"So that's Shin? He's quite handsome. He must be popular with the girls at school, right?"
On a weekday morning, inside the faculty office of Private Toyosaki Academy, there was someone who wasn't a teacher.
Haruno Yukinoshita stood beside Hiratsuka Shizuka, gazing through the office window at Shin and Megumi Kato as they entered the school gates. A faint smile played on her lips.
Though she had known of Shin's existence, she had only been aware of his name—more detailed information had eluded her investigation.
It wasn't that the Yukinoshita family couldn't uncover the background of an ordinary student… but Shin was no longer an ordinary student.
If she dug any deeper, she would inevitably draw the attention of the Shinomiya family.
This was precisely why no other factions had approached Shin so far.
Any organization that recklessly investigated Shin's records would have to consider whether they were willing to risk provoking the Shinomiya family.
But Haruno Yukinoshita didn't have much to worry about—after all, she had come to Toyosaki Academy to visit Hiratsuka Shizuka. Catching a glimpse of Shizuka's new student was just a side benefit.
The Shinomiya family had no reason to stop her from visiting her former teacher, right? Respecting one's mentor wasn't a crime.
"Yeah. If anything, he's too popular—even girls from other schools frequently come looking for him, causing quite a stir."
Hearing Haruno's remark, Hiratsuka Shizuka sighed in exasperation, even reaching for a cigarette to soothe her frustration.
"I have no idea how he managed to get involved with girls from Shuchi'in Academy, of all places."
"Shuchi'in, huh…"
A look of understanding flashed across Haruno's face—she could easily guess which Shuchi'in girl had been visiting Shin.
It was most likely Shinomiya Kaguya or someone close to her. For instance, she'd heard that Fujiwara Chika was also on good terms with Shin.
She glanced at Shizuka, who was already pulling out a cigarette, seemingly unconcerned about the fact that they were in the faculty office. Haruno couldn't help but chuckle.
"Smoking in the office is terrible for your image, you know? Aren't you worried you'll never get married?"
"I'm not dating students—what does smoking in the office have to do with my image?"
Shizuka shot Haruno a sidelong glance. Sure, she was single, but as a teacher, she wasn't exactly in a position to date students anyway.
Even if her "romance appeal" took a hit in the eyes of her students, it wasn't like she had anything to lose.
Besides, wasn't Haruno herself still single? She'd never had a boyfriend, and no one had ever seen her get particularly close to any man.
Who was she to joke about Shizuka never getting married?
"Even outside of school, you're never without a cigarette."
Haruno rolled her eyes—Shizuka's smoking habit was a universal turn-off, no matter the setting.
At the very least, Haruno knew that if any potential partner of hers had a smoking habit, she'd dock points from their impression score immediately.
But she hadn't come here to critique Shizuka's image. After watching Shin and Megumi disappear into the school building, she suddenly spoke up.
"I need to talk to Shin about something… Which class is he in?"
"Huh? What do you want with Shin?"
The moment the topic shifted to her student, Shizuka's expression grew serious.
Though Shin had caused some trouble for the faculty recently, Shizuka knew it wasn't entirely his fault.
When those girls from Shuchi'in had shown up looking for him, Shin himself had clearly been caught off guard.
In Shizuka's mind, Shin was still fundamentally a "good student who just happened to attract attention." She wasn't about to let Haruno lead him astray.
"Am I really that much of a troublemaker in your eyes?"
Haruno couldn't help but laugh. She hadn't expected Shizuka's first reaction to be suspicion.
"I'm not a kidnapper. I have actual business with him."
"Is that so?"
Shizuka remained skeptical. She knew Haruno's personality well enough to be cautious.
---
During break time, in Shin's classroom…
The so-called "popular kids' clique" had gathered once again.
"Shin came to school with Kato-san today."
Hayato Hayama, seemingly oblivious to the mood, immediately brought up the one topic that made Yumiko Miura's face darken.
Normally, Megumi's presence was so faint that people barely noticed her. But since she had arrived with Shin this morning, even those who usually paid him attention had spotted her.
Hayama himself wasn't particularly interested in Shin—he wasn't into guys, after all.
But ever since the start of the school year, Yumiko Miura had shown an unusual level of interest in Shin, so Hayama had kept an eye on him by extension.
The problem was, despite her bold demeanor, Yumiko was surprisingly useless when it came to romance—she had never dared to make a move.
Hayama, being the decent guy he was, had even considered ways to help Yumiko get closer to Shin.
That was why he had supported Yumiko's idea of having Yuigahama Yui invite Shin to hang out with them—unfortunately, Shin hadn't seemed interested.
And now, with Shin and Megumi arriving together, it was starting to feel like Yumiko was running out of time.
Hayama's comment might have sounded tactless, but it was actually a wake-up call—if she didn't act now, it'd be too late.
"Hayama's right, Yumiko. You really should make a move."
Hina Ebina, Yumiko's close friend, adjusted her glasses and spoke earnestly.
Meanwhile, Yuigahama Yui stayed silent—normally, she'd be the type to chime in with the others, but for some reason, hearing everyone encourage Yumiko to approach Shin left her with an odd feeling.
She, too, wanted to interact with Shin more, but her timid nature had kept her from ever voicing it. No one seemed to have noticed.
Just then, a voice called out from the classroom's back door:
"Shin! Someone's here to see you!"
Everyone instinctively turned toward the doorway, where a woman stood with a cheerful smile, her eyes fixed on Shin.
It was Haruno Yukinoshita.
"Who's that…? A new teacher?"
Hina Ebina stared at Haruno in surprise. She clearly wasn't a high school student, so the natural assumption was that she must be faculty.
Yumiko Miura, however, frowned.
On one hand, yet another beautiful woman had come looking for Shin.
On the other… something about her reminded Yumiko of Yukinoshita Yukino.
And her relationship with Yukino was far from friendly.
To be continued…