A Book Can't Be Judged By The Cover Chapter 78: Confession

’What’s going on?!’ Haji mildly panicked as he tried to remove Akamine-sensei’s arms around his neck. What he got in return though was a tight squeeze that discouraged him from attempting an escape.

Grunting, Haji conceded, letting Akamine-sensei take the lead as the two of them walked towards the convenience store which was only a minute or two walk away from Haji’s residence.

"So, how was it? My surprise, I an." Akamine-sensei’s lips curved upward as she subtly pointed behind her.

That’s right, she and Haji actually knew from the start that gumi and the others were following them.

"I don’t... is this payback for what happened three days ago?" Haji sighed, his shoulders drooping as Akamine-sensei gave his neck another squeeze.

"Payback? What do you an payback?" Akamine-sensei asked, pretending to be clueless as her face softened. With a slight hesitation, she finally reluctantly let go of Haji’s neck, matching her pace with him while putting her arms back. She was basically hinting that Haji was free to go. If he wanted to run away and get out of her sight, he was free to do so. Nothing was stopping him anymore.

Of course, Akamine-sensei knew that he wouldn’t do such a thing. After all, he owes her a favor—

— a favor from three days ago.

"So you were the one who sent the three of them to disturb ?" Haji was socially exhausted, but it’s not like he disliked the company of everyone. For the first ti, he actually experienced what company felt like, and the dinner over that is the icing on the cake. In the end, Haji couldn’t help but smile.

For once, his house actually felt like ho. It was exhausting, yes, but it felt like ho.

"Disturb you? No," Akamine-sensei chuckled. "Then again, I didn’t expect the three of them to co at the sa ti. It’s a pretty nice coincidence, to say the least."

"And sohow, you seem to be enjoying every bit of it," Haji comnted.

...

When they arrived at the convenience store, Akamine-sensei stopped walking, gesturing towards Haji that the two of them should look back. "Let’s see how they’ll react."

It sounded like fun so Haji went with the idea. After standing in front of the convenience store for a couple of seconds, the two of them looked back, which prompted gumi and the others to steer clear from their line of sight.

Without a second thought, gumi impulsively hid behind one of the electric posts nearby while Franz just stood there in the middle of the sidewalk, staring at gumi as if she was so kind of idiot.

"Franz-san?! What are you doing? You should hide with !" gumi hissed, waving her hand back and forth at Franz in a panic.

"I thought we were going to follo— ehrmm," Franz didn’t bother arguing with the young miss. Even though Haji and Akamine-sensei already saw him, bright as day, he still hid just as gumi instructed him to.

As for Fuuka and Natsumi, they were both more careful and sneakier than gumi. Cautiously, they were slinking by the underbrush on the side of the road. When Akamine-sensei and Haji turned around, all they needed to do was duck and they were out of sight.

It took every cell in Akamine-sensei’s body for her to suppress her laugh. Haji had an indifferent reaction though since he was exhausted for the day. Adding to that, his ribs still hurt so he couldn’t really laugh that hard even if he wanted to.

Slide.

Clink.

Clink.

The cold gust of air conditioning blasted right at Haji’s face, giving him a slight burst of energy and causing him to sneeze.

"Welco," The convenience store worker greeted in a routine manner as he continued arranging the items on the shelf.

"Is there anything you want to buy aside from ice cream, Haji? My treat," Akamine-sensei offered, grabbing Haji by the hand as she shivered in the cold. She didn’t expect the convenience store to be this cold at night, probably because she always wore her tracksuit every ti she went here.

Now that she thought about it, this was the first ti she entered the convenience store while wearing her teacher uniform.

Haji, in response, shook his head and offered his hoodie to his sensei. "I’ve troubled you enough, sensei, but thanks for the offer." He continued.

Through the window, gumi and the others watched Akamine-sensei and Haji talking to each other. They couldn’t bring themselves to go inside the convenience store even though their cover was already blown. It was just too embarrassing for them. Hence they resorted to watching through the window.

...

At that mont, Haji handed Akamine-sensei his hoodie, Fuuka started biting her nails in frustration. She wasn’t the only one with a violent reaction, however. Natsumi and gumi were ready to throw so punches as well— not because they were jealous, but because Haji was getting too familiar with their teacher.

"Grr... this is not fair, big sis," Fuuka grumbled.

Muttering a soft thank you, Akamine-sensei graciously accepted Haji’s hoodie and snugly wore it. It was a tad oversized which made her look a lot smaller but she wasn’t complaining.

At the very least, she wasn’t cold anymore.

"So, what happened after that? And why didn’t you call your parents?"

"I uh... sigh~" Haji sighed. Akamine-sensei did ask the right question but Haji was afraid if he could answer it or not. But then again, it’s not like a handful of people doesn’t already know about it.

"What happened to you, Haji... it’s dangerous. You know that. If I weren’t there..." Akamine-sensei trailed off before she heaved a sigh with him. "Look, at least let your parents know what you’re going through. I’m sure they’ll hear you out. At the very least they’ll accompany you in your place. These parts of town are dangerous, you know, they should be aware of that."

"Actually— "

"Mm?" Akamine-sensei wondered why Haji’s voice cracked.

"Actually they’re dead, sensei." He continued as his eyes began to water.

.....

anwhile, right outside the convenience store,

"Um, question. Did the two of you lock the door?" gumi asked out of the blue.

"Yeah," Fuuka confidently answered.

"And did you bring the keys with you?"

The two of them shook their head. "Didn’t Haji bring the keys with him?"

"What? No, he didn’t!" gumi lightly exclaid.

"..."

"..."

"WHAT?!" Fuuka and Natsumi simultaneously scread in response after they stared at each other.