Sato's expression remained very calm. He even smiled at Nishimiya Yuzuru with an air of composure and said, "So, is there a problem?"
"Of course there is!"
Nishimiya Yuzuru stood up and looked at Sato warily. Facing him, she took two steps backward toward the door and said, "You're a l𝚘licon! You should be sent to the police station!"
"Sorry, the police station only takes perverts, not l𝚘licons!"
"So..."
Sato stood up helplessly, placed one hand on Nishimiya Yuzuru's shoulder, and pressed her back down. He sighed and said, "Sit down properly. Don't even think about running away before today's task is finished!"
Nishimiya Yuzuru was startled when he caught her. She struggled symbolically for a moment, but after realizing that she really could not break free from Sato's grip, she gave up.
She complained as she looked at Sato. "How are you so strong? And how did you know I was planning to run away?"
"This?"
Sato smiled, then pointed to his own head and spoke confidently to Nishimiya Yuzuru. "I have a certain talent. Its name is intuition. You can also call it instinct. Its function is to foresee certain actions or events that are about to happen."
"The moment I saw your movements, my intuition told me that you were planning to run away."
Nishimiya Yuzuru stared blankly at Sato before finally curling her lips and saying, "So you're a chuuni too?"
She clearly did not believe what Sato had just said.
"Perhaps!"
Sato did not care. He sat down and looked toward Izumi Sagiri. "Then, Sagiri, is there something you need?"
Izumi Sagiri gradually came back to her senses. Perhaps because she now thought Sato was a l𝚘licon, she held the tablet in her hands and shyly covered half of her face with it, revealing only a pair of lively, beautiful eyes as she looked at Sato.
"Editor Machida asked me to let you choose some character illustrations."
"Oh? Are the illustrations finished? Let me see them."
Sato reached out toward Sagiri, intending to look at the illustrations she had drawn. Halfway there, he suddenly asked, "There aren't going to be some strange photos in here again, are there?"
At that moment, Izumi Sagiri's face visibly turned bright red.
She first stammered with her flushed face, "N... No."
But very soon, she suddenly raised her head and looked at Sato. Her crystal-clear, fair skin had turned pink and translucent, and her eyes were misty as she looked at Sato with embarrassment and indignation.
"What was strange about those photos?!"
Although the poses had indeed been a little strange...
But those were her selfies!
He had just admitted that he was a l𝚘licon, so how could he suddenly be acting so strangely now?!
"All right, they weren't strange."
Sato was a little confused about what was going on, so he quickly spoke up to calm Izumi Sagiri down.
Nishimiya Yuzuru, standing nearby, watched with curiosity. Perhaps because of her instincts as a photographer, she asked curiously, "What photos are you talking about?"
"She definitely won't let me tell you."
"Don't tell her!"
Sato's words came out slightly faster than Izumi Sagiri's. By the time he finished speaking, Izumi Sagiri finally realized what he had said.
Sato smiled as he looked at the anxious girl.
Izumi Sagiri's face was flushed. After pursing her lips, she forcefully handed the tablet in her hands to Sato, her emerald eyes staring fixedly at him.
Though it was called handing it over, "shoving it into his hands" would have been more accurate.
After taking the tablet, Sato said nothing more. If he continued, he felt that the little girl in front of him would probably bite him.
Sitting down on the sofa, Sato opened the tablet's photo album and began looking through it.
One exquisite illustration after another flashed across the tablet's screen. There were only two things in this world that one had to admit. One was that some people truly possessed talents beyond ordinary people, and the other was that there would always be someone in this world who was better than you.
Nishimiya Yuzuru curiously sat down beside Sato and looked through the illustrations with him. Sato glanced at her, then suddenly nudged her away.
She looked at Sato in confusion.
Sato explained, "Stay farther away from me. Aren't you afraid I'll molest you if you sit this close?"
Nishimiya Yuzuru froze for a moment, then gritted her teeth and glared at him. As if throwing a tantrum, she squeezed even closer.
Sato looked as though her expression had frightened him. He hurriedly said to Izumi Sagiri, who was standing nearby, "Sagiri, remember to help me prove that she was the one who came this close to me. Although Yuzuru already looks like a boy right now, so maybe people wouldn't think she was..."
Although Sato looked flustered, Nishimiya Yuzuru could clearly see the amusement in his eyes.
"Shut up!"
The short-haired girl's eyes concealed an unmistakable mixture of embarrassment and anger. She gritted her teeth, looking as though she might pounce on him at any moment. She looked rather fierce, like a wild little wolf that was unruly and refused to be tamed.
Sato stared at Nishimiya Yuzuru for a while before finally letting out a sigh.
Nishimiya Yuzuru stared intently at Sato, not knowing why he had suddenly sighed again.
"I was just thinking..."
Nishimiya Yuzuru and Izumi Sagiri both looked at Sato.
Sato's gaze fell upon Nishimiya Yuzuru's short hair as he spoke thoughtfully. "You really do look like a tomboy when you get angry with short hair..."
The girl was just about to get angry, but Sato suddenly changed the subject.
"But if you had long hair, you'd look cute even when you were angry, wouldn't you?"
The living room suddenly became frighteningly quiet.
A cool breeze swept through the corridor with a howling sound, while the wind chime in the neighboring room rang out with a series of tinkling sounds.
"You..."
Nishimiya Yuzuru's face suddenly turned as red as blood. Whether from embarrassment or anger, she stared at Sato, the eyelashes above her clear, crystalline eyes trembling slightly, like a shy girl whose moonlike beauty was being veiled by passing clouds.
"Are you a pervert?!"
The girl finally said in a muffled, sullen voice.
Sato showed no reaction at all, but Izumi Sagiri instinctively felt a little guilty.
Huh? Why do I feel guilty?
She asked herself this question inwardly.
Sato looked at Nishimiya Yuzuru in surprise. "How does that make me a pervert?"
"I was being serious. Although some girls can pull off short hair, whether they look cool and spirited or cute, long hair is still what suits girls best. Long hair is a girl's greatest treasure..."
Listening to Sato's serious tone, Nishimiya Yuzuru became conflicted.
Was he doing it on purpose, or was he doing it unintentionally?!