"Seriously, I just shaved yesterday…"
After school, Rinji rubbed his hair.
He had shaved his head bald yesterday morning. By this morning it was already back to short, messy hair, and by the end of the school day it had grown down to his ears again.
He was starting to think his hair growth was way too strong.
"Well, I am sixteen now, right in the middle of puberty. Having excessive hair growth is probably normal." He twirled a strand of his golden hair hanging near his ear. "Still, it'd be nice if I grew some chest hair too, so I'd look a bit more manly, instead of it all going to my head."
Yawning as he left the school, Rinji headed toward the supermarket.
Ever since Hayasaka had officially cut ties with the Shinomiya family, she had been living at Rinji's place for the term. That meant he couldn't just grab a random dinner anymore—he had to cook properly.
And today, Misaki and Mei were also coming over for dinner.
After picking up some vegetables and meat at the supermarket, Rinji hurried home.
By now, Hayasaka should already be there.
Click.
He unlocked the door with his key, and sure enough, Hayasaka was sitting at the dining table.
"I'm home."
"Mm… welcome back."
"Uh…"
Something felt off when Hayasaka said that.
Her voice was shaky, almost choked, as if she'd been crying.
Dropping the grocery bags, Rinji quickly ran over to her.
Sure enough, she was crying, shoulders trembling slightly, tears pooling at the corners of her eyes.
"Ai…"
"Rinji!"
Suddenly, Hayasaka stood up, wrapped her arms tightly around him, and pressed her face against his chest.
Seeing her cry like this in his arms, Rinji thought something serious must have happened.
"Ai, what on earth—"
"Sorry, Rinji," she said, wiping her eyes with a handkerchief. "I just got too absorbed."
"Huh?"
Following her words, Rinji noticed the thick stack of manga sitting on the table.
The cover showed a cute girl, with the title: Today's Sweet Words.
"This… is shoujo manga?"
"Yes."
Hayasaka picked one up, holding it in front of her face. In a small voice she asked, "Rinji, do you want to read it?"
"I'll pass. I'm really not interested in shoujo manga."
Putting it back down, Rinji suddenly remembered something.
"Oh right, we're having guests over today."
"Really? Then should I put on the maid uniform?"
"Please don't."
---
Dinner wasn't anything too fancy, but with four dishes and a soup, it was more than enough.
Besides Rinji and Hayasaka, Mei and Misaki came too.
Maybe it was because she'd grown more outgoing as she got older, but this time Misaki even brought beer along.
Though the dinner itself was simple, the mood around the table was a bit…
Strange.
Rinji and Mei didn't think much of it and continued eating.
The main problem lay with Misaki and Hayasaka.
Hayasaka glanced sideways at Misaki and said, "I see, so you're a first-year teacher at Shuchiin Academy. Nice to meet you, I'm a second-year student, Hayasaka Ai."
"Nice to meet you too, Hayasaka-san," Misaki replied with a smile. "I've heard your name before."
"I'm not exactly famous at school, how could Fujioka-sensei have heard my name?" Hayasaka Ai smiled as well.
"Of course, from the Disciplinary Committee."
"..."
Because she had once been Kaguya's personal attendant, in order to blend into school life and cut ties with Kaguya, Hayasaka disguised herself as a flashy gyaru JK.
Naturally, many gyaru behaviors violated school rules. Because of that, Hayasaka had plenty of records with the Disciplinary Committee. Her excellent skills at dodging inspections and escaping made her one of the students the committee had to watch most carefully.
For weak members like Iino, encountering Hayasaka only meant being toyed with. As for someone difficult like Rinji, he usually turned a blind eye to her violations.
"So it's the Disciplinary Committee then."
Hayasaka's face was expressionless.
"Yes."
"I thought maybe you'd heard my name from Rinji. After all, I'm his girlfriend."
"..."
Misaki's grip on her chopsticks tightened slightly, though her smile remained unchanged.
"Is that so? Funny, I heard Rinji's girlfriend was a girl named Karura."
"..."
Hayasaka raised her brow and quickly changed the subject.
"Fujioka-sensei, isn't it inappropriate to call your student by his given name directly? Instead of calling him Rinji, you call him Takamine."
"What's the problem? We're outside of school."
"Still, that sort of address is usually for friends of the same age. Yet you only just met Rinji today, didn't you?" Hayasaka said. "By the way, Fujioka-sensei, how old are you?"
Crack.
A cross-shaped vein popped up on Misaki's forehead, though her elegant smile stayed in place.
"Asking a woman's age is impolite."
"But we're both women," Hayasaka replied. "Then let me change the question."
"Go ahead, Hayasaka-san."
"How old is your child?"
Crack.
Several veins bulged from Misaki's head.
"I… I'm not even married yet."
At that moment, Mei, who had been quietly eating, suddenly spoke.
"Neither Misaki nor I are married. We're both thirty-five this year."
"Mei!!?"
"I see…" Hayasaka nodded thoughtfully. "Almost forty, then."
"I'm not that close to forty yet!"
As Rinji chewed his rice, watching Hayasaka interact with Misaki, question marks filled his mind.
In his impression, Hayasaka was supposed to be quiet like Mei, rarely talking to guests unless necessary. But today, she was acting strangely abnormal.
Whenever guests visited, whether male or female, Hayasaka had always maintained a calm, pleasant demeanor—likely a result of her upbringing as a maid.
Thinking about it, today's Hayasaka was indeed different. When he came home from grocery shopping, he found her crying, and she had even hugged him on her own.
'Could it be…'
Rinji seemed to realize something, glancing at the shoujo manga on the coffee table.