"Hayasaka-san... You've worked hard."
Sagara Koyou took both of Hayasaka Ai's hands, her expression full of admiration.
"Huh?"
"I entrust the task of saving the world to you now," she said solemnly.
"..."
"When Rinji first got a girlfriend, I was so happy. I thought he'd finally found soone who could keep him in check, and I even hoped she would transfer to Shuchiin." Koyou suddenly looked heartbroken. "But then I heard from his idiot father that his first girlfriend was a hitman. My heart skipped a few beats. Thank God she didn't transfer in."
"That's... a bit much, isn't it?"
Hayasaka looked at her, puzzled.
"I think Garuda is great. She's a really good girl."
Hayasaka only said this because it was Garuda. Although they had once been rivals in love, she couldn't bring herself to hate Garuda.
That cheerful, generous girl who never held grudges—even before becoming Rinji's girlfriend, Hayasaka could never bring herself to dislike her.
She even felt that "losing to her was understandable."
Like Rinji, Garuda's charm seed to work on both n and won.
"I'm just worried the two of them will cause trouble together. Their destructive potential isn't a joke. If they both enrolled at Shuchiin, they'd probably tear it down."
Koyou sighed deeply.
"You've never experienced the chaos of our high school days. Back then, my husband and Rinji's father attended the sa school as , and within one year, the place had to be rebuilt five or six tis. To this day, our alma mater still runs evacuation drills every sester. So clubs even adopted military-style training."
"...Was Rinji's dad really like that? I t him once, and he seed kind and gentle."
Hayasaka had t Rinji's father and didn't think he was as terrifying as Koyou described.
"Kind and gentle, my ass! Back then, there wasn't anyone scarier than him."
Whenever she rembered those days, Koyou couldn't help but curse.
"Every ti, I had to clean up their ss. If I hadn't been able to control those two, our school would've beco history."
"Uh..."
"Rinji is just like his father—restless and can't sit still. He used to be such a well-behaved kid... then, sigh..."
"What happened?"
"He learned too fast, and as a child, he didn't really understand right from wrong. Plus, he was always with his dad... you get the idea." Koyou spread her hands. "Do you know why his personality changes when he wears won's clothes? It's because of his freakishly good learning ability. His normal state is basically a version that inherited all of his father's worst traits."
"This..."
"But after his father got married, his temper gradually improved. That's why I hope Rinji finds a girlfriend too—so my job will be easier in the future."
"I see, but..."
After thinking for a mont, Hayasaka said, "Garuda could also do that, right? Why ? Compared to , Garuda is more..."
"You were going to say she's more compatible with Rinji, that they make a better pair."
"Yeah."
"True."
"..."
Being acknowledged so bluntly, Hayasaka was a bit taken aback.
"Rinji's parents weren't compatible either. No one expected that perfect woman to fall for an idiot. Back in high school, there was even a red-haired girl who had a thing for his idiot father. I thought they were a better match. If they got together, they'd have blown up an entire city. Good thing they didn't marry."
Koyou had no hard feelings toward Garuda, but she believed that putting those two together would lead to chaos.
Thankfully, Hayasaka was there to balance things out, making it barely manageable.
"..."
"Whether two people end up together doesn't depend on 'compatibility' but on whether they can restrain themselves for each other. Which reminds of my story with my idiot husband... but that's a long tale."
After finishing, Koyou checked the ti.
It was about ti to head ho.
"As Rinji's elder, I don't have much to give you, but I think this might help."
She pulled sothing from her small bag and placed a black folding fan on Hayasaka's desk.
"This is?"
Hayasaka picked it up and inspected it.
It was slightly heavy, and the surface had a tallic sheen.
"Use this at school if Rinji does anything stupid."
"How?"
"Hit him on the head."
"Huh?"
"It's the only thing that actually causes him pain. Just swing hard," Koyou said, giving a thumbs-up.
"...I don't think using violence is a good idea."
To be honest, Hayasaka couldn't bring herself to hit Rinji.
And what if he started to hate her after that? Things had finally gotten to this point—it couldn't all be ruined by so impulsive action.
"It's fine. At most, it'll just hurt a little. It won't cause any real damage."
"..."
Just then, the door opened.
Rinji had returned ho after leaving Kana's place.
Seeing Kana and Hayasaka chatting together, Rinji looked a little curious.
"Aunt Kana, what are you talking about with Ai?"
"About you."
"What's there to talk about... huh?"
As he spoke, Rinji's gaze fell on the black paper fan in Hayasaka's hand, and he jumped in fright.
He quickly leaned in close to Kana, who was getting up to leave, and whispered, "Aunt Kana, have I done anything to offend you lately?"
"What you do at school already gives headaches, but as for offending ... not really," Kana replied with a smile.
"Then why did you give such a dangerous thing to Ai?" Rinji narrowed his eyes.
Kana turned around, placed her hands on Rinji's shoulders, and spoke in a sincere, elder-like tone.
"Because you really deserve a beating."
"..."
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