"Old wom— Hiratsuka-sensei?"
Hearing the voice, Nakano Yu turned around and saw Hiratsuka Shizuka in a dark red dress.
Hiratsuka Shizuka's outfit at this moment was much more elegant than her usual professional attire at school. Not only was she wearing a dress, but she also had earrings, and her fair neck was adorned with a crystal necklace.
He hadn't seen Hiratsuka Shizuka all day today at Sobu High School, because she didn't have classes. In fact, he had missed Hiratsuka Shizuka quite a bit these past two days.
"You've really become a celebrity, kid. I didn't see you at school these past two days, and now here you are today."
Hiratsuka Shizuka walked over and teased Nakano Yu. Although it was teasing, her emotions seemed a bit stiff.
Although she had an open and straightforward personality and didn't care about power or status, when facing Nakano Yu, the Twin Star who coordinated relations between humans and yokai beings, Hiratsuka Shizuka wanted to show respect. However, thinking about her past interactions with Nakano Yu, she felt that wasn't very appropriate, which made her behave a bit awkwardly.
"Hiratsuka-sensei, dressed like this today… you're not here on a blind date, are you?"
Seeing Hiratsuka Shizuka approach, Nakano Yu joked with her as usual. Hiratsuka Shizuka was already eighteen years and one hundred and twenty months old this year. Yes, she was an older woman approaching thirty.
Although Hiratsuka Shizuka was quite beautiful, had a high salary, and came from a wealthy family, her personality really wasn't accepted by Japanese men.
Japanese men are generally quite chauvinistic. Women who can surpass men in ability are usually in their thirties. At that age, men generally look for gentle and virtuous wives like Yamato Nadeshiko, while a small number look for lovers, choosing girls in their teens or twenties. Women like Hiratsuka Shizuka, who are older, capable, and direct, are usually eliminated.
Those who are less capable than Hiratsuka Shizuka, and also adhere to male chauvinism, think that a woman this capable definitely wouldn't cook or do housework after marriage, so they generally don't even consider her.
And it is precisely because of this that Hiratsuka Shizuka has been alone for more than twenty years, without any close relationships with the opposite sex until now. Of course, Nakano Yu was an exception.
"Bang!"
As soon as Nakano Yu finished speaking, Hiratsuka Shizuka, with a face full of black lines, punched him on the shoulder.
"You brat, don't talk about your teacher like that!"
Hiratsuka Shizuka said, angrily but with a smile appearing on her face.
This kid, Nakano Yu, really hadn't changed at all.
Hiratsuka Shizuka pouted, then changed the topic and said:
"And, if I can't find a suitable person, I'll ask Yu to adopt me."
"Yu is now a big star, he wouldn't ignore his aging, lonely, single teacher, right?"
"Yes, yes, I'll make sure to feed Hiratsuka-sensei until she becomes healthy and plump, but if Hiratsuka-sensei continues to have such an explosive temper, no one will want her,"
Nakano Yu nodded in agreement. He quite liked Hiratsuka Shizuka. Well, he also liked Kirisu Mafuyu. In any case, no one could control him; that so-called ethics and morality were nonsense. Still, he imagined that Hiratsuka Shizuka wouldn't be so simple as to ignore everything.
"You don't need to worry about your teacher's matters, Yu-kun. Now, let's go! The party is about to start."
Hiratsuka Shizuka looked at him, finished speaking, and led him into the hotel.
As soon as the two of them entered the hotel, the hotel staff led them to the auditorium.
At that moment, the auditorium was already full of people, and at the very back there was a stage where the award ceremony would later be held.
"Oh, by the way, I didn't ask why Hiratsuka-sensei is here? Could it be that Hiratsuka-sensei secretly likes writing light novels?"
After glancing around the auditorium, Nakano Yu quickly found his reserved seat. Just as he was about to go, he suddenly remembered Hiratsuka Shizuka and turned to ask.
"I, well, actually I'm not very interested in light novels. A friend invited me, mainly to get early information about novel and manga adaptations. That way I'll know what to confiscate, ahem, what to buy."
Seeing Nakano Yu ask, Hiratsuka Shizuka smiled. Honestly, light novels weren't attractive to her. She liked passionate shonen stories. If she had to name one, it would be the recently popular "Explosive Flame Dark Elf."
"You… good thing I don't read manga or novels in class."
Hearing that, Nakano Yu twitched his mouth and inexplicably sighed for the other students in his class.
"It doesn't matter, I'll confiscate phones anyway."
Hiratsuka Shizuka narrowed her eyes and smiled, giving Nakano Yu a thumbs up.
"Eh? Shizuka, you, you actually brought a guy to the party? This… iron tree that hasn't bloomed for ten thousand years has blossomed!"
At that moment, a female voice sounded behind Nakano Yu. The voice immediately used a nickname for Hiratsuka Shizuka, with a tone of shock and gossip.
"I told you, don't joke like that next time!"
Hearing the voice, Hiratsuka Shizuka suddenly turned around, swung her arm, and directly put the woman behind her in a headlock.
"Enko! You've never even held a boy's hand, what right do you have to talk about me?!"
Hiratsuka Shizuka said through gritted teeth, rubbing her fist against the woman's head, causing the woman she called "Enko" to cry out in pain.
"Come on! It was just a joke! Ow, ow, ow! Shizuka, let me go!"
Enko said, and Hiratsuka Shizuka loosened her grip slightly, allowing her to break free.
"Honestly, you messed up my hairstyle. But Shizuka actually brought… Na, Na, Nakano Yu?!"
After freeing herself, Enko fixed her hair while speaking, her gaze falling on Nakano Yu. The moment she clearly saw the young man's face, she completely froze.
From a distance, Enko had already felt that the boy standing next to Hiratsuka Shizuka looked somehow familiar. It wasn't familiarity from personal acquaintance, but the kind as if she had seen his figure many times.
"Hello, my name is Nakano Yu, and I am a student of Hiratsuka-sensei. You can call me Yu, just like Hiratsuka-sensei does."
Seeing that the other party recognized him, Nakano Yu knew it was because of the promotion by the Police Department and Kyoto Onmyoji over the past two days. These two days were still fine; at least his large photo wasn't everywhere.
After introducing himself, Nakano Yu extended his hand toward the woman, showing a warm smile.
"Hello, hello. Hmm… Utaha often mentions you. Ah, right, my name is Machida Sonoko, and I'm an editor at Undying River Publishing."
Seeing that Nakano Yu was so friendly, Machida Sonoko quickly stepped forward to shake hands, first mentioning Kasumigaoka Utaha, and then remembering to introduce herself.
She had often heard about Nakano Yu from Kasumigaoka Utaha. At first, she didn't actually know him, because he wasn't as famous as he is now. It was only recently, after seeing the preview of "current love," that she gained a basic understanding of this young man.
At that time, she didn't pay much attention. Although the preview was very popular, and as a woman she liked watching such things, it wasn't related to her job, so it didn't matter to her.
It was only recently that the internet suddenly began collectively attacking that young man. At that time, she watched the widely circulated video and felt that something wasn't right. Not to mention how the young man could freely kill people abroad, and that too with just a broken knife.
One must know that weapons are not banned in the West, and the family lived in a villa. Such a family would definitely have weapons at home, but despite that, Nakano Yu killed them all.
After watching the video, Machida Sonoko's first reaction was that something wasn't right. At that time, she didn't think about the supernatural or idealism, but believed the video was fake, edited.
However, when she shared her opinion online, she was insulted by a crowd of people. During that period, she didn't dare to go online and look.
This situation continued until Nakano Yu's reputation was reversed, the Police Department and Kyoto Onmyoji publicly expressed their stance, and the revelation of yokai beings, which finally calmed the situation. Now many people even apologize to her online and help her insult internet bullies.
"Sister Sonoko, please don't use formalities. I'm one year younger than Utaha, and we're quite close, so just call me Yu."
Seeing Sonoko's nervous expression, Nakano Yu simply mentioned Kasumigaoka Utaha.
"Since Yu said so, Sonoko, don't refuse! Come on! After tonight's party, let's go to my place for drinks. I've confiscated quite a lot from students recently."
Hiratsuka Shizuka also joined in, patting Machida Sonoko on the shoulder and said with a smile.
"Alright, alright."
Since Hiratsuka Shizuka said so, Machida Sonoko was afraid that further refusal might anger Nakano Yu. After agreeing, the three of them headed toward their seats.
After sitting down, Hiratsuka Shizuka and Machida Sonoko chatted, while Nakano Yu just listened, his gaze searching for Kasumigaoka Utaha in the hall.
However, after searching for a while, he still couldn't find the girl.
Seeing this, Nakano Yu frowned slightly. What does this mean? Did Kasumigaoka Utaha stand him up?
Or did something suddenly happen, or did she encounter danger and couldn't make it in time?
Nakano Yu didn't believe that Kasumigaoka Utaha would miss a party where she would receive the Bestselling Author of the Year award. Moreover, Kasumigaoka Utaha wasn't the type to leave others hanging.
"Sister Sonoko, do you know where Utaha is?"
Thinking that Machida Sonoko might know the situation, Nakano Yu turned to her and asked.
"Utaha is backstage. Her dress for tonight wasn't quite… suitable. Fortunately, I prepared another evening dress in advance through Undying River Publishing. By now she has probably already changed and will come soon."
Machida Sonoko thought for a moment and explained. Although the dress was beautiful, Utaha had developed too quickly recently, so the dress was a bit tight.
The dress had to be worn from afternoon to evening. Machida Sonoko naturally couldn't allow Utaha to go on stage to receive the award in that one dress. So she simply prepared another one. Fortunately, there was enough time, more than three hours, so it was possible to buy a suitable dress without ordering.
"Yu-kun, good evening."
As soon as Machida Sonoko finished speaking, Kasumigaoka Utaha's voice, like a nightingale, sounded.
At the sound of that voice, Nakano Yu turned around and opened his arms, and the girl in a bright red and pale purple dress, like a little sparrow returning to its nest, threw herself into the young man's embrace.
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