Greetings fellow reader, MasterW here!
I present to you a story I've been planning for a long time
Without any further to do, enjoy!
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One would think that after so many years, a woman would be accustomed to her own company.
She should be an expert by now.
Her youth was a masterclass in solitude
Even in university, on those rare group outings, she'd always be the one tasked with starting the campfire and making the BBQ.
While she fumbled with fire, the couples would inevitably drift into their own little worlds, all whispered secrets, lingering touches and some bold cases of extreme PDA
They might as well have been rubbing her face in it.
Call it a series of strategic miscalculations.
Maybe she shouldn't have been so open about the family's money. It attracted the wrong kind of attention, the kind that looked at her and saw a bank balance, not a person.
So here she was, a little past her mid-twenties, single and… untouched. A fact that rankled enough to make weekends a blur of cheap whiskey and cigarette smoke.
So much for being a decorous lady.
But then he showed up.
The new teacher arrived three months ago, right before the last term ended.
Fresh blood to replace the retiring old timer. And oh, what "Fresh" it was.
The moment Yoshioka Akira stepped into the staff room, he was a lighthouse to the eyes.
Most of the colleagues were… well, old
She was one of the few exceptions.
But he was young, which immediately pricked her interest.
Then she saw his face properly, and it was a majestic sight
Platinum-white hair, cropped neatly just above his ears. Eyes the colour of deep crimson, sharp and intelligent behind a pair of simple glasses. And a tall, fit frame that his impeccably tailored buttoned shirts did nothing to hide.
Yoshioka Akira, he taught English Literature
He was perfectly polite. Impeccably professional. And yet, he behaved the complete opposite of what his appearance might indicate
With an appearance like that, he must've been one of the most popular kids in his school. But he behaves like the marginalized bullied kid that grew to be quiet and introvert
He moved with an unnerving economy, no gesture wasted, as if every motion was calculated to expend the bare minimum of energy.
It was fascinating. And, frankly, infuriating.
She tried to draw him out, of course. It was her duty as a fellow (relatively) young faculty member
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"So, Yoshioka-san, where did you teach before gracing Soubu High with your presence?"
He looked up from a stack of essays, those red eyes focusing on her with an intensity that made her feel like a bug under glass. "Many places," he said, his voice a low baritone that seemed to vibrate in the quiet room. It was a voice that belonged on a battlefield or in a boardroom, not a teacher's lounge. He offered a small, polite smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "I felt it was time for a change. Somewhere quieter."
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'Quieter than what?' she wanted to press. But the way the way he told it to her inwardly made her realise he probably wouldn't have answered
Another time, she'd been battling a stubborn lid on a jar of instant coffee. Before she could muster her strength for another attempt, his hand was there.
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"Allow me."
He didn't strain. His fingers simply turned, and the lid gave way with a soft pop. The muscles in his exposed forearm didn't even tense. He handed it back with that same quiet, unreadable smile.
"Thank you," she'd said, her voice slightly breathless. "You're… very strong."
He'd blinked, then looked at the jar as if seeing it for the first time. "Oh. It was just stuck in a particular way."
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The excuse was so flimsy it was almost an insult. The jar had been fighting her for five minutes.
It was absolutely captivating.
He was a puzzle wrapped in an enigma, dressed in an impeccably tailored shirt
And Hiratsuka Shizuka, fuelled by cheap whiskey and a desperate longing to finally stop being single (Not that she needed it of course, she was fine by herself, totally not coping) had decided she was going to solve him
Her plan started simply: ask him out for a drink after work.
A normal thing colleagues did. A perfectly wat to start
She waited for a Saturday, practicing her lines. 'The work week is over. Care to join me for a drink, Yoshioka-sensei? I know a place' Simple and right to the point
She found him at his desk, staring not at student essays, but out the window at the trees. The afternoon sun caught his crimson eyes, making them glow for a moment.
'Damn, why does he have to look so handsome even when doing nothing?'
He must have felt her stare.
He turned with the mild-mannered tone he always uses "Hiratsuka-sensei. Did you need something?"
Did she mention that he talks in a very formal way that makes his word sound more attractive?
Damn those bishounens, they really know how to hit hard
Shizuka took a breath, her heart hammering against her ribs.
This was it.
"Yoshioka-san" She began, her voice thankfully steady. "The week is over. Care to join me for a drink? I know a place."
For the first time since she'd met him, a genuine flicker of emotion crossed his eyes. It wasn't surprise, or interest, or annoyance.
It was look of a man who had seen this particular scene play out a thousand times and knew how these things went. He must have been invited out a hundred times before. The look lasted only a fraction of a second, but it was seared into her memory.
Then, it was gone, smoothed over into placid neutrality.
"A drink?" he repeated. He glanced at the essays on his desk, then back out the window at the setting sun. The silence stretched, not awkwardly, but heavily. Finally, a small, almost imperceptible nod. "Very well. Thank you, Hiratsuka-san."
It felt like a monumental victory for her.
She got a date with the handsome guy, point for Shizuka
"Great!" She said, perhaps a little too brightly. She coughed and then corrected her tone, trying to sound less desperate "I know just the place. It's quiet. Good for talking."
"I would expect nothing less" Akira said, standing with that unnerving grace.
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The dynamic shifted the moment they left the school gates. Walking beside him was a novel experience. She saw the double-takes from women of all ages, their eyes widening as they tracked his progress down the street.
The appreciative glances at his sharp profile.
He seemed utterly oblivious, his gaze fixed ahead.
Shizuka, however, was acutely aware of the second wave of looks.
Curious stares, assessing glances that sized her up, and thinly veiled envy from a pair of office ladies. A flash of heat went through her. Irritating, but also… satisfying.
They were jealous, of her….
'I am winning'
Of course, in the jungle of adult social life, presenting the most attractive specimen as your companion was a sign of superiority.
It sounded like something Hachiman would say
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The bar was a haven of dark wood and soft light. The few patrons looked up. A woman alone paused with her drink halfway to her lips.
The owner, an old man who had seen her through many frustrated evenings, gave her a slow, deliberate nod, his eyes flicking to her companion with open curiosity.
'Yeah' she thought 'This is a date. Or I hope it is'
They took seats at the counter.
"Whiskey on the rocks" Shizuka said.
Akira offered the owner a small, apologetic smile. "Just hot green tea for me, please. Thank you." His tone was final.
The owner nodded.
Shizuka felt a flicker of surprise, but also some doubt, on herself 'So he doesn't want to drink alcohol right now, or just doesn't want to drink me'
She decided to erase that thought from her head and decided to stay with the former
Her whiskey and his tea arrived.
Steam curled from the porcelain cup in front of him.
He didn't immediately reach for it, instead observing the tendrils of vapour with a quiet intensity.
Shizuka took a fortifying sip. Ready to start this challenging mission "So" She began, leaning an elbow on the bar, trying to look as assertive as possible "You're a man from many places. What brought you to Soubu High?"
He processed the question, his gaze shifting to her. He seemed to choose his words with care. "I have found that after a very long time" He began, his voice a low, measured baritone, "The loudest lives can become the emptiest of them all. The grandest stages lose their meaning." He finally wrapped his hands around the warm cup, not drinking, just absorbing its heat. "You eventually learn that the only things that ever truly matter are the small, quiet moments. The ones that are easy to miss when you're always full of noise"
He paused, and his eyes lost their focus for a moment.
"I am trying to learn how to notice them again," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Teaching… provides a structure for that. A simple purpose, you could say"
Huh? He talks like one of those members of a band that got tired of doing drugs and having copious amounts of sex.
Was he on a band?
Someone that handsome would've been famous. So probably not.
Shizuka finished her glass, the warmth in her stomach nothing compared to the heat of her curiosity.
She looked at Akira, seeing his cup empty. She signalled for another drink and a refill on the tea.
"Well, Yoshioka-san," She said, a new, determined smile on her lips. "Welcome to the quiet life. Let's see if we can find you some moments worth noticing."
'With me' A traitorous wanting part of her mind added.
Her second glass of whiskey arrived.
Across from her, Akira's tea was refilled.
He acknowledged it with a slight nod of thanks to the owner
He turned his attention back to her. His stare changed for a bit, but she could tell he was analysing her. The nervousness in her grip, the determined set of her jaw. He saw it all before his expression settled back into polite neutrality.
"You speak about quiet moments as if they're a rare find," Shizuka ventured, swirling the ice in her glass, inwardly thinking he was counting some sort of invisible points.
Maybe she started wrong by drinking whiskey right of the bat.
"Aren't they?" he replied. "Life is usually… noisy" He took a slow sip, his eyes staying on hers over the rim.
"It is" She agreed, feeling exposed. "So, teaching here is your attempt to find a less noisy corner?"
"Something like that," he conceded. "The rhythm is predictable. The challenges are… less difficult" His gaze flickered around the bar before returning to her "It's a good place to be"
Less difficult?
Yeah newbie, try to think the same on mid-terms when you have to grade papers for a hundred or so kids in one night.
She decided to ask the question most psychiatrist ask when someone gets a new job "And are you happy being a teacher?"
He was silent for a moment, calculations happening behind his eyes.
"I suppose I am," he said finally, his tone flat. "Teaching is quite the job I admit. The schedule is comfortable. The company is… persistent. But in a good way"
Akira was referring to her, she thought.
Maybe there is a chance
The bar felt more private after that.
Shizuka took a deep breath, meeting his gaze squarely. Her interest, now that her hook managed to get a bite, deepened
"Alright then, Yoshioka-san," she said, her voice steady. "I'll take persistent."
A corner of his mouth twitched. It wasn't a smile, but it was an acknowledgment.
A silent concession that this, right here, was one of those moments.
He lifted his tea cup in a minimal gesture. "It's not a bad thing," he said, his voice quiet. "It makes the quiet less lonely."
The statement was so simple, so starkly honest, that it stole the air from her lungs.
It wasn't a confession. But that doesn't mean he dislikes her company.
For Hiratsuka Shizuka, it was an advance, and she is willing to advance even more