That night, Ichin and Utaha had a rather in-depth "discussion" about the eternal debate: black stockings or white. After much deliberation, they finally reached a consensus.
Black stockings really were the better choice.
Among the girls they knew, Eriri, Yukino, and Hifumi all wore black stockings. The only one who occasionally wore white ones was Iijima Yun. But Utaha was confident in her own style—she knew how to stand out from the others.
And even among black stockings, there were levels of quality and style.
---
The Next Morning
After washing up and returning to the bedroom, Utaha slowly slipped into a pair of black pantyhose while Ichin watched. The fabric tightly hugged her legs, shaping them elegantly.
She walked over and sat beside him, resting her legs on his lap with a playful smile.
"So? How do they look?"
"Not bad. Not bad at all. But maybe let's not start this first thing in the morning… it could lead to some time-consuming distractions."
Chuckling, Ichin gently moved her legs off and pulled her up with him as they headed out of the room.
He definitely didn't want a "misfire" that would end up making them late for school.
---
After breakfast, they arrived at school. Ichin sat down and let out a yawn, clearly still sleepy.
He pulled out a can of coffee he'd bought on the way and took a sip. Since class hadn't started yet, he brought out his tablet and started reviewing questions for Japan's driving license test.
Although he already knew how to drive, he'd never looked at the Japanese version of the exam before. Better safe than sorry.
After flipping through a few practice questions, he realized something:
Huh, these questions seem way easier than the ones back home.
And even the road test looked much simpler by comparison.
"Yeah… I should be able to pass this on the first try."
Looked like he'd be getting his license soon.
Technically, the fastest way to get one was to take a residential driving course at a driving school—it only took 15 days—but Ichin couldn't afford to take that much time off. Even during vacation, that wasn't an option he'd consider.
Fortunately, he already had the basics down, so he could just take the test directly.
Glancing over at Utaha beside him, Ichin asked,
"Still not thinking of getting a license?"
Utaha smiled and shook her head.
"You taking the test is enough. Besides, I don't think I have any talent for driving."
No, Ichin thought. When it comes to "driving," you're definitely talented.
But if she wasn't interested, he wouldn't push. As long as he could drive, that was good enough.
---
Lunchtime
To absolutely no one's surprise, Shizuka Hiratsuka shamelessly showed up at the Service Club room again. While the others were eating homemade bento, she sat down with a cup of instant noodles and two rice balls.
Of course, her real reason for showing up was because Yukino had brought in two tins of high-quality tea from home—Shizuka was here to mooch some of that.
Watching her inhale her instant noodles like a hurricane, Ichin briefly wondered, Are instant noodles really that good?
But he quickly shook the thought.
It wasn't about taste—he just knew that Hiratsuka-sensei was hopelessly lazy. He'd never seen her bring her own bento, and her lunches were always like this. Either that or she went out to eat.
"Sensei," Ichin spoke up, "I really hate to be that guy, but… do you always eat like this at lunch? It's seriously not healthy."
Hiratsuka slurped down the last bit of broth, grabbed a rice ball, unwrapped it, took a bite, and replied,
"It's fine. You guys have no idea how busy a teacher's workday is. Besides, these noodles and rice balls aren't the cheap kind—they're actually really tasty."
"So in other words… you just can't cook?"
"Uhcough cough cough!!"
Hiratsuka Shizuka was completely floored by Ichin's comment. She took a big gulp of tea to recover, then shot him a fierce glare.
"Excuse me for not knowing how to cook! I already told you, being a teacher is really busy!"
Ichin nodded calmly and replied,
"So because you're busy, you never learned, and because you never learned, you can't cook—sounds like we've come full circle. But honestly, whether it's that you never bothered to learn or that you really can't, I could just call Miss Haruno and ask. She's known you for ages."
"Please don't call her!"
Shizuka backed down instantly. Slumping in her chair with a defeated sigh, she muttered,
"Cooking just really doesn't suit me, okay? It's not like I can't cook—I can make curry just fine. But people can't eat curry every single day! And there are so many good restaurants out there… why bother cooking myself?"
With that, she went right back to eating her rice ball.
Ichin exchanged a glance with Utaha and shrugged helplessly.
Shizuka was a woman with excellent outward qualities, but her personality and lifestyle habits left a lot to be desired. Whether it was her daily routines or hobbies, she really didn't come across as the "marriage material" type.
Sigh… Maybe I should lay off the teasing from now on.
---
After finishing lunch, Ichin sipped his tea and turned to Eriri.
"Eriri, are you coming to the studio after school today?"
"Of course!"
She raised her hand quickly.
"I've still got a bunch of stuff to finish. Gotta stay on top of it—I can't let everyone else fall behind because of me!"
Utaha narrowed her eyes slightly and said with a teasing tone,
"Oh ho~ Looks like Eri-sensei, who used to miss deadlines all the time, has gone through a full-on transformation. That's a good thing."
"Shut up! Mind your own business!"
Eriri stuck her tongue out at Utaha, then turned to Yukino beside her.
"Yukino, are you coming with us this afternoon?"
"No," Yukino replied flatly.
"I need to go to the supermarket. We're running low on ingredients at the apartment. If I go too late, all the good stuff will be gone. My sister keeps mooching off my cooking but never thinks to help restock. And telling her does absolutely nothing."
"Ahh… I see. That's a shame."
Eriri looked a bit disappointed.
At the studio, Eriri always felt more relaxed—freer than she did at school.
But she had come to realize that Yukino was different. No matter the environment, Yukino always maintained the same cool, distant demeanor. Her strict personality made her hard to approach. Besides the three people in their club and their teacher, almost no one at school talked to her much.
In fact, because of Eriri's association with Yukino, a few girls in their class had even warned her to stay away from the "ice queen" or risk catching whatever coldness she had.
Eriri genuinely wanted to help Yukino open up a little. She'd tried inviting her to the studio, hoping that a change in setting might do some good—but it didn't seem to make much of a difference.
Well, there was one noticeable change: Yukino's attitude softened a bit around Mozuku, the cat.
Still, what could Eriri do?
If things kept going like this, Yukino was definitely going to have trouble finding a boyfriend in the future.
With her chopsticks in her mouth, Eriri brooded over the thought.
Suddenly, Yukino felt a chill run down her spine and glanced suspiciously at Eriri.
"I get the feeling you're thinking something unpleasant."
"Eh? No no no! Not at all!"
Yukino narrowed her eyes, her gaze sharp and suspicious.
...