After studying the innerwear for a bit, Hikari looked around the office.
"Your office feels a little empty. It'd be better if you bought a few more desks and chairs and added a sofa," Hikari casually remarked.
"You think this is your house or something? Desks, chairs, sofas. Should I install a cradle for you too?", Tsukishima Kyoko rolled her eyes at him.
"I just think this office has a good layout. Nice and roomy. It'd be suitable for fitting more things inside," Hikari said with a grin while taking the silver ruler from Tsukishima Kyoko's hand.
Tsukishima Kyoko couldn't be bothered with him. After shooting him a look, she pulled a tissue from the desk and wiped the corner of her mouth.
"So Kyoko-chan really is hungry. You're practically drooling. Do you really want breakfast that badly?", Hikari asked with a smile.
"No! Hikari, don't push it too far!", Tsukishima Kyoko really was starving and wanted to eat her fill immediately, but as the Ice Queen teacher, she couldn't bring herself to ask him and didn't want to admit it.
Smack!
Hikari gave her a firm slap on the butt.
"Tsukishima-sensei, you should be honest. Also, when we're alone, what are you supposed to call me?", Hikari suddenly asked in a serious tone.
After being slapped out of nowhere, Tsukishima Kyoko's expression turned cold, and her brows knitted together.
She instinctively wanted to lose her temper.
But when she met Hikari's stern gaze, and noticed that the ruler had already been taken from her, her body shook as memories of being whipped surfaced in her mind.
In the end, she lowered her head and slowly spoke the title she hated using.
"Hik... D-Director..."
Tsukishima Kyoko bit her lip and deliberately mumbled the words.
Hikari could tell, but he didn't make an issue out of it.
Director was fine.
It still put him above her.
Hikari walked over and sat in the office chair behind the desk.
"Tsukishima-sensei, as the director, I suspect your qualifications may be fake."
"Huh? They're not!", Tsukishima Kyoko grabbed the edge of her skirt and looked wronged.
"Whether they are or not isn't for you to decide. It's a request from higher up. Take out your diploma and proof of qualifications. Let me check them."
Leaning back in the chair, Hikari crooked a finger at her.
"O-Okay..."
Tsukishima Kyoko unbuttoned her uniform jacket, took out her diploma and graduation certificates, and walked over.
"Open your qualification documents. Let me inspect them."
"Okay..."
Although humiliation and annoyance flashed across her face, Tsukishima Kyoko didn't want to be accused of faking her credentials, so she opened the documents and let Hikari inspect them directly.
At his instruction, she opened the qualification papers and turned several pages.
"I still can't see clearly. Tsukishima-sensei, come sit closer and show them to me."
Hikari patted his lap and smiled at her.
"You..."
Seeing what he was doing, Tsukishima Kyoko became even more dissatisfied.
But after hesitating for a moment, she still sat down with the diploma and certificates and obediently let him inspect them carefully.
After repeated spot checks and verification, Hikari thoroughly checked her qualifications several times.
He found that she really hadn't faked anything.
Everything was genuine.
Not only had she graduated from a prestigious university, she also held dual degrees.
The value of her qualifications was extremely high, "Mm, Tsukishima-sensei's qualifications are indeed fine. But as a teacher, you shouldn't be too rigid and stern. You push people so hard they can barely breathe..."
After spending quite some time verifying her credentials, Hikari began lecturing her.
As a graduate of a prestigious university with years of teaching experience, Tsukishima Kyoko naturally wasn't convinced by his guidance at first.
She thought he was an amateur trying to teach a professional.
She even got into a fierce debate with him.
At first, neither side would give way.
But as the discussion continued, Tsukishima Kyoko gradually realized that Hikari's breadth of knowledge far exceeded her own.
His learning was vast.
Little by little, she became completely immersed in it.
She forgot the advantage her academic background gave her.
Like a sponge, she continuously absorbed the knowledge he taught her.
About half an hour later, Tsukishima Kyoko was finally completely convinced.
"Th-That's enough..."
After the intense debate, she had received so much knowledge from Hikari that it felt like she had taken in too much at once and could barely keep up.
"Tsukishima-sensei, convinced now?", Hikari gently patted her head.
"I-I'm convinced, Director."
The usually cold and strict Tsukishima Kyoko nodded repeatedly, obedient as a pet dog.
Seeing that she had fully accepted it, Hikari left her office in satisfaction.
After leaving Tsukishima Kyoko's office, he originally planned to head back to the classroom.
But while passing the main office, a voice called out from inside.
"Hikari-kun, wait a moment..."
Hearing the familiar voice behind him, Hikari turned around.
A mature female teacher in a uniform was looking at him with a smile.
Her long brown hair was tied into a bun behind her head. She had delicate features.
This familiar teacher was none other than Shirakawa Miwa, who had a very good relationship with Hikari.
"Good morning, Shirakawa-sensei," Hikari greeted her with a smile.
"Come here, come here. Hurry and have breakfast with me."
Shirakawa Miwa repeatedly waved at him.
Hikari walked over and sat in the chair beside her.
"Hikari-kun, where did you go this morning? I deliberately bought extra breakfast today. I even went to your classroom looking for you, but you weren't there. I thought you hadn't arrived at school yet."
Shirakawa Miwa looked at him curiously.
"Tsukishima-sensei called me away earlier. There was something I had to take care of," Hikari replied.
"I see. No wonder I couldn't find you. Kyoko-chan didn't make things difficult for you, did she?"
Shirakawa Miwa remembered that he seemed to have just come out of Tsukishima Kyoko's office.
"It was fine. Let's eat breakfast. Class is about to start."
As he spoke, Hikari picked up his chopsticks.
"Okay."
Shirakawa Miwa nodded.
But just as she was about to eat, her nose twitched.
"Huh? Did this breakfast go bad? Why does it smell strange... Wait, I think it's coming from you, Hikari-kun?"
Faced with her gaze, Hikari calmly explained, "Maybe because I was in a hurry getting to school today. I ran a bit on the way and got sweaty."
He wiped the moisture from his clothes.
In reality, he knew exactly where the strange smell came from.
Earlier in the office, the emotionally overwhelmed Tsukishima Kyoko had left him covered.
Although he had tried his best to avoid it, the space had been too small.
Some of it still got on him.
So having a bit of a smell was perfectly normal.
But naturally, he couldn't tell Shirakawa Miwa, who was Tsukishima Kyoko's close friend.
So he casually made up an explanation.
And Shirakawa Miwa didn't think much of it.
With her simple personality, she completely believed him.
The two of them continued chatting casually while eating breakfast.
About six or seven minutes later, someone walked over.
Hikari and Shirakawa Miwa looked up and saw the cold-faced Tsukishima Kyoko.
Shirakawa Miwa immediately spoke first, "Kyoko-chan, I bought too much breakfast and was worried I wouldn't finish it, so I asked Hikari-kun to eat with me. Once we're done, he'll go right back. Don't blame him."
Tsukishima Kyoko was too rigid and serious. Otherwise, she wouldn't be known as the Ice Queen teacher.
Seeing her close friend appear, Shirakawa Miwa immediately worried about Hikari.
But to her surprise, Tsukishima Kyoko really didn't get angry.
She even nodded and said, "Mm, I know."
Seeing that Tsukishima Kyoko looked refreshed and surprisingly easy to talk to today, Shirakawa Miwa immediately guessed she was in a good mood.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, she invited her.
"Kyoko-chan, why don't you join us for breakfast?"
Tsukishima Kyoko instinctively wanted to refuse.
But after glancing at Hikari's gaze,
she could only nod.
"Okay."
With that, she sat down beside them.
Seeing that Tsukishima Kyoko had actually sat down and was willing to eat breakfast with them, Shirakawa Miwa was delighted.
In her view, Tsukishima Kyoko had always been biased against Hikari.
One was her good student and friend, and the other was her close friend.
Naturally, seeing their relationship improve was a good thing for her.
"Huh? Kyoko-chan, why is there a hole in your stocking?"
While happily eating, Shirakawa Miwa suddenly noticed that Tsukishima Kyoko's sitting posture seemed a little awkward. After turning to look, she asked in confusion.
Tsukishima Kyoko lowered her head and saw that after sitting down, her uniform skirt had ridden up slightly, exposing part of the torn area in her stocking.
She had thought it was covered well.
She hadn't expected her friend to notice immediately.
Her face reddened, and she quickly covered the torn spot with her hand.
"I accidentally snagged it earlier..."
Tsukishima Kyoko explained quietly.
Seeing that Tsukishima Kyoko was unusually embarrassed, and noticing Hikari's somewhat puzzled look across from them, Shirakawa Miwa immediately understood.
Although this sort of thing wasn't important between close friends, it really wasn't something that should be brought up in front of a student.
If it were her, she would probably feel awkward too.
Shirakawa Miwa immediately changed the subject and pushed over the soy milk in her hand.
"Kyoko-chan, have some soy milk. It's hot and smells great~"
Looking at the cup of soy milk, Tsukishima Kyoko quickly shook her head.
"No, no. I've already had too much of it!"
Hearing that, Shirakawa Miwa looked puzzled.
"Huh? Have you been drinking soy milk for breakfast lately? I haven't seen you."
As far as she remembered, her close friend normally didn't like soy milk.
Tsukishima Kyoko also realized she had misspoken and quickly corrected herself.
"I drink it at home. Recently I found out I have polycystic ovary syndrome, so I need more estrogen. I've been drinking quite a lot."
Hearing that, Shirakawa Miwa nodded in understanding.
"So that's how it is. Then have some clams instead."
[🙇🏻 You Can Support the Story Through P@tr3on—AmbitiousTranslator. It also has 40+ Chapters of all the novels and fanfics. Thanks for reading~]