Vol 1 Chapter 8 (1/2)
VOLUME 1-1
Chapter 8
After school.
Just as instructed, Homura went to wait in front of the door to the staff room right after Modern j.a.panese cla.s.s ended, and soon afterwards, Professor Fujimori appeared in front of her.
Instead of her usual jeans, Fujimori was wearing a suit.
The tight skirt she wore suited her well, making her look like a skilled teacher.
“Sensei… are you going out job hunting?”
Fujimori’s face twitched at Homura’s joking comment.
“Go ahead and laugh if you want.”
“No, no, you look wonderful. It looks cute on you. I really admire you.”
“I’m begging you, please just laugh already.”
“If you always taught lessons looking like that, I wouldn’t doze off in cla.s.s.”
“You… And after I overlooked your actions so many times…”
As Homura tried to head off towards the school gates, Fujimori stopped her while wincing in pain at having to wear pumps. Normally she wore boots.
“We’re heading to the parking lot.”
“Ah, we’re taking your car? Based on your image, you seem like you’d have a jet-black, leather-covered Harley-Davidson. Like, you’d hold a shotgun in one hand and shoot with a bang as you do a rapid turn!”
“No such execution teacher exists.”
The two of them arrived at the parking lot. The car they got into was a Mini-Cooper.
Fujimori took out a pair of driving gla.s.ses from the glove compartment and put them on, her image doing a job change from a skilled teacher to a secretary.
While putting on her seatbelt in the pa.s.senger seat, Homura spoke up.
“I didn’t think you would come help persuade my parents, sensei.”
“We made a promise, after all. You got the proper results, though it was a boxed lunch whose taste practically broke the rules…”
Homura noisily protested against the unnecessary comment Fujimori added at the end.
Smiling, Fujimori turned on the Mini-Cooper and drove off.
Their destination was the Hinooka household.
“This time, it’s my turn to act.”
Earlier that day, Fujimori had called the house and asked when would be a convenient day for her to visit, and Homura’s mother had readily agreed to do it today. After getting a call about it from her, Homura’s father had hurried his return home and was in the midst of driving home while fretting.
As they pa.s.sed by the sports club members who were running around the school, Fujimori asked Homura a question.
“Are you continuing your morning training?”
“Somehow. Lately, the training menu has been getting more flexible.”
“Touya really is good at looking after others.”
“No, I was completely fooled by him. My pride has been shredded to pieces!”
“What are you going on about?”
“If he’s been watching a great beauty like Misasagi-senpai from close up every day, then of course his usual feelings towards girls would be numbed! Right!?”
“I get it. Before you start the Exploration Club’s training, I’m going to beat you into shape starting from that over-self-consciousness of yours.”
“Hah!? That’s too cruel!”
The Mini-Cooper got on the main road and accelerated.
Having leaned her body forward as she protested, Homura had her head slammed against her seat with a bang.
As they drove, Western music from FM Radio played through the car.
After looking curiously at the car’s manual s.h.i.+ft which she had rarely seen, Homura now wore a meek expression as she asked a new question.
“—Sensei.”
“Hmm?”
“About Touya-kun’s sister…”
“Yeah, it’s true. She’s dead.”
Having guessed Homura’s question, Fujimori immediately answered.
“How about you ask him about it yourself? He’d probably tell you without paying it any mind.”
“No, that’s a bit…”
To Homura, Fujimori was about the only person she could ask about the circ.u.mstances.
“Was it from… an illness?”
“……It happened… about nine years ago.”
Fujimori turned down the volume of the radio.
“Do you remember the Oosumi Incident?”
“Ah…”
Homura frowned as she felt anxiety rise back up within her.
“I remember the gist of it.”
Fujimori silently nodded.
Even if she had no concrete memories of it, the heavy feelings a.s.sociated with it still lurked within Homura’s chest. It was an accident that had carved great fear into local children and parents.
Even Homura, who hadn’t been well-informed about it, was no different.
“He was a first year elementary school student at the time. His sister was a sixth year student at the same school as him.”
One year after the photo of the two of them in Touya’s room was taken—
“The culprit, who lived nearby, invaded the school. It seems his sister was killed right in front of his eyes.”
“………”
“The culprit was arrested on site. Two children died. A teacher was also gravely injured.”
Touya’s older sister was one of the victims from the incident.
She might have tried to protect the young Touya with her small body…
When she thought that, Homura’s eyes heated up and she hung her head as the light of the setting sun through the window suddenly felt too bright.
“…What happened to the culprit after he was caught?”
“He was diagnosed as being of unsound mind and wasn’t prosecuted. Apparently he acted out of a grudge towards his parents and the middle school that was the cause of him being a shut-in.”
“Isn’t that completely unrelated to those elementary school children?”
“Yeah. It’s completely unrelated. That’s why it was so painful.”
“……”
Homura had no words to say.
“Touya apparently started kendo after that incident. He probably thought about it while he was a kid.”
Suddenly, Fujimori sighed as she loosened her shoulders.