"Shizuka-sensei!" Hiratsuka Ryosuke says, surprised to see the smiling woman walk towards them. "Shouldn't you be in class right now?"
"I'm not a teacher for the graduating class, so I have a free day. After all, it's my little brother's graduation," Hiratsuka Shizuka says, flicking her hair over her shoulder and giving him a cool grin.
"Thank you, Shizuka-sensei," Hiratsuka Ryosuke says with sincere gratitude. This woman, who seems to lack feminine charm but is genuinely kind, has been with him since he was a child. When he was young and his father disapproved of him, she was the one who quietly protected him. And as he got older, he kept on the right path thanks to her guidance.
At this moment, Shinka breaks away from her class and skips over to Ryosuke. She spots Shizuka-sensei right away and immediately switches to her elegant-lady mode.
"Hello, Shizuka-sensei!"
"My, Shinka, you're getting cuter and cuter," Shizuka says playfully. She's already noticed the missing button on Ryosuke's chest and is very amused.
Nibutani Shinka doesn't notice the unusual tone in Shizuka's voice. She's here for a more important reason. With a big smile, she's about to ask Ryosuke for something, but her smile instantly vanishes when she looks at his chest.
"Ryosuke, where's your button?!" Nibutani Shinka is stunned. Who could have possibly gotten his button right under her nose? Like a robot, she stiffly turns her head and looks at Hiratsuka Shizuka first. Probably not her. If the "Iron-Fist Demon" had taken it, she'd already be bragging.
She lists all the possibilities, eliminates all the wrong answers, and is left with the one, no matter how ridiculous it seems. Could it be Nishimiya Shoko?!
Nibutani Shinka stiffly turns her head again and sees that Nishimiya Shoko looks like a guilty thief. Shinka closes her eyes. I can't believe it. The one who looks the most innocent, Nishimiya Shoko, took Ryosuke's button while I was gone. She's so cunning!
She quickly accepts the reality, takes a deep breath, and exhales slowly. When she opens her eyes, she notices something new. "Ryosuke, where did you get that scarf? I didn't see you wearing it this morning!"
"This? Shoko gave it to me. It's pretty warm."
Boom!
Nibutani Shinka feels as if she's been struck by lightning. She stares at Nishimiya Shoko in disbelief, unable to speak.
The smile that left Shinka's face has now appeared on Shizuka's. Shizuka has been waiting for this little girl to be flustered for a long time. Shinka is usually so clever that this sight is a rare treat.
"My, what a fun scene to walk into. You never fail to surprise me, little Ryosuke."
Everyone turns to see a beautiful woman. She has shiny, shoulder-length hair with a slight curl at the ends, dyed a mysterious purple. Her fair skin is flawless, her features are sharp, and her smile looks like it will never fade.
Hiratsuka Ryosuke searches his memory but can't place this beautiful woman. "And you are?" he asks politely.
"Little Ryosuke is so forgetful. I held you when you were a child." The stranger's voice is full of feigned sorrow, like a woman who's been jilted.
Ryosuke's brow furrows slightly. His gut tells him this overly familiar woman is very dangerous. He can even sense a hint of hostility.
"Hey, Yukinoshita Haruno, shouldn't you be at school? What are you doing in Tokyo?" Hiratsuka Shizuka demands, stepping in front of Ryosuke.
Yukinoshita? The name is not common. Could it be the Yukinoshita family from Chiba? Ryosuke realizes with a start. Though he hasn't had much contact with the Yukinoshitas, he's heard of them as a prominent local family in Chiba.
"Oh? Shizuka-chan, you're here too." Yukinoshita Haruno feigns surprise, as if she just noticed Shizuka. She pulls a note out of her bag and waves it in front of Shizuka. "I came through the proper channels, Shizuka-chan."
Yukinoshita Haruno doesn't say anything else. She just looks at Hiratsuka Ryosuke with her unchanging smile. Over the past few days, she's had someone look into this young man from the Hiratsuka family. Hiratsuka Ryosuke doesn't deliberately hide his identity or whereabouts, so with enough effort, it wasn't hard to get information on him. The more she learned, the more surprised she was. It felt like she had found a new and interesting toy. This was the real reason she had come to his graduation.
Her findings about Hiratsuka Ryosuke are as follows:
Before sixth grade, he had no friends except for a girl named Nibutani Shinka. In his own class, he was a loner. That's a little better than Yukino. He's the top of his class, and he has a cold, arrogant personality and absolute confidence in his judgment. In this way, he's very much like her sister. After sixth grade, he met a disabled girl named Nishimiya Shoko and helped her a lot. Later, his overconfidence in his own judgment caused a few problems. Overall, he seems kind, but he's also a bit silly at times, just like her sister. When she found out his goal was to attend Soft Leaf Middle School, the smile on Haruno's face grew even wider. She knows that's the high school Shizuka-sensei went to after she transferred to Tokyo.
This information makes her think of her own sister. They are both at the top of their class, both have a cold and arrogant exterior, and both are kind-hearted on the inside. They are both loners. They are both absolutely confident in their own logic, even when it leads to mistakes. And they are both following in their older sister's footsteps.
After reading the report, Yukinoshita Haruno's eyes lit up. Isn't this just a weaker version of Yukino? What an interesting boy.
A thousand thoughts race through her mind in an instant.
"I have some good news for you, little Ryosuke."
Yukinoshita Haruno walks over to him. The scent of her perfume fills Ryosuke's nose. He frowns slightly and takes a step back. He feels that this woman, with her fake smile, is like an actress wearing a mask. She may be beautiful, but her insincere smile makes him uncomfortable.
Haruno acts as if she doesn't notice his small movement. She takes out her phone and holds it out for Ryosuke to see. On the screen is a photo of a girl his age. The girl in the picture looks like a lotus blooming on a snowy mountain, brave and elegant in the cold. There's a hint of strictness in her coldness, logic in her arrogance, and a loneliness that sets her apart from the crowd. Being birds of a feather, Ryosuke can tell a lot about the girl's personality just from the picture.
"Isn't my little Yukino cute?" Yukinoshita Haruno asks with a smile, noticing the change in his expression.
Little Yukino?
Is the girl in the picture named Yukinoshita Yukino?
Hiratsuka Ryosuke doesn't know why Yukinoshita Haruno is suddenly here. He just objectively nods his head.
"I knew it... no one can resist little Yukino's cuteness."
After her dramatic sigh, Yukinoshita Haruno's expression changes as quickly as a summer sky. She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. Her smile remains, but it feels cold. She looks him in the eye and asks, not as a joke, "Little Ryosuke, what would you say to Yukino becoming your fiancée?"