"Will you go on a date with me this Sunday?" I asked.
My face is probably blushing. I bit my lip as I patiently waited for her answer. She stayed quiet and averted her gaze from me. Seconds passed by, and those seconds felt like an hour. I'm probably exaggerating, but that's just how I felt. Every second the clock ticks down, I feel like I did something that I shouldn't have done. I asked a question that had a clear answer.
"Hey," I muttered.
She turned her head and looked into my eyes. The eyes behind her glasses are green like an emerald. It's beautiful; it's one of the things that I would like to put in my treasure box and hide forever. Somewhere that no one will reach. I want to be the only one who sees these beautiful emerald eyes.
"If you call me 'sensei' from now on, then I'll agree to your request," said the pink-haired woman.
"Um..." I muttered.
I find her order troubling. I'm not calling her 'sensei' because I don't want to. I'm not recognizing her as my teacher because she never taught me something that I didn't know. Once I thought of that, the lecture earlier suddenly flashed back into my mind.
"Having two cowlicks or whorls in the head is considered stubborn in the Philippines."
Hm, I guess she taught me something I didn't know earlier.
"You never called me sensei ever since the first day. When you call me, it's always 'hey.' Even during lectures. It's rather distracting for me, you know," said the pink-haired woman.
She has an angry expression on her face, and somehow I find it relaxing. She doesn't get mad in class, but when she's with me, she's always irritated. I'm still holding her arm right now, so I took advantage of it.
I pulled her and pinned her down to the bed where I was lying earlier. I'm on top of her, and she's at the bottom. Our faces locked into each other, and our gap was just an inch. The sound of our breathing can be heard loudly and clearly. You can tell that both of us are nervous, with a hint of embarrassment. I gazed deeply into her eyes, and she also gazed into mine. I slowly placed my lip in her ear and whispered.
"Relationship between a student and teacher is not allowed. That's why I don't recognize myself as your student and I don't recognize you as my teacher. You get what I mean?"
"Mhm!"
She let out a soft moan once I finished my words. I moved my head from her ear and looked into her eyes once again. She's wide-open. My arm is pinned to hers, and her body is wide open. Her face is blushing, and I can tell she's nervous.
I planned to stop once she resisted, but she's not showing any signs of it. It's weird; does she like it when I'm pinning her down like this? I intended to just tease her at first, but my body is now starting to feel hot. So I lightly pulled my necktie to lightly open up my uniform.
The pink-haired woman turned her head away and closed her eyes. Acting as if she's waiting for me to make a move. I let go of her arms and got out of bed. I placed my hand in my head, regretting the actions that I had just taken.
"I'm sorry, I took it too far," I said.
The pink-haired woman sat on the bed and placed her hand on her chest. Her suit is lightly messed up, probably because of me pinning her down in bed.
"You want me to call you 'sensei', right? If that's the case, I can—"
"Don't."
Before I got to finish my sentence, she interrupted me with just a word.
"Relationship between a teacher and a student isn't allowed. So let's just treat each other as friends. For the meantime," she said.
For the meantime,
For the meantime,
For the meantime,
The last sentence she said echoed inside my mind. Every single word of it rang into my brain like it's a broken radio. For. The. Meantime.
"If you say it like that, I'm going to expect something. Don't give me a lead if it's something I can't chase," I said.
She rolled her eyes downward and poked the cushion with her finger. She's spinning her finger around the bed as she slowly replies to me with a soft voice.
"That date you asked for can become the reward that I promised. Does that work?" she asked.
"It's a date, then," I said.
We smiled at each other and fixed our clothes. The two of us went to our classroom as a student for me and as a teacher for her. Acting as if nothing happened to us, we continued the day like we usually do. When I got back, Tanaka looked at me and talked.
"You sleep throughout the whole morning lessons. Lucky you," said Tanaka.
"Yes, I'm lucky indeed," I said while hiding the double meaning in my words.
"Show off," said Tanaka.
The sound of the door opening was heard around the room. The pink-haired—no, Mei Shimizu—stepped into the class and greeted everyone.
"Good afternoon, everyone. Sorry I'm late," Mei Shimizu said.
The class teased her for being late, and she just laughed it off. Mei Shimizu and I suddenly made eye contact, and she covered her face with the teacher's book while looking away. It looks like she's still embarrassed from what I did earlier. Suddenly, a memory from earlier suddenly flashed back into my mind.
"A relationship between a student and teacher is not allowed. That's why I don't recognize myself as your student, and I don't recognize you as my teacher. You get what I mean?"
It's the word I said earlier! I placed my head on my table and curled it into my arms. I'm covering myself and trying not to scream due to the embarrassment I'm currently feeling right now! Why did I do that?! That's embarrassing! I want to disappear!
"Hey dude, are you alright?" asked Tanaka.
I quickly fixed my sitting posture and looked straight at the chalkboard.
"I'm good," I said.
And so, the continuation of the lecture has begun. Mei Shimizu taught the class like nothing had happened earlier. My classmates are also energetic without knowing that something between me and Mei Shimizu is starting to develop. It's disturbing because it seems I'm the only one who's bothered by this. It's embarrassing!
.
.
.
Sunday arrived. Mei Shimizu and I exchanged contacts, and we planned our date for today. We planned to meet up at one o'clock at the clock in the park. I arrived 5 minutes earlier and saw her waiting at our meet-up place.
She's wearing a dark blue blazer with a white dress inside. She's charming. I walked towards her and closed the distance between us. She's wearing a floppy hat, so I didn't actually see her face.
"Shimizu," I said.
I called out to her, and she slowly turned her head in my direction. She's wearing glasses, and her eyes are green, the same as an emerald. However, her hair is blue... Similar to the hair of... Ai Shimizu. Don't tell me. Oh, come on!
"Ahaha, I love that impression," she laughed.
I suddenly realized my mouth was widely open from shock, and I immediately closed it. I scratched my head and asked her the question.
"Who are you? Ai or Mei?" I asked.
"It's me, Mei," said Shimizu.
"What's with the hair?" I asked.
It's amazing. Her personality is completely different from Ai's, but her face is identical. If she says that she's Ai, I'll definitely believe her. Twins are awesome.
"I don't want my students, slash your classmates, to accidentally spot us. So I asked Ai if I could borrow her identity for a moment. Hehe," she laughed.
"Uh huh," I muttered.
"Let's go!" she said.
She grabbed my arm, and our date has officially begun. Although I can't see her usual shining pink hair, she's still the same person she is inside.
I'll do my best to make this date a success.