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“Professor!”
“Yes, Iida-san!”
“Happy birthday!”
“Wow, thanks!”
It was a Noboribetsu bath softener gift set.
Professor Rengoku, who taught Japanese history at the regional college, was born on May 10th. An interesting side effect of this was that his birthday always fell on the week after Golden Week, when almost all of Japan went on vacation.
So, every year on his birthday, he received interesting souvenirs from wherever his students and colleagues happened to take their vacations that year.
And apparently Iida-san, one of his third year students, had gone to Hokkaido.
As Iida-san walked away, Rengoku jotted in a little notebook: “Iida: Noboribetsu bath softener.” He always wrote thank you notes.
By the lunch hour, quite the stack was building up under his desk in the faculty office.
- Iida: Noboribetsu bath softener
- Hosoi: Nagasaki castella
- Hasegawa: Baumkuchen from ?
- Ito: Kinosaki Onsen chopsticks set
- Shinazugawa: Aomori canned bear meat (...)
- Himejima: Okinawa shisa set
- Kanroji: Arashiyama teddy keyring
- Urokodaki: Fukuoka senbei
- Matsuda: Tokyo Banana
- Watanabe: Osaka takoyaki lumbar pillow
He was most partial to the takoyaki pillow, already positioned on his desk chair. The pillow was made to look like three takoyaki balls stuck together, each sporting a different face.
“Afternoon, Prof. Happy birthday.”
“Thanks, Terada-san!”
Wow, Terada-san had gone to Paris, it looked like. Rengoku jotted another line in his notebook.
- Terada: Paris macarons
Not to be greedy, but of everyone, Rengoku was curious about one person in particular.
A new adjunct instructor had just started in the foreign languages department a few months ago. Since their office was on the same floor in the same building as the history department, he mingled with their faculty often.
The new adjunct was you.
The first time Rengoku met you, he’d been corrected.
“It’s ‘Doctor.’”
“Dokutaa.”
“Dawkterr.”
“Daakutaar.”
“That’s kind of better. I’m Dr. _____ Hannya. Nice to meet you.”
“Yes, nice to meet you!” Rengoku shook your hand enthusiastically. “You must teach English, then!”
You laughed. “No, Spanish.”
“Oh! How surprising! A polyglot!”
“Yeah, I actually don’t speak Spanish very well, but there weren’t any openings on the English faculty, so here I am… Better than nothing, I guess.” You shrugged. “See you around, Professor. Nice meeting you.”
There was just something really mysterious about people who spoke other languages and came from different cultures. Rengoku found himself captivated.
You shook his hand every time you met in the hallway, looking him right in the eye the whole time, no trace of a bow or anything. The casual ease with which you walked around and went about daily business felt refreshing to him.
But you seemed to be from somewhere else, maybe without the same customs. Besides, Rengoku couldn’t assume that everyone knew his birthday.
With the thought that he shouldn’t get his hopes up, there came a knock at the open faculty room door.
“Hey, Professor.” You poked your head into the room. Rengoku jumped, startled that the person he’d just been thinking about had so conveniently appeared like that.
“Dr. Hannya! Come in.”
“Hey, you can just call me _____. I just wanted to hear you say ‘doctor’ once, really. Haha. Anyway, I heard today’s your birthday. Happy birthday.” Per usual, the two of you shook hands.
“Thanks! Yeah, I turn twenty-eight today. Spot any gray hairs yet?”
You laughed, looking around both sides of Rengoku’s head. “Nope, but you’re the youngest tenured staff I’ve ever heard of! Good for you.” As he stood up from his desk, you spotted the takoyaki pillow on his chair.
“Dude, that’s so cute. Where’d you get it?”
Rengoku plucked it from the chair and handed it to you. “A student gave it to me earlier. You can have it if you keep it a secret!”
You laughed. “That’s cold, Professor! I’m sure they wanted you to have it. I’ll just get that taiyaki pillow I saw at Donki the other day.” You put the takoyaki back on his chair where it belonged.
“Can I buy you lunch or something? Sorry, I didn’t know it was your birthday until this morning. Otherwise, I’d have gotten a cake.”
In this manner, you found yourself on an impromptu birthday lunch date at the beef bowl restaurant next to campus.
“Delicious!” Rengoku exclaimed, super happy with his lunch.
“Delicious!” You repeated after him, finding that this exchange made the food taste better.
“Delicious!”
“Delicious!”
After lunch, you were off but Rengoku had afternoon classes. Bidding him farewell and wishing him a happy birthday again, you headed back to Donki to get that taiyaki pillow you’d seen there the other day.
You ended up not only buying the pillow, but also a pinata. You were shocked to see one there but knew you had to get it when you saw it, and stuff it full of as many yellow cartons of Calorie Mate as it could fit. Particularly the cheese flavored one. They made you smile.
“Professor!” you called, heading back to the faculty office even though you were off for the day. Luckily, his seminar had just wrapped up and he was parked at his desk again, writing in a small notebook. He turned to look when you came in, the pinata clutched in your arms.
“Want to bust a pinata outside?!”
You explained that the contents were a surprise (cumulative 20,000 kcal of Calorie Mates). Handing him a bamboo sword, you fully planned to make this a fun challenge.
Students gathered around to watch as you blindfolded their beloved professor and spun him around several times before setting him loose with the bamboo sword.
“AAAAA!” You yelled as he murdered the pinata in a single strike, so fast you couldn’t even react. The poor pinata flung apart in two pieces, a hundred packages of Calorie Mate bursting out. The students gathered around began to cheer.
“Holy shit man, you annihilated it!” The edges of the paper and cardboard the pinata was made of almost seemed to be smoking slightly.
Rengoku laughed. “Sorry! I didn’t mean it!” He lifted the blindfold. “Oh wow! A hundred cheese flavored Calorie Mates! Those are my little brother’s favorite!”
“G-Glad to hear it…” you muttered, still in shock.
You helped him pile the scattered Calorie Mates into the remains of the pinata’s stomach. He gave some of them away to the students who had gathered around, some of them looking as shaken as you.
“Don’t mess with Professor Rengoku, goddamn.”
“Don’t forget, we’re having a quiz tomorrow!” Rengoku waved after them as they slunk away, terrified.
You laughed, still surprised but impressed. “Did you do kendo in high school?”
Rengoku nodded. “Yeah! Everyone in my family does kendo.”
“That explains it!” You picked up the last little yellow box from the ground and placed it on top of the others. “Well, that was exciting! You were super sexy! I’m gonna fall in love!”
“Really?” Rengoku laughed and it was a lovely sound in your ears as he walked with you back to the faculty office. “I have to say, if that’s all it takes to earn your love, it was much easier than I ever thought it would be!”
“Hey! I didn’t say I was easy. You’re gonna have to try harder to get in these pants!” Your cheeks grew hot in spite of yourself.
Rengoku laughed again. You really were refreshing to be around.
It was a well-circulated rumor around the history department that Professor Rengoku was interested in one of the staff in the foreign languages department.
But that same rumor wasn’t well-circulated in the foreign languages department. Rather, there was another rumor that Dr. Hannya had developed a schoolyard crush on one of the faculty members in the history department.
But that rumor wasn’t well-circulated in the history department.
Blissfully oblivious and just enjoying the opportunity for a little harmless flirting, you and Rengoku returned to the faculty office so he could pack up for the day.
It was then that you noticed it.
Stuck on the office corkboard was an outlay of various index cards with names written on them. In the middle was one with Professor Rengoku’s name and there was red yarn going from his card to the various others on the board.
Sticky notes with scribbled comments were stuck around the various names, such as, “65% chance? But only if the weather is right” and “10% chance, I just can’t imagine it at all.”
You raised your eyebrows, noticing your name on one of the cards. In fact, they were all from your department, except Rengoku.
“Hey, Professor, I think your office is betting on your chances of being able to assassinate each of my colleagues in Foreign Languages.” You scowled at a note put next to your name. “95%?! No way. I know basic karate; I took lessons when I was seven!”
“Oh, that?” Rengoku came up behind you, his hands full of bags of various gifts. “No, it’s them guessing which member of Foreign Languages I am interested in romantically. It’s been a rumor going around lately with the students, and it somehow made it back here!”
You frowned. “You don’t mind them doing this? Seems kind of mean. Didn’t they just ask you?”
He grinned. “Surprisingly, no one has asked!”
You blinked. “Well, is it true?”
He just nodded with a mysterious smile on his face. You felt your cheeks flush.
“Is it Professor Gokuraku?”
“No, that would be awfully cruel! Professor Gokuraku is recently widowed!”
“Then, is it Professor Kujaku? It says 90%.”
“No, though we are good friends. I think Professor Kujaku views me more as a mentor, though.”
You fixated again on your own name. “Is it me?!”
Rengoku laughed, turning pink.
“Well, yes!”
You sighed. “You should have just told me, Professor!” you exclaimed, scowling. “I’ve had a huge crush on you since we first met!” You paused, thinking.
“Well, I guess I could have told you that sooner, too, so that was a fail on my part. My bad!” You laughed, belatedly realizing exactly what it was that you were saying.
Meanwhile, Rengoku’s thoughts were drifting around very quickly in his mind, stirring up into a kind of emotional soup. This was the best birthday he’d had yet, beating out even the time his mother had made the carrot cake that had whole peeled carrots in it.
The cake hadn’t been the good part, but rather the show his father had put on, pretending to really like it. It was very crunchy.
“Uh, you ok?” Your voice roused him from his thoughts, and he beamed widely, delighted the two of you were on the same page.
“I couldn’t be better!” he exclaimed. “When can I take you on a date?” He could barely believe his luck.
“Hmm. Now? Wait, today’s your birthday. I’m sure you’ve got other plans.”
Rengoku beamed. “Actually, now is just perfect.”
You pushed Rengoku’s chair in for him. “Any special birthday requests?” You looked down at yourself, grimacing.
“Sorry, I look like a garbage dump, otherwise I’d take you to one of those fancy spots with the pricey lasagna.”
He laughed. “I’m not sure what you mean by pricey lasagna, but you could never look like a garbage dump!” He grew quiet for a moment, considering.
“Our first official date can be something more romantic, but what I’d really like to do this evening is raid a convenience store for snacks and spread out under a tree in the park until nighttime!” Hoping he didn’t sound too childish, he watched for your reaction. He wasn’t disappointed.
“Ohhhh! I love it!” You immediately agreed. “You know what I like? That mixed juice they have at FamilyMart in the paper carton.” Hooking arms, the two of you walked out onto the campus grounds.
“Yeah, I know the one you mean! It has a nice banana flavor. But have you ever thought about juicing a banana?” Rengoku looked thoughtful. “Somehow, it’s weird!”
You were silent, thinking about it yourself. After a long pause, you nodded your head.
“Yeah, it’s weird.” You looked haunted by the thought.
“I hope I didn’t just ruin it for you!”
You shrugged. “I’ll get over it by tomorrow morning. Man, I want some fried stuff, too… Hope they have chicken or croquettes or something. How about you, Professor? What are you in the mood for?”
It was just then that Rengoku realized how nice it would be to hear you call him by name.
“Please, call me Kyojuro.” His expression softened.
“Okie doke, Kyojuro.” You didn’t hesitate even a moment. “You call me _____, too.”
“_____-san?”
“Nope, just _____.” You grinned.
He raised his eyebrows at you. “If we’re getting rid of honorifics, we should at least get to third base first!”
You swatted at him. “Easy, partner!”
He laughed.
An hour later, he selected his tree of choice to hang out under and enjoy your convenience store spoils: fried chicken, rice balls with every type of filling, consomme potato chips, croquettes, pork buns, cutlet sandwiches, sweetened dango, cream bread, the works.
“Here, Kyojuro,” you said, handing him a bottle of cold tea.
Rengoku was extremely aware of how flustered he was, suddenly having gone from quietly nurturing a harmless crush on a colleague, to essentially being on a date, you calling him by name in such an inviting way.
This was the best birthday ever!
Smiling faintly, he picked up a piece of karaage chicken and held it toward you.
He didn’t even have to say anything before you ate it right out of his fingers, like a fish on a hook.
“Oh!” You chuckled, closing your hand around his wrist. “That’s good!” Smirking wildly, you licked some crumbs off his forefinger.
He gave you a curious look. “I see you are trying to seduce me, _____! Nice, very nice!”
“Is it working!?” You burst out laughing, caught in the act.
“You don’t have to do anything to seduce me, _____! I will like you no matter what.” Rengoku’s smile sent your heart running for the hills. Struck dumb, you stared at him, your mouth half open.
Unbeknownst to you, Rengoku was struggling to keep his own heart from leaping out of his chest. Your face was so close and your parted lips seemed to draw him in. Only a small movement would be needed to kiss you.
He wondered what you would do if he did kiss you. After all, to his great delight, you’d welcomed his feelings, sharing that you felt the same way. Would it be some great stretch to press his lips against yours and find out what it felt like?
As Rengoku sorted through his thoughts on the kissing matter, you waited patiently, the traffic in his head almost seeming to play out right in front of you, behind his eyes. You were quite sure he was debating whether or not to kiss you, but you hesitated to be the one to initiate, uncharacteristically flustered yourself.
It wasn’t every day that you developed a crush on someone and reality struck you hard and sudden.
He had feelings for you and he was right there, an inch away from kissing you, surrounded by your favorite snacks on a gorgeous spring evening.
Could there be a more perfect moment than this?
It was as this thought appeared in your mind that Rengoku finally closed the distance and his lips were on yours, kissing you in earnest, the feeling so warm and pleasant. He wrapped his arms around you, holding you as close as possible, and the comfortable sensation of being cradled enveloped you.
You stroked his hair gently before placing your arms around his neck, at peace.
After the both of you were satisfied, your lips drifted apart, though you continued to hold each other, an invisible barrier now broken between the two of you as you found your legs draped across Rengoku’s lap, the warmth of his chest seeping into you as he held you close.
Both of you sighed at the exact same moment.
And then you laughed.
“Tired of me, already, Professor?!” You funneled your words directly into his ear, now definitely teasing him.
He laughed. “And what about you, _____? I don’t know what your excuse is, but I’m pretty hungry!”
“I don’t satiate your appetite, Prof?!” You hopped up out of Rengoku’s lap in fake indignation but immediately started unwrapping him a katsu sandwich.
A hand settled on your lower back and you jumped.
“_____, just one kiss isn’t enough to settle my appetite for you.” His eyes, reflecting the early evening sun, glowed at you in the periphery of your vision and your breath caught in your throat. You felt your skin heat up.
“W-whoa…”
Rengoku was thoroughly enjoying himself, watching an attractive flushed color spread over your neck and face.
But, shame as it was, the katsu sandwich won this round.
“Delicious!”
After stuffing yourselves silly, you stretched out on the grass, watching intently as the glow of the sun disappeared below the horizon and stars began to punctuate the sky, one by one.
“_____, what did you do for Golden Week?” Laying beside you, Rengoku turned his head so he could look at you.
“What’s that?” You turned to look back at him, blinking.
“Hm! Last week?”
“Oh!” You had wondered why there were so many holidays last week. Classes had been totally canceled. “Is that holiday week called Golden Week? I pretty much just stayed in and worked on lesson plans. You?”
Rengoku felt disappointed that you didn’t do something more relaxing for your holiday, though to each their own. “I visited my family and we spent some time together. But a lot of the students seemed to go on vacation trips, so I wondered if you went somewhere, too.”
You laughed. “No, I’ve got nowhere to go these days.” You stretched your arms above your head. “I like it here, in this town. Life’s good!” You grinned at Rengoku, knowing that even if you didn’t go anywhere, your life was about to get more exciting anyway.
His smile softened. “Yeah! Life’s good.” As he watched more stars blink into view in the sky, his hand closed warmly around yours.
“... Happy birthday, Kyojuro.”
“Happy birthday to you, too!”
“... What?!”
“Hahaha! Sorry, it just came out by accident! I meant to say thank you!”