About a month had passed since Hajime and the others had returned from Tortus. It was a cold November afternoon, and Aiko was sitting languidly on her front porch.
“It really hasn’t changed at all,” she said in a lazy voice. She was wearing a blue PE uniform, her legs dangling off the edge of the porch. The uniform had a small tag with her name and class on it, which was how you could tell this was her middle school PE uniform. It was truly saddening, both that she was still wearing her old middle school clothes and that they still fit her. She definitely wouldn’t want to show this side of her to her students, much less her boyfriend.
Fortunately, none of them were around.
“The only thing that’s changed is that mom’s bike finally gave out after twenty years of abuse,” Aiko mumbled, looking out into the familiar yard. There was a small stone fence that had weeds growing out of the cracks, a drying rack, and a rusted steel drum of unknown purpose. Leaning against the wall was a bike with punctured tires and a broken chain. This was the nostalgic backyard Aiko had seen while growing up in her parents’ house. Until just recently, she’d been fighting her way through a battlefield much deadlier than anything she’d faced in Tortus, but now things had finally calmed down enough that she could go visit her parents.
Hajime had forced people to stop flaming her in person and online, and Aiko had already prepared all the teaching materials she’d need for the special class that would be opening in December, so now she was just waiting for the administrators to finish approving everything.
Now that she’d finally secured herself some free time, she’d decided to visit her parents in the countryside. But after a few days of lazing around, Aiko had come to realize she’d been busy for so long that she didn’t even know what to do with her free time.
“I wonder what Hajime-kun’s doing right now...” Aiko muttered absentmindedly, then blushed and covered her face with her hands as she realized what she’d just said.
Incidentally, she’d been back at her parents’ house for three days now, and she’d said those same words dozens of times already.
I’m supposed to be a teacher! And Hajime-kun’s my student...though I guess it’s too late to be saying that now.
Indeed, at this point, everyone knew Hajime and Aiko were dating. They’d already had sex numerous times as well.
It’d be irresponsible to say I just got carried away in the heat of the moment, and anyway, I know that’s not true, but still...
Aiko knew her feelings for Hajime were one hundred percent real. But after the weeks of interviews and spending time preparing the special semester she’d be teaching for all the students who’d been isekaied, she’d been treating Hajime more as a student and less as a boyfriend recently, which had reminded her once again that she was, in fact, his teacher.
I can’t believe I slept with one of my students! I should have at least waited until he graduated! Though honestly, I know I wouldn’t have been able to wait that long...
She wouldn’t have been able to resist the temptations of the devil on her shoulder. The worst part was that she didn’t even have an angel on the other shoulder to be the voice of sanity and reason.
He even invited me to come on the first date he’s taking Yue and the others to in Japan, but I felt so awkward that I refused...
The last time she’d seen Hajime was when she’d been invited to eat dinner at his house. They’d been in constant contact, but they hadn’t met face-to-face since then.
“I bet they’re all having fun on their date...” Aiko muttered, grabbing her knees and letting out a long sigh. She was the one who’d turned down the invitation, but she still couldn’t help but feel jealous that she wasn’t there. She’d become one of those clingy girlfriends who kept claiming that she wanted some space for no real reason.
I’m so lonely...but if word gets out to the public that I’m in a relationship with one of my students, the media would be up in arms again...
Aiko was serious to a fault, so naturally, she wanted to avoid causing trouble for Hajime.
There’s such a big age gap between us too...
Aiko had, of course, completely forgotten that the last time she’d mentioned the age gap Yue had given her an earful, since she was far older.
“Hey, Aiko, stop rolling around in the yard. Imagine what the neighbors will say if they see you!”
“Mrr...”
Aiko rolled over onto her back and looked up at the speaker. It was her mother, Akiko Hatayama. She had her hair in a short bob and had a kind, round face. She was also wearing the same apron that Aiko had made for her back in elementary school in home ec. Right now, she had one hand on her hip and was holding a wooden basket in the other. The basket was filled with freshly picked oranges. The Hatayama family ran a fruit farm, so all of those oranges were home-grown.
“Want some?” Akiko asked.
“Yes, please,” Aiko replied with a nod. Akiko then sat down next to Aiko and Aiko lazily opened up her mouth like a baby bird begging for food.
Naturally, Akiko scolded her for her bad manners and Aiko reluctantly sat back up. Her students would have been shocked if they saw her acting so spoiled.
Akiko peeled one of the oranges and handed it to Aiko. Aiko eagerly bit into the orange, enjoying the nostalgic tart taste of her family farm. A childish smile spread across her face, and she certainly didn’t look like a twenty-six-year-old adult. It was hard to tell if it was thanks to her mana or what, but her skin looked more vibrant and youthful than ever, so she definitely still looked like a teenager.
“You look so happy that it’s hard to imagine you were getting blasted by journalists and internet trolls just a few days ago. Though, you also don’t look as cool as you did when you were facing them down.”
“I could hardly show this uncool side of me to Haji—I mean, my students,” Aiko said with a shrug of her shoulders. Of course, Akiko didn’t miss what Aiko had nearly let slip.
“Hey, Aiko.”
“Haumf...what is it?”
“When are you going to introduce us to Hajime Nagumo-kun?”
“Bwagh?!”
Aiko spit out a mouthful of orange, and Akiko exclaimed, “That’s disgusting!”
“Wh-Why do you ask? There’s no—”
“I mean, he’s the one who brought you back, isn’t he? Of course I’d like to meet him and give him my thanks.”
“Oh, yeah, of course. That makes sense.”
Aiko breathed a very obvious sigh of relief and Akiko shook her head.
You’ve always been terrible at hiding things.
Naturally, Aiko’s parents had taken part in the family meetings where everyone got together to look for their missing kids, so they were well-acquainted with Sumire and Shu. However, because they ran a farm in a rural town, they’d met with the other families a lot less frequently. They’d taken over the lease for Aiko’s apartment and gone over every few weeks to keep it clean, but when Hajime and the others had returned, they’d been at home rather than in the city.