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 hurried strides felt cumbersome, rushing forward with such eagerness that they sometimes nearly tripped me, as if kicking at the air. 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 formed relationships by exploiting the weaknesses of students with family issues. If reported, it would probably come off like that. "...Ha, ha." Even that one part of it, I couldn't deny. 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 having a romance with 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. It's like with the classes; perhaps 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 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 interactions, 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, she, 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. So close was her gaze that it seemed to capture something intensely yearning. Togawa-san's fingers reached out as if to grasp my head and hair in longing. Her fingers squirmed around my earlobe, making my back shiver. Pressed down by her lips and teeth, I couldn’t breathe. The faint nostalgia from the scent of the earth and trees was overwritten by this dense 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 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 touching tongues seemed to be left for later, as just being close with her provided ample stimulation, heating up my head and neck. No matter how many times we kissed, a feeling of monotony never arose. All those 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 breaks between desires, every cute gesture like this helped maintain just the right tempo. Probably. But as she messed up my hair with her rubbing, staying attached like a big dog's nuzzle... "Golden retriever..." "Did you say something?" "No, nothing." I hugged her back, taking 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 some kind of 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 home, sensei." "...Yeah." It was a feeling so utterly complete, it could have been the very definition of it in a dictionary. Having forgotten everything and being so entranced, 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... intimate?" Togawa-san peered down at me, still straddling me. "I'm fine with either. Let's do what sensei wants." With a teasing 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 that 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 charmingly laughable. But if thinking beyond that, it would be best to clean them up. I realized I wouldn't stop at just flirting, reaching the bottom of a sea of desires, and dissolved into bubbles. After removing the lipstick, I returned to the living room. Through all the transitions, our fingers remained entwined. As if repairing the spaces born from our separation, 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. Her legs, free from the constraints of her uniform and decked in relaxed loungewear, swung playfully. "Ah, you're looking at my legs again." "...They were just moving a lot." Though it was a flimsy excuse about curiosity akin to a cat's, it didn’t hold up at all. Not given everything 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 unsettling. In truth, I had become a completely unsettling 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, graceful and elegantly extending, seemed to offer a comforting coolness even from a distance—not that I should be assessing them so. After sufficiently teasing me, 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 marital closeness 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.