師匠の高校時代　Master's high school years

「可愛い…」
僕は思わずその写真に見惚れてしまった。
でも待てよ…、これってもしかして…
青みがかった髪…宝石のような瞳の色、そして道着の中に何も着ていない無神経さ…
間違いない。これは師匠の昔の写真だ。
他にもあるかもしれない。
僕はもっと師匠の昔の写真を見たくて物置を漁り続けた。そしたら…とんでもない写真を見つけてしまった。
「こ、これはいったいなんなんですか！師匠！」
僕は血相変えて物置を飛び出し、その写真を師匠に突きつけた。
「おー、これは高校時代じゃな？こんな古いものがどこにあったのだ？」
ところが師匠は何食わぬ顔でそれを受け取り、ニコニコして写真を見つめている。
違うでしょ！問題はそこじゃないでしょう！
「な、なな…、なんでおっぱい丸だしで写真撮られてるんですか！」
問題の写真を指さして僕が問い詰めると、師匠は不思議そうな顔をした。

「そりゃ稽古の後だから汗ぐらいかくだろう。タオルを渡されたから汗を拭いているだけだ。何の不思議がある？」
「どうしてそこを写真に撮られてるんですかって話ですよ！」
僕の剣幕とは対照的に師匠は呑気に顎に指を当てて考え込んだ。
「んー…この時は高校の空手部の試合に助っ人で出ることになったので、下手な試合はできないと思って兄弟子に空手ルールの組手に付き合ってもらっていたのだ。その稽古の後だ。その兄弟子は写真を取るのが趣味でな。昔から稽古中やその後の姿とかをよく撮ってもらっていたからこの時も…」
上半身裸の写真を撮られても何とも思わないなんて、師匠は本当にどうかしている。
「そ、その兄弟子はいまどちらに？」
裸を撮られても平気ならひょっとしてその相手は今の旦那さんなのでは？と邪推した僕が尋ねると師匠は首をひねった。
「いや、そういえばこの写真を撮ってもらった後、その兄弟子が『最近の空手は組技もOKになったらしいからその対策もしよう』と急に言ってきてな。答える間もなく組みついてきたのだ。」

それってもしかして…
僕はごくりと喉を鳴らして師匠の話の続きを待った。師匠は「えーと…」と一生懸命過去の記憶をほじくり出している。
「それで私も反射的に投げ飛ばして、倒れた相手に追い突きまでかましてしまった。兄弟子は打ちどころが悪かったのか動かなくなってしまってな、稽古に付き合ってくれた相手に悪いことをしてしまった。」
師匠はそう語ると珍しくしょんぼりしていた。多分本当に申し訳なく思っているのだろう。僕は師匠のズレっふりにため息が出た。
「その日以来その兄弟子は姿を見せなくなってしまった。恐らく無礼な私に腹を立てて道場を辞めてしまったのだろう。親切で優しくていい人だったのに残念だ。この写真は後日私宛に封筒で彼が送ってくれたものだ。『いつでも君を見ている』という手紙も添えてあった。」
師匠はまるで美しい思い出を語るみたいに懐かしそうにしているけど、僕はドン引きしていた。
いやいやいや！それってストーカーですよね？

「そ、その後…、変な事件に遭遇したりしませんでした？」
僕が恐る恐る尋ねると、師匠は驚いたように頷いた。
「よく知ってるな！その一ヶ月後くらいだったか、雨の日の学校からの帰り道で覆面姿の暴漢に襲われた事があった。相手は五人くらいいて、近くの車に引きずり込まれそうになったが、全員ぶちのめしてやったのだ。そいつらの一人は『好きなんだ！』とか気色悪い事を喚きながら逃げていったが…」
師匠は無自覚にストーカーを撃退していたらしい。流石だ。
「そうでしたか…、ご無事でなによりです。物騒で嫌ですね。」
僕は曖昧に笑いつつ写真を彼女から取り上げて胸ポケットにしまった。
「おい、待て。その写真はどうするつもりだ。」
師匠が目ざとくそれを問い詰めてきて僕はギクリとした。ぎこちない笑顔で彼女を振り向く僕。
「懐かしい思い出のようなので、物置の引き出しに戻しておきますね。」
僕がそう言うと、師匠は安心したようにテレビに視線を戻した。
「アルバムもないからな、それが良かろう。」
師匠の背中を見つめながら僕は胸をなでおろす。
こんな貴重な女子高生師匠のおっぱい写真を物置に眠らせておいたら人類にとっての損失です。
この後、この写真はちゃんと高解像度でスキャンして僕のお宝フォルダーに大切に保管させていただきました。

I have a room in my house that the master used to sleep in when she was training at this dojo.
That room has been unused since she left the dojo and is now a storage room.
The master should have lived in this room again, but she said, "It smells musty, and I don't want to clean up the room." She is sleeping on a futon in the room next to the living room instead of in this room.
When I cleaned this room, which had become a storage room, I found a picture in a drawer.
It was a picture of a beautiful girl with short hair wearing a karate uniform.
The girl had a smile on her sweaty face and was beaming. She did not seem to be wearing a T-shirt inside her karate uniform, and the bulges of her ample breasts were visible through the gaps in her uniform.

"She's so cute..."
I couldn't help but admire the picture.
'But wait...could this be...?'
The bluish hair... the jewel-like color of her eyes... the insensitivity of not wearing underwear...
No doubt. This is an old photo of Master!
'There may be more.'
I wanted to see more old photos of my master, so I kept digging in the storeroom. And then... I found an extraordinary picture.
"What in the world is this? Master!"
I ran out of the storeroom in a panic and confronted him with the photo.
"Oh, this is from high school, isn't it? Where did you find something this old?"
But my master took it without a care in the world and stared at the picture smiling.
"No, that's not it! That's not the problem, is it? Why are you being photographed with your tits bare?"
Pointing at the photo in question, I questioned him, and he looked at me strangely.

"It's after practice, so it's only natural to sweat," he said. I was given a towel, so I'm just wiping my sweat off. What's so strange about that?"
"Why is that moment being photographed?"
In contrast to my sword fight, the master put her finger to her chin and pondered.
"I was going to assist my high school karate club in a match, so I was asking my senior disciple to join him in a karate rules kumite. After that practice. The senior disciple was a photographer. He used to take pictures of me during and after practice, so this was one of those times..."
The master must really be crazy to think nothing of having a picture of her upper body taken of her.
"Where is this senior disciple now?"
If she doesn't mind being photographed naked, then perhaps he is her current husband? I asked her, and she twisted her head.
"After having this picture taken, the senior disciple suddenly said, 'I heard that recently we are allowed to use wrestling techniques in karate matches. So let's practice that too! ' Before I could answer, he hugged me."

'Could it be...?'
I cleared my throat and waited for the master to continue. The master was trying her best to dig up memories of the past, "Well..., So I reflexively threw him off, and even punched his downed opponent with an extra punch. He got stuck, perhaps because of a bad hit, and I felt bad for him for coming along with me to practice with me."
The master was unusually sad when she said this. Perhaps he was truly sorry. I sighed at her silliness.
"Since that day, he has never been seen again. Perhaps he got angry at my rudeness and left the dojo. It is a pity because he was a kind, gentle, and nice person. But he later sent me this photo in an envelope! He also included a letter that said, 'I will always be watching you.'"
My master was nostalgic, as if she were recounting a beautiful memory, but I was donkey's ass.
No, no, no! That's stalking, isn't it?

After that...did you encounter any strange incidents?"
I asked fearfully, and the master nodded in surprise.
"How do you know that? About a month later, I was attacked by masked thugs on my way home from school on a rainy day. There were about five of them, and they almost dragged me into a nearby car, but I beat them all up. Then they said something weird like, 'Why? I love you so much!' and they ran away while screaming something creepy..."
It seems that the master was fighting off the stalkers without realizing it.
"I'm glad you're safe. It's so dangerous."
I smiled vaguely, took the photo from her and put it in my breast pocket.
"Wait a minute. What are you going to do with that picture?"
I turn to her with an awkward smile and say, "It looks like a fond memory, so I'll put it back in the drawer in the storage room."
So my master turned her gaze back to the TV, as if relieved.
"That's a good idea, since I don't have any albums either."
I felt relieved as I stared at my teacher's back.
It would be a loss to humanity if I let such a precious photo of Master's boobs of a high school girl lie in a storage room.
After this, I scanned this photo properly in high resolution and stored it carefully in my treasure folder.