Mrs. Yukinoshita felt uneasy under Yukima Azuma's gaze.
(≖ - ≖)
In their previous etings, when they sat at the negotiation table with contracts laid out on it...
No matter how much Yukima Azuma glared at her—
Mrs. Yukinoshita could always maintain a calm deanor.
She could even glare back with a sarcastic look.
But now, the relationship between them had beco quite strange.
As a "parent," Mrs. Yukinoshita felt as if she was being judged by her own "child."
And in a way that left her unable to retort.
As for Yukima Azuma—
After staring at Mrs. Yukinoshita for a long while—
A few play ideas suddenly popped into his head.
Ahem! Of course, not the kind of play a lustful bastard would think of.
If Mrs. Yukinoshita's love was this twisted,
And it was impossible to change her way of thinking,
Then why not just play along this way?
That icy face of Mrs. Yukinoshita—it's not like she doesn't know how to smile.
She just needs the right conditions.
Thinking about the cooperation between the Yukinoshita family and Laplace Corporation—
And the necessary conditions for the current direction of the Yukinoshita family's developnt—
Yukima Azuma realized he still held many cards in his hand.
That ant there was a lot of room to maneuver.
Adorable Yukino at his ho had been lacking maternal love for so many years.
It was ti to make up for that.
A deeper licensing partnership between Laplace Corporation and the Yukinoshita family—
For example, White Album 2, or the Youth series.
The exchange condition: Mrs. Yukinoshita must let Yukino feel a heartfelt and soul-stirring warmth of familial love.
♡(つˊ̥̥̥̥̥ ³ ˋ̥̥̥̥̥)つ⊂( ͡ᵔ ྌ ͡ᵔ ⊂)♡
The Yukinoshita family wanted to expand their real estate company to other prefectures.
The most viable direction was toward Gifu Prefecture.
And to develop in Gifu, they had to connect with the Suou family.
Due to the Charlotte cot incident, the Suou family had recently received policy subsidies from the Japanese National Diet.
In fact, they were already busy to the point of spinning in circles.
But through benefit exchange, it was still possible to share so space in the real estate sector.
Therein lay the value of the trade.
And if the Yukinoshita family wanted to get in touch with the Suou family—
The exchange condition was: Mrs. Yukinoshita had to make Yukino give her a genuine smile from the bottom of her heart.
❀.(*´◡`*)❀
Thinking about different play thods,
Yukima Azuma couldn't help but feel excited—no, warm inside!
As long as it involved the interests of the family, Mrs. Yukinoshita was bound to care.
And there was no need to worry about Mrs. Yukinoshita pulling any tricks.
After all, Yukino was currently siding with Yukima Azuma.
So this was the correct way to play with Mrs. Yukinoshita!
As if feeling sothing in her heart,
Mrs. Yukinoshita suddenly shivered and instinctively hugged her arms, rubbing them.
Seeing Mrs. Yukinoshita trembling as if she were cold—
Yukima Azuma considerately took off his Shuchiin winter uniform jacket.
He reached out and draped it over Mrs. Yukinoshita.
He even lightly patted her on the shoulder.
Umu, the responsibilities ahead are long and heavy!
Just thinking about how Mrs. Yukinoshita, always so dignified since young, made both Yukino and Haruno tremble in fear—
And that now, she had to use love to move Yukino in exchange for family benefit—
Yukima Azuma couldn't help but want to laugh.
Mrs. Yukinoshita, surely you don't want the Yukinoshita family to falter in developnt because of you, do you?
As for Mrs. Yukinoshita—
Even though a coat had been draped over her,
And it still carried the boy's body warmth—
She felt even more uncomfortable.
Just at that mont—
Shinomiya Kaguya and Hayasaka Nao stepped out of the eting room.
"Is Yukima Azuma's guardian here?"
Upon hearing that, Mrs. Yukinoshita seed as though she couldn't wait another second, quickly striding toward the eting room.
三三ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
Even Shinomiya Kaguya and Hayasaka Nao, standing outside, were montarily stunned.
After all, just earlier, Mrs. Yukinoshita didn't have that kind of impatient aura at all.
Yukima Azuma also headed toward the eting room.
anwhile, Hayasaka Ai clung onto Hayasaka Nao.
"Mom, how long are you staying this ti? Will you be having dinner with ?"
Hayasaka Nao gently patted Ai's blonde hair, thought for a mont, and said:
"I'll probably only be staying one or two days, but I can have dinner with you."
"There's no ti to cook now, so I've already made a reservation at a restaurant. We'll go there after the eting."
Hearing that, Hayasaka Ai was a bit disappointed, but still happily nodded.
Just then, Yukima Azuma—who had already stepped into the eting room—leaned back, stuck his head out, and said:
"Nope, this ti Nao-nee is probably staying in Japan for quite a while."
"And since Nao-nee already has plans tonight, I'll talk to you about it tomorrow."
With that, Yukima Azuma stepped fully into the eting room—
Leaving the mother and daughter pair looking dumbfounded and confused.
(｡· v ·｡) ?
Hayasaka Nao, who was just enjoying her popcorn while spectating the drama, suddenly felt sothing was off.
It felt like that popcorn was about to get smashed right back onto her head!
Yukima Azuma keeping her in Japan definitely ant there was sothing he needed her to do.
But whatever it was—
It ant she would have to completely tear off the mask in front of the Shinomiya family.
Even the surface identity of being a Shinomiya official might no longer be sustainable.
Realizing this, Hayasaka Nao's expression grew slightly lancholic.
After all, when she boarded the pirate ship called Yukima Azuma—
She already knew this day would co sooner or later.
She just didn't expect it to arrive so soon.
Hayasaka Ai looked at her mother with deep concern.
Sensing her daughter's unease—
Hayasaka Nao shook her head.
This was sothing that had to be done eventually.
Moreover, continuing to bury herself in the Shinomiya family might not be any better than making a clean break.
Within the Shinomiya family now, there were turbulent undercurrents—
On the surface, it seed peaceful, but in reality, it was full of sches and internal strife.
Even so, Hayasaka Nao began to feel curious.
Why did Yukima Azuma suddenly insist on keeping her in Japan?
Her staying behind ant that the executive and supervisory division at headquarters on Wall Street would effectively be paralyzed.
And right now, the financial books of Laplace's headquarters—
Were a treasure trove that could make almost the entire world green with envy.
...
At this mont, inside the eting room—
Career guidance counselor and horoom teacher Hiratsuka Shizuka was sitting on one side of the conference table.
On the opposite side were two chairs.
Mrs. Yukinoshita and Yukima Azuma sat down one after the other.
Hiratsuka Shizuka's eyes landed on Mrs. Yukinoshita, and she was visibly surprised.
She had already roughly grasped Yukima Azuma's situation from Kirisu Mafuyu.
And she was also sowhat acquainted with Mrs. Yukinoshita.
After all, Hiratsuka Shizuka herself was a bona fide young lady from a distinguished family.
What surprised her was that the head of the Yukinoshita family—the one known as the "Witch of Chiba"—
Was now here, attending a parent-teacher eting as Yukima Azuma's guardian.
anwhile, the career counselor sitting beside her looked rather relaxed.
In fact, she even seed... bored.
Because Yukima Azuma's achievents were already too well-established.
Whether in terms of his scores in national exams or his accomplishnts in the professional shogi world—
Whether he chose to continue studying or pursue a career, it wasn't sothing a career counselor like her needed to weigh in on.
Moreover, Yukima Azuma wasn't even a regular student of Shuchiin—
He was an exchange student under the Big Three's exchange program.
By next sester, he'd be transferring schools.
As a career guidance counselor, what was she even doing ddling in the dazzling life of soone like him?
Just follow protocol and wrap things up!
"Yukima-kun is an outstanding student. Whether it's his top scores in the national exams or his achievents in professional competitions, he's extrely impressive."
"I'm sure his guardian here must have put in a lot of effort in raising him!"
The career counselor opened with the usual polite small talk.
After all, who doesn't like a bit of praise?
In any case, the default script was to complint the student and their guardian first, then get to the actual discussion.
However, Mrs. Yukinoshita felt a strange sensation rise in her chest upon hearing that.
She raised him?
( ╹ -╹)?
Back then, she had indeed seriously intended to bring Yukima Azuma into the Yukinoshita household and raise him properly.
But the boy refused.
Moreover, Mrs. Yukinoshita had a feeling that if she truly had been the one to raise him—
That boy might've been ruined.
No matter what, Yukima Azuma would have turned out excellent.
But there was no way he could've reached the heights he stood at now.
It felt like soone had just jabbed a finger right into an old wound.
Ever keenly perceptive, Mrs. Yukinoshita imdiately realized the shift in her own emotions.
anwhile, Yukima Azuma was barely holding back a laugh.
"May I ask if the guardian has any plans for the student's future?"
The career counselor remained blissfully unaware that anything was off.
Mrs. Yukinoshita glanced toward Yukima Azuma.
In fact, while waiting earlier in the lobby—
She had intended to ask him about his plans.
So that when this question ca up in the eting, she could answer in alignnt with him.
But that thought had been completely derailed by Yukima Azuma's presence.
Since their encounter, things had been awkward the entire ti.
Seeing Mrs. Yukinoshita turn to look at him,
Yukima Azuma raised a hand and made an "arrow pointing upward" gesture.
(づ ᴗ _ᴗ)づ↗↗↗
Mrs. Yukinoshita instantly understood what he ant.
"I hope he continues on to university. He's very capable academically, and he himself is interested in further studies."
The career counselor nodded.
"So he's considering… um…"
Ordinarily, at this point, she would ask whether the student was planning to continue within the school's internal system or apply externally.
"In-house" would an advancing directly from Shuchiin High School to Shuchiin University.
But the issue was, Yukima Azuma was only a temporary exchange student at Shuchiin.
"Tokyo University."
Mrs. Yukinoshita answered bluntly.
She guessed that Yukima Azuma's ideal university was most likely Tokyo University.
Because his decision to attend university was more about experiencing life—
Rather than actually going to study anything in particular.
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