Chapter 12 | Inherited Techniques

The staff room was quiet in the evening, with only the faint hum of air conditioning breaking the stillness. I stood before Kumada-sensei’s desk, where I’d often come to collect assignments.

“Got it? You need to play the cost-performance girl,” Yako-san declared.

She was there today, for some reason, perched cross-legged on an empty chair beside Kumada-sensei, addressing us with an air of authority. Kumada-sensei sat at her desk, while I stood, listening.

“Cost-performance girl?” Kumada-sensei echoed, tilting her head.

Yako-san smirked, a smug “Hmph” escaping her lips. “The economy’s been rough lately, so men’s salaries are down. Some handsome guys hesitate to date, worried they can’t keep their partner happy.”

“Haah…”

“So, when a guy at a bar asks what food you like, say ramen without missing a beat. They’ll invite you to grab some next time, no question. Say sushi or steak, and they’ll pull back. You’ve got to show you’re a cost-performance girl. A cost-performance girl.”

“What kind of technique is that…?” I muttered under my breath, unable to hold back.

Yako-san’s grin widened. “With this move, I’ve snagged three boyfriends, including my current one, and… five kilos of fat.”

“That’s, uh…” Kumada-sensei faltered, her expression troubled. Weight was clearly a sensitive topic.

“Fat’s no big deal—you just lose it,” Yako-san waved off breezily. “The real score is landing three boyfriends. Net positive.”

“But, Yako-chan, didn’t all your exes get away? Doesn’t that make it a net negative…?” Kumada-sensei pointed out, her tone teasing but sharp.

Yako-san’s eyes widened briefly, as if the thought hadn’t crossed her mind. She quickly cleared her throat, resetting her composure. “W-Well, if things go well with my current guy, it’s a huge win. I’ll make it a happy ending.”

“…Looking forward to it,” Kumada-sensei replied dryly.

It was my first day back at school after the trip with Makura. Three in the afternoon, and when I stepped into the staff room, Yako-san was there—an unexpected guest.

“I’m in the middle of a sales route, but I pop by sometimes. I say it’s for job recruitment at the school,” Yako-san had explained earlier.

“Yako-chan, stop coming so often. The other teachers give me dirty looks, like, ‘What’s she yapping about in the meeting room?’ It’s fine today since it’s summer break, but still,” Kumada-sensei had grumbled.

“Yeah, yeah. You say that, Satomi, but you totally want to see me~.”

That was the deal, apparently. With summer break emptying the staff room, they were chatting casually at the desk today. The two, close since way back, always seemed to enjoy their banter.

And get this—Yako-san had broken up with her cigarette-jackpot boyfriend over Obon and, shockingly, already had a new guy. How she found boyfriends so fast was a mystery, but when Kumada-sensei asked, the answer was this “cost-performance girl” shtick.

I hoped she’d get her happy ending… but I couldn’t shake the image of Yako-san drowning her sorrows over drinks again, whining to anyone who’d listen.

The love talk between the two women and me eventually settled, and Kumada-sensei let out a sigh. “Alright,” she said, turning to me formally from her desk chair.

“Negoro-kun, you pulled it off nicely.”

“…What’re you talking about?” I asked, though I had a good guess.

She gave a small, knowing smile. “Koiro-chan saying she wanted to check out the health room herself.”

That was it. Today, Makura and I had come to school together. When I mentioned submitting her completed assignments, she insisted on tagging along, saying she wanted to see the place she’d attend starting next term.

Right now, she was in the health room alone, discussing second-term attendance. She could handle one-on-one situations without drawing attention, it seemed, though she put on a bit of a front, like when we first met.

“She said she’ll take next week’s test in the health room too. Your mission, Negoro-kun, is pretty much complete. …How’d you do it?”

“Dunno. I just taught her normally and made her do the assignments.”

“Heeh…” Kumada-sensei hummed, her grin widening for some reason. “Going on a trip together—pretty grown-up summer, huh?”

“You heard about that…?” I muttered, caught off guard.

“Talked with Koiro in her room yesterday,” Yako-san cut in, a smile plastered on her face.

What kind of talk did they have……? What did they say, and how much……? Come to think of it, Kumada-sensei somehow knew I was hanging out at Makura’s place. So this was the info pipeline.

“Taking little Koiro-chan on a trip, huh? How’d you pull that off? Oh, I won’t ask for trip details. Young guy and girl—stuff happens, naturally. Might make me a bad teacher, but I’ll turn a blind eye just this once—”

“Nothing happened!” I interrupted firmly.

Seriously, nothing shady went down. That night at the inn, after we shook hands, we just lay there, talked about old times, and fell asleep. No clue if they’d believe me, though…

“There it is—Satomi’s classic perv mode. You make dirty jokes like some old geezer,” Yako-san teased, her tone playful.

“W-What? Don’t say weird stuff. Not in front of a student!” Kumada-sensei snapped, glaring at Yako-san with a flustered “Ugh!” Her cheeks were slightly red.

Seizing the chance, I steered the conversation away from the trip. “By the way, Sensei, you’re Makura’s cousin, right? Is that why you’ve been doing all this?”

Kumada-sensei met my gaze, then gave a small cough. “Yes. Sorry for keeping it from you. I thought I knew everything about her situation. As a teacher, I wanted her to come to school somehow, but I was also worried about her heart… I was searching for a way she could graduate on her own terms.”

“So that’s how it was…”

Her posture straightened, her teacher face firmly in place.

I asked something I’d been wondering for a while. “Why’d you send me to her house?”

Why had she chosen me to deliver the make-up assignments?

“I’m sorry for asking so much of you, Negoro-kun. And thank you. I’m honestly shocked at how much you exceeded expectations.”

Kumada-sensei bowed deeply, then continued.

“Forgetting to write your name on the test was just an excuse,” Kumada-sensei admitted, her voice softening. “I really thought you were the perfect person for this.”

“Because I’m clueless about idols—or, like, out of touch with the world?” I asked, recalling Yako-san’s comment about me being oblivious in both good and bad ways. Thinking back, when Kumada-sensei first asked me to run the errand, she’d subtly probed whether I was into idols.

Her smile turned troubled, but she nodded. “That’s part of it. I figured even if you learned Koiro-chan was a former idol, you wouldn’t make a fuss. And also…” She paused, her gaze steady on mine. “I wanted you to look at something other than studying.”

“Me?” I blinked, caught off guard.

“Yes. You were struggling with something, weren’t you?”

“……You could tell?” My voice came out quieter than I intended.

“The way you crammed, like something was chasing you. The pained look when you flipped through reference books. It was clear you were carrying some kind of burden. Not just effort toward a goal.”

Was my face that obvious? She wasn’t wrong, though. I swallowed hard, the weight of her words settling in.

“So, I thought having you meet Koiro-chan, someone about as far from studying as you can get, might do you some good. Like I said, to get you to look at something else for once.”

I swallowed again, quieter this time. So that was her intention…

“I also thought you’d be perfect for Koiro-chan,” she continued. “I knew she was anxious about staying in that state forever, so—sorry if this sounds harsh—it was a good opportunity. You didn’t seem too interested in people, right, Negoro-kun?”

“Well, yeah,” I admitted. More accurately, I’d had to become that way. Studying nonstop left me with no time for friends, so I stopped caring about those around me.

“I figured that’d make things easier for Koiro-chan. If you didn’t push too hard, she could work on her people skills at her own pace. Though, I didn’t expect a supposedly innocent boy to move into her room so fast… You’re a guy who gets things done, huh?”

“Mind your own business,” I muttered, feeling my cheeks heat up. When it came to guy-girl stuff, she always said one thing too many…

Still, she’d chosen me for compatibility? If that’s why things worked out with Makura, it made me… kind of happy.

“You thought it through that much, huh…”

“Of course. I’m your homeroom teacher, after all,” Kumada-sensei said, nodding firmly.

Yako-san, who’d been listening quietly, cut in with a sly grin. “Did you really think it through? Or was it just ‘delivering assignments myself is a hassle’ or ‘I don’t wanna get a tan’?”

“Hey, don’t ruin it! I was nailing the good teacher vibe!” Kumada-sensei protested, her voice rising.

“Oi,” I couldn’t help but retort. So it was just a vibe?

She laughed, waving it off. “Kidding, kidding.” Then she bowed to me again. “Anyway, Negoro-kun, thank you. And for the second term, please keep looking out for Koiro-chan.”

“The make-up test isn’t done yet, though.”

“That too, please. You’ve got it covered, right?”

Sensei, you know Makura’s academic level, don’t you…? Still, I nodded to myself. “Yeah, well, I’ll figure it out… Definitely.”

My words came out firm, carrying a quiet resolve.

＊

As I left the entrance hall and headed toward the school gate, Makura popped out from the bike racks.

“You’re already here? Sorry for making you wait,” I said, quickening my pace.

“Nah, I just finished early,” she replied with a shrug.

“The health room—seem comfy enough?”

“Hmm, dunno. Won’t know till I try it.”

We started walking side by side, chatting easily. When we reached the gate, Makura shot me a playful grin.

“Kinda feels like we’re heading home from club, huh?” She spread her arms, showing off.

Today, Makura had the school’s designated bag slung over her shoulder and was wearing the gym uniform—long sleeves and pants despite the lingering summer heat. The fit was a bit big; the sleeves half-covered her hands, and she’d rolled the pant legs up below her knees. The blue cotton tracksuit with white lines was famously uncool among students, but on Makura, it somehow looked like intentional fashion, convincing enough to pass.

“Yeah, true. Lots of kids wear gym clothes to and from school in summer. But why the tracksuit instead of the uniform?”

“Oh, I didn’t explain, huh? This tracksuit… I made it my pajamas starting yesterday. Slept in it this morning. Planning to come to school in it starting second term.”

“Ohh, got it. So you’re forcing the pajama life to continue, no matter what.”

“Exactly.” Makura flashed a cheeky grin.

She was deliberately designating the school tracksuit as pajamas, wearing it to keep up her pajama lifestyle even after summer break.

“Not bad, right? Pajama commuting. Peak depravity vibes.”

“Haha, thanks. Gotta go this hard or I’m no good,” she said, readjusting the slipping bag on her shoulder.

“No good, how?”

“Like… I spent so long matching for other people—matching their ideals—that I broke. So, I figure I gotta go a bit over-the-top being myself. That’s what it takes to stay steady.”

“Ah, gotcha,” I nodded, understanding.

She was working to overcome past trauma. If that was her way, I wanted to cheer her on.

When I said it was cool, Makura smirked boldly with a “Right?”

We walked the same route home together, heading straight to Makura’s room to prep for her make-up test.

Good thing cram school was off. I’d told Kumada-sensei I’d handle it, but honestly, it was rough. Makura’s academics were at a middle school level… Still, she was motivated, so I believed it’d work out. If I had cram school, though, we’d probably have to pull the ultimate skip move again—Makura calling the cram school pretending to be my mom.

“Hey, you a bit hungry?” Makura piped up just before we reached the residential area.

“Yeah, now that you mention it. Wanna grab something to take home? It’s almost dinner time.”

“How ’bout some takeout?” Makura tilted her gaze upward, letting out a thoughtful “Hmm” before adding quickly, “H-How about ramen?”

Her words came out in a rush, and she sneaked a glance at me.

Takeout ramen… That pause felt oddly forced, too short to be natural.

“…Did you maybe hear something from Yako-san?” I asked.

“W-What do you mean?” she stammered, her voice pitching up.

“Like, cost-performance girls.”

“W-W-W-What kinda girls are those?” Makura’s cheeks flushed red in an instant.

That panic… She’d definitely heard about Yako-san’s “cost-performance girls” shtick. Trying that weird technique on me—what was her angle? I didn’t have enough experience to be sure, but… my heart was pounding all on its own.

“Ramen sounds good,” I said, keeping my tone even.

“N-No deeper meaning, okay? I just like it,” she insisted, her eyes darting away.

“I like ramen too. There’s a place nearby with a takeout sign.”

“Really? Let’s go there!” Makura’s face lit up, and she stepped ahead with a bounce in her stride.

Her back caught the glow of the evening sunlight, her hair swaying gently. When she turned around, her smile was bright, unguarded.

My vision felt sharper, clearer than usual, as if the world had snapped into focus.

Wanting to hold onto that feeling, I stopped, shutting my eyes tight for a moment. Then, with a deep breath, I took a big step toward her.