The Snow Woman

"Hey Yukino- chan, can you do me a favor? I'm not familiar with the school, could you show me around?"

Why me?

Yukino looked at him with confusion, but due to a sense of closeness that she herself didn't realize she felt, she didn't immediately reject him.

Shuya offered an excuse. "Your sister and I work at the same agency and have a good relationship, so we're practically family now, which is why I contacted you."

"What kind of logic is that?"

Yukino frowned, but still admitted it. "Okay, but it's not because of my sister, I was just helping a classmate."

After she said that, she took Shuya the school.

During the introductions, Shuya successfully built a closer relationship with Yukino.

Although Yukino said it had nothing to do with her sister, she was still quite concerned when Shuya brought up Haruno's matter.

With mutual acquaintances and the mysterious connection between Ikeda Ichinosuke and the Snow Woman, their relationship progressed rapidly.

After the school was introduced, the number of people inside the primary school had increased significantly.

When the preparatory bell rang, Yukino brought Shuya back to the classroom.

When the two of them entered together, the once lively classroom fell silent.

The children were all staring at Yukino and Shuya, wondering why they had come in together and were even talking to each other.

Among the children, a Yellow Hair boy was particularly shocked. He wanted to go up and ask Yukino, but after glancing at the classmates around him, he silently stopped.

Shuya watched the children's reactions with great interest, his probing gaze finally settling on Yukino.

She didn't seem to mind, and simply walked back to her seat as if it were a normal occurrence.

"Uh, wait a minute."

Shuya quickly stopped Yukino.

"?"

Yukino seemed to have even less desire to speak in the classroom.

After Shuya, the surrounding temperature had already dropped a bit.

Could you please tell me where my seat is?

"There."

Yukino pointed out the location.

The second to last position in the far left row.

That is, the main character's position.

"Thanks."

"Need not."

Shuya and Yukino separated.

After he sat down, he didn't talk to the other children and continued to observe Yukino Yukinoshita.

No children from the school came to bother him; some did come to see him, but none of them dared to speak to him.

It's normal for Shuya come to school often and not have any friends, but it's very abnormal for Yukino to not have any friends.

Some might say this is xenophobia in Japan, an exclusion of those who are different from themselves. Then they might criticize Japan national character to gain a sense of superiority.

It's undeniable that school bullying is a serious problem in Japan (or rather, which place doesn't have this problem?), but if you pay a little attention to interviews, you'll find that Japan celebrities all have friends in school, although they may not have many.

The fact that Yukino has no friends, despite being an outstanding and conspicuous person, should be attributed to the exaggeration unique to Yukino's characters.

According to Shuya's observation, this situation was largely caused by Yukino's own indifference.

She is not interested in making friends, has low personal desires, is not very talkative, and spends her free time reading.

It's normal to not have any friends.

This attitude could even become a reason for being bullied in the future.

It wasn't that no one in the class talked to her; there was a Yellow Hair guy who seemed to know Yukino.

But he was defeated after exchanging only a few words with Yukino.

Shuya texted Haruno to confirm, and sure enough, he was the childhood friend who was three years younger than Haruno.

However, Shuya was not interested in him and ignored him.

Shuya continued observing Yukino.

A day passed, Yukino was picked up by the family driver.

Afterwards, Shuya went to the office to meet with Haruno.

Haruno texted me after school to ask about the situation, Shuya asked her to meet him at the office.

When I arrived at the office, Haruno was already waiting for me.

How about Yukino- chan?

"So cute."

Shuya replied.

Haruno: "..."

His gaze towards Haruno grew increasingly dangerous before he said seriously, "I've been observing you all day. I have a question I'd like to ask you."

She said, "Okay, I'll answer you with whatever I know."

Shuya asked, "Has your sister always been quiet? Has her personality changed before and after going to Hokkaido?"

Haruno replied without hesitation, "There's not much difference."

"I see, I understand now."

Shuya nodded, looking profound.

What did you understand?

Haruno leaned forward.

"I understand... I couldn't understand it at all just by looking at it, sob sob!"

Shuya was sprawled out on the sofa, completely relaxed.

Haruno: "..."

She smiled outwardly, but inwardly she was trying her best to endure.

She wanted to ignore the past, but looking at Shuya's expression, she became angrier the more she thought about it.

"Prepare to die!"

She pounced on Shuya and viciously rubbed his cheeks.

"Calm down, don't act impulsively."

Shuya tried to control her hands, but Haruno had been holding back for a long time, and her body kept moving around, kicking him wildly with her legs.

The two were entangled in a very indecent manner.

Shuya it wasn't a big deal, but Haruno was already panting heavily.

At this moment.

"Ahem, Shu-chan, Haruno- chan? What's going on here...?"

Hanazawa Sakura just happened to be back.

She sat behind the sofa, awkwardly watching her son and the girl getting together.

... What... what's going on?

Haruno froze.

She felt she was bearing a burden far beyond her years.

Taking advantage of the situation Shuya pressed Haruno's hands down on her head and pinned her down with his body.

He then gave his mother a delighted smile, "Mom, you're back! It's been so long! How have you been?"

"Are you... alright?"

Hanazawa Sakura's eyes darted frantically between the two of them.

Looking at Haruno and Shuya's disheveled clothes, she felt completely overwhelmed.

Shuya explained, "Mom, don't misunderstand, I just talked to Haruno about her sister."

Hanazawa Sakura gasped.

You pinned your older sister down on the sofa to talk about your younger sister, son, what kind of amazing move is that?!

... No, it can't be. Is this some new trend among young people?!

No way! I'm only in my early twenties, I'm still young!

Hanazawa Sakura's mind is a complete mess.

She held out her hand and said, "In any case, why don't you two separate first? Or I can leave and let you continue?"

"No, we've actually finished talking."

Shuya readily accepted this advice and let Haruno go.

Haruno awkwardly straightened his clothes.

Hanazawa Sakura thought for a moment, then sincerely said to Haruno, "Haruno- chan, actually I don't object. In fact, it would be better if it were a girl your age, compared to Zero."

"Ah?"

Shuya's face instantly changed color, he gave a low snort, and glanced at his mother.

Hanazawa Sakura gave an awkward smile.

Haruno was taken aback by Shuya's performance.

Shuya quickly realized his mistake. "Sorry, I went a bit too far."

He had just overheard his mother about to mention Rena, and a sudden surge of anger welled up inside him, leading to this reaction.

But he quickly calmed down and apologized.

However, after this commotion, they couldn't have a proper conversation anymore.

Shuya chatted with his mother for a few minutes before leaving.

After listening to Haruno's words, he realized that he still didn't understand Yukino's situation.

He was too lazy to delay any longer and planned to try it tomorrow.

Chapter 176, 160 Snow Woman

Shuya imagined himself as a true master, using his wisdom to perceive the truth and then decisively handling it.

But that's too difficult.

His rudimentary knowledge of Strange Arts was insufficient for him to solve the mystery.

It's more practical to just go for it.

The next day, Shuya took First Snow to school.

After a day of classes, he immediately slipped up to the rooftop, posted Talisman to ward off idlers, and poured his Power of Will into it with even greater force.

The Talisman activated instantly, covering the entire campus.

Yukino, who was tidying up her things in the classroom, suddenly heard a silence around her.

Then she saw a very strange scene.

Those students who would normally chat for a long time before leaving the school quickly packed their things and filed out, laughing and talking.

"...?"