Shizuka Arrives at Shirou's School / Shizuka Does Her Teaching Practicum in Shirou's Class

"Who's your sister?!" Shizuka Hiratsuka retorted unhappily. No wonder they say Japan is full of older, unmarried female teachers; they're all like that. It would be a miracle if anyone wanted them!

Slightly tipsy, the two women were finally satisfied. They smiled and returned to their seats, proudly showing their companions photos of themselves with the handsome Shirou, on their phones.

"Honestly, a bunch of female drunks are really annoying." Shizuka Hiratsuka finally managed to escape from the group of drunks and sat down next to Shirou. After downing a glass of strong liquor, her face turned red.

"Shizuka, are you alright?" Shirou asked, looking at the woman who had been drinking with some concern.

"It's nothing, it's nothing. I just drank a little too fast. One cup of wine is nothing to me," Shizuka Hiratsuka said with a smile to Shirou.

"Shizuka, since you said that, does that mean I'm all grown up now?" Shirou asked, looking at the black-haired woman.

Shizuka Hiratsuka gazed at the boy before her; under the influence of alcohol, he seemed exceptionally handsome and captivating in her eyes.

There's a saying that goes, "Alcohol emboldens the timid." People who are usually too afraid to do this or that might actually do something they wouldn't normally dare to do if they drank a couple of ounces of liquor.

As if he had gained some courage from the woman's eyes, Shirou leaned forward and moved closer to her.

As if to complement the two of them, a strong gust of wind blew up, swirling up large swaths of cherry blossoms and dazzling the eyes of those around them, giving the woman and Shirou a moment of private space.

The black-haired woman gazed at Shirou's face. Indeed... the boy had grown into a handsome young man. His once innocent features had faded, replaced by a refined and dashing masculinity. Especially his eyes...

"Jing..." The boy leaned his face closer to the woman, looking at her fair face and pink lips. At that moment, he felt an urge to get even closer to her.

"Shirou..." Shizuka Hiratsuka gazed at Shirou, letting out a soft breath. As the boy drew closer, she gradually held her breath.

The boy's heart began to pound uncontrollably. Despite his rigorous training, even during intense sprinting, his heart shouldn't be beating this fast. Yet, at this moment, it was pounding wildly.

The woman's face loomed larger and larger in the boy's eyes, and he felt as if he was about to uncover... the layer of dust and mist that separated him from the woman.

"Alright, alright, what are you thinking about? Asking that means you're still a kid." Shizuka Hiratsuka chuckled and nudged Shirou's forehead with her fingertip.

"I feel like I've grown up already," Shirou said, rubbing his forehead and looking at Shizuka Hiratsuka with a somewhat aggrieved expression.

Although their bodies have grown up, their minds are still those of immature children, and their psychology is not yet mature.

By this time, the strong wind had passed, and the people around returned to normal, laughing and joking.

"Ouch! The wind was so strong just now, I couldn't even open my eyes!"

"Oh no, could it be that I missed something?!"

"It's so hot! It's so hot!" Shizuka Hiratsuka, her face flushed red, turned her face away from Shirou, looking up at the sky and fanning herself.

Well, perhaps the girl here is still a child at heart.

But then, how exactly does one know if they've truly grown up?

After the cherry blossom viewing day, everything returned to normal. Shizuka Hiratsuka continued to study diligently at school. One morning, after class, the professor suddenly called out.

"Hiratsuka, come here for a second."

"Yes? Is there anything I can help you with, Professor?" Shizuka Hiratsuka, carrying her books, walked to the podium and asked with a puzzled expression.

"Hiratsuka, I heard you say that you don't plan to continue your studies, but want to start working as soon as possible. Now there's an opportunity, would you like to give it a try?" The professor, a bespectacled, elegant lady, handed a proposal to the long-haired woman.

"Thank you." Shizuka Hiratsuka took it, looked at it, and then looked up at the professor, saying, "Is this... a training program for young teachers?"

"Yes, by participating in this program, you can not only experience on-site teaching at the school six months earlier, but also connect with and exchange ideas with outstanding faculty members in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area."

You only need to submit a report to school each week to earn credits. You'll also have opportunities to intern at several schools, which will be beneficial for your future employment and teacher evaluations. If you'd like, I'd like to recommend you as a school representative."

"Yes! Thank you, Professor!" Upon hearing this, Shizuka Hiratsuka smiled happily and nodded emphatically.

"Alright, alright, I've seen how hard you've been working lately. Keep up the good work and become a respectable teacher; that would be the best gift for me," the professor replied with a smile.

"Yes!" Shizuka Hiratsuka bowed deeply to her mentor.

Chapter 579 Shizuka Arrives at Shirou's School

The green field at a private junior high school in Chiba was bustling with activity.

Despite it being a holiday, the place was bustling like a school day, with bursts of enthusiastic shouts erupting every now and then. This was because a soccer match against another school was taking place, and this game was crucial for the school's chances of advancing to the next round.

The school soccer team's preliminary matches are currently underway. Because Chiba belongs to the Kanto League region, which has many strong schools, the competition in the preliminary matches is particularly fierce.

On the field, among the players dressed in sportswear, there was a lithe, red-haired youth running towards the front as a forward.

The score is currently 0-0, but there are only 20 minutes left in the game. Both teams have adopted a rigorous defensive counter-attacking strategy. Because both sides have excellent and calm players, neither side has made any major mistakes yet. Therefore, the game remains deadlocked.

The defender behind had intercepted the ball and kicked it forward, shouting loudly.

"Shirou! Please!"

"Oh!" Shirou leaped lightly, stopping the ball with his chest, then sprinted forward with the ball in his limbs.

The person next to him tried to rush up to intercept him, but found that when he started moving, he was left half a body length behind. He reached out to grab Shirou's clothes, but found that he only grabbed a gust of wind.

The goalkeeper had already made the save, and everyone thought Shirou would choose to shoot, but unexpectedly the ball was passed to the other side.

A burly, round-faced man happened to appear there, and with a simple sweep, the ball flew into the net in the opposite direction of the goalkeeper's dive.

"Well done, Tsubasa!" Shirou praised his teammate who scored the goal.

"Oh, thanks! Your brilliant tip, Shirou!" The round-faced boy ran up to Shirou and said.

The two boys bumped fists, swapped arms, and said with smiles.

"Aaaaaah~! Shirou ~! Tsubasa~!" The girls outside the arena screamed loudly when they saw this scene.

The game continued with 15 minutes remaining. The ball is round, so anything can happen. However, this time, no miracle occurred, as both teams were already exhausted from the intense competition.

Except for Shirou, who possesses incredible stamina and only broke out in a light sweat, everyone else looked exhausted. The opposing team had completely lost their fighting spirit after conceding a point, and the game had become a blowout.

Finally, the referee blew the whistle, and the match ended 1-0, with Shirou's school winning and qualifying for the 32-point tournament of the Kanto League.

Outside the football field, in a teaching building, a group of young student teachers arrived at the school. Among them was a pretty woman with black hair, who was standing on the balcony looking at the red ball on the football field. After seeing the boy's victory, the corners of her mouth curled up into a beautiful smile.

A handsome, tall male teacher, around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, walked over and said gently to her, "So you're interested in soccer? Time to go in, Teacher Hiratsuka."

"Oh, sorry, let's go in quickly." Shizuka Hiratsuka couldn't very well say that she was actually more interested in the middle schoolers playing soccer inside than the soccer ball itself.

After their celebration, the young football players went to the locker room.

"Thank you so much, Shirou! This time our opponent is a strong school; it would be quite dangerous if we relied on ourselves alone."

"Yes, Shirou, why don't you just join our soccer club? That way, you and Tsubasa will be our club's young stars. If that's the case, making it to the national championships won't be a dream. With your talent, even making it to the U15 team won't be a dream!" The soccer club president also strongly urged Shirou to stay.

"You flatter me too much. Besides, the final goal of this match was thanks to Tsubasa. Even without me, our team would definitely have won." Shirou waved his hand and said. It would be too unfair for him to compete with ordinary people with his current physical abilities.

If it weren't for an injury to a regular member of the soccer team today, and the repeated requests from seniors at school, he wouldn't have participated in this match. That's why he didn't shoot at the last moment, but instead passed the ball to other teammates—that's the point. When sports competition isn't conducted on a level playing field, everything becomes meaningless.

"No, if you had chosen to shoot the last goal yourself, Shirou, you definitely would have scored. I really wish you could have joined in too," the round-faced boy named Tsubasa said earnestly to Shirou.

"Haha, thank you for the invitation, seniors. Helping out as a substitute player on weekends is fine, but I have things to do this afternoon, so I really can't train with everyone. I'm so sorry. Well... I have to go now." Shirou said to the soccer club members.

"Wait a minute, the supervisor said he's treating me to a celebratory dinner, a barbecue, you're really not going?" someone asked.

"Yes, everyone have fun. I'm really too busy, so it's Monday." Shirou waved his hand and ran outside.

Watching the boy's retreating figure as he hurried away, the boy who remained said:

"What a waste! Even if he didn't join the team, we still considered him a friend. Speaking of which, what is he doing rushing home every day?"

"He must be doing some kind of training, right? You saw him when he was changing clothes, right? His well-built muscles are probably better than most high school students. Is his family a dojo?" a well-informed boy replied.

"No, I heard it's his sister who's a martial arts instructor at a gym. But I heard she's really scary, like a red-haired female tyrant, or a god of destruction from Western Europe. Apparently, there's an extremely difficult challenge that only Shirou has managed to complete so far."

"What's that? It looks incredibly powerful! By the way... is Shirou's older sister pretty?"

"Hmm, she's a stunning beauty with short hair, and a beauty mark under her eye."

"Really? I'll go try it out tomorrow!"

"No, I advise you to forget about it. That woman is a monster who can throw a two-meter-tall, at least 120-kilogram strong man out of the way."

"Hey... then isn't she even stronger than a bear?"

"It's said that because she's so strong, even if she can't recruit any students, the gym owner doesn't dare fire her. After all, as long as she's there, even the most terrifying Yakuza wouldn't dare come to collect protection money, and every year during holidays, many organizations would vie to wish her a Happy New Year."

"Huh... Shirou has yakuza connections... Will it be bad if I talk to him so casually?"

"It's alright, Shirou is known throughout the school as a kind-hearted person, so he won't mind what's going on here."

For some reason, Bazett, as Shirou's older sister, has gained a new image in the outside world as a yakuza boss.

The middle school students, chatting idly, had no idea that Shirou's departure at that moment had actually saved them from a disaster. As Shirou walked out of the school alone, a gloomy Black Shadow was secretly watching him from behind.

Shirou walked into a secluded forest path and stopped.

Chapter 580 Shizuka Internship in Shirou's Class

Shirou strolled into a forest path. With each step he took, a sound of footsteps echoed on the ground. When Shirou stopped, another footstep sounded behind him, then stopped abruptly.

"Since you've followed me here, come out," Shirou said with a smile as he turned around.

"Hehehe, your senses are really sharp. No wonder you're number one on the black market's bounty list, a god-like body!" A Black Shadow walked into the wooded path. This person was wearing black leather boots, black gloves, a black coat, and a black mask covering their entire body.

Only a pair of blood-red eyes were visible through large goggles, staring intently at Shirou like a greedy beast eyeing its prey.

"How did you sense me?" the man in black asked Shirou curiously.

"Because I'm undergoing training, I don't make any noise when I walk," Shirou said matter-of-factly.

"I see, I see! I heard you were trained by that Human Weapon, so it makes sense that you practice these fighting techniques." The man in black nodded and said, then suddenly lunged at Shirou and roared, "Then die!"

"Yes, but I have a lot of people to learn from..." As soon as Shirou finished speaking, the scattered stones on the ground emitted a blue light, and lightning crackled along the entire path. The scorching white light enveloped the man in black behind him.

"Aaaaaah!!" The man in black let out a scream, then collapsed motionless to the ground. His entire body, including his glasses, was now charred black; his original all-black attire had transformed him into a charred, carbonized figure.

Because he had to face a constant stream of treacherous Magecraft sent by various forces, Shirou also learned the skills he had developed in his dreams while living as a battlefield mercenary in a parallel world. He set up various traps against Magecraft in secluded places in advance, so that when the time came, he could simply lure them into the trap and solve everything.

"From the moment I became aware of your existence, you were destined to lose," Shirou said slowly. He walked unhurriedly to the fallen man in black, knelt down, and wanted to check on him.

Just then, the charred charcoal figure on the ground suddenly opened its eyes, a red light flashed, and it abruptly raised its head. A pair of sharp teeth pierced through the black mask and bit at Shirou's arm!

He is an incomplete artificial Dead Apostle. Although he does not reach the level of an ancestor, he is stronger than ordinary vampires and belongs to the type with talent.

In order to gain a longer lifespan, he transformed himself into Dead Apostle. Although, as the price, he lost the right to expose his skin to the sun, his fangs were infused with deadly poison. Combined with the Magecraft he possessed, anyone bitten would become a slave to his whims.

"You were careless, kid! I've got your bounty!"

Boom!!!

"So everyone says you lost! 67th place!" Shirou instantly summoned his black and white fist armor, and with a heavy punch to the vampire-like face that had jumped up, he smashed the vampire's fangs and slammed the vampire's head into the ground.

This punch contained a special power that slammed the man in black into the ground, rendering him immobile and unresponsive. Even Dead Apostle facing Shirou's attack would not be able to recover. This is because Shirou's punch contained a substance that prevented him from recovering—the highly toxic power of the sun for Dead Apostle.

Shirou doesn't want to kill, not even such villains, so as punishment, Shirou will cripple the special abilities of those who try to capture him, absorb their magical energy with the power of the world, and erase their memories.

As missing persons, they were sent to the relevant institutions to give them a chance to start anew.

The power of the world is the primordial force that constructs all existence in the world. In Greek gods, it is chaos, and in Daoism, it is Hongmeng. Anything that can exist on Earth can be reproduced.

Of course, Shirou is not omniscient or omnipotent, so he can only create what he has seen and understands. However, destroying those things is a piece of cake. As long as he injects destructive energy, he can easily exhaust it.

With a sweep of white light from Shirou's hand, the man in black floated up from the ground. His black clothes turned into fluorescent light and disappeared, replaced by a patient's clothes. After the blood of the Dead Apostle was removed, he became a withered old man with no hair on his body.

He is currently unconscious, his memory has been wiped, and he no longer has the ability to do anything wrong. When he wakes up, he will probably have been taken to the relevant authorities.

"Although your lifespan is limited, I still hope that you can become a good person again in the future," Shirou said softly to the unconscious old man.

Just then, another sound of footsteps approached, and Bazett, dressed in a men's suit, rushed over.

"You've arrived, Bazett," Shirou said, standing up.

Meanwhile, at Shirou's school, ten interns from prestigious universities in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, led by a young and composed male teacher in his late twenties, stood in a row in the junior high school's conference room.

On the stage stood a man in his fifties, the principal of the junior high school. He would be receiving the interns from this training program and bringing them to the school for a two-week teaching training program.

"Mr. Principal Zhang, the introductions are now complete. We look forward to your guidance from now on," the male teacher leader said, bowing to Principal Zhang.

The junior high school principal chuckled and said, "Of course, of course, Mr. Dongguo. Our school is fully cooperating with the Education Department's plan. It's an honor to have so many excellent young teachers come to teach at our school."

"Now I'll be assigning the class rosters and project proposals. Those whose names are called, please come up here," the male team leader said, turning to the student teachers on the stage.

"Ibuki-sensei, do your best in Class D!"

"Yes." A female student stepped forward, took the document with both hands, and stepped back.

"Teacher Hiratsuka is in charge of Class 1-E."

"Yes!" The black-haired woman stepped forward.

"If you have any questions, feel free to ask me anytime, Hiratsuka." The male tour leader looked at the woman, deliberately lowered his voice, and spoke to her very gently.

"Yes, thank you, senior." Shizuka Hiratsuka bowed slightly to the team leader and replied, then retreated to the back.

The outgoing female classmate next to her nudged Shizuka Hiratsuka on the shoulder and whispered something.