Teacher

Chapter 4 : Votes

Shinichi looked at his watch tiredly, groaning at the fact that it had already passed three hours. Shiho clicked her tongue, using her left hand to flap at herself aimlessly, in desperate hope from melting out in a pool of sweat from where she was sitting. He pulled out his hand phone once more and switched it on, praying that it would at least hold out for two to three minutes, but as soon as the light appeared on the screen, it faded out just as quickly.

" Brilliant." He muttered, stuffing it back into his pocket.

Shiho let out a whistle and folded her knees, staring up straight at the ceiling. " What time is it now, Kudo?" she asked.

He looked at his watch again.

" It's two in the morning." He grunted.

" Really?" she asked, cocking her brow.

" No," he said sheepishly. " It's just nine."

" The following day?"

" The following day."

He sighed and dug into his bag, fingering around in the contents when he cringed. " What's wrong?" she asked.

" Sonoko left saltwater in my bag." He said, pulling out a small-lidded cup from inside. " I guess she thought she was funny."

He half expected her to groan or raise her eyebrows like a normal teacher would have done, but she cocked her brow before rubbing her chin, thinking for a minute. Then she sprang to life, snapping her fingers so forcefully that Shinichi jumped.

" What?" he half-gasped, half-shouted.

" Give it to me." She said, and Shinichi handed it over. She took out a pair of spectacles from her bag, and unscrewed the lid off the cup of saltwater. Shinichi raised his eyebrows at her, finding out that it was best not to comment about the situation. She fingered around in her purse before sighing. She looked up at Shinichi so suddenly that he jumped again.

" Do you have a retainer?" she asked.

" Huh?" he asked, puzzled.

" A retainer." She repeated. " Now."

" Oh." He said. " Okay."

He pulled it out of his mouth, handing it over to her when she raised her eyebrows, disgusted. " No." she said. " Put it into the saltwater."

He opened his mouth to argue, but did what he was told.

" Now." She said pleasantly, sounding almost like she always did when she taught in class. Her hand phone was held in her other hand. " First we suspend your retainer in the saltwater solution like so." She said clearly. " Then we touch one of the earpieces of my wirerim glasses on the contacts on the bottom of the phone and dangle the other earpiece in the saltwater solution like so. Still with me?"

" I'm stuck in a lift with you." He said airlessly.

She chose to ignore that.

" Then we drop a coin inside, which results in a chemical reaction which will be strong enough for you to make a three-minute phone call."

His eyes widened, a grin appearing on his face.

" Brilliant!" he gasped.

" I know." She said. " Now call the lift operator to get us out."

He did, and he put the phone down soon after.

" Well?" Shiho asked testingly, continuously fanning herself. " What happened?"

" He'll be here in an hour." Shinichi said shortly.

They didn't talk much after that.

The two of them just sat there in the dark lift, no light appearing expect for the small beam of light shining from the light bulb above. Shinichi cleared his throat and his eyes traced over to Shiho restlessly before his eyes widened, noticing her unbutton the shirt she was wearing to shrug off the blouse off her shoulders to reveal a skimpy tank top underneath.