He stood and downed the rest of his coffee. “Shall we?”
Shinji nodded, checking his inner pockets for his notepad. He picked up the car keys from Teruo’s desk and opened the door waiting for Teruo to exit first and they headed to the parking lot.
It annoyed Teruo to admit that Shinji was his usual polite and professional self at work and didn’t seem in the least affected by their private endeavors. On the other hand, Teruo had too many moments when he looked at Shinji and saw him naked instead of dressed which resulted in his focus faltering. He’d known having sex with a coworker would mean trouble, but he hadn’t imagined it would be this much trouble.
“Are you okay?”
Teruo jolted as Shinji’s hand landed on his shoulder. He cleared his throat. “I was lost in thought.”
Shinji’s mouth quirked. “Yeah?” He stopped the car at the traffic lights and turned to Teruo. “You’ve been staring at me since we left HQ. You in the mood? I could pull over, unzip your pants and—”
“No,” Teruo denied and shifted awkwardly in his seat.
“Tell me what you were fantasizing about and we can reenact it.” Shinji winked and caressed Teruo’s thigh before returning it on the steering wheel.
Of course, Teruo’s treacherous dick had to give a twitch at that, but he looked ahead, pretending he wasn’t getting excited at the prospect of reenacting fantasies. “It’s not that.”
“Okay.” Shinji chuckled. “But really, are you all right?”
Teruo grumbled a “yes”, then reached into his pocket for his pack of Mevius, but it was empty. He patted all his pockets and searched the glove compartment too. Nothing.
“Shit. We need to—” Teruo stopped when Shinji placed two packs of cigarettes in his lap. “Where did you get these?”
“A store, obviously. You’ve been engrossed in the case files the entire morning, so I bought them just in case.”
“Oh.”
“Have I made a mistake?” Shinji asked. “Mevius Gold 6, right?” He glanced at Teruo briefly, then turned to the traffic ahead.
Warmth traveled down Teruo’s body and he swallowed the lump in his throat. “Yeah, that’s correct. Thanks,” he mumbled. “You didn’t have to.”
Shinji smiled. “It’s no problem. I know the cigarettes help you focus, so I got them for you.”
The gesture hit Teruo like a brick. His head spun and he fumbled with the pack needing that nicotine rush in his system.No onehad ever bought cigarettes for him out of concern. Not his exes, not even Megumi.
He wanted to reach for Shinji, capture his lips and kiss him hard. Instead, he rolled down the window, lit a cigarette and took a long drag, hoping it would settle his nerves. Part of him was tempted to pretend the events on Saturday never happened and just go on like this. Would that be easier? Probably not. His over-thinking mind wouldn’t let him, even though his heart leaped in joy at that thought.
The car reached their destination and Shinji parked inside the high school’s grounds. It was a simple flat-roofed building, with a large yard, empty at this time. The student on duty guided them toward the principal’s office. Teruo thought about his teenage days in high school; he’d sneak around with boys in the gym lockers, the toilets or the school’s library. He’d nearly gotten caught once while he was getting blown in the locker room. The irony that now he was sneaking around the TMPD with his coworker, nearly getting a hand job in his office’s private restroom and almost getting caught by the superintendent.
The student stopped at a door and knocked. A feminine voice answered and the student pushed the door open for Teruo and Shinji. The principal sat at a wooden desk, eyeing them from above her spectacles. She stood, straightening her purple suit and lightly patting her short hair, then bowed.
On a chair at the front of her desk was a middle-aged man, in a worn-out suit, with deep bags under his eyes, who greeted them as well.
“Thank you for seeing us,” Teruo said, as he showed his badge and introduced himself and Shinji.
“I understand there are some concerns about our former students.” The principal invited them to sit and poured each a glass of water.
“Yes,” Teruo confirmed.
“This is Professor Kimura, their former homeroom teacher,” the principal said looking at the middle-aged man, who gave another slight bow but nothing more.
Teruo brought out the list of students which was now both their list of possible victims and of possible suspects for the crime. There had been thirty-five students in total. “How much do you remember about the students in this class?”
“Well, I’ve taught a lot of students over the years,” Kimura said, “but these ones have stuck with me.” He gave a long sigh. “This was a particularly difficult class.”
“In what way?” Shinji asked.
“Very mean children. I’m aware it’s not a nice thing to say, but it’s the truth. They were disrespectful both to their teachers and to one another. I always had complaints from both sides. They were violent, too.”