Chapter 185

"... That was Miss Haruno's own request. You should know what kind of person she is, right?"

He felt helpless towards both of them, ignoring her translucent white skin, her long, black hair tied with red ribbons on both sides, a barely noticeable Ahoge, her irresistibly cute face, her mini plaid skirt, and the black over-the-knee socks beneath her "absolute territory" (a defined area of skin)...

I walked to the back of the classroom, which was piled with desks and chairs, and moved two desks and a chair over, waiting for Hiratsuka Shizuka to come back for dinner.

"Excuse me."

As for why it's a chair, it's because there was already one there.

Its original owner is probably now sitting quietly on the steps in a secluded spot where the sea breeze can reach, eating lunch alone.

"Eh? So Little Yukino has an older sister." The other person in the room, the pink-haired Yuihama Yui, finally looked away from him and spoke Kokoro.

[Note: Yukino is yukino. Adding ん is equivalent to making a back nasal sound. It can be pronounced as yukinon, which is a nickname different from qiang (exclusive to dumplings)]

"Eh, she's a troublesome older sister." Yukino Shita Yukino withdrew her gaze, her eyebrows slightly furrowed.

"Because I'm an only child, I'm a little curious. What kind of person is he?" Yuihama Yui asked curiously.

"She's a very outstanding person..." Yukino Shita Yukino carefully chose her words, "Although I'm unwilling to accept it, she's better than me in some ways."

"Mommy?!" Yuihama Yui utter surprise, "Even more outstanding than Little Yukino... Does someone like that really exist in the world?"

"That's not so strange. The world is vast, Classmate Yuihama." She gestured to the side with her rounded, pointed chin. "There are always mountains beyond mountains, and people beyond people. The one over there right now might be one of those people."

"Little Yukino is spouting some really impressive sentences again... But Sakurakoji- san is indeed very beautiful!" Yuihama Yui looked at Sakurakoji Talent with envy.

"This is the first time I've ever seen someone so beautiful, and she's so tall and slender. I was completely stunned. She's even more beautiful than the models in magazines!"

"So, the Teacher Hiratsuka was talking about in class was you, Sakurakoji- san! Now I understand why she was so happy!"

"You've heard my story?" Sakurakoji Talent, surprised.

So, Teacher Shizuka, you Uehara enjoy your class a lot?

"Hey, Teacher Hiratsuka mentioned it a little today, oh right! I haven't introduced myself yet, have I?" She suddenly remembered, stood up straight, and touched her chest, saying, "I'm Yuihama Yui Class 2-F, and Teacher Hiratsuka is our Japanese language teacher."

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Sakurakoji!"

"Oh, nice to Classmate Yuihama."

"Hehe~ Before Sakurakoji- san, the most beautiful girl I've ever seen was Little Yukino... Ah!! That doesn't mean Little Yukino n't pretty, you know?!"

She then hurriedly and excitedly explained to Yukino Shita Yukino was sitting calmly beside her.

Yukino Shita Yukino looked at her hesitantly, "Classmate Yuihama."

"Hey!" Yuihama Yui was startled, thinking that she was angry.

"You seem to think Sakurakoji-san is a girl, that's very rude." Her eyes were a little complicated. "Didn't Teacher Hiratsuka just say that? She said 'he'."

[Note: Actually, "Miss," "Sir," "Classmate," etc., are all based on the translation; they are all honorifics at the end of sentences, like "san," but "he" and "she" are indeed different.]

"Huh?" Yuihama Yui looked back and forth between herself and Sakurakoji Talent, her expression gradually relaxing. "Huh?! Hu..."

She gradually recalled what Hiratsuka Shizuka had said in class; it was a boy who had spoken about it.

"No! Um! Although Teacher Hiratsuka said it was a boy coming, but... but his appearance and voice, I thought..." she explained, blushing and at a loss for words.

"I'm truly sorry that my appearance is so misleading," he said, bowing slightly in apology.

"No! It's not your fault, Sakurakoji-san! It's all my fault!" She sobbed, grabbing Yukino Shita Yukino's shoulders with Hands. "What should I do, Yuki-kun~!"

"Could you let me go first, Classmate Yuihama? I'm a little dizzy."

After managing to calm her down, Yukino Shita Yukino looked at him with a slight smile, "It's alright, Sakurakoji-san was already prepared, wasn't he?"

"You look like this, yet you deliberately keep your hair long to give people the wrong impression. I don't think it's your fault, Classmate Yuihama."

"..." While that's certainly true, why do I feel there's a hint of barb in your words?

You're declaring war on me, aren't you? Right?

Unsure, let's see.

"Well, more or less. Anyway, Classmate Yuihama isn't first, and she certainly won't be last, and I don't really care about that." He shrugged.

Although he was a little surprised when he was mistaken for someone else the first time, he gradually got used to it.

He couldn't possibly cut off his incredibly beautiful and precious hair just because of what others thought, could he? What if people then thought he was a short-haired beauty?

He's destined to look this way; there's no way he can become a handsome man except through plastic surgery. What can he do?

Blame those two in New York: one clearly has XY genes but expresses XX, and the other has XX genes but a XY personality...

"See, I told you so, Classmate Yuihama?" She chuckled triumphantly and said to Yuihama Yui head down.

"Sakurakoji-san, are you really alright? I'm sorry..." Yuihama Yui her head and apologized somewhat reluctantly.

"I already said it's okay, and I'm used to it."

"Knowing full well that this would happen, yet still not intending to change anything... Sakurakoji-san's personality, oh no, his 'preferences' are rather interesting."

Seeing Yukino Shita Yukino's disdainful smirk on her thin cherry lips and delicate face, Sakurakoji Talent smiled. This wasn't something he had deliberately provoked.

Under his deliberate control, her perfect appearance blossomed with the personality of Ogura Asahi, exuding charm that made everything else in the classroom pale in comparison.

The two people who had been watching him intently were also stunned and stood there dumbfounded.

"Yukino Shita and Miss Haruno have completely different personalities. Are they really sisters?" He looked suspiciously at a certain part of her body. "Come to think of it, there are indeed some differences."

"Varied?!"

Following his gaze to herself, Yukino Shita Yukino's expression changed. She blushed slightly, hugged her chest, and glared at him warily.

Chapter 235 The Wisteria Maiden and the Insects in the Clubroom

"Poor!"

"Oh, what are you talking about? I just meant to say that there's a big difference in your hair styles. I don't know what Yukino Shita- san is thinking?"

He glanced to the side and gave a meaningful smirk.

You know exactly what you're thinking!

"I'm sorry, but I'm quite aware of my own lack of self-awareness. Could you please explain that?"

The two simultaneously reduced the curvature of their eyes, and their gazes generated static electricity through friction in the air, creating intense sparks.

"Fujimusume in the drama is incredibly beautiful!"

"The Guanzhong Plain has beautiful scenery!"

[Fujimusume is a visual masterpiece in Kabuki, where a beautiful nakabe (a male performer dressed as a woman) performs an entire play by constantly changing costumes. The other one, needless to say, is... right?]

"Esmeralda, the Uninvited Guest!" (The protagonist of Paris Cathedral, a beautiful woman who sparks conflict, ending in tragedy)

"Desdemona!" (The heroine of Othello, a proud noblewoman who disdains conformity, whose ending is tragic.)

"A snow-white Samoyed that smiles obsequiously at everyone!"

"A jet-black Maine Coon that hisses and attacks everyone it sees!"

"..."

"..."

Yuihama Yui the exchange of haiku that she couldn't understand, her gaze anxiously darting back and forth between the two.

"Hey, hey?! You two, calm down!"

"Please calm down!!!"

Two minutes later, the two stopped their increasingly heated exchange, not because they had run out of things to say, but because they seemed to have reached their physical limit.

"You... Pfft cough cough!" Yukino Shita Yukino the first to collapse, covering her mouth and coughing uncontrollably.

When had she ever gotten this worked up with anyone before? Even in a verbal battle, no one could last this long—meaning the fight was over before she could even warm up from her calm state.

So sadly, our Second Miss's stats on the durability panel are quite poor.

"Little Yukino, are you alright?!" Yuihama Yui rushed over and patted her back.

Sakurakoji Talent's chest heaved as he took a few deep breaths to regulate his breathing; it had been a long time since he had interacted with someone so passionately.

After a short while, he recovered and glanced at Yukino Shita Yukino, who was still lying in Yuihama Yui's arms with a dry voice.

He whistled, announcing his victory.

Although he wanted to gain the other person's favor and speed up the treatment process, it seems that normal interaction is impossible after Hiratsuka Shizuka's meddling.

I can't possibly leave her with the impression of a weak and easily bullied Wisteria Maiden on our first meeting, can I? It would be better to try a different approach, making her angry and resentful of me—that would also increase my presence in her mind, wouldn't it?

Hearing the triumphant whistle, Yukino Shita Yukino suddenly opened her eyes, clenched her fists, and was about to get up and fight again, leaning on Yuihama Yui's obstructing front armor, unwilling to admit defeat.

However, before she could sound the horn of counterattack, Hiratsuka Shizuka returned.

"Yo~ I'm back! Wow~ This bento smells so good after being heated up. If I hadn't forgotten my cutlery, I would have started eating early!" Hiratsuka Shizuka walked in from the corridor with a sleek 90-degree turn, carrying a multi-tiered bento box.

"How did it go? Did you all introduce yourselves? How did things go?"

However, it was a very short time. After sensing the strange atmosphere in the room, she understood.

"What happened? Did things not go well?" She looked at Sakurakoji Talent and asked suspiciously, "That shouldn't be the case. With your skills, it should have been easy for you."

"It's all thanks to you." He smirked, suppressing the urge to spank her.

This is a school; we should at least preserve some of the dignity and respect due to teachers.

"Me?" Confused, she turned her gaze to the bewildered Yuihama Yui... Beside her, Yukino Shita Yukino frowned unhappily. "Yukino Shita, what's wrong? Did this kid make you angry so quickly?"

"It's nothing." She turned her head away, unwilling to say more, after all, it was too embarrassing.

"Well," Hiratsuka Shizuka shrugged helplessly, placing the lunchbox on the table, "I think you've all noticed that this kid is quite good-looking."

"Haha... that's still pretty good..." Yuihama Yui retorted, embarrassed.

"Hmm—besides grades, music, and cooking, she's probably excellent in other areas too, though I don't know much about her," Hiratsuka Shizuka said irresponsibly.

"Although he can be infuriating at times, overall he's a pretty good guy and would make a good friend."

"He's like you, he doesn't have many friends at school, and you're about the same age. If possible, you should try to get along well."

"For?" He stared speechlessly at Hiratsuka Shizuka. What exactly did you take him for? A tool or prop for... well, you know.

He said seriously, "Teacher Shizuka, I must correct you on one point: I have friends at school, and quite a lot of them!"

"Stop lying~ If you had friends, would you still skip class every day?" Hiratsuka Shizuka waved her hand, looking unconvinced.

Sakurakoji Talent was momentarily speechless; that makes perfect sense...

But he skipped class because he had important things to do, and it really had nothing to do with whether he had friends or not.

I can't exactly say I'm a heartthrob or that I'm best friends with a popular idol... What if she asks me to bring Miyako Shizuka to see her next time?

Come to think of it, I subconsciously included everyone in the list, but besides Miyako Shizuka, do I really have any friends in Hanasakigawa?

It's hard to say about Hachiman Kairin, Shiina Rikki is probably an enemy? The others are just a group of ordinary girls who admire and follow celebrities—it seems like there really aren't any.

Oh, right, and there's also Kanau from the junior high school—ugh! He wouldn't even let her see Ogura Asahi!

Tsk, I can't argue with that. I really don't have many friends at school—but I do have a lot outside of school, really!

"Besides, it's ridiculous that someone who's never even received a love letter claims to have many friends."

Hiratsuka Shizuka's gaze towards him was indescribable. With such excellent qualities, how come he had never even received a love letter? Just how badly had he done in other areas?

"No, I've finally received a few love letters recently, please cross that out, thank you."

It was a love letter I received from a girl, even though I was a girl myself.

"Oh, really? Congratulations!" Hiratsuka Shizuka was a little surprised, then asked curiously, "So, is there anyone you like among them?"

"No, and I don't even know them, so I didn't go to the appointment."

"You don't even know them?! You must be quite charming, huh? I can understand it though..." She gave him a complicated look, then lectured, "But at least show some consideration for the girls' feelings. It's not good to leave them waiting alone behind the school building, is it?"

"How did you know it was behind the school building? Actually, recently some people have asked to do it in the gymnasium, others on the rooftop or in the music room... and some have even asked for the cafeteria. Is she planning to confess her feelings while eating?" He sighed and explained the situation.

"But you know, I don't go to school every day, so I really can't fulfill their requests."

"What I mean is, I'm advising you to go to school as much as possible in the future, you brat!"

"..."