4.3 - A Story About a Married Teacher Who Becomes Obsessed With Her Female Student

Chapter 4: 'Quiet As The Depths of The Earth' - Part Three My resistance towards the situation of frequently visiting a student's house gradually weakened day by day. I was lacking in nourishment. The rationality that should have been the sustenance for my heart had dried up. In its place, the flowers that bloomed were exceedingly beautiful, lush, and so vibrantly colorful that they felt almost dangerous. The flowers blossomed chaotically, binding my heart and filling it entirely. Buried beneath that field of flowers was the corpse of the version of me that existed before meeting Togawa Rin. If only I put in as much enthusiasm into my daily life as I did in these moments, I thought with an incredulous sigh, as I briskly finished my work, eager to leave. My excitement was so great that even my feet couldn't keep up, and at times I felt like I was kicking the air and nearly falling. I must have appeared quite foolish to any observer. I was living life to the fullest before becoming a former teacher. A former teacher who exploited the weaknesses of a student with family issues and started a relationship with her. If this were to be reported, it would probably come off like that. "...Ha, ha." I couldn't deny that part of it. Though there's a ten-year age difference, as a teacher and a high school student, our circumstances... well, given the levels of maturity, it's like an elementary schooler dating a high school student. And engaging in illicit acts. It wasn't something that could be forgiven. While walking, I only thought of such things, not even paying proper attention to traffic lights. Yet, I still managed to arrive safely at Togawa-san's house. Just like with classes, it's like I have something inside me that finishes mundane tasks in my stead. Perhaps I'm reusing the corpse of my past self. Approaching the back of Togawa-san's house, the scent of the trees planted like a wall always greeted me first. It's a scent of wood and earth that might be forgotten while living in the city. Coupled with the setting sun, it evoked a strange sense of nostalgia. Circling around the trees, I knocked on the old back door. By now, I was quite accustomed to all of this. "Togawa-san..." I called out gently to announce who had come. Given our previous exchange, a slight embarrassment welled within me. The door soon opened, and Togawa-san, in her casual home attire, welcomed me with a smile. "Toga—" Before I could finish saying her name, my student embraced me, cutting off my voice. With our size difference, "envelop" would be more appropriate for Togawa-san’s embrace. As if drawn in, I was pulled inside, still wearing my shoes. As the two of us fell sideways, Togawa-san captured my lips. Reflected up close, Togawa Rin's eyes wavered, as if capturing something intensely yearning. Togawa-san's fingers reached out as if to grasp my head and hair in longing. Her fingers traced around my earlobe, making my back shiver. Togawa-san leaned over me as if to push me down, her lips and teeth pressing hard against mine, making it impossible for me to breathe. The faint nostalgia from the scent of the earth and trees was overwritten by this harsh reality. "Wait, Togawa..." The way I continued to say her name made it seem like a continuation from earlier. I managed to push her shoulder a bit to create just enough distance for us to speak. Our tongues hadn’t entwined yet, but both our breaths were irregular. "Sensei...?" Togawa-san’s voice carried a plaintive tone as she was made to wait. Her face was, ah, just as I thought... sticky with lipstick. "Because the lipstick... smears." Dismissing my words, she pressed her lips onto mine again. I couldn't quite get out the words asking for a bit more time to breathe before my mouth was covered once more, ushering in a tingle at my fingertips from oxygen deprivation. But even that tingle felt deceptively pleasant, with Togawa-san’s enticing lips almost making my tongue want to linger and join. Yet our tongues didn't touch, as if deliberately saving it for later. Still, being in close contact with Togawa-san was stimulating enough to heat up my head and neck. No matter how many times we kissed, I never felt bored. All my chaotic thoughts were carried away by the sensation of our lips and the movement of our fingers, as my mind became filled with nothing but her breath. Even after breaking apart from the long kiss, Togawa-san stayed clinging to me, pushing her head into my shoulder with joy. During those gaps between our desires, every cute gesture like this helped maintain just the right pace. Probably. But as she messed up my hair with her rubbing, nuzzling my cheek... "Golden retriever..." "Did you say something?" "No, nothing." I hugged her back, breathing in the air radiating from Togawa-san to the fullest. It wasn't a sweet smell, or a good smell, but the smell of her house, the very essence she wore. This child was in my embrace. Like returning to my nest, it brought a deep calm, an exhilaration... and the sensation of being allive spread its wings. Surely, Togawa-san must have felt the same way. "Welcome back, sensei." "...Yeah." It was a feeling such intense contentment, it could have been the very definition of it in a dictionary. Having been so engrossed that I had forgotten everything else, I finally closed the door that had been left open. With a lazy motion, I extended my foot and hooked the door shut with my toe. My right foot almost cramped a little. "Hey, sensei, do you want to flirt? Or do you maybe prefer something more... naughty?" Togawa-san peered down at me, still straddling me. "I'm fine with either. Let's do what sensei wants." With a seductive smile, she advanced on me. The shadow of her hovering form kissed me once more. After so many times of exchanging kisses, hugging, embracing, and now reversing the excitement, changing the mood to just flirting... Honestly, at this moment, I wanted to embrace her back, roll her over, and love her in return. But still, I struggled against it... "Flirting, maybe." I tried to put on a facade. Choosing what a proper teacher should. Not that a proper teacher would ever choose either. Togawa-san poked my shoulder, then latched onto my arm with an "okay, let's do that." "...First, how about we go wash our faces?" Because of my lipstick, Togawa-san's mouth had turned somewhat clown-like. I had no doubt my face was probably a mess too. When Togawa-san looked closely at my face again, she let out a little "pfft" of laughter. If we're just flirting, even faces like these could be sweet and charming. But if thinking beyond that, it would be best to clean them up. I guess I don't want to end it at just flirting, I thought, touching the bottom of my sea of desires, and bursting into bubbles. After wiping off the lipstick, we returned to the living room. Naturally, our fingers remained entwined the entire time we walked. As if repairing the gaps born from when we're apart, we needed to keep some part of our skin in constant contact when together. Sitting on the sofa, Togawa-san snuggled her shoulder into mine playfully. Having changed from her uniform into her loungewear, her defenseless legs were swinging up and down playfully. "Ah, you're looking at my legs again." "...They were just moving a lot." No matter how much I tried to excuse it as curiosity akin to a cat's, it didn’t hold up at all. Not given everything that had happened until now. Reflecting on what I've done to these beautiful legs of Togawa-san’s. In those times, focused and narrow-minded, with no room for anything else, there was no space for considering how I appeared. Yet in retrospect, I couldn’t help but acknowledge how creepy I was. Though everything else about me was just as creepy. In other words, I had become a completely creepy person. "Sensei, do you really love my legs?" "...Maybe." When I cautiously admitted as much, Togawa-san lifted her legs exaggeratedly towards me. "I'm not looking." I sharply turned my head in the opposite direction. I couldn't just take the bait so easily. "Sensei, thank you for your hard work." "Uh, oh, thank you." Caught off guard by her sudden appreciation, I turned to look. Togawa-san's legs were right in front of me, gliding provocatively across my view. The dazzling limbs, slender and elegantly extending, seemed to offer a comforting coolness even without touching them. Not that I should be evaluating them. After teasing me enough, her legs withdrew. "Come on, sensei, let's deepen our flirting." Togawa-san leaned in, closing the distance with intimate closeness. It was far from the distance appropriate between teacher and student, and even surpassed any notion of a closeness between husband and wife that I knew. This was the proximity where love blooms. The kind that made me want to breathe in the scent behind her hair. But for today, at least for now, it was meant to be just flirting.