"Would you like to visit her with me after school?"

Gojima just stared at Sawashiro for a few seconds. Then he slowly opened his mouth.

"I'd... love to go, but..."

"But?" Sawashiro tilted her head again, which caused her ponytail to start swinging again. Or was it a swarm of tentacles?

Gojima rubbed his eyes. Nope, nothing. Must have been his imagination.

"Gojima sensei, are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Its just...m-my eyesight has been getting poorer lately."

"Really? Then you should see a professional and get some glasses as soon as possible."

"Ahahaha..." Gojima could only laugh awkwardly. It was a little weird for Ubs to remain silent. Usually he would try to tease him whenever he talked with some pretty woman, or he would call him out for making a lame excuse about his eyesight, claiming that he would always have a healthy body and never suffer from poor eyesight.

...wait, are his eyes also included in the healthy package? It was an effect of aging, right? He did not exactly become immortal, right? Something to ponder about for later.

"Uh, Sawashiro sensei. Shouldn't her homeroom teacher be the one to visit her? I am not sure I am the right one for this."

"Oh, you'll do just fine," she smilingly replied, "I think she would be glad to see you as well. You do radiate a 'everything is going to be all right' kind of aura after all." Gojima could only raise an eyebrow at her grin.

"Really now? How flattering. So, are we going there after school?"

"Yep! See you later then!"
"Okay."

 

---

 

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Sayuri flinched as her friend Misaki stood up after loudly slapping the table with both of her hands.

"M-Misaki, calm down—"

"HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND! HOW COULD YOU—" Misaki looked around to see other staring at her dumbfoundedly. It was not wise to cause such commotion inside a public place like a restaurant. But she was extremely mad!

She knew that her friend was kind of naive and a bit too trusty of others. But to actually give away all that money to a trash like that? Seriously? And now she was sitting there, like a little apologetic girl who accidentally dropped a vase or something. She folded her arms and glared at Sayuri; her properly done hair bun, rectangular glasses and business attire making her appear even more intimidating to the other party.

"H-He said that he had to establish his business so he could finally focus on having children..."

"And you melted completely after hearing that?" Misaki sighed. This Satoshi bastard was good at manipulating her friend. He knew exactly where to hit.

"You know, Sayuri, maybe you should stop spending that much time with the neighborhood kids. They are making you desire having kids of your own. Which is not exactly a bad thing, but in your case, you bastard of a husband used that weakness to exploit you."

"H-He is not—"

"I bet he is squandering all of it behind some other girl."

"He's not like that!"

"How can you be so sure?"

"How can you be so sure?!"

"Cause I have seen too many of their kind. In my early days I have had a few boyfriends who mooched off me like that. I wisened up eventually, but it did cost me quite a lot."

"...Still..."

Misaki sighed as she saw Sayuri looking downwards with a conflicted look. To be honest, it was better than her '100% confident on her hubby' look she used to have. Maybe she was starting to see the folly of her actions? Still, it did cost her... how many millions was it again? Ah well. She adjusted her glasses.

"My honest advice, Sayuri? Dump his ass. If possible claim palimony and try to take as much you can take back. I can introduce you to some good lawyers if you need one."

"T-thats..." Sayuri felt really troubled. Was she really starting to doubt Satoshi? Was he really just toying with her? Was her whole happy married life just an illusion? The dreams she had about having a family? A nice house, a car parked in front of it, lots of children playing around in the lawn, with her and her husband sitting on bench watching all of it contentedly... while she rested her head on her husband's round belly and grabbed his big burly hand with her—hmm?

Ken chan, one more and we can finally have our own soccer te—

WHOOSH!

Misaki along with the other customers flinched as she saw her friend slapping both of her cheeks with some serious power, turning both of them red.

"W-what happened?!" Did her friend finally break completely?

"Nothing. Just an annoying bug." Sayuri replied as she slumped on to the table.

What the hell was that?! She was a married woman! Her marriage was not really going completely smoothly that was true, but that did not mean that she would be thinking about being with other men?!

Gojima Kenzaburou was a good man. A kind neighbor. But she was married. It was not right.

If she was starting to develop feelings for that person, she would need to kill it.

If only Satoshi was not in the w—

Kill. It.

...or so she thought. Why was it so hard? She was still seeing his illusion in the restaurant... with some woman... wasn't that woman the one who carried him all the way home when he was injured?

...what kind of relation do they have?

She straightened up in her seat immediately, making Misaki even more worried.

 

---

 

A few minutes ago...

GROWLL~

Sawashiro blushed as her stomach growled in front of Gojima.

"Uh... sorry! I actually forgot to bring my bento with me today..." she scratched her cheek while feeling embarrassed. Gojima sighed. hey met with each other quite a few minutes after the office period ended after all. Surely she could have grabbed something for a bite?... or maybe she was really busy. He should not be judgemental.

"Well, we can go grab something on the road."

"Ah! Then I know a good place! Let me treat you there!"

"I can pay for—"

"No way. I am the one who's dragging you around with me after all. Let me at least pay you with this."

Gojima looked at her shining eyes that just wouldn't take no for an answer. Did he just see a galaxy—no, must have been his imagination.

"...Okay then."

 

---

 

As Gojima and Sawashiro entered the restaurant, he noticed Sayuri sitting there with someone. Well, rather than sitting, she was slumped on the table; but immediately straightened after seeing him.

Now this was a dilemma. Should he just walk up to her and barge into the meeting between... friends? Or just ignore her for now? Would she be offended?

His dilemma was solved as Sayuri looked the other way as if she did not know him at all.

Cue taken with no offense.

Of course he was not someone important enough that she would need to introduce to her fri—

"Ah, let's sit there Gojima sensei."

"Sure."

Ubs wearily watched as Gojima sat down with 'Sawashiro' on a table. It was sure that the whole feeling hungry and coming to this restaurant was just a pretense. She was definitely up to something. But what? It did not know.

It noticed Sayuri trying to ignore the duo but occassionally taking glances.

...Why was life so hard and full of unnecessary dramas?