"Don't... don't say any more..."
After hearing Miyake Fufu introduce all of this, An Le's toes were curling so hard she was about to dig a hole through the soles of her shoes.
Especially with Yan Huan standing right in front of her. She did not even need to look in his direction to feel his astonished gaze, as if he were silently asking,
"Is this really you, An Le?"
Yabashi Ki was not very familiar with An Le, so he could not really comnt. However, he knew Miyake Fufu well, and if she called soone impressive, they were usually genuinely impressive.
Therefore, he also gave An Le a thumbs-up.
As the conversation continued, An Le hastily tugged at Miyake Fufu's clothes, whispering to stop her from saying anything else.
"Teacher Parfait, please... stop talking about the past..."
"Huh?"
Miyake Fufu glanced at the flushed An Le and pursed her lips.
Actually, she had originally intended to show off how amazing An Le was, considering they had known each other long before coming to Far Moon Academy.
Back then, An Le had been just like she was now—an invisible wallflower in class who never said a word.
Aside from having pretty good grades, there was absolutely nothing morable about her.
Miyake Fufu had once boasted to An Le's middle school classmates about An Le winning the "Best Script Award" and earning tens of thousands in royalties, which made her classmates view her in a whole new light.
At that ti, An Le had not cared at all. Yet now, her reaction was so intense...
An Le had always been mature for her age; it was not as if she had suddenly learned to feel embarrassed just because she grew older.
Did that an there was another reason?
"What is wrong?"
"Teacher Parfait, that boy... he is my childhood friend, Xiao Huan."
"Ah, him?!"
Hearing this, Miyake Fufu was completely stunned and imdiately looked at Yan Huan.
Staring at the dazzlingly handso youth, Miyake Fufu swallowed a mouthful of saliva. She finally understood why An Le was so mortified.
She looked back at An Le in disbelief and whispered anxiously,
"Wait a minute... Did you not say before that you had been separated from your childhood friend for a long ti and might never see him again?"
"But... we did et again..."
"Are the childhood friend characters in your doujinshi not all ordinary-looking, cheerful boys who love to smile?"
"Well, Xiao Huan does love to smile..."
"So this is what you call ordinary-looking?!"
Previously, Miyake Fufu had assud Yan Huan was a new romantic interest, entirely separate from the childhood friend she knew about.
After all, even though they were both fans of the childhood friend trope, how many couples who grew up together actually ended up together?
Fetishes were fetishes, and real life was real life. One had to draw a line between the two.
During the previous ani convention, Miyake Fufu had already figured out that Sakuramiya Hitomi liked this boy. Seeing that An Le also had feelings for him, she had intended to highlight An Le's achievents to help her friend out.
Although bringing up doujinshi titles was a bit unorthodox, the fact that Yan Huan could beco best buddies with a hardcore otaku like Yabashi Ki made Miyake Fufu think he would not be completely put off by it.
But if Yan Huan was An Le's childhood friend, then everything changed...
Was this not exactly like loudly scheming to devour a man right to his face?!
"Oh my... I misrembered. Sorry, sorry, sorry! Just pretend I did not say anything!"
Miyake Fufu buried her face in An Le's chest in embarrassnt, then imdiately sprang away, pretending nothing had happened as she ran over to the bags behind Yan Huan.
"Haha, let us get straight to the main topic, that class thing..."
"..."
Seeing this, Yan Huan had no idea what expression to make. He could only secretly resolve to search up An Le's pen na once he got back to see exactly what she had written.
However, seeing An Le looking like she wanted to die of embarrassnt, Yan Huan could not bear to make things more awkward for her. Feigning ignorance, he turned to ask Yabashi Ki,
"Yabashi, if a doujinshi gets reprinted multiple tis, what level of popularity does that an?"
"Ah? Let
think, President..."
Yabashi Ki looked back, rubbing his chin as he analyzed the question.
"It ans it did not just sell at the doujin conventions. It ans it sold out completely after publication and had to be reprinted. Works like that usually have explosive word-of-mouth and are extrely beloved by readers."
"I see."
After hearing that, Yan Huan finally smiled at An Le and praised,
"An Le, you really are amazing."
"!!"
Hearing his words, An Le, who had been on the verge of burying her head in the ground, instantly looked up.
Looking at Yan Huan's smile, she unconsciously tried to rub her lips, but unexpectedly brushed a strand of hair from her temples into her mouth...
It made her look as if she were biting her hair while speaking to him in profound embarrassnt,
"N-no... It is all because Teacher Parfait's artwork is too good. I just helped her out a little bit, hehe..."
If not for that final little laugh, Yan Huan might have actually believed she was genuinely being modest.
Yan Huan smiled faintly and turned his head back.
Just in ti to catch Miyake Fufu squatting on the ground, secretly appraising him.
The mont he t her gaze, Miyake Fufu hastily grabbed a USB drive and stood up, saying,
"Alright, alright, everything is ready. Um, should I show you the slideshow first, Mr. President?"
"No problem."
Watching Xiao Huan and Yabashi get down to business, An Le, who was standing in the back, reached up to pull the stray hair from her lips. She then asked Little Finger with concern,
"Little Finger, did you transfer the emotional energy to Xiao Huan just now?"
Unexpectedly, Little Finger resting on her shoulder rely flicked its tongue, staring vigilantly at Sakuramiya Hitomi, who was also silently withdrawing her gaze.
"That Sakuramiya Hitomi... Sothing about her feels off."
"Huh?"
An Le imdiately locked her eyes onto Sakuramiya Hitomi.
Seeing the equally radiant girl standing beside Yan Huan, watching the slideshow and occasionally voicing her opinions, An Le suddenly felt a twinge of recognition—they looked like a perfect match.
"Just now, when you were interacting with Yan Huan, I think I sensed a faint fluctuation from her that felt like my own kind..."
"Could it be your imagination?
"...Whether it is or not, one test will reveal the truth."
Little Finger flicked its tongue, explaining to An Le,
"Right now, the only one we have yet to identify is the Host of Middle Finger... Middle Finger is the most sensitive of us five. The mont I reveal myself, she will absolutely notice that sothing is wrong.
"In a mont, keep a low profile. I will go. If she really is a Host, she will definitely expose a flaw."
With that said, it leaped off An Le's shoulder, slithered down the steps into the shadows beneath the seats, and quickly vanished from sight.
Left with no other choice, An Le pursed her lips and pretended nothing was happening, stepping forward to join their conversation.
"Having the presentation already prepared is a huge help!"
Looking at Miyake Fufu's ticulously crafted slides, Yabashi Ki could not help but click his tongue in admiration.
Yan Huan also nodded, looking at Miyake Fufu as he said,
"We have to deliver this lecture by Thursday at the latest. I was originally worried that two days of preparation ti would be too short."
"Then you should thank Shuurei Academy. Their student council inford
last week, so I prepared the slides in advance."
Hearing Miyake Fufu say this, Yabashi Ki could not help but feel curious.
"Teacher Miyake, you actually know people from the Shuurei Academy Student Council?"
"Mhm. I know their vice president, a little guy nad Shenye Ju. He is also from the South Ward."
As she spoke, Miyake Fufu sighed and complained to Yan Huan,
"I thought it would be an easy job, but who knew that the president of Shuurei Academy was insanely strict... I had to revise it four or five tis before she was even marginally satisfied. And for so reason, I just feel like I cannot hold my head high in front of her."
"Is she really that scary?"
Yabashi Ki was sowhat skeptical, but the mont this was brought up, Miyake Fufu looked like she was beyond tears.
"Really, I am not lying! She is incredibly terrifying!"
"...It is fine, it is fine, Teacher Miyake. Our president is much more approachable."
Although Yabashi Ki was still half-believing, half-doubting, seeing a grown adult like Miyake Fufu so thoroughly spooked ant he could not really say much.
This was not the first ti Yan Huan had heard soone ntion the student council president of Shuurei Academy either.
After all, people frequently compared her to him.
They had both tied for first place with a perfect score in the inaugural Linn unified examinations. They had both entered the top two academies. And they were both among the few and far between to serve as student council president during their first year of high school...
For once, his interest was genuinely piqued, so he asked,
"What was the na of that student council president from Shuurei Academy again?"
"Luxianna, Luxianna Yadangsi."
"Soone from the Ying Country, huh..."
Miyake Fufu nodded. While taking out more teaching materials, she continued,
"Speaking of which, it seems their student council is also going to the Sakura Country for a School Trip soon."
Hearing this, Sakuramiya Hitomi, who had been quiet the whole ti, suddenly shrank her pupils and hastily asked,
"They are going to the Sakura Country too? But I heard not a single first-year class over there voted for the Sakura Country."
"Ah."
Hearing Sakuramiya Hitomi's suddenly raised voice, everyone turned to look at her.
Miyake Fufu blinked and said hesitantly,
"I think so. But their president did not really want to go to those chosen places, so she offered to take their student council sowhere else on her private jet... In the end, they chose the Sakura Country."
"..."
Hearing this, Sakuramiya Hitomi's eyes widened. A sinisterly smiling, silver-haired figure faintly surfaced in her mind.
And just the thought of that person coming to the Sakura Country made Sakuramiya Hitomi's face turn slightly pale. Clearly, she was recalling so unpleasant mories.
Seeing her pale complexion, Yan Huan could not help but frown slightly as he quickly asked,
"Are you alright, Sakuramiya?"
"I-I am fine, President..."
Brought back to her senses by Yan Huan's inquiry, Sakuramiya Hitomi squeezed out a smile and shook her head.
Then, she pointed toward the seats in the back row and said softly,
"I am just a bit tired of standing. I would like to go to the back row and rest for a mont."
"..."
Yan Huan studied her for a mont before smiling gently.
"Alright, go ahead. We will have Teacher Miyake do a trial run shortly. If everything looks good, we will wrap it up for today."
"Mhm."
Sakuramiya Hitomi nodded, took a deep breath, and walked toward the back.
Behind her, the sound of conversation continued.
"Perfect timing, little An Le. I am heading to Tokyo for the Spring Doujin Convention in a few days. You are also going to the Sakura Country, right? Want to go together?"
"Ah? I..."
"You can invite your other friends to co along too! I heard our previous works will be featured there. If we are lucky, maybe they will even get adapted into an ani!"
"Ani?!"
"..."
Gripping the back of a chair, Sakuramiya Hitomi chewed over the information Miyake Fufu had just dropped, her eyes narrowing involuntarily.
If that person was going to the Sakura Country, she would definitely visit the main family estate.
And as luck would have it, she and her group were also heading ho to run their Study Group. Under these circumstances, they were almost guaranteed to cross paths...
'I really, truly do not want to see her.'
"Sigh..."
Just the thought of seeing that person brought a deep frown to Sakuramiya Hitomi's face.
She rubbed the space between her eyebrows and sat down in the back row of the lecture hall, looking exactly like a university student slacking off in the back of a class.
Since she was already quite short, from the perspective of the podium, one could only faintly spot the top half of her head.
Up front, Miyake Fufu had already taken the podium. On the whiteboard behind her was the title:
"Shuurei Academy Sexual Health Education Seminar"
"Um, Teacher Miyake, rember to change 'Shuurei Academy' in the title to 'Far Moon Academy' later..."
"Hehe, I completely forgot! Sorry, sorry."
Below, Yan Huan and Yabashi Ki took their seats in the front row, preparing to listen to her trial run.
"Hiss..."
As Sakuramiya Hitomi massaged her aching temples, a bizarre sound suddenly drifted right beside her ear.
It sounded like...
The sound of a snake flicking its tongue.
She furrowed her brow and glanced to the side.
Suddenly, she saw a semi-transparent white cobra raising its head from the ground, flicking its tongue as it stared right at her.
"Sakuramiya Hitomi."
Seeing this, Sakuramiya Hitomi was struck with sheer terror.
But a second later, she acted as if she could not see a thing, continuing to casually look around the room.
"..."
Watching Sakuramiya Hitomi seemingly fail to spot it, Little Finger could not help but feel suspicious.
'Hiss, she cannot see ? That should not be possible. With Middle Finger's spiritual perception, there is no way she would fail to see
when I am half-manifested...'
In reality, Sakuramiya Hitomi had seen it perfectly well. However, her naturally vigilant personality kept her from acting rashly.
Instead, she used the excuse of looking around to carefully inspect the white snake.
'Did you guys... see this thing?'
Simultaneously, she questioned the other Sakuramiyas in her mind.
'We saw it... What in the world is that?'
'Could it be... soone else's superpower?'
However, the other Sakuramiyas were rely clones of Sakuramiya Hitomi; their understanding of the Modifiers was entirely identical to hers.
"Pretending you cannot see ? Fine. You and I both know the truth anyway..."
Seeing its first trick fail, Little Finger decided to throw out another bluff.
"I will tell you the truth. I am the Spirit of the Jiejiè, an avatar born after you deployed a certain number of domains.
"As for my abilities, I can help you temporarily bring the effects you wield inside the Jiejiè out into the real world."
Yet upon hearing this, Sakuramiya Hitomi tuned it out completely, still acting as blind as a bat.
"..."
Seeing that Sakuramiya Hitomi was entirely impervious to persuasion, Little Finger genuinely began to doubt itself.
Could it be...
Was she really not a Host for a Modifier?
Little Finger swished its tail and flicked its tongue, preparing to try one last ti.
In the next second, it unhinged its jaws, seemingly lunging straight for Sakuramiya Hitomi's neck.
Sakuramiya Hitomi still did not react recklessly. She rely rested her hand lightly on the armrest, planning to feign getting up to go to the restroom if the situation turned sour.
However, Little Finger did not actually bite her. Instead, it slithered right up beside her ear, whispering in a voice only the two of them could hear.
"Did you know that when outsiders enter the Jiejiè, they accumulate side effects...? Yan Huan's body has already accumulated incredibly severe side effects.
"If he is left untreated, he will very likely die~"
Hearing this, Sakuramiya Hitomi—who had remained perfectly motionless until now—instantly shrank her pupils, snapping her head around to look at the white snake with deep concern.
She had just wanted to verify what exact side effects her Jiejiè had, but a bizarre smile crept across the face of the white snake before her.
It continued to stare at her, but uttered not a single word more.
'I have been tricked!'
Sakuramiya Hitomi swallowed a mouthful of saliva, instantly realizing sothing was wrong. Without even turning her head, she decisively slamd her hand down, intending to touch the chair and activate her Jiejiè.
But imdiately after, her palm suddenly collided with a broad, undulating expanse of softness beneath a slightly stiff layer of clothing.
"Squish~"
Amidst the remarkably bouncy jiggle, Sakuramiya Hitomi turned her head back in sheer disbelief.
Only to see her hand planted firmly on a certain prominent area of An Le's chest, causing the other girl's face to flush slightly as she let out a soft moan.
"Nngh..."
"An Le, you..."
But in the next second, An Le seized Sakuramiya Hitomi's hand in a vice grip.
Imdiately after, she lifted her head and smiled with a hint of regret.
"So, Vice President Sakuramiya, you also have a superpower..."
"!!"
Hearing this, Sakuramiya Hitomi's pupils constricted.
But her reaction was blindingly fast. In a flash, she violently slamd her left hand onto the adjacent seat.
"Next, I will introduce to the students so common sexually transmitted diseases..."
As Yan Huan listened to Miyake Fufu's vivid lecture from the podium, the shattering sound of the void suddenly rang out beside his ear.
In the next second, the originally sunlit windowsill was instantly engulfed in a gloomy shadow, writhing like a centipede.
The slideshow on the whiteboard was first overlaid with a layer of static, and then instantaneously transford into a certain indescribable, adult-oriented video.
"..."
The strange moans mixing with Miyake Fufu's live comntary twisted the atmosphere of the entire lecture hall into sothing exceptionally bizarre.
Yan Huan blanked out for a mont, then glanced at Yabashi Ki beside him, who was watching with great relish.
"Yabashi, you..."
"Ah?"
Hearing Yan Huan call out to him, Yabashi Ki reluctantly dragged his gaze away from the whiteboard and looked at the bewildered Yan Huan.
"What is wrong, President?"
"..."
Seeing his thoroughly matter-of-fact expression, Yan Huan was rendered utterly speechless.
Because at that mont, a baffling thought had abruptly popped into his own mind as well.
"To be able to watch this kind of stuff right out in the open like this... we truly are divine persons."
"Huh? But President, this... Whatever happens in sex ed class is fair ga, is that not just common sense?"
"...It is."
Yan Huan sighed, reaching out to gently pat Yabashi Ki's shoulder as he stood up.
Turning his head to look behind him, he saw that the once spacious lecture hall had been warped as if by a vortex, fractured into a fragnted, labyrinthine maze.
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