Elf: Rewriting the script, starting with Black Stocking Hanako

Nanami's expression changed drastically. She quickly turned her head to look at Jiang Chuan, her eyes filled with anxiety and panic, as well as a guilty conscience.

"Yes, it's Xiao Mao!"

She lowered her voice, her tone urgent as if she'd stepped on an electric shock, "Alright, alright, we can talk about this privately tonight. Don't say anything yet!"

Jiang Chuan raised an eyebrow, his lips twitched slightly, but he obediently shut his mouth, leaned back in his seat, and adopted a posture of watching a good show.

Nanami took a deep breath, quickly raised her hand to tidy the stray hairs by her ear, and then glanced down at herself—her white shirt was neatly buttoned, the collar fully closed, and her jeans were clean. Thankfully, nothing was outwardly apparent. But she knew that the strap of the lace bra under her shirt was crooked, something she hadn't straightened when she hurriedly put it on that morning. She subconsciously reached into her collar and tugged at the strap, the movement extremely discreet.

Xiao Mao had already run to the car.

He still looked like a spirited young man, his hair neatly combed and standing on end, wearing a training jacket, with broad shoulders and bright, sharp eyes. He bent down and looked into the car window, a sunny smile on his face.

"Sister, you're back in Pallet Town!"

"Yeah, just arrived." Nanami forced a smile, trying to make her tone sound as normal as possible. "Your special training is over?"

"Just finished, and I'm about to head back to the research institute."

As Xiao Mao spoke, his gaze inadvertently drifted towards the passenger seat.

The next second, he froze.

"Jiangchuan?"

Xiao Mao's eyes widened suddenly, his mouth opened, and his expression went from surprise to confusion to disbelief in a triple jump.

"What are you doing here? What are you doing in my sister's passenger seat?"

Jiang Chuan leaned back in his seat and lazily raised his hand to greet him.

"Hi, Xiao Mao."

Just those two words, so casual and understated.

Xiao Mao's expression immediately changed. He straightened up, put his hands on his hips, and looked down at Jiang Chuan in the car, a gunpowder-like smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

"Jiang Chuan, aren't you getting a little too arrogant?"

His voice rose a few decibels, and his spoiled, arrogant tone immediately came out.

"With the Indigo League just around the corner, instead of focusing on training your Pokémon, you're busy researching these things? What, you know you can't compete with me, young master Shigeru, so you're starting to plan your escape route?"

When Xiao Mao said this, he raised his chin slightly and glanced sideways at Jiang Chuan.

His intention was simple: to provoke Jiang Chuan into getting out of the car and confronting him face-to-face.

Now that Xiaoxia from Hualan City is finally away, I'm going to have a good chat with Jiang Yu.

But he never expected this.

Nanami exploded first.

"Xiao Mao, what did you say?!"

Nanami frowned, her voice rising eight octaves. She turned to the side, glaring at her younger brother through the car window, her eyes filled with fierce protectiveness.

"Jiang Chuan's Pokémon training is really impressive! He didn't fall behind at all during his research trip to the quarry with me!"

She got more and more excited as she spoke, tapping her fingers twice on the steering wheel, her tone aggressive.

"You're always just spouting nonsense. Jiang Chuan is way better than you!"

Xiao Mao was stunned.

He stared, his mouth agape, unable to close it for a long time. He imagined a thousand different responses from Jiang Chuan. Jiang Chuan might sneer back, might casually say "What's it to you?", or might even completely ignore him. But he never expected that his own sister, his own sister, would speak up for Jiang Chuan.

Moreover, her tone and demeanor clearly indicated that she was protecting her man.

Xiao Mao froze on the spot, his mind buzzing, unsure how to respond. He blinked, glancing at Nanami and then at Jiang Chuan, trying to find some clue on their faces. Nanami's face was tense, her eyes fierce, but the blush on her ears betrayed her. Jiang Chuan, on the other hand, remained calm, a faint smile playing on his lips, appearing completely detached.

Just then, a peculiar smell wafted out of the SUV, seeping out through the half-open window.

The scent was faint, but Xiao Mao's nose was incredibly sensitive. He twitched his nostrils, sniffed, and frowned. It was a mixture of sweat, body odor, and some kind of indescribable, sweet aroma. The smell made his face inexplicably flush.

"Sister, why does your SUV smell weird?"

Xiao Mao blurted it out.

Nanami, who had just been calmly speaking up for Jiang Chuan, suddenly panicked.

"This...this...this..."

Her tongue was tied, her eyes were darting around, and she didn't know where to put her hands.

"Ah, we went to that desolate outskirts of Stone City. This car has been stuffy for a long time and hasn't been washed, so it's normal for it to have a strange smell, it's perfectly normal!"

She spoke faster and faster, her voice trembling.

"Alright, alright, Xiao Mao, that's enough for today. We need to get back to the research institute to process the data!"

Nanami's hand was already on the gear shift, and her foot was on the accelerator, ready to launch at any moment.

Before Xiao Mao could react, he added another sentence.

"Oh, okay, sister, I also need to go back to the research institute. Can you give me a ride?"

Upon hearing this, Nanami's pupils contracted slightly.

The back seat? There were still traces of last night on the back seat.

In a flash, Nanami's brain was racing.

She locked the car doors.

With a crisp and decisive "click," the sound was clear and decisive.

Then she leaned out of the car window and gave Xiao Mao a smile that couldn't be more fake.

"Why...why are you taking a car? Aren't you doing special training lately? Walk or run back yourself to build up your stamina! Alright, alright, Jiang Chuan and I are going back now, goodbye!"

Step on the gas.

The SUV roared off, spewing out a plume of gray smoke from its exhaust pipe that hit Xiao Mao's face directly.

"Cough cough cough..."

Xiao Mao was choked and bent over, coughing violently. He waved his hands to disperse the smoke, tears welling in his eyes. By the time he caught his breath, the SUV had become a small black dot in the distance, then disappeared completely at the end of the road.

"I ran back after special training, no..."

Xiao Mao stood there, completely bewildered.

"Jiang Chuan is also a trainer, why doesn't he come down and run?"

He threw a punch at the air, but the more he thought about it, the more something seemed off.

"Sister, I'm your own brother! Aren't you going to give me a ride back to Jiangchuan?"

His voice echoed through the empty road, receiving no response. Frustrated, Xiao Mao kicked a pebble by the roadside again. The pebble rolled into the grass, startling a Bobo into a fluttering flight.

"Jiang Chuan, you just wait..."

He gritted his teeth, sighed helplessly, and had no choice but to start running along the main road toward the research institute.

The sunlight stretched his shadow long.

Back at the research institute, the SUV was parked in the designated parking space in the backyard.

Nanami turned off the engine and sat in the driver's seat, her hands still gripping the steering wheel, her fingers gently stroking the leather. She glanced at Jiang Chuan, her gaze still carrying the lingering feeling from before, but now with a more formal restraint.

"Let's go into the research institute separately."

When she spoke, her voice was much lower than it had been in the car, tinged with a hint of embarrassment and hesitation. After all, this was the research institute, the place where she wore her white lab coat, buttoned up to the top, and used three languages ​​to confront people. She couldn't let anyone know how she had melted under this man's body in the back seat of the SUV last night.

Jiang Chuan nodded readily.

"Okay, I'll go check on my Pokémon first. You go in first."

Nanami hummed in agreement and glanced at him again. That glance held a mix of emotions: reluctance, shyness, and a hint of barely concealed sweetness. She opened the car door, got out, straightened her clothes by the car, tucked her shirt back into her jeans, and checked her collar. Once she was sure everything was in order, she took a deep breath and stepped into the research institute.

As soon as Nanami entered the research institute, before she even reached her workstation, Professor Oak appeared out of nowhere. He was wearing his ever-present lab coat, his hair was messy, but his eyes were very shrewd, and he approached her with a smile.

"Yo, Nanami's back."

His gaze flickered behind her before returning.

"Why did you come back alone? Where's Jiang Chuan?"

Nanami's heart skipped a beat. She suppressed her inner turmoil and tried her best to maintain a normal expression.

"Jiang Chuan, go check on his Pokémon first. I'll come back and organize some data."

She spoke fairly fluently, but her tone wavered slightly at the end.

Professor Oak nodded, his smile unchanged. But he took a half-step forward, lowered his voice, and his tone was clearly gossipy.

"Did Nanami and Jiangchuan make any substantial progress on their archaeological research trip this time?"

That's a very direct question.

Nanami felt her face suddenly heat up.

Substantial? In-depth? Progress?

Several images flashed uncontrollably through her mind, her head filled with a jumble of chaotic thoughts that she couldn't control at all.

Later, things turned out perfectly, even better than expected, but to tell her grandfather now? Impossible.

It is absolutely impossible.

"Oh dear, Grandpa, don't be in such a hurry!"

Nanami stomped her foot, her tone tinged with a playful reproach. She rarely acted like this at the research institute; she was usually calm and composed, but at this moment, she simply couldn't care less.

"We're going out to do research this time, not anything else! Take your time, don't rush me. I know what I'm doing!"

She finished speaking in one breath, giving Professor Oak no chance to reply, and then turned and jogged to the computer. She pulled out a chair, sat down, quickly turned on the monitor, and started typing furiously on the keyboard, as if to say, "I'm busy with important matters."

Professor Oak's white eyebrows furrowed, and the gossipy smile on his face faded, replaced by a puzzled look reminiscent of an old scholar.

"Take your time?"

He tilted his head and stared at Nanami's profile.

"After you saw Jiang Chuan's giant Steelix that day, weren't you very interested in him? You even patted your chest and told me that you would definitely seize the opportunity to develop a deeper relationship with Jiang Chuan? Why are you taking it slow now?"

Nanami's fingers, which were typing on the keyboard, suddenly stopped.

"Could it be..." Professor Oak lowered his voice even further, tinged with probing, "What unpleasant thing happened between you two while you were out doing research together?"

Nanami felt like her face was burning up.

She took a deep breath, turned around, clasped her hands on her knees, and lowered her head.

"Oh dear, Grandpa..."

"I'm very happy. I had a very pleasant time with Jiang Chuan this time."

Nanami immediately realized what she had said and quickly added, "I meant doing research! Doing research is fun! But even if it's fun, it's still research... Can you let me handle the rest?"

She looked up at Professor Oak with her big, watery eyes and slightly pursed lips.

"She's a girl too, she gets shy. How could she be so bold, so quick..."

The last few words were barely audible, and his head drooped down again, his ear tips so red they looked like they could bleed.

Professor Oak paused for two seconds, then laughed and waved his hand.

"Alright, alright, it was my fault for being nosy. I'm just an old man, and if I meddle too much in your affairs, it's easy for things to go too far and backfire. Fine, you decide for yourself."

Nanami secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

But before she could fully relax, a lukewarm voice drifted in from the entrance of the research institute.

"Yo."

Xiao Mao leaned against the doorframe, his sports jacket zipped up to his neck, his hair disheveled by the wind, and sweat beading on his forehead. He crossed his arms, a strange smile playing on his lips.

"I didn't know you had this face, sister."

"I always saw you as a serious, focused researcher, with a very proper and earnest expression. How come you become so shy and delicate when talking about Jiang Chuan?"

He stopped in front of Nanami, bent down slightly, and stared at her face.

"Why do I feel like you're acting like a woman?"

Upon hearing this, the blush on Nanami's face vanished instantly. She stood up abruptly, her chair sliding back half a meter, and her gaze towards Shigeru regained its usual sharpness.

"Xiao Mao, what are you saying?"

Her voice was clear and bright, carrying the unique authority of the research institute.

"What do you mean by 'acting like a woman'? I am a woman!"

She took a step forward and poked Xiao Mao's chest with her finger.

"And what about my face? What do you mean by 'face'? You went on a long journey of cultivation and came back still so tactless!"

Shigeru was forced to take a half step back after being poked, and he was about to retort stubbornly, but Nanami didn't give him a chance at all.

"Look at Jiangchuan!"

Her voice rose again.

"When someone went out to cultivate with you and came back, they became so outstanding and amazing..."

When she said the word "fierce," she paused without realizing it, a few inappropriate images flashing through her mind. She quickly stopped herself and cleared her throat.

"What amazing research capabilities! This time, he came with me to the quarry, braving the elements, without a single complaint, and he organized the data quickly and accurately."

Upon hearing the name "Jiangchuan," Xiao Mao exploded like a lit firecracker.

"Jiangchuan?"

His voice was eight octaves higher, and his eyebrows almost flew off his hairline.

"How strong can he be? Sister, do you even know how tough I've been in this special training...?"

He patted his chest.

"I've undergone special training! My Pokémon's level has increased by more than one tier! I'm definitely going to take down Jiangchuan at this Indigo League..."

He hadn't finished speaking.

A series of unhurried footsteps echoed from the corridor on the side of the research institute's main hall.

Jiang Chuan emerged from around the corner, just in time to finish Xiao Mao's sentence.

"Um?"

"Me? What would you do with me?"