Survive in Azure Files

Hanako didn't answer, she just stared at me, the fake smile finally disappeared from her face:

"You know, what do I want to do?"

"I can roughly guess it, but it may not be correct. It would be best if you are willing to tell me."

"I see. Thank you very much. But..." Hanako smiled faintly, that smile was full of contempt and distrust, "Why do I need your help?"

"That's true."

I scratched my head and reminded him, "But if you continue with your current approach, it will cause trouble for the other people in the cram school."

Hanako said, "So?"

"I feel," I said softly, looking at the sensitive and lonely girl in front of me, "that you don't seem like the kind of person who wants to bring pain to others."

Otherwise, why would Hanako choose a method that would only hurt herself?

"Ah. You're at it again. Could you please apologize to me again?"

"Well, I'm sorry."

Hanako choked, as if she didn't expect me to be so straightforward.

But then came a complete gloom, undisguised resistance, and even disgust:

"That's the kind of thing you would say without really meaning it, right? You actually just hope that I can pass the make-up exam without causing you any trouble, so that you can complete the commission!"

"Ha ha……"

Hearing this, I couldn't help but laugh out loud, but it only brought out Hanako's deeper anger:

"Ah, is that so? Are you happy to be scolded by your students? I didn't expect you to have such a fetish! It's amazing. This kind of play is the first time for me. I can't wait to try more. Please teach me what to do next to satisfy you! Teacher."

He actually combined sarcasm and teasing perfectly, and was worthy of being the pride of the Holy Trinity.

But I'm not that angry.

If saying bad things to me can make her feel better, I don't mind.

The key point is that I vaguely saw a familiar and childish shadow in Hanako.

I felt even more that I had an obligation to help her since she had not yet found something to support her spiritually.

And, maybe I'm being presumptuous, but I'm thinking of a possibility.

Hanako's emotions burst out at this moment...

Could it be that she, who longs to believe but cannot, is calling for help from me, the only one who has discovered it?

Even if it's just my personal opinion, I can't just sit back and watch.

So I said:

"But why?"

She asked, "Why?"

"Why do you think I must be doing this for myself?"

At this moment, Hanako seemed to have a premonition of what I was about to say. She turned around as quickly as possible, picked up her schoolbag and ran out of the classroom.

However, no matter how quick she was, she couldn't prevent the second half of my words from reaching her ears, which for some reason were not covered.

"Can't I just be, for you?"

Hanako suddenly stopped and stood at the door, but did not turn around.

Looking at the girl's back, I added, "And everyone else."

There was a long silence, perhaps lasting for several minutes.

I just stared at Hanako without saying anything.

"……gone."

Finally, Hanako said this sullenly and left.

"Remember to come for tutoring tomorrow as well."

I shouted outside the classroom, but of course there was no response, and I didn't know if she heard me or not.

Anyway, I sat in the classroom for a while before I slowly walked out.

But I couldn't help but be surprised.

"You're so slow! You made me wait so long. Didn't I ask you to come with me?"

The pink-haired girl leaned against the outer wall of the classroom, staring at me with her sly green eyes, and said with interest: "Is this the legendary idle play? It's less interesting than I thought."

I stared at Hanako for a long while and then burst out laughing.

Sure enough, I still can't understand her.

Chapter 18 The Little Lady Attacks

Although Hanako didn't ask, I still walked with her back to the dormitory building in silence.

Only at the end, she smiled, said see you tomorrow, and without waiting for me to say anything, she turned around and walked lightly into the room.

On the way back to Xialai, I realized belatedly that Hanako might be responding to what I said to her outside the classroom when I was in it.

...So I felt a little excited.

When I thought about how I had gotten a glimpse of Hanako's cute side that hadn't been known to anyone until now, and that she wasn't just a perfect model student or a ridiculous problem girl, I couldn't help but feel smug.

What? Even though Hanako was defiant and had her defenses broken after being seen through by me, she couldn't resist my charm after all and revealed the attitude of a lovable little girl!

He must be the same as Hoshino. Once the conflict was resolved, he started to covet my beauty again.

Oh, pink hair.

Now she invites me to accompany her back to the dormitory after school. I can hardly imagine what she will invite me to do next!

However, I also know that this is just the beginning.

I still haven't made Hanako really let down her guard. She just decided to give me a chance, and also give herself a chance, and to carefully move closer to each other. That's all.

In other words, if I want to bring happiness to this somewhat strange girl, I still have a long way to go.

But this will definitely not be a problem given my outstanding looks and extraordinary intelligence!

The most difficult first step has already been taken. As long as I stick to my heart and don't make any mistakes, the rest will be a natural outcome.

I get extremely excited when I think that one day Hanako will voluntarily take off her mask and reveal her heart to me, whom she will love deeply.

But I paid a heavy price for this.

Because I was distracted by thoughts like what would be a good name for Hanako's child, my work efficiency took a hit and I ended up finishing my work later than I had expected.

Fortunately, Lin-chan was also working overtime. She said that the photos were just taken casually, but the angles were obviously carefully selected, which gave me a lot of psychological comfort.

Unfortunately, when I woke up from the wonderful sleep after finishing work, I had to face the new work sent by Lin-chan in the early morning.

Suddenly I felt that it was not an exaggeration to say that the secret collection I added last night was filled with my hard work.

Having said that, the official business to be handled today is much less than yesterday.

Maybe it is just like that, or maybe it is Lin's understanding.

I prefer to believe the latter.

All in all, it only took me half a morning to basically complete the work.

After lunch, there was still some time before I had to leave for the cram school, but I did not choose to take a nap or kill time in any other way. Instead, I waited quietly in the office.

I leaned my upper body weight against the back of the office chair, and the warm afternoon sun shone on the back of my head, making me feel a little sleepy.

I yawned and squinted my eyes. I was only planning to take a nap, but perhaps because I stayed up late last night and was too relaxed now, my consciousness drifted uncontrollably into the unknown distance.

Until a knock on the door woke me up.

I stretched lazily with a sense of unsatisfied desire, then said "come in", and the visitor pushed the door open and walked in.

"excuse me."

Looking around, I thought to myself that I had seen this student before.

She has a petite figure, and her uniform seems to be one size too big. She has a military cap on top of her fluffy, messy red curly hair. Her expression is calm, and no emotion can be seen in her grey eyes.

Although I only met her once half a month ago, I still remember her name because of the look in her eyes when she was making things difficult for the Discipline Committee:

"Iroha, long time no see."

"So you still remember my name. But I didn't get the chance last time, so I'll just follow the procedure this time and introduce myself."

One of the councilors of the Pandemonium took off his military cap and bowed slightly, "Zao Iroha, a second-year student. This time he was also sent here by Makoto-senpai to perform official duties."

From their conversation, it is not difficult to detect that Iroha has a rather subtle dislike for Makoto.

Considering that it was also her who was assigned last time to conduct an accounting audit of the Disciplinary Committee while Hinata was away, I seriously doubt whether Makoto often assigns some inexplicable tasks to her.

Of course, maybe this time too.

In order to lighten Hina's burden, I responded to Pandemonium's daily email a few days ago and made a preliminary agreement with Makoto to meet in the near future.

Makoto seemed to take this very seriously. Even though it could be settled via email, she insisted on sending someone to discuss it with me in person.

The Speaker's pursuit of a sense of ceremony naturally requires the people below to bear the cost, so it is obvious that Iroha has become the unlucky guy.

Thinking in this way, we can understand Iroha's resentment.

It would be better to say that she can actually maintain such a calm appearance, and her ability to withstand pressure is truly first-class.

...But if I think about it more deeply, could it be that the mission to meet me is actually a reward from Makoto to his subordinates who have worked hard and made great contributions?

After all, this is a precious opportunity to be alone with me with a legitimate reason, just by running some errands!

"Okay, teacher, your time is also precious, let's get started quickly."

"Ah, oh."

My reverie was interrupted, so I didn't delay any longer: "Well, let's first confirm the details of this meeting."

Iroha nodded slightly, "First, I need to confirm your schedule and set a time to meet with Makoto-senpai."

I frowned, "First?"

"Ah, and then."

Iroha paused, then said calmly, "If it is possible, we can bring you back now by other means. Threats, enticement, hostages, or temptation, any method is fine. In short, we will do whatever it takes to get you to join us."

The more I listened, the more confused I became. When she finished, I couldn't help but ask, "Is this something you can tell me?"

Also, regarding the part about temptation, could you please elaborate on it?

However, Iroha looked me up and down with a puzzled look, as if he saw something puzzling.

After a long while, she finally sighed and complained:

"You are such a troublesome person..."

When I heard this, I was stunned for a moment, and then I almost laughed out loud.

I feel that Iroha's personality seems to be quite interesting.

Although this was only our first formal meeting and the impression she left on me was just average, after just a few words, I began to develop a liking for this girl who exuded a mysterious aura.

"What's that expression on your face? Can't you understand? Well, isn't this going to be very troublesome..."

Iroha narrowed his eyes and sighed again: "Forget it, I'll explain about that..."

After a brief consideration, she explained to me in detail, "In fact, I simply think that it is meaningless to start from around the teacher to cut off his retreat, or to devise a strategy to slowly spy on him. Judging from the information that the Ten Thousand Demons Palace has, it is unlikely that the teacher will be fooled by such a trick."

After hearing this, I became a little curious. I wondered what kind of existence I was in the eyes of the Ten Thousand Demons Palace.

However, I will just believe Iroha's evaluation and take it as a compliment.

"So instead of continuing to play tricks, it's better to make things clear from the beginning..." At this point, Iroha smiled mischievously, "This approach will not cause any hostility, and I think there will be no loss."

After hearing this, I felt more and more that Iroha was honest and worthy of close friendship.

But her next sentence made me finally burst out laughing:

"And that's very troublesome."