Loss 2:
It’s Complicated
KONUKI-SENSEI SAT ACROSS THE TABLE FROM ME in the nurse’s office. It was after school. She took a sip of coffee from her mug, then gave me a calming smile. “How’s Riko-chan been?”
“Just fine, at least in the club room. She read through our old journals yesterday.” I took a sip of hojicha green tea from a bottle I’d brought myself.
Shiratama-san had been attending club every day for the last week now. She’d show up, we’d talk about random, mundane things, then she’d leave after an hour. Always exactly an hour. And she never seemed keen on chatting with Yanami or Komari. She’d picked no less than two erasers off the ground so far.
“It’s important to have a place to belong at school. Keep watching her for me, will you?”
“I’m still not convinced the lit club is, well, that place. She’d be better off getting to know her own classmates, wouldn’t she?”
“I recall a time when you and Komari-san weren’t so different.” Fair. I wasn’t one to talk. Konuki-sensei suddenly became distant. Thoughtfully so. “Kids are so quick to make school their entire world. But that just goes to show how many others they still have to explore.”
“Other ‘worlds,’” I repeated for clarification.
She smiled softly. “I’ve seen a few myself. Died on hills, given up on others. I’ve been around the block a few times, you know.”
“Is there a euphemism I’m missing?”
She just laughed. Konuki-sensei clearly still thought about her teen years quite a bit. Held dearly to the things she’d felt and experienced. Maybe she saw some of those things in Shiratama-san. Maybe not. I wasn’t sure what she saw in that girl, but she clearly cared about her. Which only made my next question all the more burning.
We chatted a bit more, and when it was appropriate, I casually said, “So there’s something about Tanaka-sensei I was wondering about. You know, the one who teaches Japanese.”
“Oh? What’s that? Don’t be shy.”
“It has to do with his, uh…character. If you know what I mean.”
“His ‘character’?” Konuki-sensei’s eyes narrowed. Uh-oh. Land mine?
“I just mean, er, he showed me some events for the literature club a while ago. I was just wondering about him. Y’know.”
She nodded. My flimsy excuse seemed to work. “He used to be the supervisor, so I imagine he’s just a little sentimental. As for his ‘character’…” She looked up at the ceiling, searching her memory. “Faithful. That’s what I would call him. Principled enough to stay true to his partner despite the implicit advances of a coworker. Just as an example.”
“Sorry. Forget I asked.”
Tanaka-sensei’s coworker giggled. “Wise. Want one?” She handed me a container of mints.
I instinctively went to take one, but my better judgment intervened. “No, thank you.”
Konuki-sensei’s hand remained extended for several seconds before she finally shrugged. “Wise.”
✦ ✦ ✦
I hurried back to the club room. My conversation with Konuki-sensei lingered in my head. Something about her had changed when I brought up Tanaka-sensei, but was that just me overthinking it? In any case, he wasn’t the kind of guy to hook up with a coworker.
Faithful. Right. I’d learned that much about him. Even if he and Shiratama-san were up to no good, that was none of my business.
I put all that from my mind for now. No doubt things were awkward at the club without me. I picked up the pace as I passed through the breezeway connecting to the west annex—only to stop in my tracks.
Konuki-sensei said Tanaka-sensei had a partner…
But that was none of my business. Nope.
I put a big ol’ pin in that and continued on my way.