Wh-what! - 18

It didn't take long for me to come back to my senses.

 

 

 

Thinking about it, it wasn't that shocking.

 

 

 

Sensei is a workaholic night owl who eats, sleeps, and breathes work, and my body has always been weak, so it was only natural.

 

 

 

Still, I can't accept that I'm falling behind Sensei.

 

 

 

"Here, if this substance reacts with this substance-"

 

 

 

The class is pretty bearable.

Yeah...

 

 

 

The class was pretty good.

if it weren't for the fact that Sensei was the one teaching it, it would have been perfect.

 

 

 

And thanks to the coffee I had earlier, I'm not sleepy.

 

 

 

In fact, I'm holding up better than the tired Sensei right now.

It's only natural, of course.

 

 

 

Time passed, and around 6:40 PM,

 

 

 

"Alright! Let's stop here for today. Good work!"

 

 

 

"Yes..."

 

 

 

The class was over.

I'm hungry, so I should go buy something from the convenience store.

 

 

 

"Teacher, you don't have to come with me, okay...?"

 

 

 

"Uh... I'll rest a bit. Can you go by yourself?"

 

 

 

Of course I can go by myself.

Does he see me as a little kid?

 

 

 

"...I'll go by myself."

 

 

 

"Okay~."

 

 

 

As I headed towards the convenience store, I saw the sunset through the window.

 

 

 

...It's pretty.

 

 

 

Seeing Sanctum Tower in person is definitely different from seeing it in the game.

 

 

 

Hmm... Should I come here later to kill time?

Even if it's not for class.

 

 

 

Lost in thought, I arrived at the convenience store.

 

 

 

"Nito! Welcome!"

 

 

 

"Hi."

 

 

 

"Yes...!"

 

 

 

I think I've gotten pretty close with Sora now.

 

 

 

Anyway, what should I eat today?

 

 

 

They don't sell sushi at the convenience store...

And it probably wouldn't taste good anyway.

 

 

 

I just grabbed a cup of ramen.

This is convenient~.

 

 

 

"Thank you for your patronage! Nito, come again!"

 

 

 

"Yeah, take care, Sora."

 

 

 

"Yes!"

 

 

 

Leaving Sora behind, I came out of the convenience store.

The sunset had almost completely faded, and it was getting dark.

 

 

 

I headed back to Schale, looking at the night view.

 

 

 

I slipped inside and saw Sensei sleeping.

 

 

 

He must be tired.

 

 

 

Leaving the sleeping Sensei alone, I poured hot water.

 

 

 

I closed the lid of the steaming ramen and waited a bit, the ramen cooked quickly.

 

 

 

Slurp-

 

 

 

"Haaah, heeup, ha."

 

 

 

It's hot...

 

 

Did I suffer from the typical intelligence drop that comes with a gender swap?

I burned my tongue on coffee earlier, and now I'm burning it on ramen...

 

 

 

"Hoo... hoo..."

 

 

 

Slurp-

 

 

 

I managed to blow on it and eat it properly from the second bite.

 

 

 

It's delicious.

 

 

 

Blowing on it as I ate, my stomach soon felt full.

 

 

 

I finished it all.

 

 

 

I should go now.

 

 

 

I got up from my seat.

Sensei was still sleeping.

 

 

 

Hmm... I'll just leave him like this.

I don't see the need to wake him up just to say goodbye.

 

 

 

 

The sleeping person would like it better.We're not that close, are we?

 

 

 

 

Making all sorts of excuses in my head, I went outside.

 

 

 

 

It was completely dark outside.

 

 

 

Maybe because of my previous experience, the night streets felt even more eerie and scary.

 

 

 

Hmm...

Let's go quickly.

 

 

 

I headed home diligently. But shortly after I started,

 

 

 

Rattle-

Thump-

 

 

 

"Eek?!"

 

 

 

Wh-what was that sound?

 

 

 

I heard a strange noise in the darkness.

 

 

 

Clang-

Clink-!

 

 

 

"Ugh?!"

 

 

 

The strange noises continued.

 

 

 

I ended up running back to Schale.

 

 

 

"Huff... huff..."

 

 

 

What was that just now?

 

 

 

As I entered the building, my tension eased.

 

 

 

"Haaah..."

 

 

 

"Nito?"

 

 

 

"Gah?!"

 

 

 

Sensei suddenly appeared.

My legs gave out, and I collapsed.

 

 

 

"What are you doing here...?"

 

 

 

"Hiccup!"

 

 

 

I started hiccuping.

 

 

 

"W-well... Hiccup! S-strange s-sounds... Hiccup!"

 

 

 

I tried to explain, but the hiccups kept coming.

 

 

 

"Hiccup!"

 

 

 

They continued even after I finished explaining.

 

 

 

"Hmm... Then, Nito, I'll go with you."

 

 

 

If it were the usual me, I would have refused in horror, but now I could only nod.

 

 

 

So, the two of us went outside and started walking down the street.

 

 

 

The dark street scenery made me feel uneasy again.

My desire to rely on Sensei and my caution towards him began to clash.

 

 

 

Then,

 

 

 

Rustle-

 

 

 

"Eek!"

 

 

 

The strange noise from earlier started again.

 

 

 

"Hmm...?"

 

 

 

Sensei seemed to have heard it too.

 

 

 

"Nito, I'll go check it out."

 

 

 

 

"Ch-check? Th-then..."

 

 

 

"You can stay here alone, right?"

 

 

 

I tried to say I could.

 

 

 

But I failed.

 

 

 

"..."

 

 

 

"Hmm... sorry, I'll check as quickly as possible. Just wait a moment."

 

 

 

"Okay..."

 

 

 

In the end, Sensei disappeared into the darkness to check the source of the sound.

 

 

 

Left alone again, the eeriness of the street washed over me like before.

 

 

 

In fact, maybe because I had been with Sensei until just now, it was much scarier than before.

 

 

 

As I trembled, I saw something in the darkness.

 

 

 

It was...

A light floating in the air.

 

 

 

"Aaaaah?!"

 

 

 

The light came closer and closer. My heartbeat grew louder in response.

 

 

 

Finally, as the light emerged from the darkness, I saw,

 

 

 

Sensei holding a cat.

 

 

 

"Ah..."

 

 

 

"There was a cat inside."

 

 

 

Once I realized what it was, relief washed over me, and I sighed.

 

 

 

And then, shame washed over me for showing such a pathetic side to Sensei.

 

 

 

I couldn't lift my head.

 

 

 

"Come on, let's go, Nito! I'll take you home."

 

 

 

Unable to answer because of my shame, I just nodded.

 

 

 

The walk home wasn't scary at all.

The shame and embarrassment were much stronger.

 

 

 

"By the way, Nito~ were you scared of that?"

 

 

 

Flinch-

 

 

 

"If you're scared again, tell me! I'll listen to anything our cute Nito-chan says!"

 

 

 

Flinch-

 

 

 

"I, I wasn't scared... you know..."

 

 

 

I made a feeble protest against Sensei's teasing. But what came back was...

 

 

 

"Yeah, yeah! It's okay! There's nothing to be ashamed of about being scared of the dark!"

 

 

 

Sensei was happy to have found another thing to tease me about.

 

 

 

"Uwaaah..."

 

 

 

In the end, this incident ended in my defeat.

 

 

 

I opened the door to my house and went inside.

 

 

 

Like yesterday, I changed my clothes haphazardly and lay down on the bed.

Or should I say, collapsed?

 

 

 

Lying on the bed, I thought.

 

 

 

Ah, I probably won't be able to sleep well again today.