I Can't Call Your Name

Kimura-sensei descended the stairs slowly, her calm presence heightening the tension as Kaito and Misaki stood still, keeping a five-step distance to let her pass.

With no escape in sight, they silently hoped to go unnoticed. But Kimura-sensei's sharp gaze found them instantly.

"Shouldn't you two be in class right now?" she asked, her tone calm yet pointed.

Misaki didn't miss a beat. "Kimura-sensei," she said confidently, "we had PE, but the girls took too long changing, so the president asked me to check in with them."

Kaito, impressed by her quick thinking, nodded eagerly. "Yeah, that's exactly what happened!" he stammered, doing his best not to mess things up.

Kimura-sensei, apparently satisfied, said nothing and resumed her descent. But just as they began to relax, she abruptly stopped and turned to face them.

Her sharp gaze landed squarely on Kaito. "And what about your hole-in-the-middle dreams? Made any progress?"

Kaito blinked, caught off guard. "Wha–? Oh! Yes! Okada-san has been really helpful," he blurted, a nervous grin plastered on his face as he scrambled to play along.

Kimura-sensei gave them one last sharp look, then mumbled. "Alright, then," she said and walked away without another word.

As soon as Kimura-sensei was out of sight, Kaito and Misaki quickly swapped their shirts and dashed in opposite directions, both eager to avoid any more awkward situations.

By the time Kaito reached the changing room, it was empty except for Touma, who stood by the door, raising an eyebrow as Kaito entered.

"Where've you been, man? Everyone else already left!"

"Uh... bathroom," Kaito mumbled.

"All this time?" Touma asked, looking at him skeptically.

"I had a bit of… diarrhea."

"Ugh, seriously? I didn't need to know that."

"Well, you asked."

Meanwhile, Misaki was having a similar conversation with Yui while quickly changing.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Yui-chan."

"Oh, no worries. I can't say it was a long wait."

As Kaito and Touma headed toward the gym, they ran into Misaki and Yui in the hallway.

"Running late too?" Touma asked.

"Yeah," Yui replied.

The four of them walked to the gym together, Misaki and Kaito both with flustered faces, carefully avoiding each other's gaze.

As they arrived, the other students were already lined up, with some moving on to the weight check after getting their height measured.

They quickly joined the height measurement line and waited for their turn. When it was Kaito's, he stepped forward, trying to calm his nerves.

"170 cm. Next," called out Yamamoto-sensei, the gym teacher.

Kimiko Yamamoto, 48, was a kind woman with short, curly white hair, known for her soft spot for female students.

Next up was Touma. "167," Yamamoto-sensei noted on her paper.

When it was Yui's turn, she seemed a bit tense. She stepped forward nervously, trying to subtly stand on her tiptoes to appear taller.

But Yamamoto-sensei, sharp-eyed as ever, caught her immediately. After a careful look, she smirked and said, "161 cm. But subtracting the 3 cm toe bonus... 158. Move along."

Yui passed, her face turning red with embarrassment, as Misaki stepped forward. Yamamoto-sensei's eyes lit up.

"My, aren't you lovely? I don't think I've seen you before," she said with a smile.

Misaki stood up straighter, almost at attention. "Uh, I'm a transfer student," she replied, trying to seem confident.

Yamamoto-sensei grinned mischievously. "Well, you certainly have that 'I'm new' glow," she teased. "Let's see how tall you really are."

"Alright then, 164 cm," she said before glancing down at her feet. "This time, no toe bonus," she added with a smile.

As Misaki and Yui made their way toward the weighing scale, Yui nervously trailed behind, hoping to be the last one to weigh in so no one would see her results.

Meanwhile, Kaito wrapped his arm around Touma's neck in a playful manner, pulling him back.

"Hold up, sumo boy. You should weigh in last, just in case we break the scale..."

"Yeah, yeah," Touma muttered, clearly not in the mood for his cheesy jokes.

When Misaki reached the scale, Izumi was already there, stepping off after being weighed.

One of the assistant students, scribbling down the numbers on his paper, suddenly turned to Izumi with a frustrated frown.

"Come on, Sasaki-san! You always weigh 49 kilos, there's no problem with the scale. Let the others—"

Izumi silenced him with a sharp glare, and he quickly swallowed the rest of his words, looking sheepish.

Feeling deflated, Izumi turned to Misaki, gave her a tight hug, and wore a slightly tearful expression.

"Misaki-chan... it's not fair," Izumi mumbled, her voice muffled as she buried her face in Misaki's shoulder.

"I've gained so much weight! What am I going to do?"

Misaki froze, unsure of how to respond, and patiently waited for Izumi to calm down. But before long, Izumi sniffed the air and her focus shifted completely.

"Wait... your perfume smells amazing! What is it?" she asked, completely over her earlier crisis.

"Uh, I think it's lavender," Misaki replied, still a bit hesitant.

"Really? You have to send me a picture of it later so I can buy it too!"

"Sure," Misaki said with a smile before stepping onto the scale.

Yui watched nervously as Misaki's weight was announced.

"48 kilos," the assistant mumbled.

"Oh, is that so? Looks like I haven't changed," Misaki said casually as she stepped down.

Finally, Yui walked toward the scale with trembling steps. Closing her eyes tightly, she asked Misaki, "Wha-What does it say?"

"48… No, wait… 48 and a half. Yep."

Yui cautiously peeked down at the scale and saw that Misaki was telling the truth. A wave of relief washed over her—it was less than she had feared.

"See? Nothing to worry about," Misaki said reassuringly.

Kaito and Touma finally approached the scale. Touma gestured for Kaito to go first.

"Of course, safety precautions are necessary," Kaito said with his usual humor, still making uncomfortable jokes.

"Seriously, is this what you're going to be like today?" Touma replied, clearly fed up.

As soon as Kaito stepped on the scale, the assistant called out, "60, next!" and wrote it down.

Then, Touma stepped up. "70, 74, no, 76, yes, 76," he said as the numbers were recorded.

As soon as Yamamoto-sensei heard the number, she rushed over to Touma with a motherly gaze.

"Sweetie, you need to lose a little weight," she said gently, her tone full of concern.

Touma nodded with a strained smile, his face betraying a hint of sadness, as though he'd been trying but seeing no results.

Just then, Izumi, still on the verge of tears, approached Yamamoto-sensei.

"Sensei, I've gained so much too! What should I do?" she asked, her voice with a childful innocence.

"Eat less, dear."

Kaito couldn't help but stifle a small laugh. He liked how straightforward the response was. However, Izumi caught him smiling.

"Kobayashi-kun!" Izumi called sharply, walking toward him and pinching his arm. As she did, she suddenly caught a whiff of Misaki's perfume lingering on Kaito.

She discreetly sniffed the air a couple of times, her expression shifting to a tense, surprised look as she glanced at Kaito.

"So you wear the same perfume?" Izumi asked, her tone suspicious.

"Huh? What perfume?" Kaito mumbled, completely caught off guard.

Misaki stiffened, suddenly remembering that she had sprayed her own perfume on his shirt earlier. She stood there, regretting it instantly.

Yui, sensing the awkward tension, quickly chimed in with a casual smile.

"Ah yes, isn't that lavender perfume? It was on a huge sale, and everyone was talking about it. So you bought it too..."

The tension eased as Izumi seemed to accept the explanation, though a hint of curiosity still lingered in her eyes.

"So that's it... Why didn't I know about it?" Izumi muttered, her voice tinged with childish jealousy.

She stood there for a moment, her eyes flicking between Misaki and Kaito, her suspicion still simmering beneath the surface.

Kaito finally pieced together the reason for the tension and shot a quick puzzled glance at Misaki. She looked away, her face betraying a hint of guilt.

"Ah, yeah," Kaito said, scratching his head before adding nervously, "I don't miss out on sales like this!" His smile was forced, trying to brush off the awkwardness.

With a quiet sigh, Izumi turned and walked off, clearly lost in her own thoughts. Kaito stood there for a moment, feeling a knot in his stomach. He wasn't sure if Izumi was convinced enough.

As she walked off, she couldn't shake the nagging feeling that something was off between the two of them.

Throughout the day, her mind kept drifting back to the strange interaction, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't put her finger on what it was.

After another mess, caused by Kaito, he came home to find Misaki on the couch, sipping her coffee, and tapping her foot in frustration, clearly ready to fight. He froze in the doorway, knowing this was not going to end well.