My love index is at its maximum.

There's no way around it, Shiori Ninomiya is indeed a beautiful girl, with stunningly well-proportioned features and an exceptionally lively and adorable smile. This innocent appearance makes it easy for people to get close to her.

Therefore, it is perfectly reasonable for everyone to despise the "scumbag who played with her feelings".

After sitting down at the table, Tsukasa Tazaki took out a 500 yen coin and gave it to her. The stewed meat set meal was 300 yen, plus an extra 100 yen for the omelet and 100 yen for the lemonade, which came to exactly 500 yen.

Shiori Ninomiya rummaged in her pocket for a while and returned 100 yen to him.

"Isn't it 500?"

“The egg rolls are free.” Shiori Ninomiya picked up her lemonade and took a sip. “I earned them by watering the potted plants for the cafeteria ladies.”

"That's the reward for your physical labor."

"Okay, I'll take it."

She didn't hesitate and put the money away.

"I'm starting to eat."

Tazaki Tsukasa nodded to her and waved his chopsticks.

Shiori Ninomiya didn't bother him during meals, but she would occasionally stare at him without moving, and then look around as if searching for something.

Her expression was quite varied when she stared at him, sometimes sighing, sometimes smiling, and occasionally shaking her head slightly, looking helpless.

Tsukasa Tazaki kept his head down, trying his best not to look at her.

Out of the corner of my eye, I occasionally caught her running her fingers through her hair, dividing the egg roll into small pieces with chopsticks, and occasionally pressing her nose with her fingers for no apparent reason—these unintentional little actions made her seem vibrant, lively, and adorable.

"Hey, Kiki..." As she was finishing her meal, Shiori Ninomiya looked up and asked, "Which of these three—ex-wife, main wife, and concubine—do you like the most?"

After thinking carefully for a moment, Tsukasa Tazaki replied, "This question is meaningless."

Do you have someone you like?

"I've got it," he said frankly. "You can give up now, right?"

"Really?" Shiori Ninomiya squinted at him, looking at him suspiciously.

Tsukasa Tazaki nodded.

"Okay then...want some chewing gum?"

"no need."

"We still need to pick up the potatoes this weekend, okay? A verbal agreement is still an agreement, you're not going to go back on your word, are you?"

"it is good."

"Ha ha……"

She smiled, remaining optimistic and lively.

Chapter 79 A Love-Obsessed Mind Is Truly Incurable

The sounds of fingertips tapping on a keyboard, making phone calls, and the fading sound of high heels can be heard in my ears.

Hoshino Hanami absentmindedly shifted her gaze. Across from her, the history teacher was discussing a problem with his students, while next to her, the math teacher was rapidly calculating with an outdated calculator.

There's an oil painting of the San Francisco Bridge hanging on the wall, and three aloe vera plants that I transplanted myself on the windowsill.

She quickly twirled the ballpoint pen in her hand, pondered for a moment, then turned on her computer and searched on Google for the question 'Which penguin is the most beautiful?'

Some say it's an emperor penguin, some say it's a Magellanic penguin, and some even say it's Tencent...

None of the answers were reliable, so in order to confirm the one that best matched his image in her mind, Hoshino Hanami had no choice but to search for every species of penguin. Watching these plump gentlemen in tuxedos waddle along and their pathetic, stumbling gait when they encountered danger, she couldn't help but laugh.

Who compares themselves to a penguin? Haha, so cute.

Naoko Morisawa, the English teacher sitting at the next table, turned her head and looked over with a strange expression: "Did something funny happen to you, Hoshino-sensei?"

“Penguins are so cute,” Hoshino Hanami replied, staring at the screen.

"But you don't have to be laughing like an old mother." Naoko Morisawa looked at her suspiciously, and opened her water glass as she did so.

"Hey, Morisawa-sensei, I have a question for you."

"What's the problem?"

What would you do if you saw a penguin in Tokyo Bay?

Naoko Morisawa paused for a few seconds with a mouthful of water in her mouth before swallowing it: "Take a picture and post it on Instagram."

"You're not romantic at all." Hoshino Hanami gave her a disdainful look, then turned around and picked up a pencil to draw on the paper.

What does the penguin of Tokyo Bay have to do with romance?

"Of course it does."

"What would you do if you saw penguins in Tokyo Bay?" Naoko Morisawa leaned over for a look and saw that she was drawing penguins on a piece of paper.

“Try it… cough cough…” Hoshino Hanami cleared her throat and said in a serious tone, “I will go up to the penguin and say, ‘Hello, Mr. Penguin, let me help you change the climate of Tokyo Bay.’”

The bald math teacher, who was across the aisle, suddenly turned around and looked over, his mouth agape enough to fit a whole egg.

Naoko Morisawa muttered under her breath, "If you have time, go see a doctor..."

Then, this English teacher drank three cups of water, went to the toilet five times, and spaced out in class seven times in one morning. She racked her brains but still couldn't figure out why she wanted to change the climate of Tokyo Bay with penguins.

And... can the penguins that appeared in Tokyo Bay be legitimate penguins?

If you approach rashly, it might eat you up in one bite.

In the afternoon, Hoshino Hanami had no classes scheduled, and the office was nearly empty, with the ceiling fan blades spinning overhead.

She watered the aloe vera plants on the windowsill, and one of them withered. She pulled it out and threw it in the trash can, while also thinking about whether she should buy a succulent to replace it tomorrow.

I went back to my seat and sat for a while, ate three buttered sweet muffins, and drank a large cup of coffee.

At three o'clock, I finally couldn't sit still anymore, so I sneaked into Class F's classroom during class time.

Using the excuse that "this is what the homeroom teacher should do" to calm herself down, Hoshino Hanami felt at ease peeping through the back door.

An English class was in progress, and Naoko Morisawa was explaining a reading comprehension passage. By the window, Tsukasa Tazaki sat with his head down, his pencil swaying slightly in his hand.

The soft afternoon sunlight streamed in through the window, gently caressing his hair and quietly enveloping his entire body. For a long time, he remained motionless, as still as an ancient, realistic portrait.

Hoshino Hanami gazed intently as white clouds drifted from one end of the window to the other.

Yes, that's always been his way.

Except during his own classes when his gaze follows his body movements, he is completely absorbed in his own world at all other times, paying no attention to the commotion around him.

That small, slightly trembling world opened its doors to me, where time flowed gently like a spring breeze.

Coming to her senses, Hoshino Hanami turned around with a cheerful mood and walked onto the elevated corridor leading to the club building.

Looking out, you can see hydrangeas in full bloom in the courtyard, and the sound of a piano can be heard coming from the music room of the college teaching building. Several plump gray pigeons are perched on the oak tree, cooing incessantly, as if responding to the piano music.

Arriving at the ATF department, I took out my key and opened the door.

Hoshino Hanami casually took a can of orange juice from the refrigerator and drank it, then took out the toast from inside to toast it.

As she swallowed half a bag of toast, the pigeons in the oak tree had already flown away. The sound of the wind rustling through the leaves came from the open window. She caught the sunlight in her hand and gently pressed it against her cheek.

The scene was pure and beautiful; even the breadcrumbs falling from the oven seemed full of life.

The next second, the style of the scene changed drastically.

"I'm such a pig... Why did they have to add the requirement of being both scholarly and athletic? Tazaki Tsukasa's small frame simply can't handle that!!!"

Hoshino Hanami kicked off her high heels and collapsed onto the sofa.

"Ah... Sakura, come save me!"

Like a little girl, she vigorously kicked her legs, and the sunlight fell on her black stockings, making them shimmer with a snowflake-like crystalline luster.

……

As she pushed open the door, Kuriyama Sakura sighed deeply.

As a beautiful, sweet-voiced, and mature woman, Hoshino Hanami is widely recognized as the school idol of Kitagawa Academy, and many people, both male and female, admire her.

But at this moment, Hoshino Hanami looked more like a crazy woman.

Her hair was disheveled and unkempt, her uniform was crumpled from being worn on the sofa, and one of her high heels lay alone under the sofa, while the other was tossed under the two tables by the window.

"What's wrong with you?" Kuriyama Sakura closed the door with a headache and walked towards the sofa.

Hoshino Hanami raised her head, her eyes, hidden beneath her loose black hair, filled with resentment: "Sakura...save me!"

"You wouldn't even need makeup to film a horror movie looking like this."

"Ah, now is not the time to make fun of me. If you don't save me soon, I'm going to fall into this trap."

"Fallen?" Kuriyama Sakura sat down on the sofa, tilting her head slightly, looking puzzled.

"I feel like my thoughts are all jumbled up right now. I can't look at anything related to him objectively anymore. Is this what they call being love-struck?"

"He...is he referring to Tsukasa Tazaki?"

“Yeah…” Hoshino Hanami nodded vigorously, her tone complicated: “I’m filled with the urge to show off right now, I wish I could run to the broadcasting room and announce to the whole school—Tazaki Tsukasa is mine now, all you flashy sluts stay away from him!”

"It's best not to do that."

"That's why I came to you. Sakura is so smart, she must have a way to rescue me."

Kuriyama Sakura closed her eyes and pondered for a moment before saying, "How about this, why don't you take a few days off and calm down first..."

"Oh, I almost forgot." Hoshino Hanami interrupted her directly, saying impatiently, "Change that request. Only accept Tsukasa Tazaki, eliminate everyone else."

"..."

Kuriyama Sakura was stunned for a moment before she understood why she had come here.

This woman, reeking of sourness, wasn't actually trying to save her; she just wanted to show off her relationship!

Chapter 80, ATF Department, the sisters visited one after another.

So annoying!

But you should still keep smiling.

Kuriyama Sakura stood up to boil water, intending to make herself a cup of black tea to calm herself down.