A Book Can't Be Judged By The Cover Chapter 57: Heading Home

On their way back, Akamine-sensei insisted that she take Haji ho, however, Haji countered that offer, telling her that he should be the one doing the drop-offs instead of her. The denial caused Akamine-sensei to return the offer which Haji countered yet again, and the exchange continued until Akamine-sensei gave up. Now that he was on it, Haji also offered to carry the ’groceries’ she bought, reasoning out that it’s the least he could do in exchange for the cupped noodles. She obliged.

"Are you all right?"

"What’s with the condescending question um, sensei?" Haji forced a chuckle as he slowed down his pace, matching it with sensei.

"You’ve been missing out on all your morning classes, that’s why I asked," Akamine-sensei said in a slightly raised tone.

"Urk~" Haji muttered to himself, not daring to say another word. Akamine-sensei found his weak spot, and he could tell that she was willing to utilize it. There was nothing he could do but keep silent unless he wanted to be reminded about the possibility of him repeating a year.

"You’re a good kid, Haji, but you’re not doing sothing about that reputation of yours." A sigh followed Akamine-sensei’s comnt. "And also, you should reserve so ti for your morning classes, at least attend twice a week or sothing so I could put sothing on record. Otherwise, you’d just have to accept repeating a year."

Haji could tell that Akamine-sensei was extending her leniency even though she didn’t have to do so. It’s not like she was biased on Haji alone, she just saw it as a waste that he’d repeat a year when he could’ve done sothing about it. Her concern for Haji was her acting out her part as his horoom teacher. As much as possible, he wanted everyone to finish high school. This was the last year for them after all, and it would be a waste if a number of them didn’t graduate.

That’s why Akamine-sensei wanted to do all she could, even going the extra mile so all her students would graduate. She dreaded the thought of one of them getting left behind by their peers because that’s what she experienced in the past. Now that she could do sothing about it, she wanted to at least make them feel that she won’t give up on any of them, especially when everybody else supposedly already did.

"I... I can’t," Haji’s shoulders drooped as he responded downheartedly. He couldn’t afford to miss a day in his construction work, not because it was a no-work-no-pay job, but because he had to do it in order to cover the monthly expenses. If he missed even a single day, he’d have to work even harder the next month in order to compensate for the previous month. he couldn’t afford to do that, not when there was a life on the line.

"So... I see," Akamine sensei muttered. "May I ask the reason why?"

Who knows how many tis Akamine-sensei had asked Haji about this. And every single ti, he’d either keep quiet, divert the question, or just pretend that Akamine-sensei didn’t ask the question at all. This ti, however, he decided to tell her the partial truth. "I... it’s nothing special, sensei, just got a lot of things in my head."

"You sure?"

"Sure, absolutely sure."

Clearing his throat, Haji increased his pace a tad bit, just so he could shorten the ti of their conversation. It was only a few seconds but he didn’t the topic to drag on. He feared that Akamine-sensei might find out about his secret. No way he’s going to let that happen, not if he could help it.

By the end of the street, an apartnt was located. It had the cliche appearance of your usual two-story building, and it was surprisingly clean despite the conspicuous fact that the apartnt had been around for more than a decade. To anyone passing by, Akamine-sense would’ve looked like your usual high school student heading ho from school, all thanks to the tracksuit she wore. Now she just hoped that no one would see her before she could get to her apartnt door. If the neighbors were to see her though, they would imdiately assu that she was bringing her lover ho since they knew that she lived there alone. That didn’t even occur in her mind though and she continued to let Haji take her ho despite the risks and the misunderstandings that would follow.

"I live on the second floor," Akamine-sensei inford Haji even though he wasn’t interested to know.

Regardless of what he thought, Haji just nodded. "Do you live alone, sensei?"

"Yeah, why?" She casually responded, not even realizing where Haji was going with the question.

"Then... wouldn’t this like... look bad on your end?" Haji brought the topic up. "I’ll just head on my way,"

"No, please, you’ve co this far. The least I could do was give you so water or sothing before you leave." Akamine-sensei’s hospitable attitude got in the way of her critical thinking.

"This is more than enough, sensei," Haji answered, pointing at the plastic he was holding which was filled with cupped noodles. "Your neighbors might think of sothing else if I were to drop by in front of your apartnt."

"I guess you’re right," Akamine-sensei finally realized what Haji was getting at. She lightly berated herself, wondering why she didn’t think about that at all when it was so obvious from a third-person perspective. She shook her head, glad that she narrowly avoided a bunch of misunderstandings that were sure to follow if soone were to see her with a guy. And furthermore, she was even wearing a high schooler tracksuit. As a respectable mber of society, it would be bad in more ways than one if soone else were to see her.

"Thank you for the cupped noodles, sensei," Haji said in a relaxed tone, slightly bowing before Akamine-sensei before he turned around towards the direction of his place.

"I should be the one thanking you," Akamine-sensei said back, pointing at the cans of beer she was able to buy thanks to Haji’s assistance. "See you tomorrow, make sure you show up in your morning classes."

Haji swallowed his saliva and no words ca out of his mouth. He wasn’t going to make a promise he won’t be able to keep, no matter how small that promise is.