Awakening

When the waiter brought a new cup of coffee, Masashi dared not to drink again. He looked across the table at teacher Naoko who had silently hung her head

"Em, could you repeat that sentence? I might have heard it wrong." After a while, Masashi a bit awkwardly said some words.

After what seemed like a long time, Naoko slowly raised her head and looked at him, then faintly said: "I am sorry, I have scared you. I….excuse me." With that, she stood up in a hurry to leave.

When passing him, the youth almost instinctively grabbed her hand.

Suddenly, he felt like a drop of liquid fell on the back of his hand, looking up, he can't help but stunned.

"Please….let me go…okay?" With eyes filled with tears, teacher Naoko tried to cover her face with her hand while the other hand struggled to get away from the youth's firm grip.

"Naoko, would you please sit down?" After taking a deep breath, the youth sincerely said.

After a while, teacher Naoko finally stopped struggling, then looked at him with an incomparably complex look and slowly sat at her original seat.

"If, I mean if, if I am not mistaken, the meaning of your words is, you like….em, have a certain degree of favorable impression toward me, am I right?" Masashi still not used to say those words.

Teacher Naoko looked at him in the eye, then with full of sadness but firm tone said: "Masashi, I….like you.

If these words create difficulty for you, I am sorry. I won't bother you anymore. I….I want to go back, please don't block me." Then, she wanted to leave.

The youth didn't let her stand up. Instead, he grabbed her hand. Then he turned it over to expose her wrists and put two fingers on top of her veins or arteries to check her pulse.

Looking at the youth who did not say a word even after a long time, teacher Naoko gently sighed. She did not try to shake off his hand, just quietly watching him.

"How much time?" After a while, the youth said a sentence.

Teacher Naoko did not react for a time, just looking at him with confused eyes.

"I mean your heart's problem." The youth looked at her.

"You….how did you know?" Teacher Naoko was very surprised.

The youth sighed, "You probably have some level of goodwill toward me, but with your character, you would not take the initiative to say those things toward a high school student like me. Only a person whose days are numbered would be eager to do such a thing. Am I right Naoko?"

After listening to Masashi, teacher Naoko's face went white, and her whole body felt increasingly cold.

Suddenly, she felt her right hand tightened, looking up she saw the youth had wrapped her hand tightly in his hands.

"I won't let anything happen to you." The youth gently said some words.

This sentence seemed like a spell, teacher Naoko suddenly felt the chill flew away from her and, all of a sudden a warm feeling passed through his clasping hands and into her heart. At that moment, she knew, crystal-clear, how badly her attachment toward this youth is.

"Just a month ago, because of a sudden burst of angina, I was sent to the hospital. According to the doctor's diagnosis, there's a sign that my heart disease started to get worse. I forgot to tell you, I have a congenital heart disease, it belongs to the family of hereditary disease. My grandmother, at 26 years of age, died because of this illness. The doctor told me that if it continues to deteriorate, I might have a sudden death.

In that incidence, I really thought I would die. Fortunately, I survived that period. During that time in the hospital, I thought about a lot of things. But most of those thoughts was about you, do you know why I suddenly resigned from my teaching job to go to Nagoya?" Teacher Naoko looked at him with eyes as soft as the water.

"Is it because of me?" Seeing the look in her eyes, even an idiot would know that this matter was tied to themselves.

"Yes, before this you were my student, and I am six years older than you. I feared that if I continue to be in contact with you, one day I wouldn't be able to bear it. So, in order to suppress your feelings, I went to Nagoya."

"Actually, I am not worthy to be treated like this by you." After silent for a moment, the youth quietly said.

Teacher Naoko's free hand firmly grasped the youth's hands, "No, for you, everything is worth it. After living in the hospital for half a month, I finally figured it out. I don't really care if I were to die tomorrow. But I do not want to die with regret, and that regret is you. I won't ask you anything, I just want to stay by your side. Quietly stay by your side. It would be enough as long as I can quietly look at you.

Are….you willing to accept a woman like me who could die at any time?" Her tone was gentle as a summer wind.

"Please, let me stay by your side, okay?" At the same time, an equally soft voice sounded in his ears, a refined and gentle face of a woman seemed to appear before his eyes once again.

In that instant, the youth had a feeling of being struck by lightning.

Teacher Naoko's heart was beating fast, nervously looking at the youth, who was in contemplation mode.

If his answer is negative, she did not know if she had the strength to get out of this coffee shop.

Will, he accept me?

—-

"Aiko, such a rare Sunday, why don't you call that fellow Gennai to go out together?" Asami said with a smile.

"Why all of a sudden mention his name, hateful." Aiko charmingly said.

"What's wrong, did you have a fight with him?" Ryoko interrupted to ask.

"No, you are all annoying." Aiko went to the other side of the shelf to choose clothes.

The two curious girls would certainly not let her go, they immediately pulled the silent Ai to stood by Aiko's side.

"Oh, I get it, it must be because that guy Gennai put an excessive request to our lovable Aiko, that's why you are so angry." Ryoko showed a strange smile.

"What did you say?" Aiko knitted her brows.

"For example, he asked you to go to the hotel with him, and so on. Am I right?" Ryoko smiled and said.

"Crazy, that's not it." Aiko suddenly blushed.

"Is it true? That guy Gennai really made such a request?" Seeing her reaction Asami couldn't help but be a bit skeptical.

Ai was looking at Aiko with a complex look.

"No, do you guys really believe that blockhead able to do such a thing?" At this point, Aiko couldn't help but get angrier. Someone else's boyfriend, because of this hotel thing, would quarrel with their girlfriend. But him? She had obviously given him the opportunity to go into her apartment, but he actually did not cherish it. Although she didn't mean to invite him to do that kind of thing, at least there was a chance to promote their feelings to each other; Really hateful guy. Thinking of this, Aiko almost tore the clothes in her hands into shreds.