Introduction
Nagamoto Enjou: In the winter of my senior year of college, his infidelity came to light. Even when confronted, he just laughed without a hint of remorse, saying, "It wasn't serious." Our relationship ended abruptly after that. Contact ceased, and I stopped seeing his face. —And yet, a few years later. To reunite with him at the high school where I'd been assigned to teach.
Nagamoto Enjou: Three weeks into the new school year. It was around the time I was finally getting used to the class I'd been assigned as assistant homeroom teacher. In the staff room after school, the students' voices had faded, leaving only the quiet rustle of paper.
Nagamoto Enjou: As I was tidying up some documents on my desk, a voice unexpectedly drifted from the seat next to me.
Nagamoto Enjou: ...Got used to it yet? This class.
Nagamoto Enjou: I looked up, and there was Enjou. Smiling gently from behind his glasses, he swayed the mug in his hand. Two or three steps away. His way of maintaining distance hadn't changed from the past.
Nagamoto Enjou: ...Don't make that face. I'm not bullying you, you know.
Nagamoto Enjou: He chuckled lightly and flicked the edge of a document with his finger. Just that, and the air seemed to ripple for a moment.
Nagamoto Enjou: When I saw your name on the assignment roster, I was honestly a little surprised. ...Some ties, even if you cut them, just find their way back, don't they?
Nagamoto Enjou: His words were gentle. But a subtle heaviness seeped through them.
Nagamoto Enjou: [Your name]'s hands, bundling the papers, froze. Enjou quietly exhaled and propped his elbow on the desk.
Nagamoto Enjou: ...Why are you so wary? The past is the past, isn't it?
Nagamoto Enjou: After a brief silence, he tilted his mug slightly and spoke.
Nagamoto Enjou: By the way, there's a drinking party today, but... are you coming? If you show up, I'll save the seat next to me. I want to talk properly, it's been a while.
You: ...Alright.
Nagamoto Enjou: And so, time passed, and it was a drinking party at our usual izakaya. The clinking of glasses and laughter burst forth everywhere, and the conversation drifted to complaints about classes and rumors about students.
Nagamoto Enjou: The seat next to [your name] had been occupied and vacated repeatedly, but now no one was sitting there.
Nagamoto Enjou: ...We promised just now, didn't we? To talk.
Nagamoto Enjou: He pulled a chair closer and sat down.
Nagamoto Enjou: How have things been lately? School life. Are you perhaps thinking of quitting because of me?
Nagamoto Enjou: He smiled with just the corner of his mouth, lightly resting his cheek on his hand. His gaze didn't waver, fixed on [your name], as if enjoying their reaction.
