Luo Zhen felt that it was no big deal.
"It's okay, Hitori. If it's you, you can do anything to me."
Luo Zhen patted her shoulder.
Anything... Those words made Hitori blush and smile foolishly.
"Little Zhen, if you say that, I'll... lose control again."
Perhaps Luo Zhen's attitude was ultimately mixed with a great deal of guilt.
He had originally promised her a one-on-one relationship, yet things had unexpectedly developed into a twisted relationship with Michiyo.
It was all his fault, and he would do anything for Hitori without conditions.
He knew none of this could be made up for. His so-called compensation was merely wishful thinking.
But it had to be done.
An Outrageous Essay, a Teacher's Fury
After returning to the classroom, Luo Zhen acted as though nothing had happened.
Hitori, on the other hand, could not shake the blush on her face, and her heartbeat kept accelerating.
Luo Zhen focused on his own work and continued refining the concept for his new novel.
"After that, I just need to send it to my editor."
Luo Zhen was ready, excitement appearing on his face.
Just then, Shizuka Hiratsuka suddenly pushed open the classroom door, her fierce gaze sweeping across the room.
She immediately locked onto the little pink-haired girl in the crowd.
"Goto Hitori, come with me."
A dangerous air appeared in the teacher's smile. Hitori trembled all over, terrified.
She cast Luo Zhen a pleading look, her eyes turning watery as though she might cry at any moment.
Shizuka Hiratsuka's expression was far too frightening. Luo Zhen sighed and decided to go with Hitori.
"Look at the kind of stuff you wrote!"
The essays from the morning class had mostly been graded by the afternoon, and they could be discussed tomorrow.
Since the writing time had been short, they were only a few-hundred-word short essays.
The students' standards varied greatly. Some wrote very well, while others wrote something very... strange.
Writing poorly was normal. They would gradually improve through later lessons.
This was merely an initial assessment of everyone's general level, so she could control the pace of her teaching.
Because the population was small, academic pressure was not actually that intense.
Competition still existed, but the problem was that even if people worked hard to compete, they would probably still be unable to find jobs in the end.
The economy had never truly recovered, so many people started out with an attitude of lying flat and giving up.
While grading essays, Shizuka Hiratsuka was likely not only judging their standards, but also trying to see what they were thinking.
It had to be said that several students' essays were truly beyond human comprehension.
Shizuka Hiratsuka felt short of breath, and her vision even went dark.
Goto Hitori's essay had to be harshly judged!
"I asked you to look back on your high school life. What exactly is going on in that head of yours?"
Shizuka Hiratsuka was genuinely about to lose her mind as she slammed the paper onto the desk.
Luo Zhen knew the situation was serious, so it was not appropriate for him to say much.
Then, he carefully reached out and picked up Hitori's essay.
"Everyone has their own misfortunes, and their own happiness..."
Luo Zhen looked at the first sentence and immediately wore the expression of an old man staring at a subway phone.
No, why did this opening feel so familiar?
His voice began to tremble. It was only a few hundred words, yet she had written something incredibly seductive.
The protagonist, "Little Zhen," was a teacher, and then the principal, "Yamada Netsu," had done that to him.
With just a few strokes, she had depicted a desire-filled story that made one's blood boil.
No, Hitori, you shouldn't be a guitarist. You should be a novelist.
Come to think of it, this girl's imagination was first-rate. She really could do astonishing things.
I should've copied your writing skills sooner!
It was just that what she wrote was a little strange. What was this Young Wife Bai Zhen? And what was with these two characters' names? What exactly were you thinking about?
Only then did Hitori realize just how outrageous the thing she had done was, and her gaze began to drift away.
Early that morning, her mind had been hazy. She could not hear anything clearly, while her heart was filled with swelling flames of desire.
She had stared fixedly at Luo Zhen's back, unconsciously written all that down, then fallen asleep and passed out.
Now, the bomb had finally exploded.
Hitori felt as though she was about to die. Her brain had completely crashed, and she was utterly numb.
She had clearly been happy just now, since Little Zhen had brought her pleasure with his mouth.
But now, her joy had turned into sorrow. Her whole body plunged into an icy abyss as endless cold swept over her from every direction.
Yet at a time like this, Hitori's little inner drama began again.
"Goto Hitori, you want other people to find out that you wrote a lewd story for essay class too, don't you?"
"You may leave now, but I need to have a proper chat with Luo Zhen~"
The imaginary Shizuka Hiratsuka wore a strange expression and spoke in an equally peculiar tone, saying words that invited endless fantasies.
"Goto Hitori, are you awake?"
Shizuka Hiratsuka had a cigarette between her lips, though she had not lit it. Her voice brought Hitori back to her senses.
"You can write this kind of thing in private. How could you hand it in?"
The teacher was truly about to be driven mad.
"I'm sorry!"
Hitori hurriedly apologized. She was on the verge of tears.
"I don't even know why Luo Zhen is so obsessed with you. He even obeys your every word, even when it comes to that sort of thing..."
Shizuka Hiratsuka abruptly stopped speaking, nearly exposing certain matters.
Luo Zhen's gaze suddenly sharpened.
So the two of us hadn't been alone at the time. You were nearby, weren't you?
Hitori had no reaction, but Luo Zhen was someone skilled at catching details.
Shizuka Hiratsuka frowned. She exchanged a glance with Luo Zhen. Neither spoke, but the meaning had already been conveyed.
The teacher withdrew her gaze and took out her lighter as if nothing had happened.
However, her fingers were trembling, and she failed to light the cigarette several times.
"Teacher, we're still here, so don't smoke."
Luo Zhen said with narrowed eyes and a smile.
Shizuka Hiratsuka felt a little guilty. She put the cigarette down, her throat bobbing.
Fortunately, she was a good teacher. If it had been another teacher, something unpleasant might have happened.
Perhaps they would have been threatened, and then Luo Zhen would have been...
"Anyway, rewrite it right now! You're not leaving until you finish."
Shizuka Hiratsuka did not intend to make a big deal out of it.
Seeing Hitori's timid appearance, she merely sighed helplessly.
Actually, Goto Hitori's problem was quite minor.
She had merely used an imaginary story to explain so-called desire and happiness.
Although the little story was somewhat exciting, she was essentially still a virgin. She had retained a bit of reason at the time, so there were no descriptions of naked flesh.
There were even more outrageous essays, such as Hachiman Hikigaya's extreme men's-rights rhetoric...
He had actually written something like, "Women should all explode on the spot."
In a female-supremacy world, the Great Teacher's life experiences had completely changed, and he had somehow become an expert in gender warfare.
Hitori nodded repeatedly. Without even taking her essay, she turned and jogged away.
Luo Zhen, however, remained behind. He gave Shizuka Hiratsuka a gentle smile.
"Thank you, Hiratsuka-sensei."
Luo Zhen thanked her.
"No need to thank me. It's what I should do. Goto's issue is only a small one."
Shizuka Hiratsuka waved her hand and picked up the cigarette again, but just as before, her fingers trembled and she could not light it.
Was the lighter broken?
For some reason, Shizuka Hiratsuka became even more nervous than before. Being alone with Luo Zhen actually made her feel pressured.
Luo Zhen was only smiling, yet Shizuka Hiratsuka could not guess what he wanted to do at all, making the pressure intensify.
Luo Zhen snatched the lighter from her hand.
She had assumed he wanted to stop her from smoking and lecture her about its dangers.
With a click, the lighter ignited smoothly, and he personally lit the teacher's cigarette.
"There aren't many people who smoke at school. Teacher, you usually hide somewhere alone, don't you?"
"Mm, this brand is pretty expensive, right? The smell is quite distinctive."
"I think I've smelled it around the stairwell corner before."
Without realizing it, Luo Zhen had drawn closer to Shizuka Hiratsuka.
"Ah... that is where I smoke, but I didn't hear anything."
The fingers holding Shizuka Hiratsuka's cigarette began to tremble.
He was too close. Her heart was beating faster. This boy was so sweet.
His pleasant scent mixed with the smell of burning tobacco and drifted into her nostrils.
"So Teacher did hear it. Hehe, thank you for helping us keep the secret."
"How should I thank you? Right, let me prepare a gift for you."
Luo Zhen said with a smile. His foot shifted slightly, and he sat atop the desk beside Shizuka Hiratsuka.
His long legs swayed lightly, while the emotion in his eyes was impossible to read.
"There's no need. You should be more careful in the future."
"School is a place for studying. I only hope you study properly."
"That would be the best gift in return."
Shizuka Hiratsuka frowned. Why did this student feel somewhat off?
They were all perfectly ordinary little movements, yet in Shizuka Hiratsuka's eyes, they carried a faintly lewd flavor.
Every gesture he made gave off the air of a seductive vixen.
Before you continue