There are times in life when a man must make a difficult choice.
Face the truth like a man, or pretend nothing happened and hope reality gets embarrassed and loves me more.
Naturally, I always choose the second option.
Because after yesterday
1. Airi is basically a zombie-cursed girl.
2. Saliva is the only medium for her.
3. And eventually, we become one.
But there is one solution:
1. Ask seriously about my life decisions.
2. Develop Amnesia.
As long as I've been a veteran NPC, I chose option two.
That's why, the next morning, I entered class and acted like my life was still normal.
When it wasn't.
I sat in my usual seat and opened my notebook with sheer determination.
A man who absolutely didn't spend half the night thinking about what just happened to me. Did I just enter a romance game with biological side effects?
A chair scraped lightly behind me. I recognized the sound.
Airi had arrived. I kept my eyes forward, avoiding her gaze. My cowardice is my strength.
A few seconds passed, then I felt a stare.
A strong stare that could penetrate my whole body.
I sighed and slowly turned my head. Airi was giving me her death stare.
"Good morning," she said.
"Morning."
"What?"
"You are avoiding the subject."
"I don't know what you mean."
"Yes, you do."
"No, I don't."
"You do."
"Why are you avoiding me?"
"I'm a coward."
She seemed to think about it.
"Dickhead."
Wow, that actually hurt more than I expected.
"Thank you."
The classroom door slid open.
Our homeroom teacher, Mr. Takeda, stepped in with the tired face of a man who was in his early forties and wore rectangular glasses.
Behind him stood a woman, tall, elegant, with long dark hair tied into a ponytail, wearing a fitted blouse and pencil skirt.
A mature beauty that made half of the male students instantly sit up straight.
Mr. Takeda cleared his throat. "Quiet down."
But nobody listened. He sighed.
"We have a temporary health education and ethics instructor joining us this semester."
The woman stepped forward and gave a small polite bow.
"My name is Shizuka Kurotsuchi," she said.
Her voice was smooth and calm.
And the moment she said her surname, my soul left my body.
Kurotsuchi.
No. No. No.
I slightly turned my head to Airi, but her face also had a blank, surprised expression.
Mr. Takeda continued, "Well, she'll also be assisting with counseling and student wellness matters."
Shizuka-sensei smiled, "It's nice to meet all of you."
Then her eyes moved across the room and stopped on me.
For a split second, I felt my spine straighten.
And for some reason, I hated it even more.
She was a danger.
Pure adult danger.