CH 8

The time was 1:10 P.M.

I arrived at the meeting place with Shi-chan.

Wandering around the station, I spotted a suspicious person wearing a hat which was covering her eyes, a mask, and sunglasses.

The first thought that came to mind after seeing her was that she was dangerous, but closely looking, she was giving off a sense of familiarity that was contradicting my thoughts.

…… is that Sensei? It surprised me to see her in such an attire, but do I have to call her now?

“Look Minato-nii, there is a suspicious person.”

Shi-chan also points at Sakuramiya-sensei and says that she looks suspicious so she made such remarks.

I’m sorry, but I’m going on a date with that suspicious person from now on.

Perhaps noticing Shi-chan’s voice, Sakuramiya-sensei waves her hand in our direction.

“Oh no, Nii-chan, I might be targeted now.”

(TL/N : Must Protec!)

Shi-chan opened her mouth with a frustrated look.

Looks like I have to clear off this misunderstanding first.

“No, that’s Sakuramiya-sensei. She’s a safe person.”

“Really?”

“Ah, but just to be safe, don’t let go of my hand.”

I grabbed Shi-chan’s hand again and started walking in Sensei’s direction.

I let out a small sigh and looked at her in amazement.

“What is with that dress?…..”

“It’s a disguise. I don’t want anyone to find me going on a date with my own student.”

“It’s too obvious, so please stop it right now. Besides, If the police find you, you will be in big trouble.”

“Eh? Do I really stand out when I am purposely trying to hide my face?”

“That’s the reason why it stands out!”

Masks and hats are fine, but adding sunglasses to them makes you stand out a bit. It looks as if there is a reason why they don’t want people to see their faces.

“At this time of the year, wearing a mask will only suffocate you. Remove everything except the hat.”

When I told her that Sensei reluctantly took off her sunglasses and wore off her mask and put it in her pockets.

“What if someone finds us….?”

“Well, leave it for later. Let’s prepare for the date first.”

“Why does it look like she is going to commit a crime?”

Shi-chan, who was silently listening to our conversation, was now sweating,and swallowing hard because of nervousness. It seems we have made some misunderstanding here again.

“No, no we are not going to do something wrong, we don’t have that kind of relation.”

“Yes, that’s right. It’s a somewhat complicated relationship.”

“……..body relations?

(TL/N : Shi-chan is smart indeed.)

““It’s different. ””

My and Sensei’s voices overlap.

“Is this girl really five years old?”

Sensei is chilled by her thought processing.

After that, it took me about 20 minutes to clear up Shi-chan’s misunderstanding.

_________________________________

“I see, so the goal is to take some pictures and send it to the inquirer to irritate them.”

“Yes, but think about how to talk about it a little more, shall we?”

She is a very understanding girl, but has a way of saying things with a sharp edge in her words.

While patting her head, I gently cautioned her about the circumstances.

“So, what kind of photo do you want to take at this cafe?”

Currently, we have changed our location from the station and came to a fashionable cafe. The waiter had served us coffee and cream soda for Shi-chan.

Sakuramiya-sensei answers Shi-chan’s question

“Well, we can just take a few pictures normally in which we have to be together. I think it will satisfy Mom.”

“It’s not something to get delayed, so take a few of them quickly.”

“I agree.”

Sakuramiya-sensei takes out her smartphone, opens the camera app, lifts her phone diagonally and adjusts it so that both of us can fit in the picture.

I’m going to make a peace sign too.

And then she clicks on the shutter button.

By the way, Shi-chan stepped out of the frame of the camera even though I didn’t ask her to do so. She is very considerate, even for a little girl.

“Well, I wonder if this is enough for the time being. Thank you too, Shi-chan.”

She is seeing the pictures in her phone, sliding them one by one with a satisfied smile on her face. Shi-chan asks her to see those pictures to which she handed over the phone to the little girl.

Meanwhile, I was slowly sipping on my coffee little by little.

Then, Shi-chan, who had been staring at Sensei’s phone, shakes her head side by side.

“This won’t irritate her at all.”

It seems that she has slightly misunderstood the purpose of me and Sensei taking these pictures. We are procuring a picture to show them to Sensei’s mother, not to stir up anyone’s negative feelings.

“That’s fine. It’s not my purpose to begin with.”

“But if they are satisfied with this, I don’t think you should be worried about it too much.”

It was a strangely convincing word.

Certainly if someone were to look at this picture of the two of us sitting like this in a cafe, they will believe it. But the one who will be seeing them is Sensei’s mother, who already doubts our relationship. I’m sure she will still feel unsatisfied with it.

I thought that it would be enough with a two-shot, but was it shallow enough?

“What are you going to do about it? Segawa-kun.”

I was wondering if Sakuranomiya-sensei had had some thoughts on this matter, but instead she asked for my opinion.

When I was lost in thought, Shi-chan raised her small hand and called the waitress.

“Excuse me, can I have some straws please?”

“Ah, yes. Please wait a moment.”

The clerk looked at her softly and quickly went to get what she asked for. Within 30 seconds, the straw was delivered.

“Thank you very much.”

“You’re welcome.”

After receiving the straw from the waitress, Shi-chan immediately opened the straw bag and put it into the cream soda that already had a straw in it.

“Eh, uhm….. What are you doing? Shi-chan.”

Sakuramiya-sensei let out a bewildered voice.

But I don’t need to bother to ask her.

She tells us the contents as she roughly imagined it.

“Drink this together and take some photos and everything will be alright.”

“No but Shi-chan….. You don’t have to cut the straws on your own.”

Or rather, I am in trouble. Why do I have to do something like this in the first place? It looks like I will lose all sense of shame today..

“I’ll do it if it’s for Minato-nii and Yumi-nee’s sake.”

She clasped her hands in front of her chest and made a decision…… She is really a good girl, but her suggestions are driving me to a corner of no return.

“……You are so small, but yet so brave. Segawa-kun, you have a good little sister.”

With teary eyes, Sakuramiya-sensei caresses Shi-chan’s head. She is really good natured after all.

But she is not at all aware of what she is going to do.

And suddenly I realized that I had not explained it properly to her yet.

“Ah, Shi-chan is not my sister, but my cousin.”

“Oh, that’s right. I was thinking about the same, the difference in your ages is about 10 years…….. So that’s why she doesn’t look similar to you.”

While placing her hands on the table, Sakuramiya-sensei had a refreshed expression.

Now that I noticed we really are more than 10 years apart. Shi-chan is just five years old whereas I am already seventeen.

Currently, Sensei and I are pretending to be dating on the premise of marriage. But Sensei still looks youthful, so I don’t feel the sense of incongruity between us. But when I try to replace this position with me and Shi-chan I feel a sense of discomfort…

I am keenly aware that whatever I am doing is something that is difficult to get accepted by the standards of society.

After all, I thought it was impossible for me and Sakuramiya-sensei to be dating on the premise of marriage.