Chapter 50
A Certain Saturday
“Seiji-kun, you know…”
Seemingly apologetic, Hiiragi-chan spoke over the phone .
“This Saturday, I was invited to a drinking party…”
“Aaah, is that so?”
That was not to say, that we had made plans for the two of us at that time . It was just going to be us lazing about over the weekend together, so going out for a drinking party every once in a while, is okay .
Friendships between working people are somewhat fragile . I truly don’t want to do anything that might lower the number of friends that Hiiragi-chan has . Just as I was going to encourage her to go, I finally understood why she seemed apologetic .
“Simply speaking, it’s drinking with teachers from another school . There are some other male teachers there that I happen to know personally . ”
“He—heeh…”
Good thing this was over the phone . Most likely, if she saw me, it would be really obvious that I was quite shaken right now .
“A teacher that I’m always indebted to told me, ‘If you have no plans on Saturday, then please!’ He had asked me about this last week… I tried to refuse him multiple times…But before he had asked, I had accidentally mentioned that I was free Saturday…”
If I were to tell her my own personal feelings, then I would tell her not to go . But, if it’s someone she’s indebted too, then it must be a senior from the workplace . As a member of society, I am familiar with the importance of human relations within the workplace .
If because of this case, Hiiragi-chan’s relationship at work gets worse, I wouldn’t be able to help . In some sense, I am part of her workplace, but it’s not like I am someone that is working in the staff room .
This is where I show how big of a person Sanada Seiji really is . At the very least, I’m older than Hiiragi-chan on the inside, so I shouldn’t say something so petty .
“Yeah . I got it . It’s fine if you just go enjoy yourself . ”
“…Really? The people coming are just all the other teachers, so you don’t have to worry . ”
“… I’m not worried or anything so it’s okay . ”
That’s a complete lie! I’m super worried!
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If that was clearly the purpose of the party, then I would have definitely said that I didn’t like it . However, she was invited to a drinking party on a day off by someone she knew, and the person was even from the same workplace . In a broad sense, it could be called a place where people within the industry exchange information .
“I’ll be late going home, maybe getting back around 10, okay?”
“Don’t mind me and go enjoy yourself . ”
Although you could say that it wasn’t my true feelings, but it really showed that I was still an adult on the inside .
I was hoping that maybe, it might be cancelled due to rain, but on the day of, as if I was being laughed at, the weather was good .
After intruding upon her for lunch, I tried to encourage Hiiragi-chan as she was slightly tense .
“I wonder… would I be able to go through this without saying anything careless . Going to a drinking party with people I don’t know very well, it’s been a while since I did something like that…”
“As long as you don’t do anything rude, it’ll be fine . Even if you think you did, if you apologize nothing will happen . ”
“Y-you think…?”
“If you apologize in person, humans are the type to be surprisingly forgiving . Besides, when it comes to drinking, people would think that mistakes are going to happen . ”
Hiiragi-chan started to stare at me with a weird expression .
“W-what?”
“Seiji-kun, are you familiar with drinking parties?”
Most likely, I was even more used to it than Hiiragi-chan .
“T-there’s no way that’s the case . ”
“Yeah, I know, right? It just seemed that your opinions were so on point, that it just made me think that you were so dependable as usual . ”
She gave her goddess smile .
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And then, as it became time, Hiiragi-chan started her preparations . I told her that it was quite cute and that it suited her, as she changed into casual clothing . But really, it was quite a complicated feeling . Moreover, i-it seems like she’s putting more effort into her makeup than usual… Normally, I feel like she does it more lightly…?
Is this just the me not wanting her to go to the drinking party twisting reality into something worse?
“Your makeup, you’re really doing it more carefully this time . ”
“Eh? Isn’t it always like this?”
There was no choice but to trust the words of Hiiragi-chan, who was looking confused . Now that she mentions it does seem the same, or maybe not . For now, I just complemented her clothing .
Hiiragi-chan gave me a kiss as I saw her off at the doorway .
“If you get bored, it’s fine if you just go home . ”
“Yeah . If that’s the case, I’ll make sure to lock the door . ”
With a goodbye, she left .
I started watching television but it was somewhat boring . It was around when the time turned to 6:30 . By now, she’s probably drinking a bunch and having a lot of fun talking with everyone .
“Hiiragi-sensei, do you have a boyfriend right now?”
“Aaah, ummm, not right now…”
Or some sort of conversation like that… Today, maybe it’s okay for her to say that she has a boyfriend… ah, but there are teachers there from the same school still . Aaaah, I really hate this .
There was a moment where I thought that I would follow her . If I was the same age group, then maybe secretly going to an izakaya would be just fine, but if I were a high school student, it would definitely be suspicious .
It’s not like I’m her guardian, so there’s no other thing I could do beside wait for her and give her my trust .
I didn’t feel like eating dinner at Hiiragi-chan’s place, or at my own house, so I decided to eat a ramen place nearby . I took a picture of it, and sent it through a text .
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However, there wasn’t any response .
Good good, my Hiiragi-chan is a proper lady that knows the proper time and place . She isn’t the type of person who can’t read the mood when they are focused on their phone at the bar .
After that, the variety show that I was watching wasn’t very interesting, nor was I interested in it, so I sent another text .
Once she’s had a couple of drinks, it might be okay for her to let it slip that she has a boyfriend . But wait, there are older teacher’s there so it might not be good? A shield to defend Hiiragi-chan from other men, or a shield to defend other people from finding out about our relationship, it seems like the two purposes contradict each other today .
It turned 8:30 at night . I wasn’t doing anything, when I heard a sound from the entrance .
“I’m back?”
“Ah . Welcome back . That was early . ”
“Yeah . ”
With a slightly tired smile, Hiiragi-chan gave me a hug . She then started patting me on the back .
“The drinking party, how was it? Did you have a good time?”
“Nope . Not at all . ”
I breathed a sigh as I let my chest drop .
“If Seiji-kun isn’t there, it’s not fun at all . ”
“I see . Then, I guess it was an unfortunate drinking party . ”
Hmmm…? She was speaking normally, and her mood was pretty close from when she would come back from work .
“Did you not drink?”
“Yeah . I said that I wasn’t good with it, so after the first toast, I just had oolong tea . ”
Aaah, there are those types of people too .
As she held me tight, Hiiragi-chan spoke out earnestly .
“… Haaah… it’s so calming . ”
“It’s probably because the izakaya place was loud, and since you spoke a lot with people you didn’t really know very well—”
“Nope, well, that’s also true, but it’s because Seiji-kun is here . ”
Ton ton, Hiiragi-chan lightly patted me on the chest .
“You’re the most calming . ”
“I was thinking about having a round two with just the two of us, right here, right now . What do you think?”
“… I’m in . ”
I kissed Hiiragi-chan, who had made a small smile .
“I need to buy some more alcohol!”
“There were about four bottles in the fridge though . . ”
“For today, that won’t be enough ♪”
How much are you intending to drink?
“The supermarket is going to close soon . Come on, hurry up!”
After becoming energetic, Hiiragi-chan and I went to the nearby supermarket while holding hands .