Shimaura Hitomi had taken Kiyoharu's advice and brought back bread for lunch, but she was hardly an obedient girl who listened to everything she was told.
She absolutely had to get her hands on her senior's carbon pen.
Kiyoharu had been holding his coffee cup and staring blankly out the window for quite a while, seemingly lost in deep thought. On any other day, Shimaura Hitomi would never have passed up the chance to admire the sight, but today, her eyes were fixed tightly on the carbon pen on his desk as she debated whether to strike now and pull off a switcheroo.
Strictly speaking, the imitation pen seemed no different from Kiyoharu's original one. Kiyoharu only used it for writing, replacing it with a new one roughly every three weeks. But it was something Kiyoharu had used, and for Shimaura Hitomi, that was enough.
Women looking at men's hands was like men looking at women's legs—a universally acknowledged preference.
The teachers across the aisle were fiercely debating new industrial policies, while a male teacher at the far end of the office was sleeping with his head on his desk.
Kiyoharu was still staring blankly out the window.
Everything was in place. Shimaura Hitomi was like a little mouse poised to pounce on its prey, about to make her move!
"Oh, right, Teacher Shimaura. What happened with that student of yours who skipped class today?"
Kiyoharu suddenly turned around and asked with concern.
Shimaura Hitomi's half-extended hand instantly snapped back. The movement was so abrupt that she nearly tipped backward out of her chair.
Kiyoharu hurried over to steady her. "Teacher Shimaura, are you alright?"
"I-I'm fine. I... I was just startled when you suddenly spoke, Senior."
"Sorry."
"It's not your fault, Senior! I'm just too timid..."
That was true enough. Ever since he had met Airi, and by extension Shimaura Hitomi, she had always seemed like a timid, skittish girl.
Kiyoharu remembered when Shimaura Hitomi had first joined Chihaya Academy as a teacher. During her first official lesson, a troublesome student had shouted at her and left her utterly flustered. Kiyoharu had stepped in to suppress him, allowing her to finish the class smoothly.
The method of suppression had been quite simple.
At the time, Kiyoharu had walked over to the unruly student and said calmly, "You're Shida from the karate club, right?"
"Who's this pretty-boy freeloader? This isn't your classroom, Chihaya-sensei. I suggest you mind your own business!"
So Kiyoharu clamped his powerful hand down on the student's shoulder and leaned close to murmur, "As a pretty-boy freeloader, I practiced karate seriously to please the Young Lady. Well, I'm probably about evenly matched with Airi. How good do you think your odds are against me?"
"Th-this... Hiss..." The student bared his teeth in pain but did not dare cry out for fear of losing face.
An adult man who worked out regularly was indeed far stronger than a child going through puberty.
Kiyoharu said thoughtfully, "It looks like Shida doesn't really want to attend class. In that case, why don't you come to the dojo for a friendly spar with your teacher? It's been a while since I've stretched my muscles too."
As he spoke, he rolled his neck, producing a series of terrifying crackles like a martial arts star in a movie.
Troublemaker: (ω｀ll)
"Um, I-I actually totally love Teacher Shimaura Hitomi's physics classes!"
As they spoke of that memory, Shimaura Hitomi could not stop herself from smiling.
"Senior, you were so scary back then. That student's face went completely pale. He was famously an unruly young master..."
"What young master? He just hadn't met anyone tougher than him. Teacher Shimaura, you're also too kind. If you had directly used Airi's reputation to put pressure on him, I'm sure that brat wouldn't have dared act up in front of you."
"But I don't want others to think I'm the kind of... um, bad person who throws her weight around..."
"Then let me be the bad guy. Teacher Shimaura, just focus on teaching. If anything like that happens again, you can come to me."
Kiyoharu made the promise casually. Teaching two classes while also serving as a homeroom teacher was easy enough for him; he had more than enough energy to help out.
Helping Shimaura Hitomi would satisfy the Young Lady, while also deepening their friendship and making it easier to find chances to earn Energy Points. Why not?
It had to be said that Shimaura Hitomi was practically Kiyoharu's savior! His hope for fighting back against that wicked superpowered woman!
Yet to Shimaura Hitomi, what seemed like an offhand promise carried immense weight.
Senior takes such good care of me, yet he never asks for anything in return. I really don't know how I could ever repay him.
Shimaura Hitomi spent the entire afternoon immersed in a blissful mood, and her efficiency soared. She finished the work that would normally have required overtime ahead of schedule.
That meant that when work ended, Shimaura Hitomi could leave the teaching building together with Kiyoharu. She would take the train home, while Kiyoharu drove to work. In truth, they would only be walking together for a short stretch, but even one more second spent with her senior was worth celebrating.
That evening.
The third, and final, punishment night without games.
Kiyoharu obediently read that detective novel in the study. He happened to finish it today, so tomorrow he could return to the embrace of gaming. Perfect.
As usual, Airi lay sprawled gracelessly across the sofa in the living room, watching some mindless variety show.
Every so often, she glanced toward the study.
Damn it, I still haven't caught him slipping. I really don't want to let him go back to playing games.
For some reason, Airi could not stand seeing Kiyoharu happily entertaining himself alone. She only felt comfortable when Kiyoharu was at her side, attending to her.
It was perfectly normal when she thought about it. She spent so much money hiring him every month—shouldn't she make him do more things for her?
She should have made the contract harsher back then.
"Kiyoharu-kun, fruit."
"Got it."
Kiyoharu put down his book and went to the living room to fetch the fruit platter, only to find that Airi had not finished the fruit he had cut for her earlier. Most of it had been thrown into the trash.
"Does the Young Lady not like these?"
"Mm. They're too sweet. Too cloying. I want something fresher."
She usually loved sweet, rich mangoes, yet today she had suddenly changed her tastes. All one could say was that the Red-Eyed Devil's moods were notoriously unpredictable.
Kiyoharu rushed into the kitchen. Not long after, he set two strange-looking plates of fruit in front of Airi.
"What is this?"
"Green mango."
"And what's this?"
"Chili powder. You dip it in that."
"Huh?!"
Kiyoharu had prepared a plate for himself too. Naturally, the proud Young Lady could not tolerate eating from the same plate as someone else.
The fragrant spice and slight sweetness of the chili powder balanced out the faint astringency of the green mango, exploding into an unusual flavor in the mouth.
It was a way of eating from southern China that Kiyoharu had loved since his previous life.
Airi, however, could not understand it at all. Her eyes widened as she waved her hands. "Take it away, take it away. I'm not eating something that weird."
"Just try it. You know I never steer you wrong when it comes to food."
That was true.
Kiyoharu seemed well versed in foreign cuisine. Many obscure foods Airi had never seen before had tasted surprisingly amazing after she pinched her nose and gave them a try.
Fruit dipped in chili powder sounded like some terrible experimental dish, but judging by how much Kiyoharu was enjoying it, it probably could not be that bad... right?
Airi furrowed her delicate, lovely brows and speared a piece of green mango with her fork. Copying Kiyoharu, she dipped it in some chili powder, first licking it twice with the tip of her tongue, then taking a small bite before finally swallowing the whole piece.
Like a cat trying freeze-dried food for the first time.
Before you continue