As The Wind Blows Your Scent To Me

"The trinkets at the stall are cute. Maybe, I'd stop by again to buy a few."

"Do you like cute things, Teacher Kato? You are so focused on the bracelets earlier." 

"Hehe, I sure do~"

Before leaving school, Yuina pushed herself forward. She extended an invitation to Himari, asking if she would like to go window shopping with her. Much to her relief and surprise, the English teacher agreed.

"I'm quite stressed right now. Window shopping is a good thing to do, don't you think?"

Yuina smiled as she listened to her justification. She didn't ask why did Himari feel stressed. Yuina just pointed it out to the ongoing examination period that would end in two days.

After the examination, what would come next was the home visitation. 

Thus, the two ladies got inside Yuina's car before they straightaway went to a nearby mall. It was the same mall where they coincidentally met in the cinema months ago.

Although this was the first time they went out together, neither Yuina nor Himari showed discomfort. Instead, they had a great time with each other.

"Later, let's have tea time at that cafe," Yuina gestured to a cafe with a slight lift of her chin, "The desserts are good. I remember that you enjoy sweets, aren't you?"

Himari's eyes followed where Yuina was pointing at. Her eyes were beaming, "Alright! I have never been to the cafe."

As far as Himari remembered, Nanako once said she wanted to visit the cafe. It was newly opened at the time they went to watch the film. 

If it was indeed good like how Teacher Masuda claimed, she could invite Nanako there some other time.

Neither of them shopped. They were really having window shopping, feasting their eyes on the arrays of adorable and interesting things. Just looking at the items and clothes had helped to lift up their mood.

When the two ladies walked past the center court, the giant and sleek screen of the court was playing an advertisement for Film Emperor Ishizaki Ryuu. It was the same one coming from the film emperor endorsing the brand of jewelry from overseas.

Yuina unconsciously stopped. Her eyes fell on the screen. Her action caught's Himari attention.

Himari pursed her lips as she stared at the woman next to her.

Surely, although she didn't look affected outwardly, her heart must be troubled by the sudden scandal, wasn't it?

Before Himari could open her mouth, a group of female teenagers also stopped near them. They were intently talking about the scandal.

"Say, our Ryuu-Ryuu won't do that, doesn't he?"

"Silly! We can't trust the tabloids. How many times has it been this kind of scandal erupts? In the end, all of them are false!"

"I think so too. How could our clean Ryuu-Ryuu did that kind of thing?"

"Yes ah! Even when the sexy idol Momoka wanted to seduce him before, he shut her down!"

After the screen changed to show a new advertisement for a celebrity, the group walked away from the court. They were still talking about how their beloved film emperor wouldn't wrong them the slightest. Their fan filter was too thick, thinking that the renowned actor was a faultless human.

"Teacher Masuda, how are you feeling?" Himari asked in cautiousness toward the young lady who was still staring at the screen.

Although she wanted to ignore it, Himari felt bad to do so. Maybe it had something to do with her knowing about Teacher Masuda's relationship with the film emperor. It was hard to feign ignorance.

Yuina stiffly moved her eyes away from the screen. She looked at Himari with a faint smile.

"Well, it's a lie if I say I'm really okay," She replied.

This was the first time Yuina admitted such a thing to another person aside from Kanna, her best friend.

This new scandal was created mindlessly by the tabloids yet, it was still unpleasant to hear about it. If not because she had full trust in her husband, Yuina really thought she might faint in anger having to face this.

Turning around to Himari's side, Yuina cast a smile at her, "But, things like this often happen in his circle. There's nothing we could actually do. I could only trust him while he could only try to keep his surroundings safe."

The moment Ryuu said he would venture into the entertainment circle, Yuina had already thoughts of the dirty water lurking behind the glamorous cover of the showbiz. She still remembered the first time Ryuu was caught in a scandal years ago.

The helpless feeling shrouded her yet, the only thing that keeping her away from the emotional turmoil was her unconditional trust in Ryuu.

She knew him before he was crowned as the film emperor. Even after more than a decade, Yuina didn't sense any changes in him.

"You're so brave and strong to be able to endure everything," Himari said quietly after pondering for a moment. Her eyes turned downcast as she couldn't imagine how much Yuina had to bear all this time, "If I'm ever in your shoes, I don't think I could be as resilient as you."

Yuina stifled a laugh. Tilting her head, she hummed, "If I didn't force myself to be strong, I'm afraid I would collapse long ago."

Himari was stunned.

This woman was smiling as she was saying things but, was her heart smiling as her lips?

Seeing the trance on Himari's face made Yuina swallowed a bitter smile.

"Hey, don't think about it. We come out together to destress ourselves. Don't make me further stressing you!" Yuina lightly patted on the younger woman's back.

"Ah, haha, you're right," Himari laughed awkwardly.

It was obvious that Yuina didn't want to continue talking about it.

Thus, the two ladies left the center court. They walked to the cafe where Yuina showed earlier.

As they walked together, Yuina's eyes were trained on the English teacher beside her. When she thought back on what she had shared with Teacher Kato, she didn't feel too bad about it.

Before, she could only share such things with Kanna. Hiro was excluded because she understood, if her brother knew of her worries, he would surely tell Ryuu about them.

Like how she had thought before...

It was good if she could befriend Teacher Kato.

The two teachers entered the cafe and found a place to sit. Himari asked suggestions from Yuina as the latter used to come here. Because both of them didn't feel like eating a heavy meal, they just chose desserts and tea.

"We'll make a quick trip to Hiraya Falls later. It would just be a one-day trip, but it's already enough for our inspection," Yuina suddenly said after sipping her tea.

"En?" Himari raised her brows. She looked at Yuina in confusion, "Do you mean we have to inspect the camp park before the trip?"

"Have you forgotten about it?" Yuina laughed. With a hand propped on the table, she rested her chin on the back of her hand, "We have to go there at least one week before the camping trip. It's approximately in another two months."

Himari slapped her forehead. She sighed at her own forgetfulness.

Yes. She had indeed forgotten about it.

"And we still have a sports festival before that," She lamented with her eyes looking at the white ceiling above her head.

Even though there was a gap between the events, if they counted on the preparations as well as the required daily tasks, the events would happen in just a blink of an eye.

Himari actually anticipated both events, the sports festival and the camping trip. She loved to see how lively the students would be in both events.

It seemed like Teacher Goda would finalize the assignment of personnel soon. She hoped she could get an interesting post for the sports festival. 

Even during her own school days, she would be excited every time the school organized the sports festival and any trips outside of school. 

Now, she could see the same look she had in her students' eyes.

Both of them left the cafe at a quarter to six o'clock. Himari beat Yuina in the matter of who's going to pay. Under Yuina's dazed eyes, Himari smiled sneakily while handing her card to the cashier.

"You have paid for my medicine and porridge the other day. Since you only accepted my cookies, let me pay for your sweets today."

It was a hopeless case if she continued pressing in this matter, Yuina thought. She laughed softly, "Alright. Thank you for your treat."

Himari curled up her lips. She thanked the cashier once the payment was completed.

Hehe, she had to quickly text Nanako and said that they should come to this cafe together soon!

"Alright, let's go home," Himari slipped the card inside her purse. As she raised up her chin, the corner of her eyes subconsciously drifted to a spot before a blank look flickered in her eyes.

She thought she had seen...

Her action didn't miss Yuina's attention, "Teacher Kato?"

Himari frowned, shook her head then smiled at Yuina, "Ah, it's nothing. It's just... I think I have seen that man before."

As she spoke, she looked again in the previous direction before a frown laced with confusion formed on her face.

The cafe was vast. The place where she saw a man wearing a black outfit was empty. If Himari didn't mistake it as another person, she really thought she had seen the same man in a few shops they were in before.

Was it just a coincidence?

"A man?"

Yuina tried to see where Himari was looking but, the spot was empty. 

There was no one else there.