✪ Boundaries || HanaNene ✪

C H A P T E R T W E L V E

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《 CHAPTER 12: Questions and Answers 》

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Yashiro was on her way to the Science Prep Room to see Tsuchigomori. Ever since that dream, she gradually got better and was finally able to return back to school. Though, she had a few questions that she wanted to ask her teacher ever since she officially met him again, even if it was her imagination telling white lies to her. 

She wanted to know what Amane was like when she wasn't with him.

It was obvious that he acted differently towards her in the past, compared to how he interacted with other people. She was his only friend, and while Yashiro had countless other friends who loved her, he only had her. No one wanted to be his friend.

No one but her.

And yet, she completely messed up everything.

So, Yashiro wanted to know what he had been hiding from her, all his pain and agony.

Knocking on the door, she requested to come inside. Yashiro heard a reply which almost sounded like a groan. Sliding the door, she entered the room with a small smile on her face. The teacher's approachable facade immediately switched to his true personality when he saw the Seventh's assistant enter the room.

"Oh, kid," He said in a rather monotone and boring voice, "It's you."

Yashiro scrunched her nose at the strong scent of the smoke in the room. Tsuchigomori sure has been smoking more recently.

"Do you have some free time to spare for me, Tsuchigomori-sensei?" Yashiro asked as sweetly as possible while closing the door behind her, "I have a few questions to ask you."

Her sensei sighed, pointing to the seat in front of his desk using his smoke pipe before putting it back in his mouth to smoke, "So, what do you wanna ask?"

Yashiro wanted to put her humor to action for a bit to lighten the mood before she brought up the topic, "First of all, sensei... If you don't mind me asking, do you ever get lung cancer? And what do the other teachers say when you smoke?"

Tsuchigomori couldn't help but groan and hit his forehead with his palm before looking back at the girl with an eyebrow raised up, "Are you serious? 'Cause if you are, don't waste my time kid."

Yashiro pouted, "Come on sensei, I just want to know!"

Tsuchigomori groaned, a smoke cloud blowing out from his mouth, "I won't die from human illness, I'm already dead. Obviously, the teachers are concerned with smoking. They think it's an addiction, and they've called me out on it a couple of times, but does it look I care?"

Yashiro had an uneasy smile on her face. She didn't know if her humor pissed off her sensei or if that was his honest response to her question.

He looked at her with a bored expression, "Are you satisfied now? So what's the real reason why you came?"

Yashiro's usual happy personality switched to a much more serious personality.

"I... wanted to ask about Amane."

"What do you want to know about him?"

"Well, I wanted to know more about what he was like when I wasn't there," Yashiro fiddled with the ribbons of her outfit, looking down to her lap, "I know that the way he acted with me was just a facade. I want to know what he actually truly felt."

The teacher eyed the girl.  He wasn't going to lie, he really pitied her in a way because of the tragedy that struck her that day. It was probably still eating her up alive and haunting her in her dreams. The way that everything changed years ago scarred her, and there would be no one else who can spot-on relate to her other than Tsuchigomori.