The night was deep and quiet, so quiet that the entire city seemed dead and motionless—ah, of course, that did not include Tokyo's neon-lit luxury districts.
At this moment, the center of Tokyo was illuminated by neon lights, while drunken patrons sang and celebrated.
But among those people was a girl who stood completely apart from that noisy atmosphere.
The girl wore a black coat over a white sweater and a pair of tight-fitting jeans.
Any student of Sobu High School who came here would immediately recognize the girl's identity:
The heir of the Yukinoshita family—Yukinoshita Yukino.
But why would a wealthy heiress like Yukinoshita Yukino be here?
Actually, the reason lay entirely with Yukinoshita Yukino herself.
After finishing her phone conversation with Yuigahama Yui, Yukinoshita Yukino lay down on her bed.
She, who had never slept well to begin with, tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep.
As for the reason, even Yukinoshita Yukino herself could not explain it, but the thought of Yu and Yui being together made her feel extremely uncomfortable.
That guy has ambiguous relationships with so many girls, so why does Yui still like him?
Thinking about this, Yukinoshita Yukino's eyes darkened, and she remained silent for a long time.
"Hey! You over there, how much for one night?"
Just as Yukinoshita Yukino was absentmindedly walking down the street, a middle-aged man in a suit, dress shirt, and tie, reeking of alcohol, suddenly noticed her.
The man looked exhausted and depressed, obviously an office worker under tremendous pressure at work.
Indeed, he desperately needed an outlet for his frustrations, so when he saw Yukinoshita Yukino wandering the streets alone, he did not hesitate for even a moment before approaching her.
Hearing that, Yukinoshita Yukino stopped and looked at the middle-aged man with disgust.
People who reeked of alcohol like this were among the types of people Yukinoshita Yukino despised the most.
Drinking leads to trouble.
Yukinoshita Yukino had read that many times in books and firmly believed it.
However, Yukinoshita Yukino was not stupid.
She was only an ordinary girl, and the man was obviously drunk.
If a conflict broke out here, Yukinoshita Yukino knew that no one would come to help her.
Without hesitation, she had no intention of paying attention to the man and turned around to leave quickly.
But when he saw the girl ignoring him like this, the middle-aged man's expression darkened.
He immediately strode after her, attempting to grab her while shouting all sorts of vulgar remarks, clearly having no intention of letting her go.
"Damn it, what else could you be doing outside alone at this hour? Don't play dumb with me. I've got plenty of money. Get back here!"
As he spoke, the middle-aged man quickened his pace until he eventually began running clumsily.
Seeing this, Yukinoshita Yukino's face turned pale.
She hurried toward a place with more people, but at this hour, those still outside were mostly drunkards; ordinary people did not go out at night for safety reasons.
Where could she possibly run if she wanted to find a crowd?
Although Yukinoshita Yukino practiced aikido, she was still a girl, and her stamina was limited.
Soon she ran out of strength, and the drunk took the opportunity to catch up to her and corner her.
"Damn it, would I be short on your money? You girls love rejecting me so much, huh?!"
At this moment, the middle-aged man was panting heavily.
His cheeks were red, whether from chasing Yukinoshita Yukino or from the alcohol he had consumed earlier in the day—it was hard to tell.
In any case, he was completely out of control.
He felt incredibly hot and desperately wanted to vent his frustrations.
"Hey! You disgusting bastard, what are you trying to do to my student?!"
Before the middle-aged man could make any move, an angry shout rang out from behind him.
Hearing that shout, the man had just begun to turn around when a fist the size of a sandbag flew toward him and struck him hard in the face.
Bang!
With a dull impact, the middle-aged man was sent flying to the ground by the force of the blow and lost consciousness.
At that moment, Yukinoshita Yukino was stunned.
Silently, she lowered the small stun gun she had been holding in her pocket and looked at Hiratsuka Shizuka, who was standing in front of her and breathing heavily.
The person who had just saved her life.
She did not know what to say.
"Hiratsuka-sensei..."
Only after a long while did Yukinoshita Yukino fully recover her senses and softly call out to Hiratsuka Shizuka.
Having also calmed down after her burst of anger, Hiratsuka Shizuka looked at her student, raised a thumb, and flashed a brilliant smile.
"Everything's okay now!"
Not long afterward, inside a ramen restaurant, Yukinoshita Yukino stared at the bowl of tonkotsu ramen with egg in front of her.
Steam rose from the bowl as her eyes flickered thoughtfully.
Beside her, Hiratsuka Shizuka boldly drank a large mouthful of juice.
Seeing that Yukinoshita Yukino was only staring thoughtfully at the ramen, she asked with concern:
"Come on, eat. Don't you like ramen?"
"As far as I remember, Haruno always liked this kind of food. I thought you and Haruno had similar tastes."
As she spoke, Hiratsuka Shizuka awkwardly scratched her head.
It was already late at night, and aside from izakayas and nightclubs, this ramen restaurant was the only place still open.
Hiratsuka Shizuka could hardly take Yukinoshita Yukino into an izakaya full of drunkards.
She had no choice but to bring the girl here for a bowl of ramen before driving her home.
In order to drive safely later, Hiratsuka Shizuka did not dare drink alcohol and could only drink sweet fruit juice.
"No, no, I just didn't expect to see Hiratsuka-sensei in a place like this."
Returning from her thoughts, Yukinoshita Yukino looked at Hiratsuka Shizuka and replied.
Hiratsuka Shizuka traced circles on her juice glass with her fingertip.
Hearing Yukino's somewhat surprised words, she raised an eyebrow and responded:
"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?"
"You're a famous student at Sobu High School, yet you're wandering the streets this late at night. Doesn't Haruno worry about you at all?"
As she spoke, Hiratsuka Shizuka pressed her lips together.
Today's situation had truly been dangerous.
If she had not arrived in time and happened to spot Yukino, who knew what might have happened to her.
"No, I was just... just lost in thought a little..."
When she heard Hiratsuka Shizuka mention Haruno, Yukinoshita Yukino's eyes darkened, and she gently shook her head.
"Oh? Do you like someone?"
Seeing Yukino's reaction, Hiratsuka Shizuka immediately became interested and leaned forward to ask.
"...No, I don't."
After a brief silence, Yukinoshita Yukino replied reluctantly.
Before Hiratsuka Shizuka could say anything, Yukinoshita Yukino asked another question:
"Hiratsuka-sensei, what do you think of Yu?"
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