She Is My...

Commercial district.

Uesugi Hara deliberately chose an electronics store with a small storefront and very few customers.

After all, the girl had a very introverted personality, and crowded places would only make her more nervous.

The two walked into the shop, and Uesugi Hara led her straight to the counter, handed the camera over, and asked the clerk, "Excuse me, could you take a look and see if this camera can be repaired? It was dropped by accident earlier and won't turn on now."

However, the clerk's gaze did not land on the camera. From the moment they entered, his eyes had been glued to Sakura Airi, and his undisguised scrutiny was very uncomfortable.

Sakura Airi sensed that gaze, her body tensing up instantly. She shrank behind Uesugi Hara, her small hands clutching the hem of her shirt tightly. She lowered her head, her breathing becoming shallow.

Uesugi Hara frowned, shifted to the side without a sound, and blocked the clerk's line of sight. His tone turned colder, "Clerk, I'm asking you about the camera. Are you listening?"

Startled by his sharp tone, a flash of greed crossed the clerk's eyes. He quickly withdrew his gaze, forced a stiff, professional smile onto his face, and reached out to take the camera, "My apologies, customer. I wasn't paying attention. Please wait a moment while I check it."

That fleeting greed did not escape Uesugi Hara's eyes.

Does this guy think they're students and easy to rip off? Or does he have other intentions?

He turned back to gently reassure the girl behind him. Seeing her nod slightly, he turned around and, while the clerk was busy checking the camera, began to observe the shop without drawing attention.

Although the location was a bit remote, the shop's equipment was no worse than other stores, though the lighting was poorer. The main issue, however, was the sleazy clerk.

No wonder there were no customers.

Uesugi Hara's gaze locked onto the workbench behind the clerk—the computer screen saver was on, and the girl with twin tails and a sweet smile on the screen was none other than Shizuku-chan, exactly the same as the screen saver he used!

This guy... did he recognize that Sakura Airi is Shizuku-chan?

Uesugi Hara's heart sank. He glanced at the clerk from the corner of his eye and, sure enough, saw the man pretending to fiddle with the camera while his eyes drifted toward Sakura Airi hiding behind him from time to time. The greed and sleaziness in that gaze were even more blatant than before.

So disgusting!

Uesugi Hara felt a chill in his heart.

Is this the kind of person mentioned online—the type of fat otaku creep who fantasizes about idol photos behind a screen, only to reveal a lecherous face when seeing the real person in reality?

He quietly moved closer to Sakura Airi, blocking the clerk's view, and said coldly, "Are you done checking? Can it be fixed or not? If not, we'll go somewhere else."

The clerk was taken aback by his tone, quickly retracted his gaze, fiddled with the camera perfunctorily, and replied with impatience, "The internal parts might have come loose from the drop. It needs to be taken apart to see. If you want it fixed, it'll be at least 2000 points and a three-day wait."

"If you want to repair it, sign here and register your name and class." The clerk pushed over a registration form and pointed to the blank space.

Upon hearing this, Uesugi Hara frowned again, "It costs that many points?"

"Customer, my prices are clearly marked. The parts and labor fees are all written down clearly." The clerk pointed to the price list and, wanting to keep the customers, added, "This is already the cheapest in the commercial district. You can ask anywhere else, and you definitely won't find a lower price."

Uesugi Hara was about to pull Sakura Airi away to another shop, but his wrist was tugged gently—it was Sakura Airi. She was looking down, her small hand gripping his hem, her eyes filled with a hint of pleading. Clearly, she didn't want to cause him any trouble.

Uesugi Hara looked at her reddened earlobes, sighed inwardly, and said coldly to the clerk, "Fine, give me the pen."

"Wait." The clerk suddenly blocked him, his eyes sweeping over the two of them with a hint of impatience, "Is this camera yours? Let the owner sign it. The registration information must match the user." The implication was obvious—why are you, an outsider, getting involved?

Uesugi Hara raised an eyebrow, suddenly reached out to wrap his arm around Sakura Airi's shoulders, pulled her closer to his side, lifted his chin slightly, and said with a hint of provocation, "I'm her boyfriend. Do you think I have the qualifications to sign for her?"

"Boy, boyfriend?!" The clerk's eyes widened instantly, clearly not expecting things to unfold this way.

Sakura Airi, standing beside him, looked as if she had been scalded. She jerked her head up, her cheeks turning so red they could bleed. Her small mouth opened slightly, and for a long time, she couldn't utter a complete sentence, only repeating, "Boy, boyfriend! Aba-aba..." Her entire being turned into a "steam girl" emitting heat, even the tips of her ears turning deep red.

"Of course." Uesugi Hara ignored the "system crash" state of the girl beside him and glared coldly at the clerk, "Do I have the qualifications to sign now?"

"No, impossible!" The clerk clearly didn't believe it and pointed at Sakura Airi, "I want to ask her!"

"My girlfriend's business is none of your damn business!" Uesugi Hara's tone was even more aggressive, "Why so much nonsense just to fix a camera?"

"I..." The clerk still wanted to argue.

"None of your damn business!" Uesugi Hara cut him off directly, his voice rising a notch, "Can you fix it or not? If not, we're leaving now, don't waste our time here!"

The clerk was stunned by his forceful demeanor. He glanced at Sakura Airi, who was almost burying her head in her chest, and finally compromised, "Ye, yes, it can be fixed."

"Hmph." Uesugi Hara sneered, took the pen, quickly signed his name and class, snatched the receipt back, grabbed the still "aba-aba" brain-overloaded Sakura Airi, and turned to leave.

As they reached the shop entrance, Uesugi Hara deliberately looked back and gave the clerk a cold, sharp glance—the warning in that gaze made the clerk shrink his neck instantly, not daring to chase after them.

Not until they were out of the shop did Sakura Airi finally find her voice, whispering, "Ue, Uesugi-kun, just now..."

The "steam girl" look Shizuku-chan had just now was simply too cute!

Uesugi Hara turned to look at her, proactively skipping the topic.

His tone lost the cold hardness he had used with the clerk and became more earnest, "Sakura-san, you're that photo blogger 'Shizuku-chan' online, right?"

"Shi, Shizuku-chan?!" Sakura Airi jerked her head up, her eyes filled with panic, her voice trembling, "Wha, what Shizuku-chan? I, I don't know..." Guilt, shyness, and the fear of having her identity exposed flooded her heart, making her stutter.

"Don't be nervous, I don't have any ill intentions." Uesugi Hara quickly softened his tone, "I came across your photos while browsing the blog before and thought they were very beautiful, so I remembered them."

"Ho, how could that be me?" Sakura Airi was still trying to hold on, pulling out a smile that looked worse than crying, "Ha! Hahaha! You must have mistaken me for someone else..."

"The clerk at that electronics store had your photo as his computer screen saver." Uesugi Hara directly pierced through her cover, his tone becoming more serious, "He must have recognized you, which is why his gaze toward you was so strange just now."

"Ho, how could this happen..." Sakura Airi's face turned pale instantly, her small hands clutching her hem tightly, "It's, it's a lie, right?"

She had always carefully hidden her identity as "Shizuku-chan" for fear that her classmates would look at her with strange eyes if they found out. Now, not only had a stranger recognized her, but he had also looked at her with such an uncomfortable gaze, making her panic instantly.

Seeing her eyes redden and looking like she was about to cry, Uesugi Hara quickly softened his tone, reached out, and gently patted her shoulder to comfort her, "Don't panic, it's fine. Even if he recognized you, he wouldn't dare spread it around—after all, he was just scolded by me, so he'll definitely be afraid of causing trouble."

Seeing that Sakura Airi's emotions had stabilized slightly, he continued, "However, just to be safe, keep a close eye on your terminal or blog messages lately. There might be strange people trying to add you or sending you messages. Add me as a friend first; if anyone really harasses you or sends you weird messages, tell me anytime, and I'll handle it for you."

As he spoke, he pulled up his friend interface and held it out to Sakura Airi, his tone carrying a reassuring certainty: "Don't worry, with me here, I won't let him cause you any trouble."

Sakura Airi looked at the terminal he was holding out, then looked up at his earnest expression, and the panic in her heart gradually began to dissipate. She hesitated for a moment, but still took out her own terminal to add him, whispering, "Th-thank you, Uesugi-kun..."

"You're welcome." Uesugi Hara put away his terminal and smiled. "By the way, the photos on your blog are really beautiful, especially that one under the cherry blossom tree from last time; the composition was excellent."

Hearing this, Sakura Airi's cheeks flushed again, her head drooping even lower as she murmured softly, "Y-you actually saw them..."

"Of course, I'm your fan." Uesugi Hara said half-jokingly, feeling relieved to see she wasn't as nervous anymore—thankfully, he hadn't scared Shizuku-chan into tears.

"Oh..." Sakura Airi's cheeks turned even redder, her little head hanging so low it almost touched her chest, her fingers twisting unconsciously, her voice as soft as cotton candy.

Watching her shy appearance, Uesugi Hara chuckled inwardly. He pretended not to notice and suggested in a natural tone, "The camera repair will take two days. I'll come to pick it up alone so that clerk doesn't look at you with those strange eyes again and scare you."

He deliberately emphasized the words "strange eyes" to put Sakura Airi at ease.

With him around, he wouldn't let that sleazy clerk get near her again.

Sakura Airi was stunned for a moment, then looked up at him. Seeing his serious expression, which didn't look like he was joking, a warm current surged through her heart. She nodded gently, her voice as thin as a mosquito's hum: "Mm... sorry to trouble you, Uesugi-kun."

"It's no trouble." Uesugi Hara smiled and reached out to ruffle her hair—it felt even softer than he had imagined. "Right, if that clerk dares to add you or send you harassing messages over the next two days, remember to tell me immediately."

"O-okay..." Sakura Airi was startled by his sudden action, her cheeks reddening even more as she quickly lowered her head and replied softly.

The two walked side by side through the school, sunlight spilling over them. Sakura Airi stole a glance at the side of the boy's face beside her, thinking to herself—Uesugi-kun really seems like a good person.