"Would you be repulsed, sensei? By a boy doing this sort of thing."

"I’m the school nurse, have you forgotten, Shuichi-kun?" Naomi chuckled softly. "Perhaps other people might look down on this, but I would never think that way."

And so, Shuichi continued making small talk with Naomi while holding Tsuki, strolling slowly through the little grove.

The conversation grew more and more heated, and Naomi’s emotional fluctuations became increasingly apparent.

"Sensei, how are you doing? Are you feeling any better?"

Even if he were made of iron, Shuichi was getting tired. He prepared to end the night’s activities and head back to get some sleep.

"Yes, almost better..." Naomi stretched her feet, her two smooth, pale legs tangled together. "I’ve vented a lot of my pent-up frustration. What about you, Shuichi-kun? You must be tired after keeping me company for so long, right?"

"I am indeed reaching my limit," Shuichi took a deep breath, put Tsuki down, and took the phone, letting her steady herself against a tree.

"Then..." Naomi bit her lip tightly, as if at a loss for words before parting, her silence filled with deep emotion.

Even through the airwaves, Shuichi could clearly hear her uneven breathing. He instantly realized that the beautiful night had finally come to an end.

He stood frozen to the spot.

After a long moment.

Naomi let out a long breath. "Good night. I’m sorry for keeping you for so long, Shuichi-kun. I hope you have a good dream tonight."

Shuichi also sighed deeply, then took a sharp breath of the cold midnight air, feeling refreshed. "You too, sensei. Take a bath and have a comfortable sleep. When you wake up, everything will be better."

"Mm, thank you, Shuichi-kun. I’m hanging up now." Naomi put down her phone, then hugged her quilt tightly and buried her head in it.

After walking for so long, Tsuki was too tired to stand steadily. She hadn’t dared to make a sound earlier for fear of disturbing their phone call. Now, she couldn’t hold back any longer and squatted down, leaning against the tree trunk.

Shuichi, on the other hand, was fine. After fiddling with his phone for a bit, he put it in his pocket, placed his hands on his hips, and looked down at her.

"Satisfied now? We went on the swing, and we went for a walk."

"Mmm..." Tsuki had a look of complete satisfaction. "Will there be more tomorrow night? Can we come play in the park again?"

"In your dreams! It’s the middle of the night. Hurry up, go back, wash up, and go to sleep." Shuichi didn’t even offer her a hand, simply turning and walking away quite heartlessly.

However, not only was Tsuki not angry, she patted her skirt, stood up, and trotted after him, even though her steps were faltering and unsteady.

...

The next day, after Shuichi arrived at school, Sumire sought him out and pulled him to a corner of the hallway.

"Are you in such a hurry, sensei? I just got to school, haven’t even warmed my seat yet, and you’re already pulling me into a corner for a kiss?" Shuichi teased.

"Who wants to kiss you?" Sumire shot him a glare, then immediately became excited again. "Your literature score is out. You did very well, over ninety points! So..."

"So, are you going to give me a reward, sensei?" Shuichi said, pinning her against the wall in a kabedon.

Sumire jumped in surprise and quickly looked left and right. Fortunately, class was about to start, so no one was loitering around. "I was talking about Kitagawa’s reward! Can it be fulfilled now?"

Shuichi just looked at her with a smile on his lips, not saying a word.

Being stared at like that, Sumire knew exactly what he meant. Coupled with her eagerness about Kitagawa’s situation, she didn’t dawdle.

"I know, I know. Thank you for working so hard on the exam and helping me earn Kitagawa’s reward, Shuichi-kun. I’m very touched."

After a stiff, monotone delivery, Sumire took the initiative to hold the boy’s handsome face and kiss him.

The kiss lasted for nearly ten minutes.

Sumire pulled her mouth away, panting slightly as she asked, "Is this enough?"

Shuichi chuckled lightly. "You’ve really started to like this feeling, haven’t you, sensei? I didn’t even say how long we had to kiss, but it seemed like you didn’t want to stop."

"No way!" Sumire said stubbornly. "Wasn’t I just afraid that if it was too short, a guy like you wouldn’t honor the deal?"

"Oh, in that case, I think we could go a little longer now," Shuichi said, looking at her playfully.

Sumire froze, subconsciously licking her lips. "Th-there’s not enough time."

"It wouldn’t hurt to be a little late, would it? We can just say you needed to talk to me about something, right?" Shuichi blinked.

"...I understand."

Sumire didn’t resist much. It was just kissing. It had happened so many times already, it was no big deal. As long as this guy was willing to put his heart into the task, it was all worth it.

With that thought, she held Shuichi’s face again. Just as she was about to kiss him, she suddenly stopped and asked:

"Are there any other requests? Say them all at once, otherwise I’ll assume there are none."

"Oh? I hadn’t actually thought of any until you mentioned it. In that case..." Shuichi began to ponder.

"Don’t go too far, or I’ll definitely say no!" Sumire said, suddenly wary.

"What counts as too far?" Shuichi raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Well... in short, it can’t be more extreme than what we’ve done before," Sumire stammered.

"What we’ve done before..." Shuichi blinked. "So, does that mean I can touch you?"

"!!!" Sumire froze, her eyes wide with shock. How could she have forgotten about that? "That’s not..."

"Going back on your word again? You’re really insincere, sensei. I’m heading back," Shuichi said, feigning a lack of interest, and turned to leave.

Sumire quickly grabbed his sleeve. "F-fine, you can! Alright? But be quick, don’t let anyone see."

"You see, you have to be sincere. This attitude of yours won’t do, sensei." Shuichi shook his head, turned back, and pinned her to the wall again.

Sumire’s face flushed red. She lowered her head, not daring to look at him, and just gently unzipped her tracksuit jacket, lifting her undershirt a little.

"Hurry up, and cut the crap..."

Shuichi looked at her with a half-smile. "You’re quite proactive, sensei. But... I’m actually not that interested."

"???" Sumire was stunned, looking at him in disbelief, a hint of disappointment in her eyes.

"Are you surprised? If it were sensei Naomi-sensei, I’d be very interested. But you, Nagase-sensei... there’s really no thrill," Shuichi said, shaking his head in disappointment.

Sumire instantly became furious, grabbing his collar and erupting.

"You despicable bastard! You’re just taking advantage of my weakness and bullying me for all you’re worth, aren’t you? Teasing me and then putting me down! Today, you’re going to be interested whether you like it or not!"

"Don’t be rash, sensei. It’s really not appropriate to do this to a student, is it?"

"Shut up and hold out your hand!"

"Oh..."

"Say it: ’sensei has a great body.’"

"sensei has a great body..."

"Alright, go back to class."

Fuming, Sumire straightened her clothes, ditched him, and walked away, acting as if she were the one who had just taken advantage of him.

Shuichi was left feeling a bit bewildered. It seems that even a timid rabbit will bite when pushed too far.

...

At noon, he went to comfort Naomi again and brought a lollipop for the foolish girl. A perfectly ordinary day of school life passed just like that.

After school, Uchida was waiting at the gate to go with Shuichi to visit his cousin.

The two left the school and boarded the train together. Uchida seemed very anxious, like he had ADHD.

Shuichi finally couldn’t take it anymore. "I know your cousin might have bullied you in your childhood, but is the trauma really that deep? You’re still this scared?"

Uchida’s expression was conflicted. "You don’t know what she did..."

"I do. She made you cross-dress," Shuichi said casually, stating the horrifying fact.

"How did you know?!" Uchida’s eyes widened. "And isn’t that kind of thing terrifying?"

"By the way..." Shuichi suddenly thought of something, his gaze sweeping over him strangely. "When it comes to cross-dressing, it’s either zero times or countless times. You still don’t..."

"Stop! That’s enough! Don’t say such horrifying things!" Uchida reacted strongly, vehemently denying it with his body language. "How could I possibly still do that now?! Back then, I was young and naive, and I was tricked by my cousin and her friends with just a few words."

"Oh, young and naive..." Hearing this, Shuichi felt it sounded strangely familiar.

"Anyway, Shuichi... you’ll come with me today, right?" Uchida looked at him expectantly.

"Don’t look at me like that. It’s weird," Shuichi said, speechless.

"But I really can’t go alone. Honestly, part of the reason I became a lolicon is because of my cousin and her friends. You have no idea how terrifying it is to be with older girls, especially when they outnumber you!"

Even now, Uchida couldn’t help but tremble at the memory.

"Forgive me, but I can’t empathize. My biggest wish as a child was to have a wise older-next-door-woman to teach me the ways of the world," Shuichi said, shaking his head.

"It’s so hard to find common ground with a heretic like you..." Uchida pouted.

Shuichi didn’t mind. "But that’s only part of the reason? What about the rest?"

"The rest..." Compared to his anger just now, Uchida suddenly fell silent. Clearly, this was the main reason.

"I had a childhood friend I was very close to. Back then, we both loved anime and games, and everything was fine. But after she started middle school, she suddenly... one day, in front of her friends, she looked at me with a look of utter disgust and said, ’Otakus are so gross, who would be friends with him...’"

"I see..." Shuichi patted his shoulder. "Not everyone is like that."

"Anyway, I’ve lost all hope in women middle school-aged and older. That feeling of the entire world suddenly becoming unfamiliar—can you understand that, Shuichi?" Uchida clenched his fists.

"The troubles of growing up..." Shuichi didn’t offer much more comfort. With different experiences, it was hard to fully understand. He just sighed sympathetically and pulled him up to get off the train. "Let’s go. Reading a couple more manga will make it better."

When the two arrived at the shopping street, it was a little after four. It wasn’t peak time, and it was a Wednesday, when Yurika customarily came over for her fitness and beauty routine.

She was holding her daughter Reiko’s small hand, gently guiding her across the street towards the ramen shop, when she turned her head and saw the boy who seemed to have a special relationship with Fumika.

At the same time, Shuichi also saw her. It wasn’t their first meeting, and it would be rude not to say hello, so he took the initiative.

"Fujiwara-san, good afternoon."

"Chiba-kun, good afternoon. Are you just getting out of school?" Yurika looked at him curiously.

She had heard about the recent commotion. Some of her wealthy friends had even called her, trembling, asking her to find out what was going on. They wanted to know if the matter was over, which big shot they had offended, and if there was any chance to offer a formal apology.

And all of this was because of the young man before her.

"Yes..." Shuichi was about to make some polite small talk, since she was a frequent customer of the shopping street.

But he suddenly noticed Uchida next to him staring at her daughter, to the point of scaring the little girl. He quickly jabbed an elbow into his stomach.

"Sorry, he just finished his exams. His brain is overworked, so he zones out a lot."

Uchida finally snapped out of it and bowed sheepishly. "I apologize. That was very rude of me."

Yurika gently stroked her daughter’s head and smiled. "It’s alright. I’ll take her to eat now. I won’t disturb you and your friend."

"Please, go ahead. If you run into any problems in the shopping street, feel free to come find me anytime."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Shuichi pulled Uchida into the management office and immediately warned him:

"You bastard, if you really dare to get any funny ideas, I’ll be the first one to turn you in. Don’t say I didn’t warn you."

Uchida quickly waved his hands. "How could I! What are you thinking? I already told you, I just think she’s cute, and I told you the reason why, didn’t I?"

"In any case, you’re on my blacklist here now. From now on, you are absolutely not allowed to get close to any girl below high school age while you’re here," Shuichi said, still watching him warily.

Uchida was extremely frustrated. "I already told you, I just think girls become worldly once they hit high school, so... Forget it, think what you want. I prefer 2D lolis anyway."

"That’s more like it. Stick to your dream, and sooner or later, you’ll be summoned by another world."

Shuichi casually opened a drawer and took out a black umbrella. "I borrowed this from you last time and forgot to return it."

"Oh..." Uchida listlessly took the umbrella. "So, can you come with me to my cousin’s place now? The sooner I go, the sooner I’m free. My aunt has been nagging me every day, it’s a real headache."

"Let’s go." Shuichi didn’t delay. He had to check on her every day anyway, to try and trigger a quest to raise her sense of belonging.

Uchida timidly followed behind him, and the two entered Haruka’s clothing store together.

Haruka stood leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, a can of fruit wine in hand, pouring it into her mouth. When she saw the two, her intoxicatingly drunk eyes shifted towards them.

"My place isn’t exactly a dragon’s den. Do you need to be this scared?"

Uchida clung to Shuichi’s shoulder, hiding half his body behind him. He hemmed and hawed for a long time but didn’t dare to talk back. "Aunt asked me to come see..."

"Ah, Shuichi-kun already told me that yesterday," Haruka waved her hand. "Now that you’ve seen me, your mission is complete."

"Oh..." Uchida nodded dumbly. "Then... what should I tell my aunt?"

"Just tell her the truth. I’m quite comfortable and relaxed here," Haruka chuckled lightly.

"What if aunt asks for your address..."

"Don’t tell her. Just say that when I’ve made some progress here, I’ll naturally bring someone back with me," Haruka said, her seductive eyes gliding over Shuichi’s handsome face.

"Bring someone back?" Uchida didn’t quite understand.

"Just relay that message. You don’t need to worry about anything else," Haruka said, then took another sip of wine. "You’ve had a hard time these past few days too. My mom must have bothered you a lot, right? How about your cousin makes you a set of clothes?"

"No, thank you! It wasn’t a bother at all. If there’s nothing else, I’ll be taking my leave!"

Startled, Uchida abandoned Shuichi and practically scrambled out of the store.

Shuichi watched his panicked retreat speechlessly and shook his head with a laugh. "Haruka-san is truly terrifying. It looks like his psychological trauma will follow him for life."

"Then aren’t you scared, Shuichi-kun?" Haruka straightened up and walked over to him, looking him up and down. "I feel like you would also look very pretty in a dress, Shuichi-kun~ Want to try one on?"

"That won’t be necessary." Shuichi looked at her swaying figure. Her boneless, water-snake-like waist was even more alluring. She had a distinct smell of fruit wine on her, seeming to have drunk quite a bit. "Why are you drinking so much today? Is something bothering you?"

"I haven’t had that much. I’m just slightly tipsy~" Haruka gave a seductive smile. "Drinking makes it a little better. I can’t be buzzing all the time, my body wouldn’t be able to take it."

"Is this really okay? It must be troublesome to go upstairs, right?" Shuichi looked at her skeptically. "The stairs here are quite steep."

"What? Are you going to help me upstairs?" Haruka giggled and poked his forehead. "You can’t do that kind of thing, you know."

Shuichi said speechlessly, "Aren’t you overthinking things, Haruka-san? I’m just worried you might fall."

"It’s fine. If I get really drunk, I’ll just sleep on the first floor," Haruka said nonchalantly.

"That’s even more worrying," Shuichi sighed, reaching out to support her shoulder, preparing to help her up.

"You’re such a worrywart, Shuichi-kun." Haruka glanced down at his hand. She swayed but didn’t lean on him, always maintaining a distance.

"As the manager, I can’t just watch a shop owner get injured from a fall, can I?" Shuichi was being a perfect gentleman—a proper gentleman, not taking the opportunity to grope her.

"Acting like a little adult. It makes you seem even more delicious. Want to have a drink with me?" Haruka smiled.

"I don’t feel any sincerity from you at all, Haruka-san." Shuichi glanced at her sense of belonging, which hadn’t budged at all and remained at the ten points he got just for signing the contract.

She didn’t even seem to have much favorability towards him, otherwise it would be at least twenty points, right? This young widow in front of him was purely flirting for fun.

When they reached the door to her second-floor bedroom, Haruka leaned against the door, holding the doorknob, and blinked. "This is the first time you’ve been inside a girl’s bedroom, isn’t it, Shuichi-kun?"

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