"I'm calling the police, you criminal."
Lin brushed his teeth in front of the mirror, ignoring Yama, who was glaring at him. After gargling and spitting out the water, he looked seriously at his reflection. Having kept his face covered for a long time, Lin had actually forgotten what he looked like. Now, with a direct comparison, he realized his appearance shared some similarities with Yama. They truly looked a bit like siblings.
But others hadn't noticed this. As expected...
The sound of breathing approached. He saw through the mirror that Yama malicious eyes were now beside him. Lin asked calmly, "Want a kiss?"
"...I'd rather kiss a dog." Yama took a step back in disgust. "This is already sexual harassment, pervert teacher."
"You still know that?" Lin tongue was still throbbing with a faint ache. One of the softest parts of the human body took longer to heal than other areas.
"How would I not know?" Yama was led off-topic, then suddenly realized that wasn't what she wanted to say. "Your home invasion and sexual harassment are enough to land you in prison."
"Didn't you invite me to stay?" Seeing Lin "matter-of-fact" attitude, Yama clenched her fists. She took a deep breath to suppress the fire rising in her heart. "I only took you in for one night the day before yesterday."
How thick-skinned did one have to be to sneak back into someone else's home the next day as if nothing happened, toss the owner onto the sofa, and seize the bedroom?
"I asked you, and you didn't object."
"..."
The "asking" Lin referred to was asking Yama if she could give up the bed while she was in a groggy sleep. Of course, Yama couldn't have said no.
Regarding the sexual harassment issue, Lin chose to tell Yama a joke.
"There was a person who kissed themselves in the mirror and died. Do you know why?"
"Because they 'kissed themselves to death' (suicide)."
In an instant, the ice in Yama eyes froze even deeper.
...
"Unbelievable."
Yama teeth itched as she watched Lin swagger through the school gates after showing his teacher ID. Today, she took the initiative to talk to Kevin, though the conversation revolved around Lin.
"What is he thinking? Treating someone else's home like his own, and sexually harassing female students at will. Is his next step going to be licking my feet?"
Kevin, sporting dark circles from staying up late playing games, was eating breakfast. He waved his hand dismissively. "But if he really had those kinds of intentions, shouldn't he have carried them out last night?"
Yama thought about it. It seemed... that was true.
"Also, Lin, ever since Teacher Yama arrived, you've been talking more and showing more emotion. I think it's pretty good."
Kevin casual remark made Yama tremble. A cloud of doubt filled her beautiful eyes. Was she like this before? Why did she feel such a massive disconnect between her current self over the last few days and her past memories? Normally, she wouldn't have had such a strong reaction even to the situation last night. She didn't care about those things at all.
"It must be his fault," Yama said with certainty, her dislike for Lin reaching a new level. "He's the most annoying person I've ever met."
"Is that so? I think you quite like him."
"...Are you as blind as he is?"
"Look, all you talk about every day is him." Kevin finished his breakfast in one gulp, pouring the milk into his mouth. "You stare at him during class, you stare at him after class. Your eyes never leave him when he's around, and you find people to talk about him when he's not. Even I'm not like that with Mei."
...
Yama was very irritated. She was very irritated by the impact Kevin words had on her. She actually realized Kevin was telling the truth—she was thinking about Lin all the time now. The deep impression left by the perverted things that pervert did was more than all the memories of the first half of her life combined. It had completely affected her life.
Furthermore, she didn't know where that special feeling toward Lin came from. On one hand, she felt she should distance herself from him, but on the other, a mysterious feeling made her pay attention to him. It was like two consciousnesses were fighting in her head, and she didn't know which was better.
Today was another of Lin classes. His class was actually Social Practice and Morality. Yama felt that with someone like him teaching, the students of this era were truly beyond saving. But everyone else except her loved the new teacher.
There were two reasons. After Lin walked in with his textbook right on time, he didn't immediately open the book for class. Instead, he slowly put down his things, unscrewed his thermos, went to the water dispenser to make tea, then unhurriedly moved a chair to the podium and sat down. Then, he announced self-study. During student days, if a teacher frequently gave students self-study, they would likely be very popular.
The other reason was...
"He's really handsome..."
"He looks way better than those celebrities..."
"And he's very easygoing. I heard he's a doctor..."
Whispers reached Yama ears. She expressionlessly glanced at Lin, who had opened a web novel and started reading, then looked at the chattering students around her. People even praised him for being knowledgeable just for reading a trashy web novel. She really wanted to know what kind of "knowledge" it was—was it true that if a person was good-looking, everything they did was right?
Snap.
Suddenly, Lin closed the novel in his hand. Everyone fell silent instantly; the whispers vanished. Finally, it was quiet. But Lin wasn't planning on managing discipline. He stood up and walked toward the door. Only after reaching the door did he seem to remember, saying to the students: "I'm going to the restroom. Class monitor, manage the discipline."
...
Lin went to the rooftop. He wasn't sure if he had seen correctly just now. From this spot, he could see most of Nagazora City. Through this vast field of vision, he saw the thing that had been missing for a long time.
A faint, towering clock tower stood within the city.
"..." Lin observed carefully and found that this clock tower was different from the ones he had seen before. it had a clear sense of being illusory, as if it had no physical form. It appeared for a while, then disappeared again.
Why? Why did it suddenly reappear now? Although it looked unstable, why at this moment?
Back in the classroom, the frustration Yama was holding back grew more intense. As a certain emotion rose within her, something else seemed to enter her mind...