Chapter 2: My Ex-Girlfriend's Niece is Quite the Schemer

Is there a single person on this earth who wouldn't feel incredibly awkward upon reuniting with their ex?

Does ten years of separation magically make it go away?

Well, maybe it depends on the person.

But for me—it was the single most awkward event of my entire life.

And on top of that, she had a kid!

Which meant she was married!

We had broken up, so I had absolutely no right to say anything, and it was only natural for someone to get married after ten years... but for some reason, I felt a heavy, sinking knot of shock in my chest.

Even after a decade, a part of me was still hopelessly, desperately lingering on her.

"So, you've returned to this area, Shirasaki-san?"

Misuzu-chan, having recovered from her initial shock, narrowed her eyes slightly.

I had been working as a teacher in another prefecture, but it seemed she already knew about that.

She had probably heard it from my childhood friend. After all, the two of them had been close since our school days.

But... wait, is it just me, or does she look kind of angry...?!

Her cheeks were puffed out in a cute but clearly dissatisfied pout...!

Faced with Misuzu-chan’s visibly displeased expression, I was completely at a loss.

Back then, she was always smiling—a warm, gentle smile that made her eyes curve into soft, comforting crescents. I had almost never seen her get angry during our high school days.

Actually, I don't think I had ever seen her truly angry.

Wait, this is bizarre... It's not like we had a messy, dramatic breakup or anything...

If anything, we had parted on relatively amicable terms.

I had absolutely no idea why she was looking at me like she wanted to bite my head off.

"...Sensei, you actually know her...? Wait, what on earth did you do to her...?"

Sensing the heavy tension, Kamijō-san leaned in and whispered, her cool composure cracking under sheer confusion.

Perhaps she had never seen Misuzu-chan make a face like that before either.

As for Sana-chan, she had buried her face happily in Misuzu-chan’s stomach, completely oblivious to her mother’s stiff expression.

"I honestly wish I knew..."

"Don't play dumb... She isn't the type of person to get angry over nothing. In fact, she almost never—"

"—So, you know my daughter, do you? I see. That means you've become a teacher at the school Marin attends, then?"

""—?!""

As we huddled together, whispering like two conspirators with our hands over our mouths, Misuzu-chan tilted her head slightly.

The pout had vanished, replaced by a sweet, radiant smile.

But even though it was a picture-perfect smile, a terrifyingly heavy pressure radiated from her, causing both Kamijō-san and me to gasp in unison.

Ah, right. Misuzu-chan was always incredibly sharp...

If her high school-aged daughter was acting this familiar with her new teacher, she'd obviously put two and two together in an instant.

"Yes... I was assigned as Marin-san's homeroom teacher. I never could have imagined we'd reunite under these circumstances..."

Feeling even more awkward, I decided that trying to play dumb would only backfire, so I answered her honestly.

Besides, if she was Kamijō-san’s parent, the truth would come out during parent-teacher conferences anyway. Lying now was completely pointless.

But putting that aside... why did I feel like a criminal undergoing a ruthless interrogation right now?!

I hadn't done anything wrong! And since she was already married and had a family of her own, wouldn't she want to keep our past a secret from her kid? Why was she putting so much pressure on me?!

Someone, please save me from this terrifying aura...!

As if answering my desperate prayer, the little savior—Sana-chan—suddenly sprang into action.

She came pitter-pattering back over to my side.

"Onii-chan, you're Onee-chan's teacher?! But you're mommy's friend too?!"

Sana-chan’s eyes sparkled with pure, unadulterated excitement.

She had clearly jumped to her own conclusions after listening to our conversation, though I had no idea why she was so thrilled.

"Y-Yeah, that's right..."

There was absolutely no way I could say, "Actually, I'm her ex-boyfriend!!" in front of her kid, so I just nodded and went along with the "friend" cover story.

"Onii-chan, what kind of super guy are you?!"

The revelation seemed to blow Sana-chan’s mind. Her excitement levels spiked even higher.

She leaned in incredibly close, trying her hardest to stand on her tiptoes to peer up into my face as if I were some kind of rare, exotic creature.

"What do you mean, 'what kind of guy'... didn't you just say I'm a teacher, Sana-chan?"

Kamijō-san let out a weary chuckle from beside me.

Just as she pointed out, Sana-chan had literally answered her own question.

But honestly, I didn't have a better answer to give her.

I can never, ever mention the ex-boyfriend thing.

If I let that slip, I would undoubtedly incur the wrath of Misuzu-chan, who was currently watching me with an intensely meaningful smile.

It made sense. No married woman would want her child finding out about her past romantic flings.

Back in high school, she was practically treated like a saint—the epitome of kindness and purity. But if I made a single slip of the tongue right now, I had a feeling the current Misuzu-chan would never forgive me.

But seriously... why on earth was she so angry at me?!

"Sigh... Sensei, why don't you go line up at the register?"

As I stood frozen like a frog transfixed by a snake, Kamijō-san let out a quiet sigh and nudged me.

She was silently telling me, "Hurry up and escape to the checkout."

She's surprisingly considerate... I thought in surprise.

"Ah, right! Good idea! Sorry, excuse me!" I babbled, taking her advice and practically running toward the registers.

Of course, I aimed for the one furthest away from them.

"Aww! I still wanted to talk to him!"

"You can't, sweetie. You'll bother him."

"Noo! Onii-chaan!"

"Sana, we have to be quiet inside the store."

From behind me, I could hear Sana-chan calling out to me, but Kamijō-san had successfully captured her.

Quietly but firmly covering her mouth to keep her from making a scene in public was a masterclass in sibling management.

I was incredibly grateful to Kamijō-san—but even from across the store, I could feel Misuzu-chan’s pouting, laser-like gaze locked onto my back, causing a cold sweat to break out all over my body.

◆

The following day—

"Sensei."

It was lunchtime. I had just finished my classes and was heading back to the staff room when Kamijō-san called out to me in the hallway.

I was stunned that she was voluntarily talking to me.

—Especially since she had gone out of her way to completely ignore me during morning homeroom.

"Is something the matter, Kamijō-san?"

"We'll stand out too much here. Follow me."

She gestured for me to follow her, and like an obedient puppy, I quietly trailed behind.

She led me straight to the secluded area behind the school building.

Wait... she's not going to shake me down for cash, is she...?

I knew that was highly unlikely, but since she was essentially the undisputed boss of our class, the possibility wasn't exactly zero.

"Um... is this something you didn't want other people hearing?"

"You know exactly what this is about, don't you?"

I asked with a polite, professional smile, only to be met with her sharp, silver eyes narrowing into a heavy, suspicious squint.

Well, yeah, I had a pretty good guess...

She wanted to make sure I kept my mouth shut about yesterday.

She had probably avoided calling me out near our classroom because of the rumors it would spark, waiting for a moment when there was no one else around.

"You don't have to worry. I have absolutely no intention of spreading rumors. I gain nothing from doing that, and as a teacher, gossiping about a student's private life is a major ethical violation anyway."

Since there was no point in beating around the bush, I went straight to the heart of what she wanted to talk about.

Hearing my response, the heavy, defensive tension around Kamijō-san relaxed just a fraction.

"Is that a promise?"

"Of course."

I gave her a reassuring nod, keeping my smile steady.

In situations like this, it was crucial not to hesitate or leave any awkward pauses.

Kamijō-san stared at me searchingly, trying to gauge my sincerity. Finally, she gave a small, satisfied nod.

"If you break that promise, I will tell her everything."

"Ahaha... Right. Yeah, that would be... pretty terrifying."

By "her," she undoubtedly meant Misuzu-chan.

It was a bit strange how formally she referred to her mother, though. Did they not get along very well?

Back in the day, Misuzu-chan was incredibly gentle and amazing with kids, so I couldn't imagine her having trouble raising a child...

But then again, the Misuzu-chan I met yesterday had a completely different vibe.

"Actually, she isn't normally the type of person to exude a dark, terrifying aura like that. Which brings me to my next question. What on earth did you do to her in the past, Sensei?"

Apparently, our conversation wasn't over. Kamijō-san leaned in closer, her eyes locked onto mine as she probed for answers.

I suppose it was only natural for her to be curious. If your mother and your new homeroom teacher clearly had some kind of intense, unspoken history, anyone would want to know what was going on.

"Like I said yesterday, I honestly have no idea..."

"She is not the type of person to get angry over nothing. In fact, she has an incredibly high tolerance for frustration."

Yeah, I know. I completely agree.

That was exactly why I was so baffled.

I really couldn't recall doing anything that would warrant that kind of reaction...

"In that case, what exactly was the relationship between you and her?"

As I fell into silent contemplation, Kamijō-san pushed even further.

Seeing her like this, I realized she wasn't nearly as cold and detached as the icy persona she maintained in the classroom.

"We were just classmates. Back in high school."

I decided that telling my ex-girlfriend's daughter that we used to date was an absolute recipe for disaster, so I tried to brush it off with a safe half-truth.

However—

"I knew it. You really are her ex-boyfriend."

—She saw through my lie in a fraction of a second.

"—?! N-No, wait! Didn't I just say we were just classmates?！"

Panicking at the thought of being exposed as her ex-boyfriend—and desperately wanting to avoid ever being subjected to that terrifying pressure again—I frantically denied it.

But Kamijō-san simply let out a smug, mischievous grin.

"What I really wanted to confirm was the timeline of when you two were connected. I'm so glad you told me it was high school. I already knew she had a boyfriend back when she was a high school student."

She completely trapped me...!

She had played dumb from the very beginning, using my own words to piece together the final confirmation.

This girl was incredibly sharp. And considering she was Misuzu-chan’s daughter, it made perfect sense that she'd possess terrifyingly high intelligence. I should have been infinitely more careful.

"Wait, wait, wait! There were tons of boys in our high school! And your mother was incredibly popular! It's a massive leap in logic to assume I was her boyfriend just based on that!"

"..."

But the moment the words "your mother" left my mouth, Kamijō-san’s eyes flared with a sharp, dangerous intensity.

It seemed I had just stepped squarely on a massive landmine.

"I am not her daughter."

She spat the words out with clear irritation, completely ignoring my frantic denials to correct my assumption about her relationship with Misuzu-chan.

"Eh? But... she's your guardian, right?"

At my confused question, Kamijō-san pressed her palm to her forehead as if nursing a massive headache.

Then, she began to impatiently tap her foot on the ground.

"Sensei, please do some basic math. If I were actually her daughter, how old would she have been when she gave birth to me?"

"Ah..."

The realization hit me like a physical blow.

She was completely right.

Misuzu-chan was twenty-seven, the exact same age as me.

There was physically no way she could have a sixteen-year-old high school daughter.

Yesterday, I had been so overwhelmed by her terrifying aura and the crushing shock of her being married that my brain had completely shut down.

Which means... Kamijō-san must be the daughter of Misuzu-chan’s husband from a previous marriage...!

Was that why she referred to her so formally? Because she couldn't bring herself to accept a stepmother?

—No, wait. That didn't make sense either.

Because aside from her sharp, feline eyes, Kamijō-san was an absolute spitting image of high school-era Misuzu-chan.

Which meant...

"As long as you understand that she isn't my mother, that's enough. More importantly, you're still claiming you weren't her boyfriend? Please, that's practically impossible."

Ignoring my deep plunge into thought, Kamijō-san steered the conversation right back to the main topic.

Perhaps her family circumstances were a touchy subject she didn't want to dwell on.

That was fair enough; everyone has family matters they'd rather keep private.

The fact that Misuzu-chan was her guardian despite not being her biological mother suggested some complicated family dynamics.

And while the massive age gap between Sana-chan and Kamijō-san had puzzled me, this explanation tied everything together.

Kamijō-san wasn't Misuzu-chan’s biological daughter, but Sana-chan was. That meant they were half-sisters with a significant age gap.

"Why is it impossible...?"

Once the puzzle pieces in my head settled, I quickly shifted my focus back to Kamijō-san’s interrogation.

"Yūto-kun—that's your given name, isn't it, Sensei?"

"..."

Ah. I see. That was how...

Man, this girl doesn't miss a single detail, does she...?

"Silent, are we? Fine, have it your way. I've known her for a very long time, but I have almost never heard her call another man by his first name. In fact, in my entire memory, there has only ever been one person she referred to as Yūto-kun."

Kamijō-san and I had never met before.

Which meant... back when Misuzu-chan and I were dating, she must have talked about me to Kamijō-san.

Oh, this was bad. This was incredibly, catastrophically bad...

"Yūto is a super common name. It's probably just a coincidence—"

I desperately tried to find an escape route, terrified of what Misuzu-chan would do to me if she found out about this.

"You really don't know when to give up, do you? The moment she called you by your first name, it was obvious you two had a highly intimate relationship in the past. Especially since she immediately panicked and corrected herself to 'Shirasaki-san' right after."

And just like that, Kamijō-san completely blocked my escape.

She really had a terrifyingly sharp memory. She must have listened incredibly closely to our past conversations.

So she had possessed complete confidence from the moment she approached me.

I was completely cornered... If Misuzu-chan found out about this, I was a dead man.

"If I keep denying it, will you believe me?"

"Not a chance. In fact, should we go ask her directly and see what she says?"

"...Please, anything but that."

I had no idea how Misuzu-chan would react, but she would undoubtedly assume I was the one who had blabbed to her niece.

If that happened, she would officially become my enemy, and that was an outcome I wanted to avoid at all costs.

"In that case, this is simple. Why don't we agree to a mutual silence?"

Kamijō-san pressed her hands together and offered me a sweet, adorable smile.

Since a simple promise wasn't enough to secure her trust, she had gone out of her way to secure leverage against me.