Ever since surviving the high school entrance exam wars, while taking care of Popporo and the moms, our communal life had been going great.
Supported by people around me, I received guidance from a neighborhood auntie on how to live as women together, chatted about romance with friends, and was able to focus on my studies.
As time passed, my goal was to keep living as Hinato Harui, and while exchanging mysterious girl talk with the moms and everyone around me, I skillfully carried out my interactions with pigeons.
The exams peaked, and I reviewed tests late into the night, getting study tips from both moms too.
This was because I wanted to eventually pursue a career related to pigeons—or animals in general.
“Number 224, 225, 226… Found it!”
“I’m so glad, Hinatooo~~ chuuuuuu–”
Not on the lips.
On the cheek, you know?
–Hello. My name is Mitsuru Hirakado. Nice to meet you?
–Nice to meet you. My name is Hinato Harui. I look forward to working with you.
This is a girls’ school.
And thus, a new school life began.
–One month later
Today, I had to return home early because of a home visit from my teacher.
To put it simply, we hadn’t been able to have a parent-teacher meeting regarding my school grades for a long time, so she was visiting the apartment where I live for that reason.
She said we needed to talk about various things—such as my daily studies, club activities, volunteering at the pigeon center once a week, and how I am doing at home—since it affects my future prospects.
Tsumire Nagisa-sensei, what kind of feeling do you sense from a 15-year-old girl like me, being a woman yourself?
Ding-dong
“Coming~!”
“Ah, is this the home of Hinato Harui? I am her homeroom teacher, Nagisa. Are you her mother?”
“Ah~ are you the teacher~… Yes, I am her mother, Kanade Harui. Thank you always for taking care of our Hinato~ Now, please come on up~~”
“And I am her other mother, Karen Harui, so nice to meet you–”
“Pardon the intrusion.”
Nagisa-sensei came upstairs. I immediately greeted her.
“Hinato teaches an ignorant person like me all sorts of things.”
She has a shy side to her, and even when teaching subjects, she sometimes ends up talking about her own embarrassing stories. That is why I taught her various things.
“Eh, Hinato did?”
“Yes. Actually, I used to be bad at both girls and pigeons and was holding back, but Hinato relaxed me.”
“What did my daughter do?”
“She did pigeon massage—a method of stroking the back and rubbing the head, and kisses…”
“Hinato, did you do that?”
Yeah. Because Nagisa-sensei’s back was rounded like a pigeon’s, she couldn’t even teach properly, so I secretly gave her a massage. Plus, I found out that her poor circulation was being masked at night by a considerable amount of smoking and alcohol, and I heard her lonely Chapter about how the principal entrusted her with taking care of the pigeons.
Still, if the power of pigeons can heal people, it might get used for something.
“Pigeons, if I recall correctly, are able to live with females even if the male partner flies away…”
“Yes. As a veterinarian, I know that he and she simply warm the eggs that will become chicks with their bodies, go out to find food in the meantime, warm their own body temperature, and make communal life with the female possible.”
“Haa… Also, can Hinato talk with pigeons? She always tells me that they are saying this.”
“Ah, well—under my care as a veterinarian, my daughter has learned the pigeon’s ecology and volunteers at a place called a pigeon center to ‘make herself useful to everyone,’ so to a certain extent—”
“Still, kisses…”
Kisses are given as a reward for “job well done.” It is a magical technique taught to me by Popporo and the moms. In a sense, it is more effective than resuscitation, but if I don’t let them out outside occasionally, their bodies grow weak, so Nagisa-sensei started training too, following my advice.
“Woah… Hinato, how bold!”
“I’m educating her. Pigeons raise chicks alone, but humans can’t do that, so if someone is in trouble, I told her to heal them with a kiss on the cheek or something.”
“Harui-san, I know that you two are in a same-sex marriage but stealing my virginity so easily is something even a man couldn’t do. If that became known at school, I couldn’t show my face to the principal. There are plenty of places to praise, but if you do the same thing to other students…”
“I understand. We will educate Hinato about that.”
While hugging and kissing pigeons, I ended up doing the same thing to other students.
That was nothing more than communication performed as a method to connect hearts.
In fact, Nagisa-sensei’s heart connected too, more or less. To have it ended like this—feels a little regrettable.
“Still, I don’t hate it, you know?”
“Huh?”
“Actually, I haven’t had much interaction with men either, and I was suffering over romance. If Hinato-sensei is going to train me like this, even staying in this relationship… it doesn’t hurt… And I grew to feel favorably toward pigeons too.”
But Teacher, didn’t it hurt a little bit?
Biting your lips during the kiss.
And hugging too tightly in a way different from pigeons.
Yet it seems I have become able to converse heart-to-heart with you.
So, I’ll give you a reward.
–30 minutes later
“Well then, I’ll be going now—”
“Sumire-sensei.”
“Hinato-san?”
“Please watch over me so my grades don’t drop, okay?”
“I understand. Thank you, my angel, and the pigeon.”
“Kiss…”