Hibiki Naegi and Eiren Kanagawa walked side by side to a relatively deserted spot at the corner of the first floor of the west teaching building. Because it was far from the courtyard, very few people passed through here even after school.
Only after they reached this place did Eiren Kanagawa gradually slow her steps and speak.
"Before officially meeting the students today, I was actually a little nervous. Even though I have many years of teaching experience, all of that experience came from teaching university students. I didn't know whether it would work for high school students who are at such a critical stage in their lives. That's why, when I chose a subject for the interview, I chose to teach art rather than chemistry.
"You might not know this, but art actually isn't the subject I'm best at. It's chemistry.
"When I was in high school, my chemistry grades were so good that my chemistry teacher often told me she recommended choosing a chemistry-related major in university. She even said that if I was willing to work in a chemistry-related field after graduating from university, she could write me a letter of recommendation. As long as I studied hard at university, that letter would practically guarantee me a position at an international pharmaceutical company.
"She was a wonderful teacher, the sort of person who gave off a very intellectual impression. Back then, even students who didn't like chemistry enjoyed listening to her lectures. Some adolescent boys, and even girls, secretly wrote her love letters.
"My personality in high school wasn't exactly good. Or rather, I hadn't been a good kid even in middle school. By my second year of middle school, I'd already learned to smoke and drink. Even though my grades were fairly good, I still became a problem student in the eyes of many teachers. At first, some of them tried to persuade me to get back on the right path, but after failing several times, they all gave up.
"But that chemistry teacher was the one and only teacher who never gave up on me from beginning to end.
"I remember one time when our class funds went missing. The girl responsible for managing the money didn't want to take responsibility, so she and several girls she was close with falsely accused me, saying I'd stolen it.
"The girl who managed the class funds was normally an exemplary student in both conduct and academics, so naturally the teachers believed her instead of believing someone like me—a problem student who smoked, drank, and had even been taken to the police station several times for counseling and education.
"Just when the accusation of 'stealing the class funds' was about to be pinned on me for good, the chemistry teacher returned from a business trip. After hearing what had happened, she hurried to the office and testified for me, saying that during the period when the class funds had gone missing, I'd been in the chemistry laboratory with her, where she was teaching me how to perform a relatively difficult experiment.
"Thanks to her, my high school years weren't completely gray. There were good things as well as bad.
"To tell you the truth, there was a period when I genuinely wanted to become a good student, study chemistry seriously, and choose chemistry as my major when I went to university.
"It wasn't for myself. I wanted to make the chemistry teacher who had always believed in me happy.
"Until later, she..."
At this point, Eiren Kanagawa suddenly recalled some of the things the head of the art department had said earlier. She shook her head, forcibly cutting off her relatively truthful account and replacing it with a lie.
"Until later, my 'mother' discovered that I wanted to study chemistry.
"My 'mother' was an exceptionally talented painter who worked as an art teacher at a high school. Ever since I was very young, 'Mother' had seen that I was gifted at drawing and hoped I would focus entirely on art.
"She promised me that as long as I was willing to devote myself to painting, then after I graduated from high school, even if she had to sell everything she owned, she would send me abroad so I could study art more professionally.
"I've always listened to my 'mother,' and I still do even now. So I obediently followed her wishes and began focusing on art, gradually uncovering my artistic talent bit by bit. In the end, I successfully passed the art entrance examination with high marks and, with my 'mother's' financial support, went abroad to continue studying art at university.
"Come to think of it, when I walked out of the art entrance examination hall, it wasn't my 'mother' who came to pick me up. My 'mother' was always extremely busy with work, so busy that she was still working overtime even when my exam ended. The person who came to get me instead was my chemistry teacher. I didn't know how I was supposed to face her, but she very naturally wished me success in getting into a good university.
"I told her I wasn't completely confident that I could get into a good university.
"But she told me, 'I believe in you. You'll definitely get into an amazing university.'
"From beginning to end, she always believed in me. Even though I disappointed her expectations and chose to study art, she still encouraged me just as she always had, telling me to study art seriously and saying she believed I would definitely get into a good university through the art entrance exam."
"That chemistry teacher really was a wonderful teacher."
Although Hibiki Naegi had no idea why Eiren Kanagawa had chosen this moment to tell her such a story from the past, after listening to the whole thing, she still couldn't help saying so.
"Yes. She was a wonderful teacher. But such a wonderful teacher didn't meet a good end. Just one month after I went overseas to study, I received news of her death. She had finished working overtime and was walking home at night when she passed beneath a high-rise building. A pane of glass from above happened to come loose and fall at that exact moment, and it happened to strike her. She died instantly, without even a chance to be resuscitated."
"Ah..."
After hearing that, Hibiki Naegi didn't know what to say. She simply felt it was an incredible shame that such a wonderful teacher had died just like that.
"After learning that the chemistry teacher who had always believed in me was dead, and with me being alone in an unfamiliar foreign environment where I knew no one, it was only natural that I felt terribly lonely. As time passed, some problems began to develop with my mental state.
"During that period, I always felt strangely detached from the outside world, as though I were both connected to it and distant from it. Even when nothing was happening, an inexplicable unease constantly lingered inside me, as though an apocalyptic scene might unfold in the very next second.
"To get rid of that anxiety, at first, whenever I didn't have classes, I'd spend all my time in the library, clutching those enormous philosophy books and stubbornly immersing myself in philosophy, hoping I could find a way to eliminate the unease in my heart by studying it.
"Some of my classmates couldn't help teasing me, asking whether I'd come there to study art or philosophy.
"Later, after realizing philosophy couldn't eliminate the anxiety inside me, I stopped clinging to those heavy philosophy books and began exploring all kinds of religions instead. But even religion couldn't make that vague sense of unease disappear.
"Perhaps philosophical speculation had only amplified the anxiety inside me, or perhaps I simply couldn't summon any genuine religious devotion.
"Later still, after I'd already spent a year studying at that foreign university, one of my art professors unexpectedly mentioned something in class that didn't have much to do with art—psychoanalysis.
"At that moment, having abandoned both philosophy and religion, I encountered psychoanalysis as though it had been destined. No, I encountered Freud.
"The art professor only briefly mentioned Freud during class, but I became intensely interested in him.
"The school library didn't have any of Freud's books, so I searched bookstores outside the university. Eventually, at a bookstore several kilometers from the school, I found Freud's works. From that moment onward, I became obsessed with his theories."
"Freud..."
Hibiki Naegi tried hard to recall the name. She wasn't interested in psychoanalysis, but she had more or less heard a few things about Freud before.
Seeing this, Eiren Kanagawa waved a hand in front of Hibiki Naegi's eyes and said,
"If there's nothing wrong with you mentally, then I still wouldn't recommend getting into Freud's theories. At least, not right now. Don't you want to get into a prestigious university? Then you need to do everything you can to keep improving yourself before the art entrance examination."
"You're the one who brought up the subject in the first place."
At this point, Hibiki Naegi couldn't resist retorting. Perhaps because they had been in frequent contact recently, the relationship between Hibiki Naegi and Eiren Kanagawa had grown considerably closer.
The most obvious sign of that was the way Hibiki Naegi had become livelier when speaking with Eiren Kanagawa, and a little more confident as well.
That was exactly what Eiren Kanagawa wanted to see.
"Then I suppose it's my fault~"
Eiren Kanagawa chuckled as she spoke.
At the same time, the two of them arrived at the parking lot on foot. Hibiki Naegi had been so focused on listening to Eiren Kanagawa recount her past that only now did she realize she had followed her all the way to the parking lot.
"Get in. I'll take you to dinner," Eiren Kanagawa said as though it were only natural, without asking whether Hibiki Naegi agreed.
"Eh? But isn't it still way too early? And my little sister said she was going to cook for me tonight..."
Hibiki Naegi glanced at the time on her phone. It was only 3:50 p.m., nowhere near dinnertime.
Besides, that morning, when Seiko Kirigiri had handed her the lunchbox she'd made, she'd specifically told her, "Onee-chan, don't eat anything after school, okay? Save some room. I'm making you a feast tonight!"
Eiren Kanagawa behaved as though she hadn't heard what Hibiki Naegi had said. Or perhaps it was precisely because she'd heard it that she continued talking on her own.
"I skipped lunch, so I'm starving. I thought I'd just have dinner early~ Is that not allowed? Hmm, though if we eat now, I suppose it wouldn't really count as dinner. It should probably be called afternoon tea.
"When I was studying abroad, the period from two to three in the afternoon was always free of classes because both students and teachers wanted to leisurely enjoy afternoon tea. My favorite thing to do was drink black tea, eat cookies, and watch a freshly downloaded episode of Twin Peaks on my tablet.
"Have you ever seen Twin Peaks? If you haven't, I recommend it. David Lynch's Twin Peaks series had a decisive influence on most games and films from the 1990s onward, and it's also the culmination of David Lynch's work.
"All right, let's get back on topic. Right now, I just want someone to come to a restaurant with me and help me fill my stomach. Are you sure you won't come with me? I happen to love talking about art while I'm eating.
"Back when I was teaching at university, if a student wanted tutoring, I'd always agree. Except that rather than tutoring them only in the studio, I preferred tutoring students in restaurants.
"Cars need to refuel at gas stations, and people need food to refuel their brains and bodies. Replenishing your energy while absorbing knowledge at the same time is quite a wonderful experience."
With things having reached this point, Hibiki Naegi could only nod and agree. She desperately wanted to get into a prestigious university through the art entrance examination. She believed that only by getting into a prestigious university could she find a good job in the future, and only with a good job could she provide Seiko Kirigiri with a better life.
But judging from the paintings she'd produced recently, as well as the things Eiren Kanagawa had often told her, Hibiki Naegi had also clearly realized that her talent had already reached its limit. With the level of talent she currently possessed, perhaps she could pass the art entrance examination and get into a decent university, but certainly not a prestigious one.
In modern Japanese society, where educational requirements were steadily rising, finding a good job without a good academic background was practically as difficult as climbing to the heavens.
—With the limited talent I have, if I want to get into a prestigious university, I'll have no choice but to rely on Teacher Kanagawa!
Thanks to Eiren Kanagawa's perfectly timed assistance on several occasions, this understanding had already firmly taken root in Hibiki Naegi's mind.
And because of that understanding, when faced with Eiren Kanagawa's invitation now, even though Hibiki Naegi knew Seiko Kirigiri would be cooking for her tonight, she ultimately nodded anyway.
Seeing Hibiki Naegi finally agree, Eiren Kanagawa hummed with heartfelt amusement, smoothly pulled out her car keys, unlocked the car, then opened the front passenger door and said to Hibiki Naegi,
"Please get in, beautiful lady."
"I can sit in the back..."
Before Hibiki Naegi could finish, however, Eiren Kanagawa cut her off.
"Just sit in the front passenger seat. Don't be so shy. It's not like this is your first time sitting there. Last time, when we went on our date at Sydney Café, weren't you sitting in the front passenger seat on the way back too?"
"W-Was that really a date last time?!"
Hibiki Naegi had long since known the answer in her heart, but her face turned bright red as she spoke as though trying to refute it.
"At least I thought it was a date~ Hehe, I'm teasing you."
Eiren Kanagawa laughed teasingly, still making no move to close the front passenger door, as though silently telling Hibiki Naegi: I'm telling you to sit in the front passenger seat. This isn't a request. It's a demand.
After hesitating for a moment, Hibiki Naegi could only sit in the front passenger seat. Seeing this, the smile at the corners of Eiren Kanagawa's lips deepened. She closed the door, walked around to the driver's side, started the car, and fastened her seat belt.
"What do you like to eat?" Eiren Kanagawa asked.
"Eh?"
For a moment, Hibiki Naegi couldn't quite make sense of the question. Since Eiren Kanagawa was the one who wanted to eat, shouldn't they be going to a restaurant Eiren Kanagawa liked? Why was she asking what Hibiki Naegi liked?
Hibiki Naegi then said,
"Kanagawa-sensei, you don't need to worry about me. Just go eat whatever you want."
"I'm asking you what you like to eat." Eiren Kanagawa's expression didn't change in the slightest as she repeated the question.
Hibiki Naegi suddenly had the feeling that if she refused to answer, Eiren Kanagawa would simply keep asking the same question over and over.
With that thought, Hibiki Naegi could only force herself to name a dish she liked.
"Chicken soup with mushrooms and scallions. I like that."
"Oh~ So you like soup. That's actually pretty unusual. Most young people these days prefer fried or grilled foods. There aren't many who enjoy soup. As it happens, I know a restaurant that serves that kind of chicken soup. Let's go there now."
Eiren Kanagawa spoke with a smile, the delight in her voice making it seem as though merely learning the name of a dish Hibiki Naegi liked had made her happy.
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