"!?!?"
"What's with that face? Do I appear older to you?"
She pesters me with a look of petulance.
But, I am not an idiot.
I know well enough that this is a trap.
However, if I did not care for my life, the answer would be an eager "Yes!".
"Well?"
Takamura-sensei places her right hand on his hip with sass, and gives me a bored look.
I'm left utterly speechless by her sudden mannerisms.
To the naked eye, it may seem that this woman is simply acting as normal, but such an emotion as "sass" has never been associated with Takamura ever since I met her six years back.
'This woman'? May I even refer to her as that?
In reality, it's best to refer to my sensei as a girl…!
And yet—
Even knowing that, even realizing it now, I still can't wrap my head around the fact.
Seventeen?
This creature?
This ironclad fortress of ice?
"Aron-kun."
Her voice rings like that of a bell.
"Is my age truly that shocking to you?"
"N-not at all!"
A lie.
One so blatant I should be cursed from speaking again.
"Then why is it that your face is frozen like that?"
"Well, I guess…the cake was a tad-bit cold."
"This cake is room-temperature."
"Right, of course."
"------"
I stare into her black pupils nervously.
Because Takamura is so good at masking her emotions, it's only natural that any sudden movement or speech would scare me.
I guess I'm staring a bit too much, because her face seems a bit annoyed.
Ugh, no.
In reality, it is the exact same ironclad face drilling holes into my forehead.
But, for a moment, I can feel a dash of annoyance in her brows.
"Aron-kun…you were picturing me as some middle-aged hag, weren't you?"
"Wha—t!? No, never!"
Takamura-sensei's brows furrow slightly, and she gives me a petulant look of disapproval.
It's no surprise she's caught on to my obvious lies.
To be fair, somebody like her should consider working for the government.
"You hesitated."
"---How could I have—?"
"You did, Aron-kun."
"It was a moment of fog—!"
"Mm—."
Her disapproval rings like a ritual bell.
Honestly, this whole conversation seems like a ritual meant for summoning my doom.
Needless to say, Takamura seems to be enjoying this.
Her coquettish stare belittles me without fail, and she questionably places her white hand over her thin lips.
"Uhuhuhu…"
Then, in a repeating manner, she bobs up and down and closes her eyes gently.
…She's laughing at me.
Even more childishly, she's giggling.
At me?
Now, I'm not one to react strongly to teasing, but such disrespect is unaccounted for…!
"Wouldn't you say that's true…Takamura-sensei!"
I grab a piece of cake within a second and launch it at Takamura-sensei's face.
With a nasty sounding "splat!", the vanilla pastry explodes onto her cheeks like a ripped sponge.
"!"