I had supposedly only just met Ms. Anju Hiyori today, yet she greeted me with a "Long time no see" and even went as far as calling me by my first name—"Ryouta-kun."
Eh, Ryo—Ryo...!? Ryouta-kun!?
It was all too sudden; my brain’s processing speed couldn’t keep up.
After all, what virgin wouldn’t be rattled by such a frank approach from a gorgeous teacher with long, wavy brown hair and a plump, peach-like posterior?
"Ryouta-kun? What, exactly, is the meaning of this?"
As I stood there flustered, Rui—who had somehow teleported from the Student Council President's chair to my side—whispered the interrogation directly into my ear.
"E-Even if you ask for an explanation! I’m saying I don’t know anything myself!"
"Really? Did you do something 'unnecessary' to help her behind the scenes in the past again?"
"I told you, I didn't! And stop calling it 'unnecessary'!"
"……Well, if that's the case, I suppose it's fine."
It seemed Rui was a little more than peeved. However, Rui getting mysteriously ticked off was a frequent occurrence, so I didn't pay it much mind.
"Um, Ms. Hiyori? Calling me by my first name so suddenly is a bit..."
"Eh? Is it not allowed?"
"Well, usually that’s something you do after you've become acquaintances—wait, I mean, even if we are acquaintances, it shouldn't involve anything regarding your behind!"
"Ryouta-kun, why are you talking so fast, and what on earth are you even saying?"
As I panicked and accidentally let the word "behind" slip out, Tanaka hit me with a rare, level-headed retort.
"And here I used to call you 'Ryouta-kun, Ryouta-kun' all the time. You've gotten so tall; I guess you're in that rebellious phase now?"
"The... the past?"
"My! Ms. Hiyori, you've known Ryouta-senpai for a long time?"
"Yep. Actually, I’m second cousins with Ryouta Izumiya."
""""Second cousins!?""""
Ms. Hiyori was my second cousin!?
"Wait, why are even you surprised, Ryouta-kun!?"
"I mean, if it were a first cousin, that’d be one thing, but second cousins are a bit distant..."
Hm? But wait.
When I first heard her name, I did think it sounded familiar. More importantly, speaking of a second cousin named Anju... if I recalled correctly...
"What! Don't tell me you don't remember me, Ryouta-kun!? It's me! Big Sis Anju! From the time you were in kindergarten until you were in elementary school and Grandpa was still alive, I used to come stay over during summer break all the time!"
Hearing that, the memories came flooding back.
I remembered the mention of "Big Sis Anju" in that summer diary from the year I saved the Beautiful Girl Trio. When I’d originally read the diary, the term "second cousin" hadn't rung a bell at all, but now that I was looking at her face and hearing her speak, the fog in my mind cleared.
Anju Hiyori—no, Big Sis Anju—was, if I remembered right, the daughter of my mother's first cousin. Back when I was still in elementary school and Grandpa was alive, she would visit every summer break to pay her respects.
Back then, as a little kid, I think Big Sis Anju used to play with me quite often...
"Wait, so you're really the 'Big Sis Anju' from my diary, Ms. Hiyori?"
"Real or not, why would I go out of my way to say this if it wasn't true?"
That was a fair point.
But for me to have forgotten such a beautiful peach-butt... Ugh!
"I see. So this Ms. Hiyori is the one from that diary..."
"Hm? Rui? What's wrong?"
"No, it's nothing."
Rui replied, though she continued to glare intensely at Ms. Hiyori.
Why do you always start glaring the second things get complicated? Because of Rui’s terrifying gaze, the atmosphere in the room was getting incredibly awkward.
"A-Anyway, Ms. Hiyori, I sincerely apologize for forgetting. Can we please just drop this subject for now?"
"Geez, Ryouta-kun, it's so cruel that you forgot."
I bowed my head apologetically, trying to steer the increasingly tense atmosphere back to some semblance of normalcy... however.
"Despite the fact that we even took a bath together back when I was in high school, Ryouta-kun."
""""EHHH!?!?""""
The teacher suddenly dropped a bombshell revelation that even I was hearing for the first time.
Wh—! Me, in a bath with this peach-butt beauty!? And during her high school days!?
Hey, memories of my past self! Why are you missing right now!? To personally bury the privilege of an all-you-can-view peach-butt and breasts into the depths of oblivion...!
It was a staggering display of foolishness...!
"And I'm asking why you don't remember, Ryouta-kun! Especially when it involves something that perverted!"
Tanaka’s retorts were so entirely reasonable today that I couldn't offer a single word of rebuttal.