That afternoon, after returning to Schale, I found the white-haired girl in the living area. Having finished the work I entrusted to her, she was leisurely sitting on the sofa reading a book.
"Oh? Sensei, you're back."
Suddenly, as if noticing something, Noa slightly furrowed her brows.
"What's wrong?" I asked, inexplicably feeling guilty.
Then I realized her gaze had settled on my chest.
In that instant, I understood what I had neglected earlier while challenging the limits of my stomach capacity.
"Sensei," the observant girl said, "the way your tie is tied seems different from before."
I hurriedly explained, "Ah, because I ate outside, so I loosened it…"
Which was technically the truth.
"I see."
Noa nodded, but then immediately smiled and asked:
"Did you eat together with another girl, and have her tie it for you?"
I froze.
She could tell even that!? And why did she make it sound like what I'd been eating wasn't food but something else!?
I quickly tried to continue explaining:
"Noa, you misunderstood, actually it was…"
"Alright, alright, I understand."
At that moment, the seminar secretary closed the book and set it aside. Then she stood up, walked in front of me, and reached out both hands, undoing the tie Akari had fixed for me before carefully retieing it herself.
"That girl's technique didn't seem very good. Or was it intentional, perhaps? Hehe∼ Though, I only learned this last night myself. But look, I did a pretty nice job, didn't I? So when Yuuka-chan isn't around… or rather, when you don't want Yuuka-chan to notice, you can ask me to help as well, you know?"
"Ah, i-is that so…"
"That's right∼"
The corners of Noa's lips lifted a little higher.
"Hehe∼ So Sensei can make reactions this cute too. Once your perspective changes, you really do start seeing different things."
Combined with our conversation at the family restaurant last night, those words all but confirmed the suspicion I'd formed earlier this morning.
Under my relentless pressure, and after discovering some rather interesting facts, she had finally broken through the restraints she imposed on herself. She had abandoned her previous strategy of avoidance, and decided that even if it meant betraying Yuuka, she would take the initiative and advance.
Overall, I was delighted.
But there was still one tiny dissatisfaction lingering in my heart.
Where exactly had my initiative gone?
If she was going to change like this, couldn't she at least have warned me first, then given me a few weeks to slowly adapt? Didn't Noa herself need more time to mentally prepare? Shouldn't she think about Yuuka a little more?
Ahahaha.
Come to think of it, she had already basically declared she was willing to betray Yuuka just now.
Card! Give me some confidence here!
I cried out bitterly in my heart, while outwardly stumbling over my words so badly I couldn't even form a complete sentence, which only made Noa's smile gain the same mischievous delight she wore whenever teasing Yuuka.
In any case, after straightening my appearance again, Noa smiled in satisfaction, then returned to the sofa and resumed reading her book.
After standing there awkwardly for a while, I cautiously sat beside her and started a conversation.
"Noa, what book are you reading right now?"
"Here, look."
The white-haired girl openly showed me the book's cover.
Judging by the title, it was clearly a poetry collection.
I immediately recalled that last year's Millennium Club Awards winner, "Collection of Memories," had been written by Noa herself.
Though admittedly, the reason it won was because the poetry was far too obscure for Millennium's engineering-minded girls, so they treated it as insomnia therapy.
"You really like poetry, huh?" I asked knowingly.
"Hehe∼ I suppose so?"
She smiled.
"When reading, I always feel like I can understand the emotions the poet had while writing."
As she spoke, she handed me the poetry collection and invited:
"Sensei, would you like to read together? Hehe∼ If you don't mind, I can read it aloud to you."
I gladly accepted.
But as the girl beside me began softly and earnestly reciting the verses her slender fingers pointed out, I gradually realized something was wrong.
Just to be safe, I patiently kept listening, until I finally confirmed it wasn't my imagination.
Why was every single poem in this collection a love poem!?
Since arriving at Schale yesterday, she hadn't left at all, partly because she was technically lying in wait for Koyuki.
Which meant she had packed this poetry collection the moment she learned she'd be staying overnight at Schale.
Thinking positively, perhaps this wasn't premeditated, and she merely possessed a deep understanding of her own inability to resist temptation…
Was there even a difference?
And considering what she had just said, that while reading poetry she could feel the emotions of the author…
Every sentence Noa read now felt like invisible feathers brushing lightly against my heart, leaving behind a faint itch that made me increasingly restless.
Even though I prided myself on being experienced, my relationships with the students had always been straightforward and direct. Who played games like this!?
For some reason, I began to miss the version of Noa who kept her distance out of consideration for her friendship with Yuuka.
At that moment, noticing my discomfort again, Noa stopped reading and sighed in a way that sounded doubly meaningful.
"My~ Sensei, do you dislike the poem I'm reading to you?"
"N-no, of course not!"
I hurriedly denied it, though I truly was beginning to fear this side of Noa a little.
Just as I was trying to think of a suitable excuse, inspiration suddenly struck me.
"It's just that, compared to other people's works, what I really want to read is poetry written by Noa herself."
Before meeting her first love, namely me, she knew absolutely nothing about romance between men and women. There was no way she could write any convincing love poetry!
Besides, the excuse sounded perfectly reasonable, and she probably wouldn't reject it. That way, I could smoothly escape this embarrassing situation.
However, my words produced an effect completely beyond my expectations.
The white-haired girl, who had just been smiling calmly, suddenly froze.
"…Sensei, are you saying you want me to personally show you all the emotions I recorded together with the words I wrote?"
…So in the current atmosphere, that was how it could be interpreted.
Although it wasn't my intention, I suddenly sensed an opportunity to regain the initiative.
"If Noa doesn't want to…"
"No. If it's you."
She interrupted me before I could finish.
Noa gazed at me, the smile returning to her face as she softly said:
"I'm willing."