IW: Chapter 292 - Takamae Ann is here!
"Sakura, I heard a new student might be joining our class today."
Ten minutes before class.
Tomoyo leaned in front of Sakura, telling her the news she had just overheard while passing by the Office.
She couldn't keep a secret very well.
"A new student?"
It's already been a long time since school started, are they a transfer student?
"Yes, she's a very beautiful girl, and her guardian is very handsome!"
A hint of longing flashed across Tomoyo's face; she had seen his appearance through the crack in the door when she passed by.
Very handsome.
He was the most handsome boy she had ever seen.
"Compared to my brother and Yukito?"
Sakura Kinomoto asked curiously.
Although her brother usually had a bad temper, his looks were still passable.
"It seems... they each have their own unique charm... but I still think he's more handsome!"
"Okay."
Sakura didn't ask any more questions after that.
For her, asking that question was just out of curiosity.
She didn't want to concern herself with those things at all right now.
What gave Sakura the biggest headache right now was collecting the clow cards.
Because of her, the clow cards had mostly run away.
If she didn't quickly collect them.
These clow cards might cause a lot of chaos in this world later on.
As an elementary school student, facing such a world-saving endeavor, she also felt a bit lost.
But since she was the one who caused all this, Sakura decided to take responsibility for it.
Sakura had not even solved the trouble she caused, so she had no time to think about those things.
Tomoyo also seemed to realize that Sakura wasn't very keen on discussing this topic.
"Sakura, I've prepared a new battle costume for you; I'll give it to you then."
"Tomoyo..."
Sakura looked at Tomoyo's expression, and a bad premonition suddenly arose in her heart.
Ever since Tomoyo found out that she was collecting clow cards.
Every one of her battle costumes was sponsored by Tomoyo.
And then Tomoyo would record the entire process of her collecting clow cards with a video camera.
Every time she thought of this, Sakura felt a wave of shame.
"Don't worry, Sakura, this time it definitely won't be like last time!"
With the experience from last time.
Tomoyo also knew roughly how to design it.
"Is that... really true?"
Sakura opened her mouth, but ultimately swallowed her words.
Although she really wanted to ask, what good would it do even if she did?
Tomoyo had already decided for her.
"Everyone, quiet down."
The teacher knocked on the classroom door, signaling the students in the classroom to quiet down.
"Alright, come in with me, don't be nervous."
The classroom gradually quieted down, and the teacher looked at Ai Haibara, who was following behind her.
For the teacher, such transfer students were the most troublesome.
Because school had already started, everyone had already formed their own small groups.
At this time, a sudden new student would find it difficult to integrate.
However, this was not a big deal for Ai Haibara.
Anyway, she was only here to humor Bai Ye.
"Today, a new student has joined our class. Everyone, let's give her a round of applause."
As soon as the teacher's words fell, applause echoed in the classroom.
Everyone looked at Ai Haibara curiously, and a small buzz of discussion arose below the stage.
"Introduce yourself, Ai."
The teacher gave Ai Haibara an encouraging look.
This child had been silent and reticent since she came with Bai Ye.
This gave the teacher the impression that she was socially anxious.
This child... socially anxious and a transfer student.
It really was a headache.
"My name is Ai Haibara. Hello, everyone."
Ai Haibara wrote her name on the blackboard.
Although there wasn't much more to say, this still made the teacher sigh in relief; at least she wasn't so shy that she couldn't even introduce herself.
"Then Ai Haibara, please sit behind Sakura Kinomoto."
There was just an empty seat behind Sakura Kinomoto's position.
The teacher pointed to a seat.
Ai Haibara followed the direction the teacher pointed and walked over.
She had actually seen this seat when she first came in.
As she passed Sakura Kinomoto, Ai Haibara also felt a bit strange, always feeling that this girl in front of her seemed to have a similar quality to Bai Ye.
"Hello, my name is Sakura Kinomoto. Please take care of me from now on."
Sakura Kinomoto hesitated for a moment, then turned around and greeted Ai Haibara.
The new student had just arrived and might be feeling uneasy.
Would doing this make her feel more at ease?
Sakura Kinomoto followed her heart's thoughts.
"So cute."
Ai Haibara also felt an indescribable feeling in her heart.
For a moment, Ai Haibara's heart couldn't help but skip a beat.
Of course, it wasn't the kind of liking, but an indescribable feeling, just that the other person was very cute.
Are elementary school students like this now?
"Hello, my name is Ai Haibara. Please take care of me."
She had originally planned to just muddle through, not really intending to get to know the classmates here.
How did it seem to be broken as soon as she arrived?
Until after class.
Ai Haibara was surrounded by many classmates.
This also made Ai Haibara feel a bit lost.
Didn't they say that when she first joined, everyone would just observe from a distance at most?
How did everyone come over?
"Ai is so popular!"
Tomoyo cupped her face, feeling like she had discovered another person like Sakura.
But with a different style than Sakura.
Hmm!
It's decided!
She wanted to be friends with Ai Haibara!
"Tomoyo, you'll scare Ai!"
As a good friend, Sakura naturally knew what Tomoyo was thinking right now.
This absolutely wouldn't do!
"Don't worry, I know my limits."
Tomoyo wasn't planning to do anything, just to be friends with Ai Haibara.
Besides, she wasn't an impolite person.
She could still grasp the proper measure.
"Strange, this is really too strange, how could I be so popular!!!"
Ai Haibara felt a pang of melancholy in her heart. Although being so popular made her feel a tiny bit of secret joy.
But this wasn't what she had imagined.
If possible, she wanted to go back to the Office.
Although the Office was occasionally very boring.
But at least she wouldn't encounter these things.
"Bai Ye has been taking leave quite frequently recently, is it because of money?"
Shizuka Hiratsuka looked at Bai Ye, who had just returned to school. She frowned, looking at Bai Ye with some helplessness.
In the past, she always approved Bai Ye's leave because she knew he needed to earn money, so as long as Bai Ye's grades weren't affected.
Shizuka Hiratsuka generally turned a blind eye.
At that time, Bai Ye at least just left early each time, and basically didn't miss any classes.
But now Bai Ye takes leave at every turn, it feels like his mind is getting less and less focused on studying.
Shizuka Hiratsuka didn't want to see Bai Ye give up on himself so easily.
"It's not about money, I really have some things to do, and I might need to take leave frequently later..."
Bai Ye also knew that his time at school was getting shorter and shorter.
It felt like Shizuka Hiratsuka's attitude had become quite normal.
"Still taking leave?"
Shizuka Hiratsuka's gaze towards Bai Ye also changed slightly.
"Bai Ye, you are still young. If you take shortcuts, you will lose your goals later, and some rich women are not human."
Shizuka Hiratsuka looked at Bai Ye meaningfully. She guessed that Bai Ye must have been taken in by a rich woman recently.
To serve a rich woman, was he already working so hard?
Are young people not wanting to work hard anymore?
"Teacher, do I look like that kind of person?"
Bai Ye rubbed his forehead, speechless for a moment.
Was he that kind of person?
If he didn't want to work hard, he would have stopped long ago.
Why wait until now?
At that time, there really was a rich woman who offered to let him not work hard.
It's just that the rich woman was too robust, and Bai Ye painfully refused.
"You don't look like it, but your face does."
Bai Ye was a very hardworking child.
Shizuka Hiratsuka naturally knew that, but for Shizuka Hiratsuka, she might believe in Bai Ye's character.
However, Bai Ye's face, even she sometimes couldn't help but fantasize about how happy it would be to be with Bai Ye.
At school, Bai Ye had many admirers.
This was no longer a secret.
So Shizuka Hiratsuka also felt that with this situation, it was really hard to trust Bai Ye.
Of course, Shizuka Hiratsuka had actually thought about it before.
But she gave up at that time.
After all, she was only looking for Bai Ye to pretend for a bit.
If she made a move, would she still be human?
The last time she went to see Bai Ye, she told him not to take leave so frequently.
Now look.
This guy didn't seem to have listened at all.
But she still needed Bai Ye's help later, and she felt like she still had to keep approving Bai Ye's leave.
Although this wasn't difficult for her.
But was it really good for him to keep doing this?
She was, after all, considering him.
Does he really not want to study and rely on a rich woman instead?
Besides, she also had money.
"Teacher, I didn't. I really have something to do. Have you seen that high school detective recently?"
Saying that, Bai Ye picked up a newspaper and placed it in front of Shizuka Hiratsuka.
This was also the excuse he found.
Because he had thought on the way that it would probably be difficult to ask Shizuka Hiratsuka for leave in the future.
After all, it's impossible to keep getting leave.
"Newspaper? I don't read newspapers."
Shizuka Hiratsuka took the newspaper, then picked up a teacup placed on the side and took a sip of tea.
She usually wouldn't read such boring news when she had nothing to do.
She really didn't know anything about any high school detective.
When she saw the report about Bai Ye and his photo on it, she finally understood.
So Bai Ye has been working as a detective recently?
"So you're not working at the convenience store anymore, but have changed professions?"
Shizuka Hiratsuka took a deep breath.
Was this industry jump a bit too big?
She had heard of high school detectives.
But it was that high school detective, Kudo Shinichi.
But recently, there seemed to be no news of him.
"Kind of. Actually, I've been starting my own business recently. You know my situation; if I don't make some money, I'll probably starve."
Compared to last time, Bai Ye now had an additional excuse.
And it was a legitimate one.
Saying that, Bai Ye placed a business card in front of Shizuka Hiratsuka: "Teacher, this is the contact information for my Odd Jobs. If you ever need anything, you can come to me."
...
Taking the business card from Bai Ye's hand, Shizuka Hiratsuka silently looked at Bai Ye.
Then she mumbled, "I don't want to have anything to look for you for."
www.ttkan.○
What a detective does is nothing more than those few things.
She didn't want to look for a detective.
If she had to resort to finding a detective, it probably wouldn't be anything good, right?
"My Odd Jobs doesn't just do detective work; it can solve all sorts of things."
"Can solve everything?"
Shizuka Hiratsuka muttered, and seeing Bai Ye nod, she teased him, asking, "Then my parents are rushing me quite a bit, what do you say?"
"Cough, Teacher, look at our business relationship!"
What's going on?!
I treat you like a brother, and you're trying to trick me into having children!
It's normal for parents to be rushing her, isn't it?
At Shizuka Hiratsuka's age, her family had always wanted to rush her into marriage.
If it weren't for him back then, Shizuka Hiratsuka would probably still be constantly pressured to marry.
That's why Shizuka Hiratsuka had always indulged him.
It was all because of these things.
"See, you're flustered."
Shizuka Hiratsuka shrugged, then waved her hand, indicating that Bai Ye could leave.
After knowing that Bai Ye wasn't taken in by a rich woman, Shizuka Hiratsuka also breathed a sigh of relief.
She was just afraid that Bai Ye wouldn't want to work hard anymore.
Since he still wanted to work hard, that was enough.
As for taking leave later...
Looking at the business card in her hand, Shizuka Hiratsuka sighed, it seemed she could only agree.
After all, there was no other way if she didn't agree.
He was right, with his conditions, he seemed to only be able to rely on himself.
Before Bai Ye could return to the classroom, Eriri, who had been waiting for him outside, quickly stepped forward and grabbed him.
Then she couldn't help but look into the classroom, and after confirming that the person inside hadn't seen them, she said in a somewhat flustered voice, "Bai Ye, something terrible has happened!"
At this moment, she felt somewhat distressed.
She didn't know how to explain herself later.
"What's wrong?"
"That woman is here!"
Eriri said quickly.
She hadn't expected Takamae Ann to come all the way here.
And the first thing she did was find her.
Now what? She's here, what should she do?!
Before, Eriri had been thinking that it would be fine if time just passed.
Now that she's here, what should she do?!
"You're finally here. It must be you, right!"
Behind Eriri, a bright female voice sounded, and the voice sent shivers down Eriri's spine.
It's over.
The other party appeared.
At this moment, she also regretted her previous recklessness, which led to their current awkward situation.
And Takamae Ann behind her ignored Eriri.
Last time, she had already seen that the leader of this group was Bai Ye.
To join the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, she could only get Bai Ye's approval.
She had been rejected once last time, so she couldn't be rejected again this time.