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 - 37-38 END

Chapter 37: From Here On Out

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After school. I was walking alone through the hallway dyed in madder red. Kotone had been called to the faculty office (it seemed she was being praised by the career counselor because her last test results were too good). We had arranged to meet at the school entrance.

“……Kashiwagi.”

Suddenly, a voice called out from behind me. When I turned around, Rina Aikawa was standing there. Her black bob cut was translucent in the setting sun. Her expression had neither the intimidation of before nor a fawning sweetness; it was simply straightforward.

“……Aikawa. Congratulations on 48th place.”

“Hmph. ……So you saw.”

Rina looked away, seemingly a bit embarrassed, and crossed her arms.

“Well, it’s only natural. Even I can do it if I try.”

“Yeah. I know.”

“……Hey, Kashiwagi.”

Rina paused for a moment and stared firmly into my eyes.

“I’m not going to thank you.”

“Eh?”

“I saw hell because you dumped me. I was humiliated and felt miserable…… I’ll hate you for the rest of my life.”

Those were spiteful words. In the first place, I didn’t dump her. Well, whatever. However, there was no thorn in her voice. Rather, it had a ring to it like a close friend cracking a joke.

“But…… If you hadn’t been there, I never would have been able to stand on my own feet for the rest of my life. I wouldn’t have been able to make a friend like Yui, either.”

Rina exhaled softly and raised the corners of her mouth.

“That’s why I’m glad I showed you up. …The current me is much cooler than when you were my tool, right?”

“……Yeah. There’s no doubt about that.”

I nodded honestly. The current her looked much more beautiful than when we were dating. That probably wasn’t a matter of appearance, but because of the confidence seeping out from within.

“Rina-chaaan! Are you ready yet?”

From the direction of the entrance, I heard Tachibana-san calling out to Rina and Rina’s face brightened instantly.

“Ah, I’m coming! ……See ya, Kashiwagi. I’m going even higher next time, so you and that Kisaragi-san better wash your necks and wait!”

Rina gave a light wave and ran off with a light step. There was no longer a shadow of lingering affection on her back. She had begun walking a new path as the protagonist of her own story.

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When I stepped out of the school entrance, the cold autumn wind brushed against my cheeks. Beneath the clock tower, Kotone Kisaragi was standing there with a muffler adorning her neck.  When she found me, she smiled and her smile was so beautiful. It was as if a flower had bloomed and came running toward me at a trot.

“Sensei!”

As if it were the natural thing to do, she leapt into my arms and hugged me tight. It was warm. This warmth was the place I returned to now.

“Sorry I’m late. ……Were you cold?”

“No. My heart is toasty because I was thinking about you, Sensei.”

“You……”

“Besides, look.”

Kotone held up her left hand in front of my eyes. On her ring finger, a simple silver ring was shining. It was a couple ring I had given her as a present during our reward date for the last test (embarrassingly enough, I was wearing mine on my right ring finger).

“This is the sign that I’m ‘Reserved by Sensei.’ Just looking at it makes me feel invincible.”

“……Me too.”

We looked at each other and laughed shyly.

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On the way home, we held hands and walked along the usual tree-lined path. The sound of stepping on withered leaves carved out a pleasant rhythm.

“Hey, Sensei.”

“Hmm?”

“I’m really glad I met you, Sensei.”

Kotone said suddenly in a serious tone. She stopped walking and looked up at me.

“At that time, when I was all alone in a dark room, you cast ‘magic’ on me, Sensei. ……You taught me everything. Not just studying, but the fun of living and the joy of being loved as well.”

Her eyes were moist, catching the light of the setting sun.

“I don’t know what would have happened to me by now if you weren’t here, Sensei. ……Thank you, Sensei. For finding me.”

“……Cut it out.”

I squeezed her hand back tightly, as if to hide the fact that my eyes were stinging.

“I’m the one who was saved. ……After being told I was a ‘boring man who can only study,’ you clung to the empty me, saying ‘I need Sensei’.”

“Fufu, I really did cling to you. I was desperate.”

“Thanks to that, I was able to believe in my own values. ……Because you were there, I was able to become strong.”

That day, the pieces that were missing from each of us clicked into place. We started from codependency, became rivals, and now, we had become irreplaceable partners.

“……I love you, Minato-kun.”

Kotone called me by my name for the first time. I felt like I was called as for who I was, having stripped away the role of “Sensei.”

“Yeah. I love you too, Kotone.”

I pulled her shoulder close and overlapped our lips in the twilight back alley. A gentle kiss. It was a kiss of gratitude for everything so far and a vow for the future to come.

When our lips parted, Kotone laughed in a limp, silly way.

“……Hehe. But after all, ‘Sensei’ when he’s studying is also hard to pass up.”

“Which one is it?”

“Both! When we get home, become ‘Sensei’ again, okay? …I want you to give me thorough instruction until late at night for the final exams ♡”

She whispered mischievously and clung even more strongly to my arm.

“That’s what I’m hoping for. …I’m going to be Spartan about it.”

“Yes! I’m prepared!”

We hurried home while laughing together.

The first star was shining in the sky. Our story reached a temporary milestone here. However, as long as there was the warmth of these joined hands, our daily lives would surely continue to be filled with sweet and slightly noisy happiness.

(Now, to the next season. Our “Study-Love” has only just begun.)

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Chapter 38: The Master of the Chemistry Prep Room Smiles Alone

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The chemistry preparation room after school. The scent of old experimental equipment and the aroma of the coffee I brewed mingled together here. With my favorite mug in one hand, I gazed out the window.

Students headed home in small groups across the schoolyard, which was dyed in madder red. Among them, there was a pair that stood out exceptionally.

Minato Kashiwagi and Kotone Kisaragi. They walked while holding hands and laughing joyfully about something. It was as if a pink filter had been placed over the area just around them.

“……Honestly. The school isn’t a dating spot, you know.”

I muttered in exasperation, then sipped my coffee to hide the loosening of my lips.

A few months ago, Kashiwagi had been dumped for “having no redeeming qualities besides studying,” and he had eyes like those of a dead fish. Kisaragi had shut herself in her shell, fearing being laughed at for being “all show and no substance.” Two unstable elements. If mixed together, would they become a powerful drug, or perhaps…

My entrusting the printouts to Kashiwagi was born of such teacherly curiosity and a bit of meddling. And what was the result? Far from a powerful drug, it seemed they had supplemented each other’s missing electrons and formed an incredibly strong and stable “covalent bond.” The girl who had been a truant became a prodigy ranked second in her grade, and the boy who was mocked as a grind became a reliable man who supported her.

“The chemical reactions between humans are interesting because they don’t go according to calculations.”

I shifted my gaze slightly. Behind those two, another pair was walking. It was Rina Aikawa, who now had a black bob cut, and Yui Tachibana with her glasses.

Aikawa’s change was also an unexpected reaction. To think that she, who had once settled at the bottom like dregs, would recrystallize with her own heat and regain her brilliance. A jump from 268th to 48th place. It was her own thrilling answer to the words I had said back then: “It will only end in tragedy.”

“……When you have excellent students, a teacher has no time to be bored.”

I took my usual lollipop out of my white coat pocket. I peeled off the wrapper and popped it into my mouth. A sweet taste spread out.

Their youth was still in the middle of an experiment. From here on out, there would likely be times when things exploded, turned cloudy, or separated. But they would be fine now. They possessed the strength to add more reagents and find a new answer even if they failed.

“Now then…”

I set down the empty mug and stretched. Tomorrow, another noisy day would begin. My job was to moderately warn that stupid couple when they flirted, watch over the former gyaru’s rehabilitation, and act as a catalyst for these youth who were full of worries.

“Worry your hearts out, suffer, and become happy. ……My dear students.”

I muttered quietly toward the sunset in a voice no one could hear.

The witch of the chemistry preparation room sat quietly smiling today, too, while shaking a beaker in her hand.

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