Chapter 15: Uwaaaa waaaa waaaa...
Chishima Akishin walked down the street with a cigarette dangling from his lips. Before him lay a world of pitch-black darkness, with only the occasional flicker of a streetlight acting as a signpost—resembling a lonely guide leading the way to the underworld.
No one walked beside him. A mind that had already experienced death twice didn't exactly crave a traveling companion, and yet... a faint sense of loneliness lingered nonetheless.
At that same moment, inside Hiratsuka Shizuka's small villa, the woman in question set down her glass. Her face was flushed a deep crimson and her gaze was hazy; she was clearly far past the point of sobriety.
However, true to her habit of drinking out of the house, she maintained a final shred of consciousness—or perhaps it was better described as a lingering survival instinct.
On the table before her sat a few remaining slices of seasoned beef she had brought back from Akishin's place, along with a small plate of complimentary peanuts. Several cigarette butts occupied the ashtray at the table's edge, one of them still releasing a thin, lazy trail of smoke.
On the sofa behind her, several hot-blooded shonen manga volumes lay scattered about.
"Dammit... Mom keeps nagging me. There isn't a single decent man interested in me anyway~ What am I supposed to do? I'm only twenty-eight, I've still got two years left... until thirty~"
Thud!
A heavy fist slammed onto the table, causing the plate of peanuts to jump. Her flushed face was a mask of anger, though a hint of hidden sorrow flickered beneath the surface.
"All the good men in this world are dead..."
Her mouth claimed she couldn't find a suitable partner, yet every time she went on a blind date, she instinctively found ways to terrify the other party into fleeing. She never hid her "flaws": the smoking, the drinking, the blunt language, and the physical aggression.
Deep down, Shizuka knew she was incredibly wary of strangers. Among the men she had met through those dates, many were quite impressive—and considering she wasn't bad-looking herself, coupled with her family background...
But the core issue remained: she was hyper-vigilant, bordering on fearful, toward those she didn't know. That was why she avoided contact and simply wanted to push them away.
It was a kind of sickness—a psychological one.
As a guidance counselor, Shizuka understood this all too well. She was an expert at comforting students, yet she couldn't offer the same solace to herself. Precisely because she understood too much—the physician could not heal herself.
Years ago, Shizuka also had fantasies of love. She had given her heart sincerely to a man, only for him to leave with a look of pure disgust, even going so far as to sell every piece of furniture in her small home...
Can you imagine it?
Coming home exhausted from work, only to find your house completely hollowed out. That fatigue, that doubt, and the subsequent death of emotion—it was enough to tear a person's life to shreds.
Since then, Shizuka had turned to cigarettes and alcohol to relax her mind enough to sleep at night.
Since then, she had become wary of strangers and tried to treat her own condition. The result? She became even better at counseling others, while remaining utterly helpless regarding her own heart.
Seven or eight years had passed in the blink of an eye. Shizuka remained the optimistic, cheerful, and beautiful Hiratsuka-sensei, but that man was never seen again. He had likely ended up at the bottom of Tokyo Bay.
She hadn't done it, of course—more likely her parents had. Regardless, she didn't care; that man no longer had anything to do with her.
"Shit, I remembered something unpleasant again."
Shizuka grabbed the bottle and poured herself another glass, draining it in a single gulp. Even though it was just ordinary sake, she had already polished off five bottles.
The spicy burn of the alcohol spread through her mouth, blurring her frustrations. She reached for a cigarette but then remembered Akishin at the hospital saying that smoking wasn't good for her. Her hand paused mid-air.
"Speaking of which, what is Chishima Akishin even doing right now?"
Checking the time, it was nearly midnight. He might still have the shop open. She also wondered if Hikigaya had stayed behind to help him or not.
"Honestly, if you're a teacher, don't open a shop! Where do you even find the time? It's just asking for misery. After work, you should just lie down quietly at home and play!"
Shizuka massaged her forehead in frustration, then recalled the scene from earlier that day when Akishin had brought back piles of paperwork in front of the other teachers.
She tossed the cigarette toward the sofa behind her, then used her chopsticks to pop a piece of beef into her mouth.
That Chishima Akishin was different. Shizuka was certain that, surprisingly, she didn't feel any aversion to being around him.
Maybe it was because they had interacted for a week at the hospital, maybe it was because his cooking was so good, or maybe because their first meeting had been a bit too memorable...
In a sense, Shizuka felt Chishima Akishin was more unfortunate than she was. He hid far more in his heart than she did.
Beneath that mask-like expression that appeared so genuine, countless things lay buried.
He was like a bottomless abyss.
That was Shizuka's biggest impression of Akishin, yet she didn't mind being his friend because Akishin didn't seem to mind either.
Why was he sitting out there during that heavy rain? Why did he talk about death with such chilling calmness?
Things that should be heavy and difficult to discuss were treated as simply as talking about what to have for dinner...
Was that really just a P.E. teacher?
Shizuka didn't know and didn't want to dig too deep, as Akishin didn't seem to harbor any ill will.
Adults understood much more than high schoolers, and were far more rational. But that didn't mean their minds weren't a mess!
On the contrary, their thoughts were more complex and weighed down by far more baggage than any student's. They had to maintain appearances on all fronts. The "calmness" and "gentleness" seen on the surface were usually just the result of forced rationality.
In a corner where no one could see, after getting drunk, they would sob uncontrollably to vent the emotions trapped in their hearts. No one knew, and they preferred it that way. The next day, they would return to life with the exact same smile as the day before.
In the eyes of others, they lived well, smiled every day, and worked consistently.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Her phone rang. Shizuka knitted her brows, a flash of annoyance crossing her hazy eyes. She checked the caller; it wasn't her parents, but an unknown number. She picked up.
"Hello! Who is this? Don't you sleep at this time of night!?"
"...Hmm! Hiratsuka-sensei, it's me, Chishima Akishin."
Under a streetlight, Akishin was smoking. He double-checked the contact info; he hadn't dialed the wrong number. This was indeed Hiratsuka Shizuka.
"Ah? Oh! It's Chishima-sensei. What business do you have this late?"
Shizuka's hazy eyes cleared up just a fraction.
"That... well, it's nothing, really. I just wanted to let Hiratsuka-sensei know that Hikigaya-kun stayed at my place until ten, and I just finished walking him home."
Could he really tell her that he, Chishima Akishin, just felt lonely and had subconsciously pulled out his phone to call her?
Hehe, what a joke. Of course he couldn't say that.
"Ah! Oh! Okay, I got it."
Shizuka, much like Akishin, spoke with slurred, slightly incoherent words.
Akishin immediately noticed something was off with her voice.
"Hiratsuka-sensei, are you drinking?"
"...Ah! Yeah."
When it came to this topic, Shizuka showed a rare hint of hesitation.
"Where?"
Akishin noticed a certain urgency in his own voice, but he didn't try to dial it back.
"...At home."
Akishin felt a wave of relief.
"Hiratsuka-sensei, are you drinking alone?"
Hearing that question, Shizuka looked around at her lonely self and her messy room. Reminded of her mother's harsh words from earlier, she suddenly snapped. Fueled by the alcohol, she let her emotions pour out:
"Cut the crap! If I don't drink alone, who am I supposed to drink with? I don't have friends, I don't have girl besties, and I definitely don't have a guy... Uwaaaa waaaa waaaa! Chishima, did you specifically come here to mock me? You jerk, drop dead already! Uwaaaa waaaa waaaa!"
Because she had suppressed her feelings for so long, the alcohol finally stripped away her rationality. It wasn't Akishin's fault, but on this lonely night where she could only drink by herself, Akishin's "alone?" question really pulled the trigger. She sobbed loudly into the phone, right in front of the man she now considered a friend.
"Uwaaaa waaaa waaaa..."
The sound of loud wailing blared through the phone. Akishin held the device away from his ear, staring at it with a look of pure confusion.
Did he say something that terrible?
Why was Shizuka crying so heartbreakingly?
The last time Akishin had heard a cry this sorrowful was in his previous life, when a friend's father had passed away.
"Hiratsuka-sensei, Hiratsuka-sensei, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"
Regardless of the reason, Akishin began to panic. In this world, Shizuka was the most important person to him.
"Chishima Akishin, you jerk, you're baiting me! I hope you have a miserable end! Get over here and drink with me..."
Akishin: "..."
Should he go? Or go? Or... go?
After some very deep consideration, Akishin decided—he was going!
"Hiratsuka-sensei, what's your address? Hello? Hello? Hiratsuka-sensei, where do you live? Answer me! Did she pass out already..."
...
At two in the morning, Akishin stood in front of a small villa and knocked on the door for a full ten minutes.
Since he hadn't gotten the address from Shizuka, he had called Hachiman to get it from him instead.
Finally, the door swung open. Behind it stood Shizuka, her face tear-stained and her body reeking of alcohol.
"Stop knocking already! Don't people sleep at this hour? You jerk, drop dead!"
Shizuka swung a fist toward Akishin. He reached out and caught the blow with ease. His eyes flickered with a hint of surprise; he hadn't expected Shizuka to actually have some martial arts training.
"Hiratsuka-sensei, it's me, Chishima Akishin. I came to keep you company..."
Before Akishin could finish, Shizuka's body suddenly collapsed forward into his arms!
This time, she was truly wasted. Combined with the intense crying earlier, her mental state was completely exhausted. Leaning into Akishin's chest, she fell fast asleep instantly.
The moon finally emerged from behind the clouds. Its pale white light shone down on the man standing in the doorway, and on the beautiful face of the woman cradled in his arms...
The man felt a bit lost on what to do next.
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