Chapter 561: The Terrified Shion and Hiratsuka Shizuka
After Riven finally finished her meal, Lucifer and the rest of the girls dragged her away, pulling Nami and Aoandon along for the ride. Nami was always eager for a bit of fun and put up zero resistance. Aoandon, meanwhile, simply murmured something about wanting to hunt down a few interesting new books.
Ren stood in the sudden quiet of the empty shop, a faint smile touching his lips. "I suppose it's time for me to head out, too. Though... the high school section isn't exactly a university campus where you can just stroll through the front gates."
He considered his options for a moment before landing on the perfect inside connection. Soryuin Akemi. If he was brought in by the Student Council President's own sister, the security guards wouldn't dare bat an eye.
As for the risk of Akemi selling him out to her older sister? He wasn't worried in the slightest. While Akemi usually took Shion's side, ever since Ren and Shion had officially gotten together, the younger Soryuin sibling had developed a rather dangerous new hobby: hoarding her older sister's darkest, most embarrassing secrets and ruthlessly backstabbing her at every opportunity. Akemi treated it like a sacred life mission. Shion often found herself questioning if they were even related.
Ren pulled out his phone and fired off a quick message.
Exactly as he predicted, Akemi didn't hesitate to keep his secret. Instead, she bounded straight over to Kure Yakusha's desk in the faculty room. "Ren-nii is coming! Kure-sensei..."
Yakusha slowly opened her dark, striking eyes, a knowing smile curving her lips. "Oh my. Ren is coming to visit? You'd better hurry along, then. Hmm, is that girl Shion doing her inspection rounds today?"
Akemi shook her head, her twin tails bouncing. "I'm not sure. Sis didn't tell me her schedule, but Ren-nii is definitely on his way."
"Alright, go wait for him," Yakusha said, waving a hand dismissively. "I'd like to have a little chat with him myself later. Off you go."
"Thank you, Sensei!"
With that, Akemi darted out of the room in a blur of motion. Yakusha leaned back in her chair, her smile deepening into something thoroughly amused. "My, my... Ren is coming. As expected, girls like Shion are still far too low-ranked to keep him on a leash."
She glanced across the room. "Kure-sensei, your class is starting soon, isn't it? Hmm? Shizuka-chan, what exactly are you doing over there?"
Hiratsuka Shizuka didn't look up from her desk. "Huh? Eating snacks and reading a novel, obviously."
Yakusha's mouth twitched. This woman's prospects of ever finding a husband were genuinely concerning. It would be one thing if she were reading a sweet romance novel to pick up some pointers, but no. The cover of the manga in Shizuka's hands featured two absurdly muscular men locked in a bloody, life-or-death martial arts deathmatch.
Ren had no idea what time Soryuin Shion was scheduled to arrive at the school. He was halfway there, watching the city blur past the bus window, when his phone buzzed.
"Hey, Ren," Shion's voice filtered through the speaker, smooth and confident. "I have to do a campus inspection at nine. Want to come with me?"
"I was actually at Totsuki today, discussing some business with the old man," Ren lied effortlessly, leaning back against his seat.
A soft, disappointed sigh came through the line. "Alright, I understand."
"You weren't just looking for an excuse to parade me around a bunch of high school girls to show off your fiancé, were you?"
Shion didn't even bother denying it. "I can show off because I actually have one. Those who don't, can't! Besides, it would be the perfect chance to rub it in Jing-nee's face. It would have been delightful."
"You're just letting your sadistic streak show," Ren chuckled. "There will be plenty of other opportunities. It's not like they're graduating or quitting their jobs today."
"True enough. Alright, I need to finish getting ready to head out."
She hung up just as the bus hissed to a halt. Ren stepped off onto the pavement, looking up at the grand, imposing gates of Koyo Women's Academy. He slipped his phone into his pocket, a dry smile forming. "Let's hope Shion doesn't have a total meltdown when she sees me."
"Ren-nii!"
Akemi was already waiting by the wrought-iron gates, waving enthusiastically. Ren closed the distance between them, reaching out to lightly pat her head. "Alright, I made it in. I'll wander around on my own from here. You hurry back to class."
"Wow!" Akemi pouted, crossing her arms. "Tossing me aside the second I've outlived my usefulness! How cruel, Ren-nii!"
"Please, I know exactly how much you slack off. Get back to your desk."
After shooing a giggling Akemi away, Ren took his time strolling through the campus. As one of the premier enterprises under the Kengan Association, Koyo Women's Academy was nothing short of a luxury resort masquerading as an educational institute. The manicured lawns, towering architecture, and pristine facilities were immaculate.
As he walked past the athletic fields, several physical education classes were in session. The moment the female students spotted him, they froze. A man. On an all-girls campus. And an incredibly handsome, elegantly dressed one at that.
Whispers erupted across the track. Half the girls were instantly convinced the academy had hired a new male teacher, their eyes tracking his every movement, silently praying for the bell to ring so they could hunt him down.
Ren ignored the staring and eventually handled his way to the main faculty building. At this hour, Sengoku Chihiro was down in the art room setting up for her next period, leaving Hiratsuka Shizuka completely alone in the teachers' office, still deeply engrossed in her macho battle manga.
Ren paused outside the heavy oak door. He had originally intended to drop by and see Kure Yakusha, but when he knocked, it was Shizuka's voice that called out, "Come in!"
He pushed the door open. The office was impeccably clean, bathed in the soft morning sunlight. Shizuka was slouched at her desk, entirely absorbed in her book. She didn't even bother lifting her head. "Which teacher are you looking for? What do you need?"
Ren didn't say a word. Hearing a deep male voice in the inner sanctum of an all-girls school would probably give the poor woman a heart attack.
When the silence stretched on for too long, Shizuka finally looked up, an annoyed reprimand on her tongue.
She froze.
Ren offered a polite, devastatingly calm smile. "Good morning, Hiratsuka-sensei."
"Ren... Ren... Boss Ren?!"
Shizuka's eyes darted frantically from his face, to the pile of junk food on her desk, and finally to the hyper-violent manga in her hands. The blood drained from her face. In a panic, she violently hurled the manga into a nearby wastebasket, slapping her hands down on the desk. "Honestly! The nerve of these students, bringing such inappropriate reading material into my classroom! Confiscated!"
Ren's smile didn't waver. "That manga looked quite interesting."
"Right! Cough, cough... I mean, you absolutely cannot read things like that during class hours!" Shizuka hastily adjusted her collar, trying to salvage whatever dignity she had left. "Anyway, Boss Ren, what on earth are you doing here?"
"Setting an ambush for Shion."
Shizuka exhaled a long, heavy breath, slumping back into her chair. "Well, the room is empty anyway. You might as well wait here. Knowing Shion and her entourage, they'll definitely raid the faculty office before doing anything else."
Ren nodded, taking a seat on one of the plush leather sofas. "Sounds like a plan. I have to say, your office environment is incredibly nice."
"Of course it is!" Shizuka huffed, crossing her arms proudly. "After all, this room is exclusively populated by goddess-level educators."
Ren didn't bother bursting her bubble. Shizuka was undeniably gorgeous, even if her personality was a bit too aggressive for most men to handle. Sengoku Chihiro was beautiful too, though entirely unreliable.
The two of them fell into an easy rhythm of conversation. Shizuka was surprisingly talkative once she relaxed, the tension bleeding out of the room.
Meanwhile, down the hallway, Soryuin Shion was making her way toward the office, flanked by her secretary and Amou Kirukiru.
Shion held a lit cigarette lazily between her fingers, the thin trail of smoke trailing behind her. As she approached the heavy oak door, she heard the distinct, boisterous sound of Shizuka laughing inside. Shion smirked, pushing the door open. "Jing-nee! You... you..."
Her eyes locked onto the man sitting on the sofa.
"...Ren?!"
"Yo, Shion," Ren greeted, his dark eyes instantly zeroing in on the cigarette in her hand. "You're here."
Shion's heart stopped. She was suddenly incredibly grateful she hadn't swung the door fully open. Panic seized her throat.
Beside her, Amou Kirukiru watched Shion's hand tremble violently. With a soft, knowing smile, Kirukiru smoothly reached out, plucked the lit cigarette from Shion's paralyzed fingers, extinguished it against the doorframe, and flicked it out the nearby hallway window in one fluid, untraceable motion.
Shion let out a silent, shuddering breath. She had been half a second away from being forced to beg for forgiveness on her knees. No, knowing Ren, begging on her knees would probably be getting off easy.
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