Episode Nine: No Turning Back ―September 2032―

With just one word, I felt the atmosphere between me and the teacher completely transform.

There was no going back. Not to the moment just a minute ago when we were merely a close teacher and student.

But I have no regrets. Is this the power of love? Or perhaps it’s just that I’m special?

　Just thinking about how our relationship would change from here on out made my heart leap with anticipation.

The teacher’s expression remained unchanged. The red light turned green, and the car picked up speed.

The fact she didn’t seem the slightest bit unsettled meant my confession hadn’t stirred her heart at all.

“Those feelings… I believe they stem from a youthful misunderstanding.”

“My feelings, you say? I don’t want you to define them for me.”

“…Uehara-san is my pupil, and I am Uehara-san’s teacher. I have no intention of our relationship becoming anything else.”

As expected, I was rejected outright. But I knew her answer from the start, so there was no reason to be downhearted.

“So just because we’re teacher and pupil it means it’s wrong? That doesn’t mean it’s wrong just because we’re both women?”

“…I suppose so.”

The teacher neither confirmed nor denied it, leaving the words ambiguous. We live in a society that champions diversity, and surely, given her position as a teacher, she couldn’t openly make discriminatory remarks in front of a student.

Truthfully, no matter how the teacher responded, I never intended to give up on these feelings.

“Love is free, isn’t it? Then surely it’s free for me to like you? I’ll try my best to make you like me back.”

　Seeing me not the slightest bit disheartened, the teacher, who had been treating me with sincere consideration all along, leaned back slightly in their seat and exhaled softly.

“…Indeed, I have no right to force my feelings upon you.”

“Right? So I’ll just go ahead and love freely in my own way.”

“I see…”

　The teacher gave a slight flick to adjust her glasses, which weren’t even askew. At last, she showed clear signs of being unsettled. I thought it was cute.

The moment I became aware of my feelings, the words left my body and reached the teacher, and then I couldn’t stop. I’d always feared how love could change a person, but like a butterfly that can’t return to its chrysalis, I can’t go back to being the person I was before I knew love.

　It doesn’t feel as bad as I’d imagined. All that’s left is to charge ahead, until you fall for me.

“So, you know, you should fall for me soon too.”

How does the teacher view my love? My love that’s more like that of a toddler than a beginner, staring into your eyes, clumsily throwing my feelings at you.

The teacher spoke in the same matter-of-fact tone used during lessons.

“One has no right to force another’s feelings… wasn’t it you, Uehara-san, who made me say that just moments ago?”

“But wanting someone to like you is a free feeling too.”

As I kept pleading like this, we eventually arrived at my house and the car stopped. The teacher, having switched on the hazard lights, mentioned something about me having to rest properly today.

Then, as if admonishing me, she declared.

“…I won’t choose you, Uehara-san. Please don’t waste your precious time.”

“It’s fine, for now. But I will make you turn around, I promise.”

I wanted to pour out every last drop of this feeling overflowing inside me. Please accept it. Please, take it in.

　Thinking this, I found myself naturally taking the teacher’s hand. Even when I squeezed her slender fingers tightly, she didn’t flinch. Her large eyes simply reflected me.

No matter how many times she refused me with words, I clung to the faint hope that she wouldn’t pull her hand away.

If she truly detested me… she couldn’t possibly endure being alone with me in the car like this, holding my hand.

　The teacher stared intently at me. Within those large, pale irises, the battle to truly reflect me was about to begin.

“I know you still like your first love. But that’s okay. From now on, I’m going to be super proactive in trying to make you like me, so here goes!”

With that declaration and a smile, I thanked her for the lift home and got out of the car.

　Whether from the excitement of confessing or not, my body temperature seemed quite high; even stepping out of the air-conditioned car, I didn’t feel much difference in the temperature.

“Uehara-san.”

At that voice, my hand paused as I went to close the door.

After a brief moment of eye contact without words, the teacher’s lips slowly parted.

“…Good night. I’ll say it again, please get plenty of rest tonight.”

“Good night, Sensei. See you at school.”

From the mouth that left me with words of a teacher even at parting, I vowed I would make her say she liked me, no matter what.

Once her car was out of sight, I stretched up tall towards the stars.

My first love, newly born, was being swallowed up by the summer night sky.

　Not that it vanished, of course. More like it was so giddy it wanted to become a constellation, passed down through the ages.

But the teacher seemed to dislike such flashy romances… So I hoped we could become lovers who moved slowly, quietly, yet respected and cared for each other.

　…Wishing upon stars? I wasn’t this kind of person before. It’s all your fault, Sensei.

Now then, where should I start with Suzuka? …No, there’s really only one thing I should tell her first thing.

—Hey, listen. I’ve fallen for someone.

For the first time, I’d decided to speak up myself, about this self-indulgent love story, so typical of a high school girl.