Chapter 5

“To another successful school festival,” Sawako said above the noise from the restaurant, raising her glass and turning around so the other teachers could see. “Cheers!”

“Cheers!” Kirin, along with her colleagues, shouted. Then she brought the beer to her mouth and took a generous gulp, though it wasn’t close to Sawako, who drank half, all at once.

“Don’t drink so fast, Sawako. We just started,” said Yuuto.

“You’re not my wife, Yuuto,” she said, drinking the rest, then asking for another, and pointing to another table. “Your husband is right over there. Go keep his booze in check instead of mine.”

Because the Hyouzan teachers were a large group, the restaurant they chose didn’t have a table big enough for all of them without a reservation, so they had to occupy a few small tables. Though Kirin didn’t know if it was coincidence or not, they were the LGBT table.

They’re open about who they are, but I’m not yet. Hope sitting with them won’t start strange rumors. But after spending the day with Mari-san yesterday, I bet there might be a few already, she thought. The idea was so overwhelming that she finished the beer and asked for another as well.

“I don’t wanna hear about him,” Yuuto said, pouting and focusing on his drink.

Sawako grinned and poked him on the cheek. “I can’t believe you’re mad at him for reminding you about your diet. Weren’t you the one who ask him to keep you from overeating at the festival? He was doing you a favor.”

“I-it was the way he said it!” he complained, flustering. “And how about you and Rin?”

“We’re doing fine, thank you!” Sawako said louder than necessary, grabbing the beer the waiter brought and taking a generous gulp. Kirin took hers too, but only sipped this time.

“Then why are you mad at her? Again,” he muttered the last part under his breath.

“I’m not! Why would I be mad at her for ditching me in the middle of the festival?”

“It’s not like she went drinking. She had to go to work. Aren’t you used to this? You two have been together for over ten years now.”

“I know she went to work! It’s just…” Sawako didn’t know what to say and took another gulp.

“You felt jealous seeing a bunch of couples being all lovey-dovey, didn’t you?”

“Shut up…”

“Just don’t take it out on your students. Again.” This time Yuuto didn’t mutter the last part.

“What do you mean?” Kirin asked.

“You don’t know? Sometimes when she fights with Rin, she takes it out her on the students by giving them a hard surprise test or something like that.”

“I remember that! Sawako-sensei did it to us in my first year!” Kirin exclaimed a bit too loud. “I was already nervous because my family had moved from another town and I didn’t know anyone. Then, in my first month in high school, I got a zero. I cried back then.”

“See, Sawako? You traumatized her.”

The math teacher averted her eyes and finished the drink, asking for another. “I-I didn’t use those grades anyway, so it didn’t matter.”

“Still, it was my first zero ever. I thought my school career was over and that, that zero would follow me forever!” Though Kirin was shocked back then, now she could laugh. “Can’t believe it was because you fought with your girlfriend. The rumor back then was that your boyfriend had cheated on you.”

“Students can be so stupid sometimes,” Sawako muttered.

“But they can be cute too.” Yuuto smiled and finished his first beer.

“Yeah, you’d know. You married one.”

“What?” Kirin shouted, attracting the stares of those closest to them.

“Stop spreading lies, Sawako!” Yuuto complained through gritted teeth. “Now Kirin will think that’s true!”

“I’m not lying. Seiji used to be your student, wasn’t he?”

“But we never did anything that crossed the line while we were student and teacher.”

“Really? Cross-dressing and going to his sister’s wedding as his date wasn’t crossing the line?”

“You did that?” Kirin asked.

Yuuto became an alarming shade of red. “T-technically, b-but nothing happened…”

Kirin turned around. A couple of tables away from them, Seiji, Yuuto’s husband, was drinking with Dan, the history teacher.

Back then, I had no idea they were a couple, Kirin thought, sipping her beer. Before she realized, she finished and asked for another.

“When you get all red like this, it’s hard to believe,” Sawako teased him.

“S-shut up…”

“You two are so lucky to be open about who you love,” Kirin muttered before she could stop herself. The alcohol was starting to take effect, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself.

Yuuto and Sawako exchanged looks and then turned to her with sympathetic smiles.

“You can call it luck, but we had a lot of troubles when we came out,” Sawako said. “There were a lot of people whispering behind our backs. And not only students.”

“Yeah. It was hard, but after we did it, we felt better,” Yuuto added.

“Hope one day I’ll get there. With someone…” The image of a smiling Mari crossed Kirin’s mind and her cheeks went a shade of red that had nothing to do with the alcohol.

Sawako and Yuuto exchanged looks again.

“Are you thinking about the woman you spent time with at the festival with yesterday?” he asked.

“She was gorgeous. Are you two dating?” she asked.

Kirin widened her eyes and became flustered. “N-no! W-we literally just met a couple days ago!”

“And yet you can’t stop thinking about her,” Sawako teased. “Are you gonna ask her out?”

“No… I don’t know her… I don’t know if she’s… you know, like us…”

“You’ll never know until you ask,” Yuuto said.

“Easy for you to say. You married your first boyfriend,” Sawako muttered, grinning.

“Weren’t you the same with Rin?”

“Hell yeah!”

“You two are too lucky,” Karin said. Then she turned over the beer and asked for another. “Let’s not talk about my love life! We’re here to celebrate another successful festival.”

“You’re right,” Sawako drank the rest of hers and also asked for another. As the next beer came, she drank more. “Let me just say one more thing, Kirin. That woman was stunning. I want a maid like her too.”

“Why don’t you ask Rin to dress up for you?”

“She’s not into cosplay, Yuuno!”

“Not so loud!” He covered her mouth, looking around. “I knew it was a bad idea for you to that name.”

“What is she taking?” Kirin asked.

“Nothing! Sawako is drunk, as usual,” Yuuto said.

“I’m not drunk yet. If I was, I’d be talking about your teacher fetish.”

“You have a fetish like that?” Kirin turned to him.

“No! Sawako, shut up!”

“He used to say to Seiji ‘please, call me teacher,’ and act like a harsh teacher punishing a bad student.”

As Yuuto became an alarming shade of red, Kirin couldn’t help but laugh, glad she had friends she could share that part of her life with.

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