"Ara... A date with your girlfriend, is it?" Kaoruko's voice was a silken purr, a knowing smile curving her lips as she observed the scene.
"W-Well... something like that... ahaha..." I forced a dry, brittle laugh past the lump in my throat.
"In that case, you won't be staying for lunch today?"
"No. We've planned to meet after we've both eaten, so... if it's no trouble, I'd like to partake as usual."
"Fufufu... Understood. I shall have it prepared for you."
Kaoruko's smile remained placid, her agreement a smooth acceptance of my lie. Though the estate housed a full staff of servants, meals were typically taken only by Kaoruko and Toka.
To alleviate even a fraction of their solitude, I made it a point to seldom refuse their hospitality.
"Very well. I look forward to today's lesson, Hirokazu-sama."
With a graceful bow, Kaoruko glided from the room, the soft whisper of her kimono trailing behind her.
"Alright, let's get started, Toka-chan."
"Mmph..."
'Huh?'
I addressed the girl now seated at the study desk, but her only response was a petulant puff of her cheeks. She stared rigidly forward, her attention fixed on the open notebook before her.
I had, of course, previously informed Toka of my relationship status.
After closing the door behind Kaoruko, I settled into the chair placed beside the desk.
The study materials were laid out, perfectly prepared—notebooks open, reference books at the ready—yet Toka refused to even pick up her pen.
"Um... I'd like to start whenever you're ready..."
I prompting was met with stony silence; Toka remained a statue of puffed-cheek defiance.
'Sigh... What am I supposed to do with her...?'
"Sensei..." she finally whispered.
"Hm?"
"On this date... after your lunch... will you be doing things like... kissing? And... lewd things?"
"Huh!?"
The sheer audacity of the question, spilling so bluntly from Toka's innocent lips, made my jaw go slack. I snapped my gaze to her face; her expression was deadly serious, her eyes boring into me with an intensity that stole my breath.
"I-I mean... I suppose... depending on the mood, such things could happen. But it's not a foregone conclusion, you know!"
'Though, given that this is Nino's first time experiencing it all... sex is definitely happening.'
"So... if the mood is right, you will do them?"
"W-Well... Look, this conversation is inappropriate. Come on, let's just start the lesson."
I reached for the reference book, hoping to redirect the suffocating tension. Instead, Toka rose from her seat with a sudden, decisive motion.
"Toka-chan?"
"Even I...!"
"?"
Before I could question her, Toka's hands flew to the shoulders of her dress. In one fluid, shocking motion, she pulled it down, the fabric pooling at her feet with a whisper of cloth.
"H-Hey—!?"
My head snapped to the side, my eyes instinctively averting from the sudden expanse of bare skin.
"What are you doing all of a sudden!?"
"Please... Sensei... look at me..."
"No! That's not—!"
"Please!"
The desperate, heart-wrenching plea in her voice made me falter. My resolve to look away crumbled. Slowly, against every screaming instinct of propriety, I turned my head back toward her.
There stood Toka, her spine ramrod straight despite the vivid blush staining her cheeks. She was clad only in her underwear—a set of pure, virginal white.
The bra cupped her small breasts that seemed to reflect the girl age, the swell of them straining against the innocent fabric. A tiny red ribbon adorned the front of her panties, a single childish detail that only served to accentuate the mature, womanly curves of her hips and thighs.
"How is it...? Does seeing me innocent body like this... make your heart beat even a little bit faster?"
She stepped closer, her hands rising to gently cup my cheeks. The warmth of her palms seared my skin as her hazel eye stare at me.
"Ah... y-yeah..."
"Fufufu... I'm so happy... Just like this... won't you please... take my first time?"
Her face drew nearer, her lips parting slightly.
"Absolutely not! You know I have a girlfriend!"
I hands shot up, gripping her bare shoulders to hold her at bay.
"Please...! Just once...! Once is all I ask...!"
Even as I pushed, Toka resisted, her voice a frantic, desperate entreaty.
"I am the only daughter of the Hojoin family. Someday, I will be made to welcome some man I do not know, a political match I cannot refuse. So... please! At the very least...! At least let my first time be with the one I love...! That is my most fervent, desperate wish...!"
Tears streamed freely down her cheeks now, her confession a raw, bleeding wound laid bare before me.
'Damn it...' I thought.
"I'll be sixteen next year. The same age my mother was when she was wed into this family."
"..."
"So please...! I'm begging you...!"
Her anguished plea hammered against the walls of my conviction.
Lost in the tempest of my indecision, the strength in my hands wavered. I felt her draw closer, her soft, trembling lips inching toward me.
"Sensei... Mm..."
Toka's eyelids fluttered shut, her face tilting up to meet his in a kiss—
*Knock knock... Clatter...*
The sound of a knock, followed instantly by the door sliding open, shattered the moment like a pane of glass. My hands tightened, shoving Toka back just as Kaoruko stepped inside, a tray laden with tea balanced in her hands.
"The tea is... ready... I..."
Kaoruko's words died in her throat. Her gaze swept over the scene—her daughter, half-naked in nothing but her pure white underthings, and the tutor frozen mid-push.
"Ah... Hmm... I see..."
A mask of icy composure slid over Kaoruko's features. She placed the tray on the table with a soft, deliberate clink before speaking again.
"Toka. For the time being, remove yourself from Hirokazu-sama's person and put your clothes back on."
"But, Mother!"
"Toka?"
"...Yes."
At the subtle, steel-laced shift in her mother's tone, Toka's defiance crumbled. She backed away and stooped to retrieve her discarded dress.
I suppressed a shiver; the quiet authority in Kaoruko's voice had been terrifying.
After a brief, tense explanation of what had transpired, Kaoruko let out a long, weary sigh and bowed her head deeply toward me.
"Sensei. I offer my deepest apologies for my daughter's utterly discourteous behavior."
"N-No! Please, raise your head. She's at that age... an interest in such matters is only natural. And... I understand Toka-chan's feelings."
I forced my voice to remain gentle, carefully choosing words that wouldn't betray my own inner turmoil.
"Sensei..." Kaoruko lifted her head, a small, enigmatic smile gracing her lips.
Then, rising to her feet, she moved toward the door and called out, her voice now carrying a sharp, carrying edge.
"Kotaro. You are there, I presume?"
'Ha! I am at your side!' A disembodied voice answered from seemingly nowhere.
"What Toka just did is not to be spoken of to anyone. Am I understood?"
'Ha!'
The easy warmth was gone from Kaoruko's voice, replaced by a chilling undercurrent of menace. I felt a fresh jolt of surprise.
"Furthermore, from this moment until I personally give the order, no one—no one—is to approach this room. That includes Genan, and it most certainly includes yourself."
'B-But, my lady! In that case, your own safety!'
"Are my words somehow unclear?"
'...! Ha! Should anyone approach within a ten-meter radius, I shall immediately turn them away!'
A visceral shiver crawled down my spine. That single, quiet question had radiated the absolute, crushing weight of a true family head. For the first time, I truly believed the rumors that the university friend had whispered were real.
"Good. You are dismissed."
'Ha!'
With that, Kaoruko slid the door shut once more. She turned back, her expression instantly softening into its usual gentle smile.
"Fufufu... Now, there will be no further interruptions."
She glided over to where a dejected Toka sat on the floor, sinking down beside her and pulling the girl into a comforting embrace.
"Mother..."
"Toka? Do you love Sensei?"
"Ah...! Yes! I love him with all my heart! Enough that I would wish to spend my entire life by his side!"
"Is that so..."
Kaoruko listened, then a satisfied, almost proud smile bloomed on her face as she stroked her daughter's hair.
Toka's confession filled me with a bittersweet ache. Her feelings were genuine, profound... but I already had someone I intended to spend my life with.
"Sensei."
"Y-Yes!"
The sound of Kaoruko's voice snapped me back to attention, my posture rigid with apprehension.
"I understand that this is an utterly presumptuous request, especially after the scene that has just occurred. However, would you be so kind as to consider granting Toka's wish?"
"Mother..."
"Kaoruko-san... But, I already have..."
I wanted to grant Toka's desperate plea. But to do so would be a betrayal of Rena. The two choices hung in my mind like weights on an impossible scale.
"I am fully aware. I know you have a woman you love. Yet... I beg you to take pity on Toka's feelings, to understand their depth..."
"Th-That's..."
Her earnest gaze sent another tremor on my resolve.
"As you heard from Toka, I was married into the Hojoin family at the tender age of sixteen. It was a match decided when I was but a child... at the time, I accepted it as simply the way of things. My late husband was a good man; I had no cause for complaint…"
"However, once I became a parent myself, I began to agonize over whether it was right to condemn my own child to that same, harsh destiny." She continued.
"Mother..."
Kaoruko spoke with a wistful smile, her fingers gently stroking Toka's hair.
"My husband agreed with my convictions, and we made it our mission to systematically dismantle every last marriage proposal that came her way. To free her from those archaic shackles, he implemented sweeping reforms. Think of it like a corporate reshuffling of personnel. Under his leadership as the sitting head at the time, a fresh wind began to blow through the Hojoin household. But... his body had always been frail. In the end, he departed this world..."
"Father..."
A flicker of grief crossed Kaoruko's features as she spoke of her late husband, and Toka, stirred by the memory of her own father, pressed into her mother's side with a forlorn expression.
Kaoruko simply pulled her closer, a soft, sad smile returning as she held her daughter tight.
...