novelraw Chapter 749: Renee on the Offensive
Chapter 749: Renee on the Offensive
But all in all, learning something has meaning, is highly rewarding, and is necessary.
On the dim tatami, Fisher exhaustedly massaged his brow. The turned-off lights made the outlines of the scattered books in the room take on the icy chill of winter, yet Fisher didn't feel cold at all. He only felt warm, as if being in a spring where flowers were blooming.
This must be the hard work and joy brought by studying, right?
Rustle~
Fisher felt a tickling sensation on his arm, making him involuntarily look down. He saw Jasmine's slightly flushed face leaning against his shoulder amidst her thick black hair. Her eyes were sleepy, her slender fingers tapping his arm.
The shape her fingertips traced outlined clear vocabulary words, seemingly the ones she had just memorized, repeatedly deepening the impression in her mind this way.
After sensing Fisher looking down at her, Jasmine's pink lips parted slightly. She raised her head somewhat, looking at Fisher with a warm smile, and said foolishly,
"Look, Teacher Fisher, I've memorized them all, the English vocabulary..."
"..."
Saying this, she also pointed to the shapes she had just traced, just like a student who had memorized a text waiting expectantly for the teacher to test her.Does this really have a miraculous effect on learning a foreign language?
When this thought subconsciously entered his mind, Fisher actually found it reasonable. Yet in an instant, he couldn't help but chuckle, finding it absurd.
He merely held her soft little hand for the time being. Just by holding hands, a look of satisfaction appeared on Jasmine's face.
The space quieted down again. From the corner of his eye, Fisher looked at the scattered books on the floor nearby. There weren't only the English books they used just now, but also other religious documents from the other world. Fisher couldn't understand the text on them, nor did he know why there were so many scriptures in the room he lived in within the dreamscape.
Thinking of this, Fisher reached out and brought a scripture back. The twisted text on it gradually morphed into a form Fisher could recognize, but the meaning remained obscure, and Fisher couldn't read it,
"Namo Mara Devaputra... in the middle of Paranirmitavasavartin and Brahma-kayika deities..."
"There is a Mara Palace, measuring six thousand yojanas in length and breadth. The palace walls have seven layers, the railings seven layers, the nets seven layers, the aligned trees seven layers, and even countless birds singing in harmony..."
He couldn't understand the text, yet invisibly, it seemed to make the room's temperature gentler, making one linger.
The moonlight poured through the translucent screen window like water, clearly illuminating the scrolls of Buddhist scriptures on the tatami that had been torn by previous frenzy.
The other scriptures were already in pieces. What remained intact on the floor now was only this scripture of unknown records in Fisher's hand, as well as the unimportant English book tossed far away.
Illuminated by the moonlight, Fisher realized that the bed they slept in was directly facing the wardrobe. Inside that wardrobe, aside from the suits and pajamas Fisher normally liked to wear, there was also a magnificent kasaya.
Fisher had never worn that kasaya, yet its size perfectly matched his body, looking as if he had worn it...
"Yawn~"
Beside him, Jasmine yawned sleepily like a kitten, nestling even more comfortably against him, unwilling to wake up.
Just looking at this incomprehensible scripture, Fisher suddenly thought of Asuka Karasawa, thinking of the lonely years she had waited for a full ten thousand years.
The Jasmine in the dreamscape possessed a complete replica of the memories from the other world. This meant that the current Jasmine had already recalled her memories from when she was Asuka...
Fisher's heart skipped a beat. He turned his head to look at the drowsy Jasmine beside him, suddenly asking a question he had wanted to ask her for a long time,
"When I wasn't around, your waiting... must have been very hard, right?"
But the Jasmine beside him remained perplexed, only hearing this with some confusion. She asked softly,
"Hasn't Teacher Fisher always been here?"
"Is that so..."
"Mm... but sometimes I always have nightmares. Dreaming that the Teacher Fisher staying by my side is fake, and I don't know how long it will be before the real Teacher Fisher appears... Just thinking of that nightmare makes me a bit scared..."
Jasmine's small hand trembled slightly and clenched tight. Just recalling that "nightmare" made her little face pale uncontrollably,
"In that nightmare, I felt like I was constantly immersed in freezing spring water, waiting for Teacher Fisher to arrive... Bustling crowds passed by on the shore. With every person that walked by, I, soaking in the cold water, couldn't help but exhaust all my strength to look up, wanting to confirm if the one walking by was Teacher Fisher... In the end... every time, it was just unimportant strangers..."
Fisher's heart tightened bit by bit, yet the drowsy voice of Jasmine beside him recalling it continued,
"The water was so, so cold, so cold that I couldn't even feel my own limbs... But, if it was just this kind of pain, it probably couldn't be called a nightmare, right? What truly made me sad was the disappointment every time I exhausted all my strength to look up at the shore, only to not see Teacher Fisher's figure..."
"At those times, I would think, so many people pass by, and so many have footsteps like Teacher Fisher's, why isn't it Teacher Fisher? Teacher Fisher hasn't arrived yet, so I just waited and waited... But ah, that road was too, too long, and the water was too, too cold... so cold, so cold..."
"At that time I thought, the water is so cold, if I froze to death... when the time comes and Teacher Fisher arrives, not seeing me by the shore, Teacher Fisher definitely wouldn't be angry, right?"
Fisher opened his mouth, his eyes slightly sour, his vision blurring bit by bit in the thick darkness.
He felt as if he was also dragged into that incomparably cold deep water by the guilt in his heart, seeing the Asuka soaked utterly pale beneath the water's surface.
He closed his eyes, holding Jasmine a bit tighter, and said颤抖(trembling),
"No."
"But fortunately, that was just a nightmare... When waking up from the nightmare, Teacher Fisher has still always been by my side..."
"Mm..."
"I'm so sleepy... Teacher Fisher..."
"...Go to sleep, goodnight."
She closed her eyes, smiled, nodded, and lay down comfortably, preparing to sleep. But as if suddenly remembering something, she struggled to lift her head a bit and gave Fisher a light peck, then shyly buried her face beside him like a small beast, mumbling,
"Hehe... we have to be together forever, okay, Teacher Fisher?"
That peck made one float like sugar. Fisher also suddenly felt fatigued, and the scripture clutched in his hand couldn't help but slip bit by bit, finally falling to the floor.
His consciousness also seemed to be dyed by that scarlet moonlight, only wanting to sleep and rest, staying together with her.
He put down the scripture and instead gently patted Jasmine's shoulder, then rested his forehead against hers, speaking softly to her,
"Alright... goodnight, Jasmine."
The room gradually quieted down, and that bright moonlight also seemed to gradually take on a layer of scarlet with Jasmine's sleep, then slowly retreated like the ebbing tide.
Before leaving, it once again illuminated the scripture that had fallen to the floor...
"Namo... Mara Devaputra..."
"In the middle of Paranirmitavasavartin, and Brahma-kayika deities..."
Like a hymn, like sinking.
The next day, a refreshed and invigorated Fisher checked the topmost collar button of his white shirt. Looking into the mirror in the washroom, Fisher's aura was like that of a scholarly teacher.
In his mind, more memories regarding his teaching career flooded in, allowing him to proficiently look down at the English textbook placed aside; he was already thoroughly familiar with the content to be taught today.
"Are you ready, Teacher Fisher? We're about to set off!"
Jasmine's call from outside the door brought Fisher back to his senses. He washed his hands and then called back in response,
"Coming!"
They had already eaten breakfast, so they routinely took the train to commute to work and school. This kind of life would repeat from now on, resting temporarily on weekends, and then cycling again the following Monday.
After parting ways at the school gate in the morning, Fisher once again entered the class he was to teach. Compared to yesterday's panicked and at-a-loss teaching, Fisher, who had diligently studied the foreign language for a whole night, gradually became proficient. He no longer had to use self-study or tests to fob off the students below the podium.
"Teacher Fisher, Teacher Helaire seems to have fallen ill. Could you temporarily substitute her classes until she returns?"
"...Alright, no problem."
What did she go off to do?
Fisher was somewhat puzzled, but the first thought that popped into his mind was how to handle such a heavy teaching burden pressing down on him.
As for the rest of his thoughts, they seemed to remain in the previous night, discarded in the laundry basket like the unwashed dirty clothes he had changed out of.
But he couldn't just watch the other two classes go without English lessons, right?
Moreover, this was only first-year high school content, not considered difficult. At most, it just meant expending a bit more energy teaching extra classes; with the extra teaching fee, it was fine...
Fisher thought this way.
And so, days passed... A week went by just like this, and the consecutive following week also passed quickly...
Teacher Fisher's work became increasingly proficient, becoming the English teacher for all four classes in the entire grade.
Days passed one by one...
A few weeks later.
Everything became increasingly sweet. Teacher Fisher's reputation in the first year grew ever more prominent. As the common English teacher for all students, his popularity among the first-year girls reached an unimaginable level.
Being at the age of budding romance anyway, urged by hormones, what thoughts would these newborn calves not dare to have?
Before spring arrived and Valentine's Day came, all sorts of love letters expressing affection had already fallen like snowflakes onto Fisher's desk, one early and one late. The female students subtly transformed this enthusiasm into motivation for studying, almost making the principal spit out his tea upon seeing the grade's average English score in the uniform exams a week later...
If there was any displeasure regarding this matter...
The first, of course, was Jasmine, and the second were the male students from Helaire's previous classes.
However, neither of these was a major problem. Because ever since that night, the relationship between Teacher Fisher and Classmate Jasmine had grown even deeper. Not only did they commute together every day, but they also ate lunch together. As for those love letters, he hadn't replied to a single one; he merely played the role of a qualified teacher, nothing more.
Only the third, our Classmate Renee, was truly harboring extremely disgruntled resentment.
Last week, clearly after Teacher Helaire's counseling, our Classmate Renee had already decided to launch a fierce offensive on Teacher Fisher the next day. But why didn't she do it? Just letting Teacher Fisher normally finish class?
Because she chickened out.
Mm...
A very normal reason, right?
It's like after being accustomed to a certain thing for a long time, suddenly asking you to muster courage to try a completely new field and content; even if you're already mentally prepared, you'll still pace back and forth temporarily at the door.
What you lack at this time is just a gentle push from behind.
This was also the case for Classmate Renee. She slightly chickened out in the morning; for the defeated dog to transform into a battle wolf, she just lacked that final kick...
So she made up her mind to seek advice from Teacher Helaire again after class, get a bit of encouragement, and then she would definitely be able to do it.
As a result, Teacher Helaire fell ill and didn't come to school. This not only lacked that final kick but also firmly kicked her back into the realm of the defeated dog, making her chicken out time and time again. For a whole week consecutively, she couldn't take the initiative to express her feelings to Teacher Fisher.
Then, she could only watch standardly with increasingly red eyes at the progress between Fisher and Classmate Jasmine, almost wanting to bang her head to death on the desk.
Renee, oh Renee, you must muster your courage!
Can you not do it without Teacher Helaire's encouragement?
Are you confessing to Teacher Fisher on behalf of Teacher Helaire?
No! You are not!
You are doing it for yourself!
A happy life must be grasped by oneself!
So, one morning after nearly two weeks of silence, Renee finally mustered her courage. She racked her brains and used her life's blood to write a love letter, writing,
"After the second class in the morning, I hope to meet Teacher Fisher alone on the rooftop."
"The teacher for Classmate Jasmine's second class always extends the lesson, she won't notice."
"I have a very important matter to discuss with Teacher Fisher, please definitely come!"
"Class C, Renee."
Renee pouted, stuffed the letter paper into the envelope, then took a deep breath, stood up, and walked toward the door.
At that time, it was still early morning when students hadn't fully arrived. Just as Renee stepped out of the classroom door into the corridor, she ran head-on into Jasmine, who had just separated from Fisher and was carrying her schoolbag, preparing to return to the classroom.
After a brief moment of eye contact, both were stunned. Subsequently, their reactions were vastly different,
"Good morning, Classmate Renee."
Jasmine smiled friendly. Her small face was rosy, exuding an aura of happiness and sunshine, cheerfully waving her hand to greet this not-so-familiar classmate.
Conversely, Renee's face paled slightly, looking panic-stricken like a thief caught by the police.
In her awkwardness, she merely smiled awkwardly. Just as she was about to subconsciously raise her right hand to greet, she suddenly remembered that her right hand was still clutching the envelope for confessing to Teacher Fisher.
The next second, her raised right hand suddenly stiffened, stopped in mid-air, and then dropped. She then waved instead, greeting,
"Good morning... haha..."
"..."
Jasmine opened her mouth, her expression somewhat puzzled. She didn't know Renee's intentions, merely instinctively feeling that Renee was acting unnaturally, so she asked an extra question,
"Classmate Renee, what are you going to do? Class hasn't even started yet and you're in such a hurry?"
"I... I need to go to the restroom, I can't hold it."
"So that's how it is..."
Jasmine covered her mouth and hastily stepped aside, saying apologetically,
"Sorry, Classmate Renee, for delaying you."
"It's fine... haha... no delay..."
Renee hastily waved her hand, then brushed past Jasmine amidst her apologetic expression.
As she brushed past Jasmine's shoulder, Renee's originally panic-stricken expression faded bit by bit, gradually replaced by a sense of overflowing excitement and successful slyness from within.
Hehe, Classmate Jasmine definitely didn't expect that I, Renee, am not actually going to the restroom right now, but going to steal your home!
Once I deliver the love letter, just you wait...
Wait, that's not right... it seems other girls also sent love letters to Teacher Fisher, and he didn't respond to any of them!
Then wouldn't it be useless even if I send it out?
Renee's quickly striding pace slowed down bit by bit. She bit her lip tightly, her expression also becoming extremely distressed.
But right now, she had already reached the door of the teachers' office; she could neither enter nor retreat...
"Click."
Even worse, just as Renee was brainstorming, the door in front of her slowly opened, revealing Fisher, who was holding a water cup and preparing to come out.
"T-T-Teacher Fisher?!"
Renee's face instantly went beet red, subconsciously wanting to retreat and flee.
"Renee?"
Fisher also froze slightly. Looking at the female before him, what escaped his lips was an address seemingly engraved in his soul.
Little did he know, it was this exact "Renee," rather than "Classmate Renee," that suddenly hit a certain corner hidden deep within Renee's soul, pulling her out of the cowardly dreamscape of a defeated dog just in that instant.
Renee stared blankly at the Fisher before her, while Fisher also seemed to belatedly realize his slip of the tongue, feeling he shouldn't directly address a student by her first name. He hastily changed his expression, smiling to remedy it,
"...Classmate Renee, is there something you need?"
Hearing this, Renee opened her mouth, and the grip on the envelope in her hand tightened. For some unknown reason, her hands seemingly uncontrollably raised abruptly, actually pushing Fisher back into the office.
At this moment, the office was empty, and the door behind them slowly closed. As Teacher Fisher's pupils contracted slightly, Renee tremblingly cupped his cheeks tightly with both hands, squeezing out her voice word by word from her throat,
"What... Classmate Renee... just call me Renee, Fisher!"
"..."
Currently, Renee had actually already detached from that briefly escaped dreamscape state, or rather, the moment she raised her hands and mustered the courage to push Fisher into the office, that attempt to break free from the dreamscape had already lost its effect.
She seemingly returned to that state of a defeated dog, and had even started shouting "regret" over and over in her heart.
But looking at the wide-eyed Fisher before her, the words in her throat were still pushed out of her mouth by the courage accumulated over two weeks in her heart.
Renee summoned her entire body's courage and uttered this sentence.
Just because she wanted Fisher to call her Renee, and not some Classmate Renee...
"Haha..."
Renee's body trembled, then looking at the already dumbfounded Teacher Fisher before her, her face also grew beet red bit by bit.
Her courage had dried up; right now she had turned back into a coward. And even more terrifying was that she still had to face the reality of what the "advancing brave Renee" had done.
Ah...
W-what did I just do?
Renee's lips trembled, to the point that both her legs went soft at once. Watery light also welled up in her purple eyes; the urge to just flee the office made her slap the letter paper in her hand onto Fisher's chest, while she herself immediately turned, preparing to run away,
"Sorry, Teacher Fisher! I... I didn't say anything just now! Sorry, sorry!"
"Slap!"
But behind her, Fisher's large hand fiercely grabbed her wrist, pinning her to the spot instantly.
Renee was so frightened she squeezed her eyes shut, even emitting a cute "eep" sound.
But the stern reprimand from the teacher she imagined never arrived...
"Eh?"
So, Renee slowly opened her eyes, seeing Fisher's deep black eyes,
"Renee?"
"Eh? I-i-it's me, Teacher Fisher?"
"..."
Fisher blinked, as if abruptly awakening from a deep dream.
Cold sweat broke out all over his body at once, as if his consciousness was pulled back from an inescapable quagmire.
He took a deep breath, looking at the submissive Renee before him, and he unable to restrain himself reached out and hugged Renee's body.
"Eh?"
Renee's eyes widened at once, turning into a state of bewilderment, plunging into an unbelievable blankness of the brain...
And holding her, Fisher was panting, his shirt already drenched in cold sweat.
Only by embracing Renee, catching scent of her delicate fragrance identical to reality, did his consciousness gradually become clear and exceptionally calm...
Ever since that night with Jasmine, he felt as if he had been swallowed by this dreamscape, almost unable to snap out of it...
Even though he possessed that precious property, it seemed he couldn't be completely immune?
Fisher hugged the Renee tightly, as if rejoicing, whispering devoutly by her ear,
"You're the best... Renee, thank you..."
"...Huh?"
Renee's brain was completely overloaded.
She never anticipated this at all...
She had only been brave this once in her lifetime.
Although...
Although she didn't know why Teacher Fisher hugged her, and suddenly said such things to her, but all in all, it was...
A success?
She foolishly felt Teacher Fisher hugging her tightly, unable to resist raising a hand to pat Fisher's broad back. After confirming this was all real, she couldn't help but wide-eyed start to laugh.
Thank you, Teacher Helaire! If it weren't for you, I would have never taken this step of a brave person!
And the courageous get to enjoy the world first—this saying truly didn't deceive me...
And so, the advancing defeated dog Renee super-evolved, transforming into...
Battle Wolf Renee!
She opened her mouth, unable to comprehend the current state, so she had to hug Fisher even tighter.