章節 87: Chapter 87: Now, She's a Prison Warden
Yukinoshita Haruno stared blankly at her younger sister, who wore a serious expression.
The glow of the setting sun blurred her vision, as the light slowly faded from her eyes.
In her memories, her younger sister had always followed her around like a little shadow, her face full of carefree smiles. In her dazed state, Haruno's mind drifted, and the face before her began to merge with that youthful, smiling face from the past.
Snapping back to reality, Haruno suddenly slumped against the backrest of the couch, abandoning any pretense of grace. She spread her arms out lazily like Hiratsuka Shizuka, and cheerfully said, "Ah, I'm hungry, Yuki-chan! Go make dinner for your sister!"
The pleasant atmosphere was quickly shattered. Yukinoshita Yukino paused for a moment, then smiled helplessly and got up to check the ingredients in the fridge.
Once she stepped into the kitchen, Haruno stared at the ceiling, letting out a long sigh, audible only to herself. Her calm, beautiful face revealed nothing of her inner thoughts.
Dinner was ready soon enough. While they were at the table, Yukinoshita Yukino mentioned that Hayashizaki was planning to buy a house and hoped Haruno could help with the process.
"After all, Hayashizaki-kun is from a different time, so he must be clueless about all the paperwork involved in buying property," Yukino said.
However, whether Hayashizaki truly came from a thousand years ago and what his real identity was remained a mystery.
Before she had a chance to ask, he had run off.
"Ah, Yuki-chan seems quite concerned about Hayashizaki-kun~" Haruno teased.
"I just don't want that money to get scammed, that's all. After all, most of the time, I'm the one dealing with the cursed spirits," the black-haired girl said, calmly sipping her miso soup.
"Alright, alright, I understand."
Haruno readily agreed to her cute sister's request. "Then, Yuki-chan, just give me Hayashizaki-kun's contact info."
"…"
Yukinoshita Yukino froze mid-sip, her expression turning stiff.
"You don't have Hayashizaki-kun's contact information either?"
Seeing the 'I've been outsmarted' look on Yukino's face, Haruno couldn't help but laugh. "Guess you'll just have to wait for him to contact you first."
"Besides, Hayashizaki-kun doesn't even have any identification," Yukino said, putting her bowl down with a troubled expression.
After finishing dinner quickly, Yukinoshita Yukino prepared to leave.
"You're leaving already? Not going to stay for the night?" Haruno asked. "Now that Hayashizaki-kun is out of your head, you can finally shower and sleep with your sister, you know?"
"No, I have class tomorrow," Yukino said, slipping on her shoes at the entrance.
"Actually, you're worried about Hayashizaki-kun, aren't you?" Haruno said, leaning against the wall with a teasing grin.
"How could I be? That guy doesn't need anyone's concern," the black-haired girl said, tapping her heel and stomping the sole of her shoe into place. She rolled her eyes and added, "Worrying about him is pointless. It's better to worry about the poor souls who might get tangled up with him."
"Fair point."
Haruno smiled and waved her off.
After Yukinoshita Yukino left, the apartment became quiet again, with only the hum of the air conditioner filling the silence.
However, this kind of silence was perfect for Yukinoshita Haruno. Due to her wide social circle, wherever she went, there was usually a lot of noise around her. This rare quietness was a kind of peaceful enjoyment for her.
After cleaning up the dining table, Yukinoshita Haruno, a bit sweaty, was planning to take a shower.
Today, to help Yukinoshita Yukino get a day off as a cover, she had gone out of her way to meet Hiratsuka Shizuka, and at noon, she was pulled by her to eat a bowl of ramen, so there was a bit of oil and smoke on her clothes.
When she finished her shower and walked out of the bathroom wrapped in a white towel, she suddenly heard a strange sound coming from the balcony.
"Hm? It's just you? Has Yuki-chan already left?"
Hayashizaki looked around the empty living room, and then his gaze landed on the short-haired beauty, wrapped only in a white towel, exposing a large amount of smooth skin. The curves visible here were clear, unlike those on Yukinoshita Yukino.
Upon seeing an unfamiliar young man suddenly appear in her home, Yukinoshita Haruno's head immediately buzzed. Instinctively, she reached out and grabbed her loosely wrapped towel around her chest until he spoke.
Although his face was unfamiliar, his voice was very familiar.
"Hayashizaki-kun?"
She asked hesitantly.
"It's me. I guess this is our first meeting?"
Hayashizaki nodded and said.
Yukinoshita Haruno relaxed. In this situation, it could only be Hayashizaki; after all, who else would enter through the balcony as if it were the apartment's front door?
"Please sit down. If you're looking for Yuki-chan, she's already left a while ago."
Yukinoshita Haruno said casually, then walked into her room and closed the door.
Her face turned slightly red. Even though she had perfected her mask over the years, she couldn't maintain it under the circumstances of being seen by a boy right after her bath.
After calming her flustered emotions and changing into comfortable home clothes, Yukinoshita Haruno returned to the living room.
Hayashizaki, who had been leaning on the sofa, was already drinking. When he saw her come out, he casually tossed her a can of beer from the table.
"You really have no manners, Hayashizaki-kun."
Catching the chilled beer can thrown by Hayashizaki, Yukinoshita Haruno's tone sounded slightly resentful.
Hayashizaki just smiled and raised his glass toward her.
The short-haired girl didn't play hard to get. She opened the can and took a sip, then sat on the single sofa to his left, her curious gaze scanning the overly confident young boy before her.
"I didn't expect Hayashizaki-kun to be so young. I thought you would be one of those boring old men."
The body and appearance that the system had shaped for Hayashizaki were based on his past life, and since he was sent to this parallel world while still young, the body made for him naturally looked young.
Also, he had never looked old, even in his past life, where he was in his twenties, he often looked like the younger one when standing next to his teenage cousin.
"I have the face of an old man, but a youthful spirit."
Hayashizaki joked, following her lead.
"But Hayashizaki-kun, you clearly have black hair."
"I just dyed it. It makes me look younger. Judging by your reaction, it seems to have worked well."
Yukinoshita Haruno chuckled at his words, covering her mouth to laugh.
"I heard from Yuki-chan that Hayashizaki-kun is planning to buy a house? Do you need my help?"
After laughing, she didn't forget her sister's request.
"It would be great to have someone help arrange things. So I'm counting on you, big Yukinoshita."
"Even to distinguish me from Yuki-chan, you don't have to use such a weird title. You can just call me Haruno, Hayashizaki-kun."
"Then I'll leave it to you, Haruno."
...
When Yukinoshita Yukino returned home, it was nearly nine in the evening. The apartment was dark, clearly no one was home.
She fumbled to turn on the light switch on the wall. The bright incandescent light filled the living room, but it felt a little cold. When she switched to the warm yellow light of the Tachibana chandelier, it seemed a bit lonely.
Without the usual noise in her head, Yukinoshita Yukino found herself feeling somewhat out of place.
She went to her room, sat at her desk, and picked up a book she hadn't finished reading, Natsume Soseki's "I Am a Cat."
As she immersed herself in the world of the book, her thoughts slowly calmed down.
When the time was right, Yukinoshita Yukino did as she usually did: took a shower, went to bed, and prepared to sleep. Now, without a certain person who used to tell jokes or scary stories to disturb her sleep, she quickly drifted off into dreamland.
It was probably because her body had been used for an intense battle by Hayashizaki, but she slept so soundly that when she heard the sound of water running from the bathroom in the early morning, she frowned and turned over, not wanting to get out of bed.
It wasn't until 6:30 AM that her biological clock woke her up on time.
Groggily, Yukinoshita Yukino got out of bed, ready to wash up, when she noticed that the living room curtains, which she had closed the night before, along with the glass door, had been opened at some point.
The morning sunlight shone through, causing her to squint instinctively.
In her blurry vision, she saw a figure sitting elegantly in a wicker lounge chair, facing the rising sun, gently swirling a wine glass filled with red wine. It seemed like the person had already become a winner in life, needing only to greet the beauty of the world every day, without having to face the harshness of life.
Unfortunately, the house wasn't his, the red wine had been taken from someone else, and the clothes he wore to cover himself had been hastily grabbed from the bathroom.
"Hayashizaki-kun?"
Yukinoshita Yukino's expression changed rapidly, from surprise to doubt, then to clear disgust, all in less than two seconds.
She stared at Hayashizaki, who was wrapped in a towel with his upper body bare, drinking wine on her balcony, speechless.
"What are you doing in someone else's house?"
"I'm here, greeting my new life with the first ray of sunshine of the day. It's a sense of ritual," Hayashizaki calmly took a sip of his wine. "You know, Yukinoshita, ritual is very important."
Ignoring his nonsense, Yukinoshita Yukino glanced at the open bottle of red wine on the small round table and asked again, "Where did you get the wine? I don't think we have any here."
"Your sister gave it to me."
He said this without a change in expression.
"Ugh, my sister..."
With a sigh, Yukinoshita Yukino shook her head helplessly and went back to the bathroom to wash up.
Hayashizaki-kun might be so free, but she wasn't. She still had to go to school.
After washing up, she had to start preparing breakfast and the lunch she'd take to school, while Hayashizaki finished his glass of wine and returned to the living room, sitting on the sofa.
He picked up Yukinoshita Yukino's phone from the table and expertly entered the lock screen password.
Thanks to the open kitchen design, Yukinoshita Yukino immediately noticed his action and asked aloud, "Hayashizaki-kun, what are you doing with my phone?"
"Call Ijichi and have him prepare an ID for me," Hayashizaki explained, then used Yukinoshita Yukino's phone to call Ijichi Kiyotaka.
After three rings, the call was answered, and Ijichi Kiyotaka's voice, which sounded a bit hoarse, came through. It was easy to guess that he had just been woken up by Hayashizaki.
After explaining the ID situation to him, Hayashizaki put the phone back on the table.
"So, Hayashizaki-kun, now you have nowhere else to go?" Yukinoshita Yukino asked as she continued preparing food.
"Pretty much," Hayashizaki replied.
"I see."
Hearing his vague answer, the girl paused for a moment, then hesitantly spoke up, "Then should I...?"
"Before the ID is ready, I'll be staying here for a few days."
Before Yukinoshita Yukino could finish, Hayashizaki cut her off, not even bothering to be polite.
The words she had been about to say got caught in her throat, and she responded with a teasing smile, "Looks like even though Hayashizaki-kun has his own body now, he's just evolved from a parasite to a hermit crab."
"You're right," Hayashizaki said as he opened up his PS5 and started playing.
For some reason, a strange feeling of discomfort suddenly crossed his mind.
After preparing breakfast and bento, Yukinoshita Yukino placed the two servings on the table and silently began eating.
Once she finished her portion, the girl tidied up and left for school, leaving Hayashizaki behind, lying on the sofa and playing his game.
Pulling little monsters to make them kill his character, he watched the character's dying screams with a resigned smile. "Sigh, at least cover the bowl so the smell doesn't waft out."
He got up from the sofa, walked over to the table, and looked at the breakfast prepared for him, even noticing that the chopsticks had already been set.
Hayashizaki had always been tolerant of the girl's little moods. He picked up the chopsticks and began eating the breakfast Yukinoshita Yukino had made for him.
...
...
The "few days" he mentioned turned into just one day, as the next day, Ijichi Kiyotaka delivered Hayashizaki's ID.
"Here are your driver's license and teaching certificate," Ijichi Kiyotaka said as he handed over the documents and related paperwork at Yukinoshita Yukino's home.
"A teaching certificate? Oh, you guys gave me the title of teacher at the Jujutsu High School," Hayashizaki said, looking at the photo on his ID and nodding in satisfaction.
"Yes, please don't mind it," Ijichi Kiyotaka said with a slight bow, his tone carrying some apology, as this had been their unilateral decision.
The image of Gojo Satoru talking to him popped up in Hayashizaki's mind: "It's fine, it's fine, that guy won't mind, I think."
"It's fine, actually, this works out perfectly," Hayashizaki said, slightly grinning. Now, he had a good reason to directly take over Itadori Yuji.
After all, you guys admitted it—I'm a teacher at the Jujutsu High School. So, what's wrong with me teaching my own students?
...
...
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