Kissing My Student, It's Over if We're Caught - Volume 3 Chapter 2.4

—

The view was absolutely breathtaking, but that also meant there was nothing between us and the drop below except for a flimsy-looking fence. A strong gust of wind, and you’d be history. Splat.

Coming here together, just me and Kurei-san, was planned beforehand. We stood on the famous ‘Kiyomizu Stage,’ keeping a close eye on the students’ movements. With so many people around, it wasn’t likely anyone would try anything too stupid, but you can never be too careful, right? Gotta watch out for kids getting rowdy or screwing around near the edge.

Maybe it was because both of us were watching, but the students seemed mostly well-behaved. There were a few moments like, “No way! It’s too scary!” when they tried taking photos, followed by laughter, but nothing major. I ended up taking pictures for them with my camera anyway, figured I’d show them later.

Kirihara’s group came onto the stage last.

(Hmm?)

I was watching another student when I suddenly felt eyes on me. I turned to look at Kirihara.

She was staring at me with this… intense, almost sticky kind of gaze. Urgh. Outwardly, she looked the same, but this wasn’t her usual ‘model student’ mode. This was ‘bad girl’ Kirihara.

I’d seen this look before. During the cultural festival, when I was dressed as the head butler. She looked at me exactly like this. What is it this time? I haven’t changed my clothes since we left this morning. The only different thing about me is… maybe the camera?

Her groupmates were already getting bored and starting to move on, but Kirihara kept glancing my way, lingering behind.

Seriously, what’s gotten into her?

“Hashima-sensei, let me borrow the camera.”

Lost in thought, I hadn’t noticed Kurei-san approaching. She subtly nodded towards Kirihara. Kirihara immediately brightened, a quick smile flashing across her face as she practically skipped over.

“Okay, line up. Quick,” Kurei-san commanded curtly.

I obliged. She snapped the picture quickly, handed the camera back without a word, and hurried off after the students who had gone ahead.

“…Did you just want a picture together?” I asked Kirihara quietly once Kurei-san was out of earshot.

“Mhm. Sorry…” She fiddled with her fingers. “…Honestly, I wanted to go to places like Jishu Shrine or Otowa Waterfall with you too, but…”

“Huh? Kirihara, you’re interested in temples and shrines? That’s… kinda surprising.”

She blinked, then giggled, “No, no, silly~” She leaned in slightly, whispering, “All those places I just mentioned? They’re famous spots for praying for luck in love~ ♡”

“…Ah, I see.”

The school trip pamphlet only mentioned Kiyomizu Temple being a ‘World Heritage Site’ and ‘historically significant.’ Nothing about love blessings. Figures.

“I knew we couldn’t go, so… I at least wanted to take a picture together at a famous spot like this…” Kirihara mumbled, looking down, her fingers intertwined shyly..

“Sigh… We’ll do that stuff another time, okay? Later, I’ll make sure to thank Kurei-san properly.”

“Okay… I’m sorry,” she whispered again.

“It’s fine.”

Yeah, it was reckless, especially with the rumors flying around, but this ‘intensity’… this need… it’s part of what makes Kirihara, well, Kirihara. Can’t really fault her for it.

— The real trouble started after that.

We were already lagging behind Kurei-san and the others, and now we were caught in the crush of the crowd. The line was moving sooo slowly.

“…Well, this sucks,” I muttered.

“Indeed,” Kirihara replied, back in her prim ‘model student’ voice. Or so I thought. Hidden by the throng of people pressing around us, she slyly, gently, laced her fingers with mine. Tch.

“Hey, careful,” I warned under my breath.

Her fingers quickly retreated. Her face remained perfectly neutral, which, honestly, was inappropriately amusing.

“What exactly are we even doing?” I sighed, half to myself.

“I know, right?” she replied, a tiny smile playing on her lips. “But… this is actually kinda fun, in its own weird way~”

“Can’t argue with th—oof!”

Someone beside us shoved aggressively forward, pushing me right into Kirihara. We ended up pressed close together, way too close for comfort in public.

Haaa… Seems the god of love here is feeling very generous today.

Kirihara looked a bit squished, but there was definitely a pleased little smile on her face.

—

Eventually, we managed to navigate the flow of people and escape the main crowd. Finally.

I breathed a sigh of relief seeing the rest of the students waiting below. Kirihara’s groupmates waved when they saw us, so we headed over.

“Sorry we’re late! Is everyone else here?” Kirihara asked apologetically.

“Uhm, no… Kobayashi-san isn’t back yet,” one of the girls replied.

“Eh?” Kirihara looked surprised, glancing at me. I distinctly remembered seeing Kobayashi walk ahead before Kurei-san took our picture.

Did she get lost trying to come down?

“Alright, I’ll go look for her.” I pulled out my phone. A quick call to Mizoguchi-sensei to report the situation should cover things.

“No need, Hashima-sensei.”

Turning towards the voice, I saw Mizoguchi-sensei standing there. And with him was Kobayashi.

“I-I’m so sorry!” Kobayashi stammered, looking embarrassed.

“It seems she got separated and then lost her way,” Mizoguchi-sensei explained calmly. “Luckily, I managed to find her wandering around.”

“I saw Hashima-sensei and Kirihara-san up ahead and tried to follow, but…” Kobayashi trailed off.

“I see. Well, glad you’re safe, Kobayashi-san,” I replied, trying to sound nonchalant while my heart was doing frantic backflips. Phew… Hope she didn’t see anything… awkward.

“…Yeah, maybe we should really stick together as a group,” Kirihara said, looking contrite. “I was lagging behind too, so I need to be more careful.” Kobayashi nodded quickly in agreement.

The other students just shrugged it off with “No worries!” and went back to their sightseeing chatter.

“Phew…” Mizoguchi-sensei let out a breath. “I’d heard tourism from overseas was increasing these past few years, but this is beyond what I imagined.”

“…Yeah,” I agreed weakly.

“Something wrong, Hashima-sensei?” he asked, noticing my tone.