Chapter 21

James should have felt exhausted that afternoon after getting so little sleep, but instead he had an energy that was immediately noticeable to the students. Several remarked on his ‘different persona’, which seemed to primarily revolve around his increased self-confidence. It seemed that virtually all of the students – and most of the staff – had also noticed the marked change in his demeanor that day.

Now it was no longer just Hana and Kimora who were inviting him out. Suddenly he was being pestered even more by some of the young women. The attentions of Hana and Kimora had not necessarily increased, but they somehow seemed more intense.

Although Hana no longer mentioned the love hotel, her descriptions of ‘educational trips’ they could take were still pretty clearly an invitation to have sex with her. James showed great interest in the places she mentioned, but politely refused each new request. As for the younger girls who almost literally threw themselves at him, he did his best to give them a firm “no” without insulting them.

Near the end of the week, Hana’s ‘conversations’ became more frequent, and her intentions harder to ignore. She had a way of framing each potential outing as an opportunity for James to experience Japanese culture, but there was an undeniable intimacy in the way she planned them, with each setting carefully chosen, each moment crafted to bring them closer together. He was quite tempted due to the undeniable cultural interest and charm of her suggestions, but he still resisted the idea of dating a student, even though Jake and Kaori had made it quite clear that the school did not object so long as everything was kept discrete. James was not sure that applied to girls under eighteen, but he wasn’t about to find out.

On Thursday evening, after class had ended and the other students had filtered out, Hana lingered near his desk, absently tracing a circle on the surface with her fingertip.