However, after hearing Monna's words, Ellen suddenly went quiet.
The others quickly noticed the shift in her expression and immediately sensed that something was wrong.
What they didn't know was that, earlier on the way to school, Ellen had already touched the fox ears atop Wise's head.
They had felt completely real, and he had even reacted when she touched them.
There was no way they were ordinary costume accessories. When she asked him about it, Wise had straightforwardly told her it was a special ability.
Either way, just to be safe, Ellen decided to take Wise straight home once the parent-teacher conference ended.
Next time, she'd leave this kind of thing to Lycaon or Rina instead.
With that in mind, Ellen hurriedly changed the subject and started chatting with her friends about other things.
Unfortunately for her, the conversation somehow circled back to her anyway.
Things like when she and Wise would get married, what kind of wedding they should have, whether they'd have children in the future, and even whether the others could become godmothers.
Ellen no longer knew how to respond.
Thankfully, the parent-teacher conference finally began, cutting off the discussion right as they started talking about arranging a future marriage between their children.
As soon as they reached the classroom entrance, Ellen spotted Wise walking out and immediately grabbed his arm, clearly intending to leave before anyone could stop them.
Unfortunately, they had barely taken a few steps when a woman's voice called out from behind them.
"Mr. Wise, if you have a moment, could you come to my office? I'd like to talk with you about Ellen."
Turning around, they saw Ellen's homeroom teacher standing there.
Faced with such a reasonable request, Wise naturally couldn't refuse.
Although visibly reluctant, Ellen still followed along, and the three of them soon arrived at the office.
After entering, the teacher invited them to sit before taking her own seat behind the desk.
"First, I'd like to ask you something, Mr. Wise. How well do you understand your sister?"
It was a perfectly normal question. After all, if they were going to discuss the student, it only made sense to speak with the guardian first.
And if the guardian himself didn't understand the child well enough, the conversation would naturally become much more difficult.
Hearing the question, Wise answered almost without thinking.
"I know her very well. Our Ellen is really sensible, capable, and dependable. She helps with a lot of the housework at home, always keeps her promises, and does her best whenever someone needs help..."
Wise then began listing Ellen's strengths one after another. To be fair, he even mentioned a few of her flaws along the way.
He truly knew her inside and out.
'Ah, ah, ah... that's enough! Seriously, stop already!'
Standing beside him, Ellen's face gradually turned bright red with embarrassment. Quietly, she reached over and pinched his waist between two fingers.
Wise immediately stopped talking.
Meanwhile, the teacher nodded in satisfaction after listening to everything.
A man who cared so deeply about his sister certainly couldn't be a bad person.
Still, no matter how close siblings might be, there would always be things a younger sister wouldn't tell her brother.
With that thought in mind, the teacher turned to Ellen and gave her a gentle smile.
"Ellen, could you wait outside for a moment?"
Ellen clearly didn't want to leave, but the teacher's request was perfectly reasonable.
In the end, she could only shoot Wise a warning glance before reluctantly stepping out of the office.
The moment the door closed behind her, she spotted her three friends pressed against it, shamelessly eavesdropping.
Thankfully, Ellen reacted quickly enough to block the teacher's view before she noticed them.
"What exactly are you three doing?"
Before she could scold them further, the girls immediately grabbed her and dragged her back toward the door to keep listening.
Luckily, the hallway was empty at the moment. Otherwise, their suspicious behavior would have drawn plenty of attention.
"U-Uh... Ruby said she was worried and wanted to check on you!"
"Monna! Why are you blaming me?! You and Lynn agreed too!"
"We were seriously worried about you, okay?"
Listening to her three best friends argue among themselves, Ellen could only rub her forehead in helpless resignation.
In the end, she gave up trying to stop them and quietly joined them by the door to listen to the conversation inside.
Meanwhile, in the office, the teacher looked at Wise with a noticeably gentler expression than before.
Every word she spoke carried genuine concern for Ellen.
"Mr. Wise, are you aware that Ellen may have someone she likes?"
'Uh... that would be me...' Wise kept the thought to himself.
There was absolutely no way he could admit that aloud. If he did, things would become a complete disaster.
"Ellen likes someone?"
Wise deliberately acted surprised as he continued the conversation naturally.
The teacher nodded with confidence.
"Yes. Based on my years of teaching experience, her recent behavior shows all the signs."
'She really is a teacher... she even noticed that...'
"And earlier, I happened to overhear Ruby and the others talking about it as well."
'...So you girls were the reason this got exposed.'
Outside the office, the three girls instantly froze after hearing that. Their expressions turned awkward, embarrassment written all over their faces.
None of them had expected their casual gossip at school to be overheard by a teacher.
Next time, they definitely needed to stop talking about these things on campus.
Ellen herself, however, wasn't particularly bothered.
After all, Lycaon and Rina already knew about them anyway. Even if the teacher contacted them, nobody would object.
Besides, while her grades weren't outstanding, they were stable and had never dropped because of it.
At that moment, the teacher finally revealed why she had called Wise over in the first place.
"For the sake of Ellen's academic performance, I'd like to arrange a home visit if possible. Would that be convenient for you, Mr. Wise?"
"A-A home visit?"
Wise's expression stiffened slightly.
The visit itself wasn't the issue. The problem was that he wasn't actually Ellen's biological brother.
"Would that be difficult?" the teacher asked curiously.
"No, not at all," Wise replied with a calm smile. "If it's for Ellen's sake, then of course it's fine. You're welcome anytime."
At this point, he had no choice but to agree first and figure things out with Lycaon and the others later.
"Although, I should mention that I don't currently live with Ellen, so when the time comes, please contact Lycaon directly."
"Hm? Aren't you her brother?"
"I am," Wise answered smoothly, his expression not changing in the slightest. "But I've already moved out and now live with my partner."
The instant those words left his mouth, the teacher froze.
"P-Partner?!"
"Yes. Is something wrong?"
"N-No, not at all..." The teacher forced a smile. "I'll make sure to contact Mr. Lycaon regarding the home visit."
For some reason, the light in her eyes seemed to vanish completely.
Unfortunately, Wise couldn't do anything about that misunderstanding.
After politely saying goodbye to the visibly dejected teacher, Wise finally left the office.
Outside the door stood the three girls, who clearly hadn't managed to escape in time.
The moment they saw Wise walk out, all three immediately straightened up and forced awkward smiles onto their faces.
"U-Uh... hello. Long time no see..."
'This is so awkward...'
The exact same thought surfaced in all three of their minds simultaneously.
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Zenless Zone Zero: The Almighty Incubus of Sixth Street
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