Hina Tachibana.
She was the English teacher at Sobu High whom Lin Ye had known for a long time, having gone through a Strange event together with her before.
Because of that, the two of them had formed a deep bond.
Hina-sensei's younger sister, Rui Tachibana, had noticed the relationship between her and Lin Ye, and had probed and questioned him about it from time to time. She'd even been willing to give up her own body just to learn the truth, so long as he told her what had really happened.
In the end, though, Lin Ye never told her.
Even now, Rui probably still had no idea what had actually happened between Lin Ye and Hina-sensei.
"Good afternoon, Hina-sensei,"
"Hello,"
Hina Tachibana strolled over to where Lin Ye was, her expression relaxed and her tone cheerful. "What did you do this time to make Hiratsuka-senpai angry? I could put in a good word for you, if you like."
She meant it sincerely.
Hina genuinely cared about Lin Ye, and was grateful to him — grateful for the help and protection he'd once given her.
Because of that bond, looking out for him felt only natural to her. And now that her own sister, Rui, had become Lin Ye's girlfriend,
and Lin Ye was destined to become her future brother-in-law, of course she cared about him even more, as a member of her future family.
Hina was already looking forward to their future life together.
She hoped Lin Ye and Rui would get married right after graduating high school. Children could wait a few years.
If they didn't marry soon, Hina worried Lin Ye and Rui might break up. Sure, a marriage could still end in divorce, but generally speaking, once a man got married he settled down, and other women tended to give up their pursuit. The odds of Lin Ye and her sister splitting up would drop drastically.
"I'm afraid even you can't help me with this one, Sensei."
Lin Ye thought over what he'd just said, then shrugged helplessly at Hina.
That particular thing really wasn't something Hina could say on his behalf.
"Don't worry, Hiratsuka-senpai and I get along great. If I speak up for you, she'll definitely give me some face. So relax!"
Hina gestured for him not to worry, but that only made Lin Ye shake his head and refuse all the more firmly.
"Just tell me! I'll definitely sort it out for you. And if I can't, I'll treat you to grilled meat as an apology,"
she declared, showing her resolve.
Lin Ye thought about it and still decided it wasn't appropriate — but his hesitation only fired up Hina's stubborn streak further.
She was determined to find out what he'd said.
"If you won't tell me, I'll go ask Hiratsuka-senpai myself. And then I definitely won't put in a good word for you — I'll team up with her against you instead."
Still smiling, Hina abruptly abandoned her earlier attitude and switched to threats.
Lin Ye looked at the determined expression on the pretty teacher's face, thought it over, and finally spoke.
"Fine!"
He gathered his thoughts before continuing, "I told her — Sensei, you have such a great figure, you're so pretty, and so charming, but I..."
Hina realized where Lin Ye was going with this.
He'd actually dared to say something like that to Shizuka Hiratsuka? Wasn't that just asking to die?
No matter the circumstances, you couldn't say something like that!
But his next line made Hina's face change even more.
"...I still think young, pretty Hina-sensei is even better,"
For a moment Hina simply froze, and then her face flushed red. She'd never imagined this was how Lin Ye actually saw her.
She hadn't expected it at all.
In that moment, warmth spread through her chest.
"And then Shizuka-sensei got triggered by something and exploded with anger out of nowhere, so I ran for it. But I was just stating the facts."
Lin Ye looked at Hina, his expression almost earnestly sincere. "You really are younger, prettier, and have a better figure than Hiratsuka-sensei. Especially your skin..."
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Hina coughed hurriedly, signaling Lin Ye to stop right there. "Okay, okay, that's enough — we are not continuing this topic."
No woman pushing thirty could handle a topic like that.
Who could withstand it?
Hina figured that if she herself were pushing thirty and a student — even one she liked as much as Lin Ye — teased her so bluntly, she wouldn't be able to take it either.
She'd get upset and angry too.
"Hina-sensei, why would Hiratsuka-sensei get angry over that?"
Lin Ye put on an innocent act.
"Okay, drop the act. You already know why. Keep pretending and I'll get angry too."
"Haha, come on, cough, cough, it was just a joke. Who could've guessed Shizuka-sensei couldn't take a joke like that?"
"Heh. Saying that to a woman and calling it a joke — do you really think that's believable?"
Of course it wasn't believable.
In truth, Lin Ye had said it deliberately, just to rile Hiratsuka-sensei up.
"Yeah. But don't worry, Hina-sensei, I definitely won't say anything like that to you in the future."
"Oh!"
For a moment Hina didn't quite process what he meant, and it took her a good while to catch on.
"I, Hina Tachibana, am not going to end up single into my thirties like Hiratsuka-senpai!"
With Shizuka Hiratsuka as her cautionary example, Hina resolved to find a partner in time — starting now — find someone good, then date, marry, and live a happy life.
That was the future she hoped for herself.
But what should her future partner be like?
She didn't need someone tall and imposing, or dashingly handsome. At the very least, when she was in danger, he should be able to step up, shield her, stand between her and the danger, and hold up a safe sky above her.
Hina's mind drifted to that night when Lin Ye had pulled her along, away from the Strange, leading her to escape it.
The moment that thought crossed her mind, along with the image of Lin Ye, she shook her head vigorously, trying to stop herself from dwelling on it, from sinking into thoughts she shouldn't be having.
Lin Ye was a student. She couldn't let her mind wander like that.
"Hina-sensei..."
Lin Ye's voice pulled Hina's consciousness back to reality.
She blinked and looked at the Lin Ye in front of her.
Lin Ye pointed casually, and Hina followed the direction of his finger, spotting a familiar figure in a white coat.
It was Hiratsuka-senpai.
Hiratsuka-senpai had left the Life Guidance Office and come out into the hallway.
Why did she look a bit angry?
Had Lin Ye made her mad again?
No, wait, that wasn't it.
Hina suddenly remembered what she herself had just said.
Her face instantly went pale, and a faint tremor ran through her body.
Because it was her who'd said those things!
Shizuka-sensei must have heard everything she'd said — going by her reaction, she'd clearly heard all of it.
Hina trembled, her heart leaping into her throat.
She swallowed hard.
"Hi-Hira... senpai..."
Every single word cost Hina all the effort she had.
Of all people, the one person she least wanted to hear it had heard everything.
How was she supposed to face Shizuka-sensei now?
"Hina..."
Shizuka Hiratsuka approached with a smile, hands in her pockets,
and in that moment, that white-coated figure seemed to radiate an overwhelming presence with every step she took,
making Hina's heart tremble even harder.
She was terrified.
So terrified.
She felt that if she stayed put, she'd be devoured whole.
"Run,"
It wasn't Hina who said it, but Lin Ye — he grabbed Hina's wrist and spun around, dashing straight for the stairwell.
Hina followed along before she even had time to react.
Her mind went completely blank, but the warmth spreading from her wrist told her that, right now, she was safe.
Yes.
Safe. At ease.
The memory of that night flooded her whole being with a sense of relief and security.
A warm feeling spread through her chest.
She looked at Lin Ye's profile beside her.
"Back then..."
"It was just like this..."
Yes — that was exactly how Lin Ye had pulled her along and run, fleeing from that Strange figure.
The feelings from that night kept spreading through her heart.
By the time Lin Ye finally stopped running,
Hina realized she was completely out of breath, though she hadn't noticed it until just now.
She'd forgotten entirely what state she was in.
"Huff, huff, huff..."
Once she caught her breath, Hina gasped in big gulps of air.
By now she'd completely stopped thinking about Shizuka Hiratsuka — her mind was on other things entirely.
"There, Sensei, we're safe. Hiratsuka-sensei didn't come charging after us."
Hina shot him a look. "You wanted her to come charging after us?"
"If Hiratsuka-sensei really did that, then it'd be up to you to deal with her, Hina-sensei. I can't handle that tigress."
"You've really got some nerve saying that,"
Even so, on some level, Hina had to admit Hiratsuka-sensei did have a bit of a tigress streak to her — but Lin Ye was really the only one bold enough to say it out loud.
Even if other students privately thought the same thing, none of them would dare say it — they still held a mix of respect, reverence, and deep fear toward Hiratsuka-sensei.
Lin Ye was different. At his core, he felt no fear toward Shizuka-sensei — instead, he treated her as an equal.
When something needed saying, he never held back.
"There's nothing to be scared of. Shizuka Hiratsuka isn't actually that scary. She looks fierce, but she's really quite nice underneath. Of course, that's also because I've got the skill to back it up — I can run fast and I can take a hit. Other students aren't so lucky. If Shizuka Hiratsuka actually caught them, they'd probably come out half dead."
"Hahaha,"
Hina couldn't help laughing as she listened.
Most students wouldn't even dare act up in front of Shizuka Hiratsuka, let alone fight back.
Of course, when it came to running away, Hina genuinely did know how capable Lin Ye was.
The fact that he could carry her — practically drag her — to safety was more than enough proof of his escape skill.
It was absolutely maxed out.
Hina was fully confident of that.
"Try to give Hiratsuka-senpai some face, no matter what."
"You didn't exactly give Hiratsuka-sensei any face either, Hina-sensei."
That line made Hina flush with embarrassment.
She felt awkward.
"That... that's not my fault, though."
"Oh-ho-ho! There it is — the skill girls are best at using: shifting the blame. Dump it all on me so you don't have to carry the guilt."
Hina blushed, thoroughly called out.
"That's not what I'm doing."
"Then who was it that just said something to provoke Shizuka Hiratsuka right out of the Life Guidance Office?"
Hina: "..."
"Okay, okay, dropping it."
Hina didn't want to keep going with this topic — she was at a clear disadvantage and had no leg to stand on.
"Let's have dinner together tonight! I'll have Rui prepare a feast — you'll love it, guaranteed."
"I've already got plans."
Hina paused, surprised.
"Is it with Rui? Then I won't intrude on you two lovebirds, hahaha."
Since they'd only just started dating, of course they'd want plenty of dates and time together to get closer.
Hina understood, and fully supported it.
"No, it's someone else."
"A girl?"
"Yeah."
Hina didn't know what to say.
"You already have a girlfriend, you know. You should keep your distance from other women."
"Yeah,"
Lin Ye replied and immediately stepped back, putting distance between himself and Hina.
Hina slowly formed a string of question marks in her mind.
Hey, hey, hey, don't do it like that!
That's not how this should go!
Why would you pull away from me like that?
Hina kept complaining internally.
She felt like Lin Ye's little stunt genuinely hurt her feelings.
But Lin Ye caught her meaning too, and stepped forward again to close the distance. "It's fine, Sensei. I'll handle things properly between Student Tachibana and me. Don't worry."
But that didn't sit well with Hina at all.
Instead, she got the feeling that Lin Ye was trying to draw a clear line between himself and her sister Rui.
"You're not... going to break up with Rui, are you?"
"Yes."
So that was really it.
Lin Ye didn't deny it.
"No,"
But Hina refused to accept that.
"You can't break up with Rui. If you do, she'll definitely cry. I don't want to see my sister cry like that."
Hina's tone was firm, but Lin Ye's answer stayed exactly the same.
"There really is a problem — there's a misunderstanding involved in what's going on with Student Tachibana."
"You didn't agree to it yourself? I don't think my sister would lie to me."
To be precise, it really hadn't been him.
"Anyway, I won't get into the details,"
"Tell me."
But Hina insisted, firmly.
That made Lin Ye pause and think it over. Hina-sensei understood him fairly well by now, and already knew quite a bit about him.
"It's related to that thing."
"Hm?"
What thing?
From the look in Lin Ye's eyes, Hina gradually began to understand.
But she still couldn't quite make sense of it.
"You're not using that as an excuse to explain things to me, are you?"
Hina still wasn't fully convinced.
"No,"
Lin Ye sighed and continued, "Because of that incident, my body was unexpectedly taken over by another being."
Hm?
Hina's eyes slowly widened.
She found it hard to believe, but faced with how serious Lin Ye looked, she couldn't help but take him at his word.
It seemed like he was being genuine, not joking around at all.
So — so during that stretch of time, Lin Ye's body had been possessed by something,
and it was that being — the one possessing Lin Ye's body — that had confessed to her sister and started dating her?
Then... then what else had happened?
Surely her sister hadn't already given herself to him?
Gulp.
At that moment,
Hina's heart leapt into her throat.
If that were true,
then once her sister learned the truth, wouldn't she be devastated?
Hina's mood plummeted to rock bottom.
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