens, can apologizing, repenting, or even making amends erase all traces of that incident?”

he asked.

He was so calm that he did not resemble the Yatsuno Gen who was always filled with lingering sunlight.

At this moment, he was like a judge, coldly judging her heart.

“I’m sorry...”

Sakuraba Yuki seemed swept up in this atmosphere. It was as though she had not even carefully considered whether she could actually do such a thing, or whether her drunk self possessed that sort of capability.

She felt as though everything he said was true.

As though something like this had truly happened and could no longer be repaired.

What had been lost was not only all the beautiful memories she had once built with this young man.

It was also her dignity and code as a teacher.

But at that moment, Yatsuno Gen calmly said,

“It’s fine, because you really didn’t do anything.”

“Ah?”

“You were drunk like a lump of mud. Are drunk people all this heavy? I could barely carry you.”

Suddenly,

Yatsuno Gen leaned back in his chair, and all the oppressive atmosphere from just now vanished completely.

He once again became the version of himself she was most familiar with.

Lingering, cynical, and possessing a warmth that made people unable to resist drawing close.

Like the only ray of daylight breaking through the clouds on a gloomy winter day.

Only then did Sakuraba Yuki react.

Yatsuno Gen had actually been scaring her just now?!

She immediately glared at him, embarrassed and angry.

“How could you lie!”

Yatsuno Gen looked at her indifferently.

“When it’s something you yourself have no memory of, you believe whatever I describe it as. Isn’t the essence of that because you have no confidence in yourself?”

“I...”

“So, when you say you’ve never gotten drunk in front of anyone before, do you think that’s a very effective guarantee? You just happened to get drunk in front of me. Do you think I would be happy about that?”

“Wait... no...”

Sakuraba Yuki clearly felt that what he said was very reasonable, but why did something feel wrong?

Why did it seem that she, the one who had gotten dead drunk, had somehow become the person who needed to be judged?

Meanwhile, he, the one who was more likely to have done something wrong in such a situation, had become the judge, the one condemning her?

Wait.

At that moment, Yatsuno Gen gave her the answer.

“If you truly felt regret and fear just now, then Teacher Sakuraba should pay attention. From now on, never drink too much again, and never get drunk. A person’s control over themselves is much weaker than they imagine.”

“...”

Sakuraba Yuki fell silent for a moment, then bit her lower lip and looked at Yatsuno Gen.

“So just now, you were using the method of scaring me to educate me?”

Yatsuno Gen blinked.

“Getting drunk in front of an adult man the first time you meet again after years apart. Shouldn’t Teacher Sakuraba be educated? I even think I should have used a little more force.”

What did he mean, a little more force?!

This little bastard’s wording was getting stranger and bolder, more and more like a bad student.

Of course, judging by his grades, that could not be said at all.

“You’re educating me now? I’m your teacher!”

“Does being a teacher mean you can willfully get drunk in front of your student?”

Yatsuno Gen’s expression did not change as he asked with a smile.

Under his gaze, Sakuraba Yuki’s head slowly lowered.

Finally, she sighed.

“Fine. Teacher knows she was wrong. I won’t drink that much in the future, much less get drunk in front of anyone. I am also deeply sorry for the trouble I caused you last night. Is that acceptable?”

Yatsuno Gen had not expected Sakuraba Yuki to admit fault so quickly, but this was also a rare and valuable quality. After all, in many people’s eyes, teachers and students had a class gap, and the same was true for elders toward juniors.

Lowering one’s head and admitting fault was itself an act that went against human nature, and it was even rarer for a teacher to do so before a student.

“Of course it’s acceptable. It wasn’t a big deal anyway. As long as Teacher takes it as a lesson in the future.”

Mm, the purpose of scaring her had been achieved.

In truth, he did not particularly like using methods like this. But Yatsuno Gen also did not have the patience for so-called gradual guidance and moving others through kindness. Fear seemed to be the best way to make people remember a lesson.

“In other words, nothing really happened last night, right?”

Sakuraba Yuki confirmed again.

Yatsuno Gen nodded, then seemed to think of something and smiled as he said,

“But Teacher Sakuraba was quite cute when drunk. You even acted spoiled.”

“...Stop talking nonsense!”

Sakuraba Yuki’s cheeks reddened, and she once again began pretending to be busy tidying her desk.

Yatsuno Gen assumed she had called him over for this matter, so he prepared to stand up and say goodbye.

“All right. If there’s nothing else, I’ll head back to the classroom and rest...”

“Wait.”

“Is there something else?”

Yatsuno Gen looked at her strangely.

Sakuraba Yuki raised her head and looked at him.

“I’ve been looking through your records from enrollment until now recently, and I found something very interesting.”

“What?”

“It seems that from the time you enrolled until now, you haven’t joined any school club at all, right? You also haven’t applied to join the student council. With your grades and ability, doing these things should be very easy. Why?”

Yatsuno Gen was somewhat surprised. She had only been at this school for two days, yet she had already put her attention on this.

Was joining a club truly something so necessary for people of Neon?

He thought for a moment and said,

“It’s precisely because I feel like anything would be very easy that there’s no need for me to join. And studying isn’t something I can do without any effort at all. I live alone, so I also need time to take care of myself. That’s why I thought joining a club or something would be troublesome, so I didn’t join one.”

Sakuraba Yuki adjusted the glasses on her face and looked at him, changing the position of her legs and crossing them together.

The flesh of her legs, pressed together and wrapped in black stockings, appeared mysterious and tempting under the reflection of sunlight.

“That reason isn’t sufficient, and the attitude is very arrogant. Always refusing to try because you think things are troublesome isn’t a very good thing. I think you need to join some clubs to enrich your daily life. That way, when you think back on this youth in the future, you won’t feel regret.”

Yatsuno Gen looked at her strangely.

“No matter what one does, there will always be things to regret, right? A life without regrets doesn’t exist. Besides, I think my daily life is quite rich already. Is this really necessary?”

Sakuraba Yuki looked somewhat happy, and the corners of her mouth could not help rising.

“It doesn’t count as something especially necessary. But... I think it’s something the current you should do. Looking steadier and more mature than your peers seems like a good thing, but precisely because of that, the color of your youth is truly very faint.”

The color was very faint?

What color? Rose-colored?

Yatsuno Gen had a bit of a headache. He kept feeling like this was the sort of conversation and plot that would only appear in a youthful light novel, and he truly felt he did not need it.

Joining a club, forming relationships, increasing unnecessary social interaction, it was all very troublesome.

After thinking for a moment, he asked,

“What happens if I absolutely refuse to join?”

“Can I threaten you? But the school leaders are all quite concerned about you. If they ask me about it later and ask whether you might have some psychological issues, I can only go to that orphanage and ask Director Chishima whether she has any good ideas.”

Yatsuno Gen could not help rolling his eyes.

“Does that count as a threat?”

Sakuraba Yuki pulled her chair a little closer, then pressed her palms together in front of the young man.

“This counts as a request. Please, please.”

“...I’ll think about it.”

Whether she threatened him or not would not have any effect on Yatsuno Gen, but when he thought of Director Chishima, she really might go to great lengths over this matter, calling him or even coming to find him.

Whatever. He would deal with it for now.

Sakuraba Yuki smiled and nodded.

“Good. I’ll prepare a list of the school’s clubs for you, so you won’t need to spend effort researching them. You can just choose one then.”

“Then I’ll trouble Teacher Sakuraba...”

“Are you saying in your heart that I’m a troublesome woman?”

Sakuraba Yuki asked.

Yatsuno Gen immediately shook his head.

“How could I? I never criticize people behind their backs. I usually say it directly. You only arrived the day before yesterday, and you’re already really good at finding trouble for me.”

“Yatsuno!”

“I’m leaving, I’m leaving.”

Yatsuno Gen stretched, ignored her resentful gaze, and left the office.

Sunlight spilled in, and Sakuraba Yuki changed her posture, leaning back in the chair.

She let the brilliant light cover her perfect figure and the graceful rise and fall of her curves.

She looked at the ceiling and blinked.

“If only you get to educate me, but I don’t get to educate you, then what kind of teacher am I?”

Then she rocked the chair and turned toward the sunlight outside the window.

She stretched out her palm, as though touching the sunlight with her five fingers and palm.

“You deserve a youth with color.”

After school that day, he did not receive her list.

Perhaps it would have to be another day.

Yatsuno Gen only hoped it would be a little slower. It would be best if he could drag this matter out until it ended unresolved.

He had known that reunions after a long separation brought nothing good.

The road home was somewhat old, yet very clean.

On both sides of the small road were slightly leaning utility poles, mottled old walls covered in ivy, and large trees poking their heads out.

The evening sunset spilled over the street, and the young man’s footsteps were as calm as usual.

Until, at the entrance to the familiar old residential complex, he saw an unfamiliar black sedan.

At first, he did not take it to heart.

As he prepared to walk around the black sedan, two figures suddenly rushed out from the side, moving very quickly.

Yatsuno Gen reacted extremely quickly and dodged at once. He was not hit, but the figure rushing toward him staggered and nearly fell.

Looking over, he saw a young man with a buzz cut, wearing a black vest and possessing a sturdy physique.

After staggering, the instinctive irritation that followed made him place the blame on Yatsuno Gen.

He frowned and said, “Don’t you watch where the fuck you’re going?”

He seemed to have some intention of lashing out physically.

Yatsuno Gen had seen many people like this. They looked like thugs, and their behavior was the same.

The thing they liked doing most was blaming their own mistakes on other people’s influence. If they did not cause some trouble for the other party, it was as though they would lose all face.

In truth, they were fierce in appearance but weak inside, bullying the soft and fearing the hard.

Seeing that he looked like a student, there was nothing to be wary of.

However, at this moment, another young man beside him, one who looked a little taller and thinner, stopped him and frowned.

“All right, don’t cause trouble. Now that the job’s done, let’s go. There’s still money to collect.”

The buzz-cut man seemed somewhat displeased, but merely glared at Yatsuno Gen.

“What are you looking at, brat?”

As he spoke, he got into the sedan with the other man, and they soon sped away.

Yatsuno Gen thought for a moment.

Then, as though realizing something, he frowned and directly entered the residential complex, heading upstairs.