Paying an Old Visit
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Kayano's POV
"Bye Kayano, we'll see you soon!" Kanzaki was holding my hand as she and Okuda were about to leave.
"Yeah, I know. Take care, okay?" I smiled at her to reassure her from being worried about me.
"You do the same thing too." Kanzaki returned a smile as Okuda came out running from the stairs to get Kanzaki.
Okuda stopped halfway and said, "Kanzaki, hurry up! I already got us a cab!"
"Coming!" Kanzaki responded and glanced back at me with a smile before letting go of my hand and walked towards the elevator past Okuda.
"Kayano! See you later!" Okuda shouted one last time before joining Kanzaki inside the elevator, and waved her hand at me as the door closed.
My smile was soon replaced by a lonely curve and began to stare at something in front of me. I really wanted them to stay, but the timing wasn't just perfect. If only I'd say the thing about having a day off the day before yesterday, we could've spent a lot of time together. Oh stupid me.
*RIIIIIINGG!!*
All of a sudden, my telephone rang inside my room, snapping me out from spacing out and thanked that for distracting me from worrying even more.
I closed the door and went back inside to answer the phone. Who could it be?
"Hello?" I said as soon as I picked up the electrical device on my study table and placed it close to my ear. After saying something on the phone, a male voice spoke out, saying...
"Hey Kaede, morning..."
> Time Skip
I was walking on the sideways of a road with a disguise that leads me to my former junior high school that I attended 7 years ago. Wondering why I'm going there? I wanna know how my old classroom is doing, and the best chance to do it is to ask the principal of Kunugigaoka first. Of course, I already knew who became the principal lately, so there would be no problem at all.
Once I reached the school gates, students were still going in inside the campus. Different kinds of people were within my field of view. But then, along with the crowd, I spotted a familiar girl with a long pink hair. I didn't hesitate to approach her.
"Hey, Sakura." I called out to her.
When the girl heard me, she immediately turned around to look at me. She was confused at first, but not until I revealed my disguise to her and told her that I knew her because of Nagisa, the one who was responsible of tutoring her when we were still in high school.
"Miss...Kaede?" Sakura finally remembered my name and her lips was slowly forming a cheerful smile, since this was our first time seeing each other since then.
"How you doing, Sakura?" I humbly asked her.
"Doing great, Miss Kaede! Wow, I haven't seen you for a couple of years! I'm surprised to see you here!" Sakura and I were having a small conversation, until she mentioned about how Nagisa was doing.
"Well, he's what he is now." I gladly replied to her.
"No way! A teacher? Woah, I knew it!" Sakura excitedly exclaimed when she knew that her former tutor became a real teacher, actually teaching students rather than only her.
Sakura and I were having a good time talking to each other, until the school bell rang, denouncing that the morning classes are about to start. To make sure she wouldn't be late for it, Sakura went off and waved goodbye. But while she was heading to the school building, she said that it was nice that we saw each other again. I was also happy when we met back here. No doubt it's really been a long time.
Sakura's tall now, and not to mention, she has a really nice curve for a girl...and an average chest. Well, I have to be honest I was little bit jealous, because just now I remembered being nicknamed, "Forever Flat" a long time ago, which really made me twitch my eyebrows, watching Sakura's chest.
"My, it's a surprise to see you here, Miss Kaede." Suddenly, I heard a voice coming from behind me.
"Or should I call you, Miss Haruna Masé." The moment I turned around to see who it was, he suddenly called me by my stage name. It was Asano, the current principal of Kunugigaoka.
"I thought I told you not to call me by that name when we're in public." I sighed and looked a little bit upset at him.
"My apologies, then." He apologized at me in such a formal way. "Anyway, what brings you here?" He asked right away after apologizing.
"Well, I was hoping to meet you so that I can ask you about class 3E. Is everything going okay for that class?" I jumped immediately to the point.
Asano didn't say anything for awhile as he looked at me like there was something wrong. Then he said, "Why don't you come by at my office for some tea? Let's discuss things in there."
I didn't get where he was going, but I know he'll tell me everything if I follow him. So with that, I followed him in the school and into his office. When I got there, I realized it was still the same place as before, such huge space, and flashy glass panes—although a bit intimidating. This place hasn't changed a bit.
"Please, take a seat." The room was a little dark, but I could see Asano offering a seat in front of the desk he will be sitting in. I went over and sat down, but I still insisted on knowing about my classroom's condition.
"Okay, what's going on then? Is there something wrong about class 3E?" I jumped straight into the point again since I didn't need to waste more time. I didn't even accept the tea he just offered to me.
"Before I tell you, I need you to calm down first." Asano knew that I was in a hurry, like I was demanding to know. But thankfully, I managed to cool off after the time he said it.
He made a sigh and then started to explain everything about what I want to know. He told me that our old building was going under renovations by a different school so they can use it for their sake. I was shocked at first, but then, Asano reassured me by telling me everything was under control.
"I sent over someone to take care of the job." He said.
He explained the reason why it was under surveillance from other schools. The classroom was uninhabited since 2 years ago, and so, Asano told me he requested that certain someone to run any school-related activities in my old classroom. This someone was starting to bug me the second time I heard it, so I asked him who this was.
"Why don't you see him for yourself, then?" He didn't tell me about it but it only made me very curious. I finally made the decision to go up there and see everything for myself.
Normal POV
As Kayano was walking up through the stairs that leads her to their old classroom's location, she was wondering who should she encounter when she reaches her destination. But according to Asano, it was someone she knew, and that only made her think suspiciously.
With her curiosity boiling up, she hastily walked until it looked like she was already running. Upon getting at the top, she stopped for awhile to catch her breath and calm down for a bit.
Unfortunately, as she raised her head back up expecting to see her precious classroom to look just as they left it a year ago, it wasn't the sight she remembered the last time she visited this place. Just like what Asano had just told her, the place was undergoing renovations.
The pathway was now paved with concrete bricks. Streetlamps aligned at each side of the path, several minor constructions of new buildings around the place, she was starting to hate it. She thought to herself, "This isn't the class 3E that I love."
It was true that renovating the place would somehow change the scenery. Though the problem lies of the school responsible of doing so. Asano also explained to Kayano about Kunugigaoka having low on teachers, so they couldn't do anything about class 3E's condition. They said it was too good, like it was special or something, so none of the present teachers volunteered to be the adviser of such class.
Kayano, while pondering into deep thoughts, started to walk slowly through everything she started to worry about. She pictures her classmates spending time together around her, only to disappear and be replaced by reality.
She wore a sad expression on her face and was starting to feel terrible. After glancing at every side of the place, Kayano made it to the classroom, and she was now standing before the door.
She took a deep breath in and was about to open the doorknob, but not until somebody opened it from the inside. After the door swung open, Kayano flinched when she knew who it was. Their eyes met each other for a thousand times yet today was for the first in a few years. She was lost staring at his daring blue eyes.
Though that moment was literally awkward for the two of them, they stared at each other for a few seconds, leaving their mouths open and their eyes slowly widening.
"!!?"
"!??"
Once they finally managed to gather their composure to assess their situation, they broke out from staring at each other and shout each other's names unison.
"KAYANO!?"
"NAGISA!?"
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End of Chapter 20