Chapter 9

Summer had finished and it was time for Ken to go back to school. The day when his school was re-opening, he reached school an hour early hoping he could meet him before any of his classmates reached school. Luckily Kuroso Sensei reached at the right time when Ken had expected him.

“Oh, if it isn’t Ken, it’s a surprise to see you this early”

“Kuroso Sensei I needed to talk to you”

“That’s another surprise”

The two of them made their way to Ken’s classroom. Ken’s mother was a Principal and Kuroso Sensei had worked under her for three years before transferring to Ken’s school. So the two of them were very close and Kuroso Sensei had joined them many times for dinner.

“So, what did you need to talk about?”

“Uh, Kuroso Sensei you are well past the thirties, are handsome, are well behaved, surely you must have had a woman or two”

“Where is that coming from?”

“Please just answer”

“Yeah, I’ve had a woman or two, why?”

“There is something I wanna talk about, I can only speak to a male about it, and I’m too embarrassed to talk with Kai, you’re the only male I’m comfortable with. So, I thought I should talk to you”

“Okay, so what’s your problem?”

“There is a girl I’m interested in, but I’m not too sure about it”

“Okay, why are you not sure?”

“Because this is my first time feeling this way, and I’ve only known her for about two months, so...”

“So?”

“I’m not sure whether I should feel this way or not?”

“Listen, Ken”, Kuroso Sensei was looking at him calmly, “Blessed are the fools who know the bliss of ignorance, cursed are the wise men who are observant”

“Meaning?”

“Sometimes people who are too analytical cannot enjoy any good thing in life, they will find a fault in everything. Whereas in comparison a fool only looks at a thing as how it is presented, therefore he enjoys that thing”

“...”

“You said this is your first time feeling this way, right? let your heart be a fool because don’t you think you could have felt the same way earlier or later, why only with her”

Ken understood what Kuroso Sensei was trying to tell, “So it’s fine for me to like her, right?”

“Listen to your heart, what does it say”

Ken took some time but he replied, “It says it’s fine”

“See! the way of the heart is a hard way but the fruit you bear is equally sweet”

“But what if she doesn’t reciprocate my feelings?”, Ken asked with concern

“Listen Ken”, Kuroso Sensei had placed his hands on his shoulders, “Your first love will always be your best, this doesn’t mean you will never love again, it may or may not work out. The only important thing is to give it your best”

“Hai Sensei, I get it”, Ken was gleaming with satisfaction.

Kuroso Sensei put a lollipop in his mouth and patted his head, he loved treating his students like kids, “Ken knowing you, you won’t make a blunder, just give it your best”

“Arigato Sensei”

“By the way, Hana’s a good girl”, he flashed Ken his cool teacher smile

“Sensei how...”

Kuroso Sensei said nothing, he just waved at him and left the classroom.

The previous re-opening of school after summer had not been exciting for Hana but a dreadful one, but this year it was different. She found herself excited to go to school. Once she reached school it was the same, meeting up with her friends, making fun of Kai, sharing their summer experience, etc. She noticed Ken was acting a little different, he was shyer near her than usual, whenever she spoke to him, he only replied in yes and no. When she asked him what the matter was, he said in an embarrassed tone, “It’s nothing, and you should know”, she found no response to his statement. After school got over, she happily went back home, thinking Ken was acting too cute. Once she reached home, she found her mom preparing various dishes.