"I don't have any objections, but her mother just dumped her at school like this?"
In the office, Sen Getsusa sat with her legs crossed, picking up the lesson plan on the desk to read as if no one else was there.
Hiratsuka Shizuka was sitting inside.
"What mother? That Child only has an alcoholic uncle. He was even drunk when he came to the school to handle the procedures."
After class, Sen Getsusa strolled to Hiratsuka Shizuka's office. Regarding the girl Hayami Mari, she wanted to hear Hiratsuka Shizuka's thoughts.
"I don't want to trouble you too much either." Hiratsuka Shizuka pursed her lips. "The matter with my grandmother is..."
"Grandmother is very interesting, and we had a great time." Sen Getsusa spun the lesson plan on her fingertip, her small leather shoes kicking back and forth. "I'm very happy to visit her, so Teacher Hiratsuka shouldn't carry so much burden."
"But as for Hayami Mari, you still need to talk to her guardian. With a Child like that in class, being bullied is only a matter of time."
Hiratsuka Shizuka knew this well, but she was just a teacher and couldn't do much more.
"I will, but I hope... the chances aren't high."
Sighing, the woman seemed to remember something. She stood up, sat down beside Sen Getsusa, and asked quietly, "Hey, have you seen 'that' lately?"
That?
"Superpowers! After the last incident, Fujimoto Matsu disappeared for no reason. I don't dare call my uncle..."
"Disappeared?"
Hiratsuka Shizuka nodded stiffly, raised her palm, and made a cutting motion across her neck. "Could he have been... silenced?"
Sen Getsusa:..."By whom, your uncle?"
"Of course! Didn't Fujimoto Matsu say his group leader was some—"
"Chosen by a Great Existence?"
The woman nodded like a little squirrel, her deep blue pupils reflecting Sen Getsusa's face.
"Teacher Hiratsuka can't do much either, can she? Didn't you call the Police?"
"Call the Police..."
Hiratsuka Shizuka leaned sideways on the sofa in extreme pain, losing the light in her eyes. Her voice was limp. "I don't dare. Being involved in such things, pretending not to know is the safest way, right?"
"And the Tokyo Police... sigh."
"I'm not living all by myself; I still have my mother and grandmother... Ah! Sorry."
Her careless words had unexpectedly pointed directly at Sen Getsusa. Hiratsuka Shizuka sat up and apologetically stroked her black hair.
"Has Sengetsu-sha gone back lately? Are Aria and the children doing well?"
"We talk on the phone often." Sen Getsusa waved her hand, indicating she didn't mind. "I recently took a cruise out to sea and experienced an incredibly cruel shipwreck. I haven't had a chance to visit Aria and the others since I got back."
"Shipwreck?"
Sen Getsusa blinked. "The titanic."
Hiratsuka Shizuka thought for a moment. "Never heard of it. Is it an older model of a travel cruise ship? A few days' tour of Europe?"
Sen Getsusa held out both hands and signaled twenty. "A cruise ship built in the twentieth century. I went to the Atlantic Ocean, and then to the Astral Realm."
Hiratsuka Shizuka's expression was indescribable.
"I'm a little worried now that the one being bullied will be you..."
...At lunch, Sen Getsusa happened to go to her locker to get something.
Opening the locker door, a light blue envelope with a rose printed on it fell out.
It seemed to have been stuffed through the gap from outside the locker, and there were scratches left on the front cover.
Something like this on the first day of school?
Sen Getsusa turned it over to look, tucked the letter away, and took her lunch up to the rooftop.
Yuno Gasai was already there waiting for her.
"How was it? Did Getsusa get selected for any position today?" Yuno Gasai placed her lunchbox on the bench. Seeing Sen Getsusa enter, she even laid out a tissue.
"No, I don't want to be an unpaid worker."
Sen Getsusa's polite refusal instead drew a tease from Yuno Gasai. "Power, power. If you start as class monitor and then move up to student council president, wouldn't Getsusa be able to dominate all the girls in school?"
That's true... but.
Why would I want to dominate all the girls in school...?
Yuno Gasai moved aside a bit, helped Sen Getsusa open her food box, and laid out the chopsticks.
Suddenly, she saw the blue letter.
It was tucked under the bottom of the food box.
"What's this?"
"Um, I'm not sure who stuffed it in. Let's open it and see."
"It's a letter Getsusa received. May I read it?"
While asking for permission, the pink-haired girl quickly sliced the seal with her fingernail, pulled out the letter paper inside, and opened it.
Her movements were both urgent and fast.
A medium-sized piece of letter paper, folded twice, with marks of having been crumpled at the corners, as if the owner of the letter was somewhat nervous.
The handwriting was crooked. Judging by the name, it was probably a boy.
'Hello, Sen Getsusa. I am Kato Daigo from Class C.
"In this season where people meet, how beautifully the cherry blossoms bloom—'"
Blah blah blah.
"Why did he write so much describing the scenery?" Yuno Gasai looked at the letter in confusion, then at Sen Getsusa, who was chewing her rice.
"Using objects to describe people, using scenery to express feelings." The girl loved the tempura Yuno Gasai fried, and crunched through half the box. "One can only say... his courage is commendable."
Using a tone for reciting haiku, Yuno Gasai finished reading the entire paragraph with rhythmic swaying and pauses.
In comparison, the words were much more greasy than the fat on the rice.
"So, does Getsusa want to talk to him?" The girl's tone was teasing, not caring at all that a boy had written a confession letter to Sen Getsusa. "There's even contact information on here."
As expected, the other girl shook her head.
"Then, just... throw it away?"
Yuno Gasai pinched the letter paper and was about to tear it up when Sen Getsusa reached out and took it away.
Sen Getsusa put the letter back into the envelope and tucked it under her lunchbox.
"In any case, it's a gesture of goodwill. Although I can't respond, I can't just destroy it casually either." Sen Getsusa put down her chopsticks. "Speaking of which, this kind of guy who treats a confession as the 'beginning' is clearly showing a naive approach with no experience."
Yuno Gasai curiously tapped the corner of her mouth, signaling Sen Getsusa to continue.
"That's just how it is." Sen Getsusa pointed to the letter. "A confession isn't the 'beginning' of a romance; it's the 'completion'. In a romance, after two people have been ambiguous and both know each other's feelings..."
"Then a confession serves as the final stroke. In other words, if you aren't sure the other person likes you, why would you confess?"
"A confession is just a 'confirmation' button for those who already like each other."
"Otherwise, isn't it just gambling?"
Miss Sen Getsusa, who had recently 'been broken up with', was lecturing the completely inexperienced Yuno Gasai on romance. Clearly, like Hiratsuka Shizuka, she was also a woman lacking self-awareness.
"Getsusa knows so much." Yuno Gasai smiled and suddenly waved her phone at Sen Getsusa. "Do you know there's a very popular saying among young people nowadays?"
Hmm?
Yuno Gasai resumed that embarrassing recitation-like tone, her eyes staring at Sen Getsusa with deep meaning.
"Single Dogs, oh single dogs, you're usually so busy, what are you all doing?"
"Aha, found it!"
"Turns out, they're giving relationship advice to people who are actually in love!"
Sen Getsusa:... (｀へ')
-------------------------------
Hope you enjoy this fanfiction if you do and would like to read the next 30 chapters in advance, pls do check out my Patreon.
patreon.com/TLScarlet
Also don't forget to give me a Power Stone if you do like this fiction. Your support really motivates me to continue doing my best in translating, Thanks!!