Can I Still Be Your Heroine Even Though I'm Your Teacher?-Chapter 3Volume 1 .1 - A Relationship Like Waves

A Relationship Like Waves 1

“Today, too, the alarm stopped after the first ring.”

It’s been a week since Reiyu Tenjō started having meals at my house.

Normally, her alarm would ring several times, but now it stops after just the first one.

Incredibly, she also sends me a message even before I can get out of bed.

【Reiyu: Good morning. Toast for breakfast today. Looks like we’re almost out of jam. Sad.】

【Yuunagi: Good morning, toast it is then.

I can make as much jam as you want if we have the ingredients.】

【Reiyu: Really? Then, I’ll ask you again.】

Now she even expresses her own wishes, and our life rhythm based on the Neighbor Agreement has completely settled in.

I make breakfast, eat with Tenjō-san, send her off, and then go to school myself with a bit of a time gap.

In the classroom, we basically pretend not to know each other.

I try my best not to talk to her.

But since she’s right there, it’s easy for her to talk to me.

Tenjō-sensei often starts conversations with me as a casual interjection.

“Good morning, everyone! Some of you look sleepy, but did you all have breakfast? You can’t think straight if you don’t eat properly. This morning, I had toast with homemade strawberry jam, and it was absolutely delicious. Oh, Nishiki-kun, what did you have for breakfast?”

Even though she knew it, I watched her enjoy the same menu right beside me.

“I had toast with strawberry jam.”

“Oh, what a coincidence!”

Why does she deliberately say things that could reveal our secret?

“Yes, Reiyu-chan Sensei! You’ve been looking happy recently, did you get a boyfriend?”

The leading girl of the class’s bright and cheerful girls group, Ririka Mayuzumi, sparkled with curiosity.

Reiyu Tenjō is always perceived as bright and energetic, but now that I think about it, she does seem to be in higher spirits than before.

“It’s nothing like that. Now, let’s take attendance.”

She deflected the casual question with a smile and focused on her work.

Today, too, there were no late arrivals or absences.

Even Akira Kuhouin, a habitual latecomer, had been arriving on time for morning homeroom since she was warned.

However, as days passed, her arrival to the classroom became later, and today, she was just on the brink of being late.

Kuhouin was chosen to solve a problem written on the blackboard during the fourth-period math class.

She walked to the front of the classroom——with a listless gait right in front of me.

She glanced at the problem, took the chalk, and smoothly wrote down the solution.

The equations and the answers were the same as the ones I had solved in my notebook, and her handwriting was neat.

“Why are you looking at me?”

While dusting off the chalk dust from her fingers, she noticed my gaze.

“It’s just that Kuhouin is standing in front of me.”

“I’m conscious of your gaze.”

“I’m just earnestly participating in class.”

“Don’t look this way.”

Her eyebrows were raised, giving the eyes a sharp, pointed look.

“Kuhouin, you’re the one with a bad look in your eyes. Is it because of lack of sleep?”

Lack of sleep often makes people irritable.

“I’m just annoyed because I was spoken to by a guy who’s always fawning over the homeroom teacher.”

Her unexpected retort caught me off guard.

“It’s not always.”

I didn’t deny it though.

“You’re too smitten.”

“…Kuhouin, you’re really paying a lot of attention to me…”

“Huh? I’m not particularly watching you.”

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“If you’re saying I’m always stretching my nose [fawning over someone], it means you’re always watching me, right?”

When I pointed that out, Kuhouin muttered under her breath, ‘Annoying guy.’

The math teacher gently told us, “If you’re done, please return to your seat.”

Kuhouin glanced at me and then went back to her seat.

By the way, the answer Kuhouin wrote was correct.

Contrary to her delinquent-like behavior, Akira Kuhouin seems to be different from what Tenjō-sensei initially thought.

Curious, I approached Kuhouin’s desk during lunch break.

“Hey Kuhouin, can I talk to you for a second?”

I sat down in front of her desk as she was about to stand up.

“What is it?”

“About earlier, I thought I should apologize. My bad.”

“…It’s nothing. It’s just that Nishiki’s gaze is too lewd.”

She turned her body away, indicating she wasn’t interested in talking with me.

“That’s an exaggeration. If anything, I’m rather supportive of you.”

I listened to her one-sided opinion with a wry smile.

“Support?”

“Kuhouin, you’ve been making it on time in the mornings recently, right? Keep up the good work.”

“…It must be nice to offer support with just words.”

Her sarcastic comeback suggested that maintaining an early waking routine was challenging for her.

“So, you’d be okay with me meddling beyond just verbal support?”

“Being teased is annoying.”

She looked at me with a mix of irritation.

“I’m genuinely concerned about you as a classmate.”

“I sense ulterior motives.”

“As if a guy who’s smitten with the teacher doesn’t have ulterior motives. It’s like standard equipment for a teenage boy.”

“A lust wearing a uniform.”

“I’m not trying to hit on you, though.”

I said with a wry smile.

“There’s more possibility with a classmate rather than a homeroom teacher.”

“I have no idea how to make someone as prickly as you show a softer side.”

Kuhouin seems to be wearing armor around her heart, and I can’t find a way to get through.

“There’s no reason for Nishiki to care about me.”

“You’re so cynical. I just want Kuhouin to advance to the next grade.”

“Why? You having an ulterior motive would be more believable.”

Tenjō-san’s words from the other day come back to me.

『As a homeroom teacher, I’d appreciate it if Yuunagi-kun could help Kuhouin-san as a classmate if she’s in trouble.』

To fulfill that wish, I offer my help.

“It’s hard to believe that someone who thinks it’s okay to repeat a year or drop out is serious about studying. If you’re genuinely struggling with waking up early, I’ll help you.”

If she wants to go to school but can’t, I don’t want to just ignore it.

Whether my feelings got through to her or not, Kuhouin finally faced me.