A Case in Which My House Is a Gathering Place for Girls - Chapter 42: Mentor

It took me a few days to get ready, and it took me a while to show a big walk around the classroom and leave the classroom. I was struck by dizziness caused by fatigue from lack of sleep.

“I must have pushed myself a little too hard…”

I muttered self-deprecatingly while leaning against the wall. The price of sacrificing sleep and working non-stop, driven by my youth, had now caught up with me. But without pushing myself, I wouldn’t have made it in time for the bazaar. In fact, even now, it’s a close call.

I don’t have time to whine. After taking a deep breath, I steeled myself and rushed to the parking lot behind the school building, where the person who had gotten me this far was waiting.

“Well, well… As soon as you became a high schooler, you started working with me like a slave. What do you think I am?”

“Of course, you’re my wonderful mentor, who always takes care of me after the fact.”

I told my former homeroom teacher, Katsuragi Natsumi-sensei, who was somewhat dissatisfied while leaning against her beloved car. I responded with a playful remark, but it hid my true feelings.

“Really? Yet, you had me work like a dog, and I think that’s pretty bad treatment for a mentor.”

“You were all too eager to help, so what’s with the complaints now…”

After talking to Kanna on the phone, I immediately called my grandfather. The conversation went like this,

“Hello, grandfather? I’m sorry for calling so late. There’s something I want to discuss with you. Is that okay?”

My grandfather agreed with me without hesitation, so I packed the least amount of luggage in my bag and went home by night bus that same day. After three days and three nights in a row, we worked all night cutting corners, polishing, and drilling and came back just a while ago in Katsuragi-sensei’s car.

I would not have been able to return to my parents’ house smoothly without the cooperation of Asakura and Sasazuki. Above all, this was successful because everyone in the village, including grandfather and Katsuragi-sensei, helped.

“And yet I was surprised. You don’t come back during Golden Week, but right after, you suddenly return and say, ‘Sensei, help me with processing deer horns!’ I thought you were crazy.”

“Hahaha… well, I’m aware that I’ve asked you to do something crazy. It wasn’t something I would do in three days.”

“Well, I’m glad that it was fun to work with everyone after a long time. I was able to feel the mood of my school days.”

Katsuragi-sensei says she appreciates it. I’ve seen her many times in my third year of junior high school, but she looked like the protagonist of a Western movie finishing a big job. I would never tell her that, though, or I’d never hear the end of it.

“Thank you very much for everything, sensei.”

“It’s no trouble. This is the first request of a cute former student. Well, I hope you’ll take it easy next time.”

“Yes, sensei. I’ll make my next request a little nicer.”

We both smiled. I’d like to chat a little more, but I needed to go back to the classroom and pick up the rest of my stuff before Wada would start scolding me.

“Hey, Itsuki. Can I ask you something?”

“What’s the matter, all of the sudden?”

Seeing Katsuragi-sensei, she is usually carefree and switching between serious and not-so-serious moods and looking solemn threw me off a little. Maybe she saw my confusion, as she slowly exhaled I waited a moment and she then asked,

“─Do you enjoy your school life here?”

“…Huh?”

A foolish sound escaped my mouth. At the same time, I realized she probably knew all along. Since parting ways with Kanna, there has been a hole in my heart. From that day on, I could no longer truly enjoy school life.

It wasn’t that I didn’t have anyone to call my friend. I did, but I spent more time with my grandfather in the mountains than with classmates.

There was no other reason for this, and I was aware of the difference between myself and others. It wasn’t until a long time later that I realized that it was the same problem as Kanna. That was exactly the time I met Katsuragi-sensei.

To sum up. Kanna calls me her savior, but for me, Kanna was also my savior. Perhaps Katsuragi-sensei knew that, so she encouraged me to enter Amahashiritsu Academy. If that were the case─

“What’s the matter, Itsuki?”

Katsuragi-sensei looks at my silent face with anxious eyes. I didn’t want her to look at me like that.

“Nothing. This school life, but… of course it’s so much fun! There are not only Kanna, but also Asakura, Sasazuki, Wada, and there are so many great people here. If I had gone to school elsewhere, I would have never met them.”

“…”

“So… Thank you for introducing me to this school, Katsuragi-sensei. I will never forget this kindness.”

“Hehe. I see… that’s good.”

When Katsuragi-sensei said with deep emotion, she got into the car with a satisfied face.

“Well, I should head home now. If you don’t unload those bags soon, I’ll take them with me.”

“I’ll unload them right away! Please, not that!”

I hurriedly opened the trunk door and started unloading. While I was inwardly complaining while thinking she could help me to the end, Katsuragi-sensei said in a loving voice.

“If anything comes up, come talk to me anytime. And make sure to come back every now and then. Everyone’s waiting for you.”

“─Yes!”

A few minutes later.

After confirming that I had finished unloading all the loaded cardboard boxes, Katsuragi-sensei started her car. I watched her car until it disappeared from sight while holding my heartfelt gratitude, and then I headed back to the classroom.