Chapter 53 It's Been a Year, But...

It’s Been a Year, But…

In my fourth year, I had fewer credits to take than the previous three, so I had more free time. But as always, I was always studying, and whenever the liquor store was busy, I helped out with part-time work. I also prepared for my teaching practice, which started in May.

And during the Golden Week holiday, I worked part-time every day, and as soon as the long holiday was over, the teaching practice finally started.

I was told, “There will be a briefing the day before the first day of teaching practice, so please come to the school,” so I put on my suit and went to my alma mater, my middle school.

I went to the teachers’ room and greeted the principal who had helped me during the interview. He said, “Let’s go to the conference room for the briefing,” and we went to the conference room.

I was told to sit down and wait, so I did as I was told. Then I was informed that another teacher would be joining me. While I was waiting and chatting with the principal, the door to the conference room opened, and Taichi came in, saying, “Excuse me.”

Eh???

I looked at the principal in surprise, and he was grinning.

It seemed that he had deliberately kept quiet about the fact that the other teacher was Taichi.

Taichi didn’t seem surprised to see me.

Could it be that Taichi knew that I would be here?

Come to think of it, hasn’t Taichi finished his teaching practice in his third year?

Why is he doing this again?

Still confused, the briefing started.

During the principal’s explanation, I found out why Taichi was practicing teaching again.

Taichi said that in order to get both elementary and junior high school teaching certificates, he had to practice at both levels. He had done his elementary school teaching practice in his third year, and now he was doing his junior high school teaching practice in his fourth year.

And while my practice period was one month, Taichi’s would be two weeks.

We were also told that I would be assigned to a second-year class and Taichi would be assigned to a first-year class, that the homeroom teacher of that class would be in charge of our guidance during the practice period, and that Taichi and I would use the current conference room as a lounge when we were not in class.

There was a warm atmosphere throughout the briefing. Taichi was having a friendly conversation with the principal, which made me so curious that I couldn’t help but look at him repeatedly.

Taichi, whom I hadn’t seen for a year, had lost a lot of weight, and although his voice was clear, his complexion was not good, and he didn’t look very healthy.

Maybe it was just my impression, and maybe he was just tired from being so busy, but I didn’t feel the slightest bit of the inexplicable energy I had felt when I met him a year ago.

However, I didn’t think it was anything to worry about, so I didn’t mention it.

At the end of the briefing, the principal said, “I know you’ve been through a lot, but please try not to let personal matters interfere with your teaching. I want you to concentrate on observing the educational field firsthand and learning as much as possible.” Taichi immediately replied, “Yes, I’ll be fine.” I also replied, “No problem. I’ll do my best.” With that, the explanation ended and we were dismissed.

When the three of us left the conference room, Taichi greeted the principal, saying, “Thanks for your help tomorrow, Sensei. Excuse me,” and walked quickly toward the entrance, so I also greeted him, saying, “Excuse me,” and followed Taichi.

Even though I caught up with him, I didn’t know what to say, so I walked silently. Then Taichi turned to me and said, “I heard from the principal during our meeting that you’re also taking education courses.”

“Yes, I’ve been taking them since my second year.”

“I see. So since you’re doing teaching practice, you’ll probably be able to get your teaching certificate.”

“Yeah. And it’s amazing that you’re doing both elementary and junior high.”

“It’s not that amazing. It’s just the environment I was in.”

When we reached the entrance and put on our shoes, he said, “Well, I’ll stop by the dojo before I go home. See you tomorrow,” and walked away quickly.

I said to Taichi’s back, “Yeah, see you,” and started walking towards the school gate.

I never thought I would be able to say see you to Taichi again.

But even though I was confused and upset at first, I’m pretty calm now.

I think I was able to stay calm because Taichi was calm and handled it calmly.

When teaching practice started the next day, the actual teaching in the classroom was fresh and fun.

However, when I was alone with Taichi in the conference room, which was our lounge after class, we both acted businesslike and had only businesslike conversations.

For me, the fact that Taichi was also in this place was a coincidence, and the most important thing was the actual purpose of the practice, so I had no problem with it at all. In fact, I was grateful for Taichi’s attitude because it prevented me from being mentally disturbed in various ways.

But I was still worried because Taichi looked so listless.

Regardless of my worries, two weeks passed in the blink of an eye, and Taichi’s teaching practice was over.

On the last day, the principal came into the conference room and invited me, saying, “Sakamoto, let’s go out for dinner after this,” and he also invited me, saying, “Koda-san, would you like to join us?” so I decided to go as well.

The teacher who was in charge of guiding Taichi also came for dinner, and the four of us went to a local robata-yaki restaurant.

While we were eating, we had some drinks, and the director kept talking about Taichi when he was in junior high school. The teacher in charge of Taichi’s guidance also said, “Sakamoto-kun looked dead behind his eyes,” and asked me to agree, so I replied, “Yes, I think he lacks vitality.”

Taichi himself muttered, “I don’t think it’s appropriate to say that someone who will shoulder the future of education looks dead behind the eyes or lacks vitality,” and “Isn’t this what you call power harassment? If I reported this to the school board, wouldn’t the principal lose his job? At the very least, I think I could get him in trouble,” but the principal and the guidance teacher were drunk and didn’t pay any attention to him.

After about two hours, we finished eating, and since the principal and the guidance teacher said that their families would pick them up by car, we dispersed in front of the restaurant, and Taichi and I walked home together after saying, “Thank you for the meal.”

We walked in silence for a while, but then I spoke to Taichi.

“You’ve been looking so down lately. Is something wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“When you came to see me last year, you were so much more energetic. And you were so much fatter then, but now you’re so thin. Are you eating right? Maybe I shouldn’t have stopped sending you food.”

“This has nothing to do with Chika.”

“…”

When he said, “It has nothing to do with Chika,” I couldn’t say anything else, and we walked in silence again.

But after less than ten minutes, Taichi started talking again.

“Women are really….after all.”

“What? What did you say?”

“Nothing.”

“It doesn’t sound like ‘nothing’. If you have something to say, just say it.”

“…Then let me ask you, why did Chika dump me?”