Leading the beautiful but expressionless girl, Chika Fujiwara proudly showed off to Luo Shu while crouching:
"Hmph, I'm back~~"
"You're really... quite the clever one..." Luo Shu found himself both amused and exasperated by Chika's antics.
Even Utaha Kasumigaoka, beside them, sighed helplessly: "What's the point of specifically bringing someone over?"
'This is a funeral, Miss Chika!'
'A funeral where everyone should be mourning quietly, where even conversations must be whispered. Causing any disturbance now would be a huge problem!'
'Are you trying to treat this as a social occasion to introduce your friend to Luo Shu and me? To this young lady of the Shinomiya family?'
Yet both Luo Shu and Utaha Kasumigaoka had underestimated Chika Fujiwara.
"After the wake ceremony, let's all play cards together?"
Hearing this, the cold-faced girl being pulled along by Chika Fujiwara slightly furrowed her brows and said:
"Fujiwara-san, when you told me you needed my help with something important and that you'd explain to my elder brother about introducing me to some friends, surely it wasn't just to play those magic playing cards you made?"
"It couldn't possibly be something that trivial, could it?"
"Fujiwara-san?"
Hearing this icy tone, Chika Fujiwara shivered as if an ice cube had been shoved down her neck. Pressing her lips together and widening her eyes, she adopted a thoroughly nervous expression:
"Of course... it wouldn't be... something that simple... Kaguya-chan is so funny... hehehe..."
'No, judging by your expression, you really did drag someone here just to play cards...' Luo Shu couldn't help but complain internally.
"Well then, Fujiwara-san." Kaguya Shinomiya's lifeless eyes stared at Chika Fujiwara as if looking down at something: "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?"
Clearly, Kaguya had already noticed Chika's guilty conscience. Her current words felt less like a question and more like a whipping.
After all, Chika had used the excuse of meeting important connections to persuade Oko Shinomiya to release her.
If the people she introduced didn't possess any value the Shinomiya family could exploit, Chika might genuinely face some serious consequences.
"Um..." Chika Fujiwara pointed at Luo Shu with visibly trembling fingers, appearing extremely apprehensive: "This is Luo Shu-kun..."
"Hmm?" Kaguya Shinomiya let out a soft hum, seemingly expressing dissatisfaction at the overly brief introduction.
Her gaze towards Luo Shu also carried a subtle scrutiny, though well-concealed.
At this moment, Chika continued stammering:
"The Director of the SDS Hidden Management Department... a friend of my father's."
"And this is Ms Utaha Kasumigaoka, Luo Shu-kun's assistant..."
'Director... of the SDS Hidden Management Department?'
Kaguya Shinomiya's expression seemed to freeze momentarily before she hurriedly composed herself, bowing with a mix of restraint and deference:
"My apologies. I am Kaguya Shinomiya of the Shinomiya family. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
Observing Kaguya's abrupt shift from arrogance to humility, Luo Shu couldn't help but muse internally.
'She's much duller than the silly Kaguya from my memories...'
Luo Shu wasn't unfamiliar with Kaguya Shinomiya, but that was based on anime portrayals where he could even see her inner monologues.
In reality, his first impression of Kaguya could only be summed up with the term "zaibatsu heiress."
'In short, just another piece of trash produced by the zaibatsu system... no, more precisely, trash meticulously cultivated through zaibatsu education.'
'Not that I'm much better myself...' Luo Shu smiled self-deprecatingly before extending his hand towards Kaguya:
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Luo Shu."
Seeing this, Kaguya - who rarely engaged in handshakes - still managed to shake hands with Luo Shu quite naturally before he quickly withdrew.
Utaha Kasumigaoka, sitting beside Luo Shu, showed no intention of greeting anyone. She sat quietly, scrutinising Kaguya with profound eyes that seemed to peer into her very soul.
At this moment, Luo Shu broke the ice with a smile and said:
"I never imagined Chika's friend would be the young lady of the Shinomiya family. What an unexpected surprise."
The casual use of Chika Fujiwara's given name made Kaguya Shinomiya's eyes flicker momentarily before she smiled:
"I'm equally surprised that Mr Luo Shu would be Fujiwara-san's friend."
Her tone then softened slightly as she murmured words that, while not openly complaining, cut deep:
"I'd thought Fujiwara-san and I were already very close friends."
Predictably, Chika Fujiwara took the bait:
"Eh? Kaguya-chan really thinks that way?"
Tears welled up in Chika's eyes as she gazed at Kaguya like a pink golden retriever:
"Mmm~~ I'm sorry, Kaguya-chan! I didn't mean not to introduce my friends to you..."
'This girl is way too gullible...' X3
Luo Shu, Kaguya Shinomiya, and Utaha Kasumigaoka all thought the same thing simultaneously.
Kaguya, in particular, fearing she might actually make Chika cry at a funeral, hurriedly comforted her:
"It's alright, Fujiwara-san. I know you didn't mean it, right?"
"Nnnn." Chika nodded vigorously before adding foolishly: "I only met Luo Shu-kun recently, too! It's not that I didn't want to tell Kaguya-chan, it's just... just..."
"No opportunity?" Kaguya quietly supplied.
"Yes! No opportunity!" Chika grabbed Kaguya's hands with a moved expression. "As expected, Kaguya-chan understands me best!"
'It's just that you're sometimes too easy to read...' Luo Shu's cheek twitched as he sighed internally before addressing Kaguya:
"You'll probably have to look after this child a lot in future."
Kaguya blinked at this, seemingly surprised Luo Shu would make such a request in that tone.
But she quickly adjusted, smiling as she played along:
"Well, what can I do? After all, I'm Fujiwara-san's dearest friend..."
Luo Shu gave Kaguya a meaningful look before remarking:
"Is that so? You two must be very close then..."
After this vague comment, Luo Shu dragged along the 'burden' that was Chika as he chatted with Kaguya for some time.
The group quietly observed the wake ceremony until its final procedures arrived.