Translator: imperfectluck  Editor: vb24

"Please take me… to that place," the young girl’s requested shyly with a flushed face.

‘Now that’s really cute.’

Seiji inwardly praised her at this scene, while remaining calm on the surface.

"Okay, follow us."

He didn’t say anything else to the girl as he led the way.

…

Seiji and Mayuzumi followed the signs and took the little girl to the booth which was set up to deal with lost children.

Coincidentally they saw a young green-haired man talking anxiously with the Morals and Discipline Committee members in charge here.

He was tall and slender with a handsome face. He was wearing a dark-colored jacket and long pants, and his smallish eyes were set in a anxious, sweat-covered face.

"Uncle!" the little girl shouted and ran towards him when she caught sight of his figure.

The green-haired man turned around upon hearing her and showed an expression of shocked delight.

"Reo!"

He kneeled as he hugged the little girl.

"You fool! Where did you run off to!? I was looking for you everywhere!!" His voice was filled with worry and complaint.

"Uncle…" 

"My attention was diverted for a second and you disappeared! I couldn’t find you anywhere in the middle school section!! I had to come look for you in the high school section, and here you are!"

The man let go of her as he frowned and began to scold her in a severe tone. "Just how did you get over here!? If you got separated from me, then you should've waited where you were, or asked for help from nearby. Why did you come all the way to the high school section!?"

"I-I don’t know…" The little girl averted her gaze and lowered her head when faced with such strict questions.

"It’s dangerous to go so far away! I won’t be able to find you!!" The green-haired man’s voice was getting louder.

It was obvious to tell that he was extremely worried, which was the source of his anger.

"Excuse me, sir, let’s calm down a little. It’s easy to understand your feelings, but please don’t get angry at such a place." Seiji walked over and gently tried to alleviate the situation.

"You’re…" 

"I’m a student from this school, and I just happened to see your niece standing there by herself, so I took her to the lost child booth here," Seiji answered calmly. "Your niece is really smart and knows how to be on guard against strangers. Perhaps she was trying to avoid some strange people which was why she walked all the way over to the high school section from the middle school section."

"Is… that so?" The young man frowned as he looked towards the little girl again.

She slowly nodded.

"If that’s the case, then you were in the right… No, wait, why did you follow him then?"

The man’s gaze moved from the little girl to the boy that he didn’t know.

‘Because my charisma stat is outstanding…’ Of course, he couldn’t say that out loud.

"Because I’m wearing a school uniform." Seiji shrugged as he extended his palms. "Wearing this school uniform means that I’m a student from this school, plus I have a female companion, which makes me more trustworthy."

"Oh…" The green-haired man glanced at the woman standing beside Seiji.

His expression froze over when his eyes landed on Seiji's female companion.

"You… y

ou’re… Mayuzumi Amami?"

He spoke the manga author’s real name out loud!

‘Hm? You two know each other?’

Seiji looked towards Mayuzumi for confirmation.

He saw that her entire body was tensed up and her face was ashen-white with obvious fear in her eyes! Her hands that were clutching on to the rabbit doll were even trembling.

"Amami… it’s you, right?" The young man stood up again as he stared at her face. "I’m Shouhei Hirai; it’s been several years since our last meeting… do you still remember me?"

Mayuzumi silently lowered her head without replying.

Seiji furrowed his brows slightly upon seeing this.

"Er… I guess you don’t really remember, haha…" The man let out a somewhat forced chuckle.

Awkward silence fell between everyone.

Seiji was just about to say something when the green-haired man turned around to speak to him again.

"You’re Amami-san’s boyfriend?"

"…No, just a normal friend." Seiji decided to answer this way.

"I’m a college cla.s.smate of hers." The green-haired man smiled. "It’s been several years since I last met her, and I never expected to see her again here…" 

He sighed before lowering his head and bowing.

"My grat.i.tude to the two of you for helping out my niece." He formally gave them his thanks. "Reo, thank them as well."

"Thank you…" The little girl politely bowed as well.

"We just did what we should have; there's no need to be so polite." 

Seiji also gave an appropriate response before he turned to Mayuzumi.

"Let’s go, Sensei."

The manga author nodded slightly and slowly turned around to leave.

An indescribable light flashed in Shouhei Hirai’s eyes as he watched them leave together.

After walking a bit of a distance.

"Sensei, who was that man just now?"

Seiji tried asking her about it.

Mayuzumi didn’t answer and merely kept her head lowered as she continued walking in silence.

"Sensei?" Seiji felt that something was wrong.

The manga author stopped in her tracks.

Then her body swayed as she fell forward!

Seiji was able to catch her in time.

She felt so soft, and he could faintly smell a whiff of her shampoo’s scent…

'Cough, disappear, idle thoughts!'

Seiji placed his hand on an appropriate location and carried the now-unconscious Mayuzumi in a princess carry.

This was something which caught many people’s attention as the bystanders looked on in curiosity.

"A princess carry! Amazing!"

"What happened to her?"

"That boy is so handsome! I want to be in his embrace like that as well~~"

"It’s Harano-san… Who’s that woman?"

It wasn’t a good thing to attract so much attention.

Seiji increased his pace as he went to the only place he felt he should go to at this time.

The infirmary.

The blonde-haired nurse was sipping tea as she watched the festival from her window.

‘It’s so rowdy outside but so quiet in here… which is a good thing. After all, it would be rather bad if the infirmary was crowded.’

Just as Kaede was thinking that to herself, she heard the sound of hurried footsteps.

When she saw who it was, her eyes lit up.

"Harano-kun…"

"Juumonji-sensei, please take a look at this person."

Seiji gently placed Mayuzumi on an infirmary bed.

Kaede put down her teacup and immediately began inspecting Mayuzumi. "What’s the matter with her?"

"She… has androphobia…"

Seiji gave her a basic explanation.

After a basic checkup.

"She’s fine," Kaede concluded after examining the unconscious girl. "There aren't any serious problems with her physical condition. She’ll naturally wake up after a bit of a rest."

Seiji nodded. "That’s good then." 

"So you’re telling me that she saw… a male cla.s.smate from college and walked a little bit before fainting." Kaede looked at him for confirmation. "In that case, my best guess is that this college cla.s.smate of hers must have left her with a dark memory in her heart."

"That’s my guess as well." Seiji folded his arms. "It’s quite obvious that her condition became suddenly worse after meeting him. There must be some special reason."

On the bus just earlier, Sensei was feeling so uncomfortable that she even cried, but she didn’t faint. Just meeting that man made her faint so quickly!

That man must have given her a negative stimulation that was far beyond the feeling of being crowded by other men on the bus… or, it could also be taken as Sensei could have possibly received an additional shock after the overly stimulating bus ride, overloading her mental capabilities and causing her to faint.

No matter which it was, that man… her college cla.s.smate named Shouhei Hirai was definitely someone that Sensei was especially afraid of.

Seiji furrowed his brows as he contemplated the matter.

Shouhei Hirai… he didn’t seem like such a bad person on the surface.

'Just what did he do to Sensei in the past?'