My Ex-Girlfriend Who Dumped Me, the Top Student, Is at Risk of Failing and Repeating a Year—but I’m Too Busy Tutoring a Former Shut-in Beauty To Get Back Together With Her - 10

Chapter 10: Until the Bell Rings

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The next morning. I woke up an hour earlier than usual and carefully ironed the wrinkles out of my school uniform. I adjusted my tie in front of the mirror. It wasn’t for my sake. It was so that I wouldn’t cause any embarrassment for my “student” who would be attending school starting today.

“……Alright.”

Re-energizing myself, I left the house. My destination was not the school. It was the Kisaragi residence.

I walked through the residential area as the morning sun filtered in and stood before those large gates. The finger I used to press the intercom trembled slightly. Would she really come out? Although she had said “I’m going” with such momentum yesterday, there was a high possibility that her fears had returned once morning arrived.

However, those anxieties were for naught. With a heavy clack, the door opened.

“……Good morning, Sensei.”

Looking at her standing there, I instinctively caught my breath.

She was radiant. Her glossy black hair had been meticulously blow-dried and swayed elegantly against her back. Her blazer didn’t have a single wrinkle. Her pale, slender legs extended from a skirt that was neither too short nor too long. Her loungewear and frilly clothes had been cute, too, but her appearance in her uniform—how should I put it—had a different level of “destructive power.”

And above all, it was her face. Her bangs, which usually hung low and heavy to hide half of her face, were pinned back with a cute hairclip, neatly revealing her forehead. Thanks to that, her snow-white skin and well-shaped nose—which had been hidden in shadows until now—and above all, her jewel-like eyes, were exposed in a way that was obvious to anyone.

A sheltered lady. A school idol. She was so polished that such terms sounded cliché.

“……Do I look weird?”

Perhaps becoming anxious because I had fallen silent, Kisaragi gripped the hem of her skirt tightly.

“No… it suits you. To be honest, you look like a different person.”

“Really? If Sensei praises me…… then it was worth gathering my courage.”

She smiled bashfully. Behind her, I could see her mother dabbing a handkerchief to her eyes and weeping. I gave the mother a bow and turned back to Kisaragi.

“Shall we go? If you feel like it’s impossible, you can come home immediately.”

“No. I won’t go home. The place where Sensei is, is where I belong.”

She said this with strong eyes and lined up beside me.

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The commute to school. As we moved toward the station, the number of Shuei High School students increased. I could tell that Kisaragi’s shoulders were stiffening.

“……Ugh.”

Her feet came to a stop. The stares. The whispering. These were likely stimulating her trauma—the memories of being laughed at as a “fraud” or for “lacking a knack for things.” Her complexion turned pale, and her breathing became shallow.

Was it still too early after all……?

It was just as I was about to call out to her… Kisaragi’s hand wandered through the air like a lost child and then she grabbed the sleeve of my uniform so strongly it almost hurt.

“……Sensei.”

“Kisaragi?”

“Hold…Hold my hand. Don’t let go.”

It was a desperate SOS. For a boy and girl to hold hands at school was an act that invited misunderstanding. However, to her right now, I was her “teacher” and her “lifeline.” Where was the teacher who would shake off the hand of a student who was nearly drowning?

“……I understand.”

I firmly squeezed her cold hand back. It was a slender, fragile hand. The moment I gripped it, her trembling subsided just a little.

“……It’s warm.”

“I’ll walk in front. You only need to look at my back. Don’t worry about the noise around you.”

“Yeah. If Sensei is with me, I’m not scared.”

With our hands still joined, we began to climb the slope toward the school. The surrounding students began to buzz with comments like, “Wait, who’s that?” “Isn’t that Kashiwagi?” and “Isn’t the girl next to him super cute?” but I ignored them. My only role was to deliver her safely to the classroom.

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Then, the moment of destiny arrived. The Class 2-A classroom. The clamor before morning homeroom.

“Man, this is seriously a drag. I didn’t do the prep for today’s English class—”

Rina Aikawa had her cheek resting on her hand at her desk, looking listless. Perhaps due to the argument with Minato Kashiwagi yesterday, her mood was at its worst. She wasn’t speaking with Hasegawa next to her either, and an atmosphere of her taking her frustration out on those around her lingered.

“Hey, Kashiwagi isn’t here yet? It’s hilarious that he’d be late after talking so big yesterday.”

It was right as Rina laughed loudly…

Clatter.

The classroom door opened. The classroom fell silent in an instant. The one who entered was Minato Kashiwagi. And… A girl who entered while gripping his hand and hiding slightly behind his back.

“……Eh?”

The sound of someone catching their breath echoed prominently. The gazes of everyone in the classroom became glued to that girl.

Skin so white it was translucent. Eyes as large as jewels. An overwhelming beauty that would make even a celebrity fade into the background.

“Wh-who is that……?”

“A transfer student?”

“No, wait…… Isn’t that the truant, Kisaragi-san……?”

The buzzing spread like ripples. In the center of it, only Rina remained frozen with her mouth hanging open.

No…… way, right? That’s the gloomy shut-in?

There was no trace of the “Kotone Kisaragi” Rina knew. The girl she had once laughed at as a “fraud” now reigned with a beauty that everyone envied.

However, a shock even greater than that hit Rina. It was the fact that this beautiful girl was clutching Minato’s hand like a lover.

“……Kashiwagi?”

Rina called his name in a trembling voice. However, he didn’t give her so much as a glance. While still pulling Kotone by the hand, he walked boldly across the classroom toward his own seat—very close to Rina’s seat.

“This is my seat. Kisaragi’s seat is the one next to it.”

“Okay……”

Kotone showed no sign of letting go of his hand. As the gazes of the entire class gathered on them, she looked up at Minato and spoke in a meltingly sweet voice.

“Sensei. ……Don’t let go of my hand until the bell rings, okay?”

Those words were dropped into the silent classroom like a bomb.

Sensei? Hand?

As their classmates fell into confusion, Minato calmly caught the sight of Rina’s face turning beet-red with humiliation in the corner of his eye.

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