A newbie's anime life diary

Chapter 142 Let it air out for a few days

After class, Xuehui went directly to Kato Megumi's class and called her out.

Kato Megumi walked out calmly as usual, looked at Yukiteru at the door, and said, "Um, Hiratsuka-kun must be here to ask about the newspaper from this morning, right?"

"Kato, you're as amazing as ever. You guessed it so easily."

"Well... after all, my classmates have been saying that even though the newspaper has been taken down, I've still seen it." After a pause, Kato Megumi looked at Yukiteru and said, "Hiratsuka-kun and Yukinoshita-san have such a good relationship."

"Ahem... Let's not talk about that for now. Kato, you said a junior invited you to visit her club, the journalism club, right?" Yukiteru didn't beat around the bush and asked what he wanted to know directly.

"That's true. I've thought about that too, but that club only has one person. Although I don't know much about newspapers and such, can one person finish a newspaper so quickly?" Kato Megumi shook her head, as if trying to think.

But is it just one person?

"It's fine if it's just one person. After all, there are all kinds of people these days, and Japanese high school students can be quite scary. Kato, could you tell me who she is? Also, where is her clubroom?"

"Just asking, Yukiteru-kun, you wouldn't do anything bad, would you?"

"Ahem... Don't worry, I'm just going to teach the younger generation a lesson, to stop them from always trying to make a big splash. Besides, Yukino will be coming with me, so it's fine." Yukiteru said somewhat awkwardly. Actually, he had initially planned to punish her a little.

Although she still had some doubts, Kato Megumi still told the junior's name and the location of the club room before returning to her own class.

Leaving here and walking down the corridor, Xuehui muttered to himself with a strange expression: "Hatake Ranko? That name sounds familiar... Oh~ she's that member of the dirty joke student council. But how come such a troublesome person has appeared? Well, never mind, let's go check out her hideout first. It's during class time, so she can't just blatantly skip class."

Afterwards, Yukiteru took out his phone and contacted Yukino. The two of them then headed towards the laboratory building after class, where the news club's headquarters were located.

"Are we really okay to come out of class?" Yukino asked, walking beside him with a worried expression.

"It's best to go when it's time for class. Besides, I've already told Sister Jing that it's not a whole class and we can go back quickly. And since we're first and second in the grade, the teacher won't say much."

“Taking advantage of my good grades to do whatever I want is not my style,” Yukino said, clearly uncomfortable with this kind of truancy.

"Well, a life without skipping classes isn't perfect, you know, girl."

Xuehui smiled slightly at the girl beside him, and she could only return a helpless expression.

And so, while everyone else was engrossed in their lessons, the two of them arrived at a classroom in the laboratory building.

Standing at the door, Yukino reached out and pulled the door shut, locking it.

Yukino looked at Yukiteru, who smiled and gestured for Yukino to move aside.

"In times like these, we should let the professionals handle it." He placed his hand on the doorknob, quickly made a hand seal, and then pulled it to the side, opening the door with a click.

"How about it, do you want to learn it? This spell isn't too difficult to learn."

Yukino slightly pursed her lips. Yukiteru had brought up similar issues with her recently, but Yukino still wanted to focus on her studies. Besides, he had brought some supposedly powerful spirit charms, and with the three of them each carrying one, there was no need to worry about their safety.

“I wouldn’t learn this; it makes me look like a thief.”

"Hmm... I can't argue with that. But I only use it in special circumstances. Come on, let's go in."

As they spoke, Yukiteru and Yukino walked into the dimly lit room together.

Logically, sunlight should be streaming into the room, but in this classroom, all the windows were indeed drawn with curtains.

"Looks like they really have a lot hidden away."

The dim light didn't affect Yukino much. She walked to the window, pulled back the curtains, and saw the classroom's layout.

"Wow, so much stuff!"

Indeed, even Yukino was shocked when she saw the equipment displayed in the classroom.

'Just as I remembered, he's someone who doesn't lack money.'

On the tables pushed together in the classroom, there was a lot of equipment: several SLR cameras, video cameras, lenses of various sizes, and even two tripods.

Even someone like Xuehui, who isn't into photography, could tell from this pile of stuff that it must have cost a considerable amount.

"Xuehui, there's a computer here."

Upon hearing Yukino's voice, Yukiteru walked to another part of the classroom, where a laptop was placed.

"Luckily, that guy probably thought it was absolutely safe here, so he simply didn't turn off his phone."

The computer screen was simply off; it hadn't even gone into hibernation mode, which showed that the other party was very confident in their base. However, all of this seemed incredibly fragile to Xuehui.

Opening the hard drive files, Yukiteru quickly found a series of photos of Yukino and Yukiteru stored inside. Unexpectedly, the other party had only released a small portion; some photos, such as Yukiteru going to Yukino's class to find her, were also included.

Fortunately, no photos of him and Shiyu together were found. The only place he and Shiyu usually interacted was in the Service Club, so he probably couldn't have taken any pictures.

"However... these photos don't seem to have been taken with any equipment." Looking at the dozen or so photos of himself and Yukino at the supermarket, Yukiteru raised an eyebrow. A cell phone? It seems like they just happened to run into each other.

Looking at these photos, Yukino felt not only angry, but also extremely ashamed. Although there weren't any particularly explicit photos, Yukino still found it hard to accept the intimate way the two people looked in the pictures.

"What should we do with these photos? Delete them?" Yukino asked Yukiteru.

"It would be a shame to delete them. I wanted to keep a few of the better ones as souvenirs."

After being glared at by Yukino a few times, Yukiteru had no choice but to give up and made a phone call. Two minutes later, two bodyguards arrived at the classroom.

"Please take all this equipment back to my apartment, including this laptop, but don't turn it off."

"Yes." The two bodyguards didn't ask any further questions and quickly moved the things away as Xuehui had instructed.

"Wouldn't this be a bit inappropriate?" Yukino was somewhat surprised by Yukiteru's return.

"Don't worry, it's just temporary detention, just putting her out of the loop for a few days. These devices aren't actually that important to her; what's important are the photos and data stored inside. And my purpose isn't just that." Xuehui revealed a wicked smile at this point, "These days, people like this are hard to find."

With that, Yukiteru left a note and then left the classroom with Yukino.

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Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Today, I'm again feeling short and powerless. I apologize for the limited time; this is all I can manage in terms of word count.

Chapter 143: Getting the third draw isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Since it only took about 15 minutes, the teacher didn't say much when they returned to the classroom.

The teachers all knew a little about what happened in the newspaper this morning. They wouldn't publicly endorse the top two students in their grade; they could only remain silent. Of course, some of the younger teachers were silently fed a bit of "dog food" (a Chinese slang term for witnessing public displays of affection).

After that, these matters had nothing to do with Xuehui. Although he could have directly contacted the school to resolve the root cause, in the end, all they did was ask them to tear the newspaper down.

This matter concerning Hata Ranko is a welcome break from the usual boring studies, so it can't end so soon.

After school, Xuehui and Shiyu left the school together and took a car to this place to buy furniture and decorate Shiyu's room.

Meanwhile, in the school's laboratory building, in the former club room, a mournful cry was heard.

A short-haired girl was kneeling in the club room, which was now half empty of equipment, staring blankly at the floor.

"Gone, all gone... My photos, all the material I painstakingly collected, for several issues..."

Standing at the doorway, watching this scene, Kato Megumi blinked, her calm voice emanating from her: "Um... shouldn't we be worried about our camera equipment right now?"

“Those things are fine, you can buy a whole bunch for a little money! The key is those precious photos on the memory cards!” Hata Ranko turned her head and appeared next to Kato Megumi as if she had teleported, grabbing the other’s shoulder and saying repeatedly, “As a journalist whose mission is to seek the truth, although equipment is essential for survival, the most heartbreaking thing is when perfect material that has been obtained is gone!!! Megumi-senpai, you must understand!”

"Um... I don't quite understand, but it seems to make some sense."

Kato Megumi felt a little uncomfortable with the face so close to hers. She glanced at the face and saw a note stuck on the blackboard. She nudged the girl, who was still lost in grief and seemed to be thinking about calling the police, and said, "Over there, that looks like a message."

"Leave a message or something doesn't matter...leave a message?!"

Ranko Hata immediately realized what was happening, ran to the blackboard, took down the note stuck to it, and read the words on it.

"Hey girl, I saw your newspaper too, but your headline is really problematic. Young man, it's better to be truthful and not always try to get attention with sensational headlines. Leave your camera and other equipment with me for a few days and think carefully about how to treat your seniors. I'll come visit again next Monday."

P.S.: The photos are good, but this won't happen again.

After putting down the note, Hata Ranko paused for three seconds before turning around and running towards Kato Megumi again, this time sticking herself to her.

"Senior Hui, I'm being bullied! Please help me!!!"

"Um...we're not that close yet, are we?"

"As a prospective member, it's your inescapable responsibility to help retrieve the club's equipment!!!"

"Ah~ I don't think I've said I wanted to join yet..." Kato Megumi calmly rejected Hata Ranko's plea for help, then pushed her away and looked at her, saying, "I saw the note too. Don't worry, although I'm not very familiar with Hiratsuka-kun, he's not a bad person. Just apologize properly next Monday, that should be enough."

"Don't add 'should' or 'should', it makes me very uneasy! And how did they even get in? I replaced this lock with a high-security lock that had several extra security features! And with so many things being taken, why didn't anyone see it?" After losing all her equipment, Hata Ranko was filled with one question after another.

Kato Megumi listened to the other person's self-talk without saying anything, but her eyes gleamed with an inexplicable light.

Her acquaintance with Yukiteru stemmed from her connection with Aki Tomoya, but to be honest, they didn't interact much. Although the girl was always unassuming, this very unassuming nature allowed her to observe everything around her more effectively from an outsider's perspective. Though subtle, she could tell that this Hiratsuka Yukiteru wasn't an ordinary person, and his relationship with Kasumigaoka-senpai seemed to have changed recently.

Of course, Kato Megumi is not a talkative person; she feels that the perspective of an observer suits her better.

Seeing that Hata Ranko was already thinking about how to change the lock on the door, Kato Megumi thought that joining this club, which wasn't really a club, might not be a bad thing.

That evening, Xuehui and Shiyu visited several stores and finally bought a set of furniture. After having dinner outside, Xuehui returned home. When he took Shiyu home, she gave him a sweet kiss, clearly pleased with herself.

Although shopping, especially buying furniture, was more tiring than he had imagined, the small reward at the end made him feel better.

However, Yukino didn't seem to be in a good mood, and she wouldn't say anything when asked.

Yeah, of course I won't say.

The reason is that Yukino, Shizuka, and Utaha actually have a chat group. After Utaha got home, she immediately sent more than ten photos of the two of them shopping, eating, and strolling together to the chat group.

There was no other meaning behind it; it was just a way of showing off how great it was to have won first place.

Yukino was unaware of these things. After taking a shower, she stayed in her bedroom making plans. Although Yukino was a little upset that she didn't get the first draw in the semi-date furniture shopping event, it might actually turn out to be a good thing in the end.

"Will it be ready by tomorrow afternoon? Okay, I'll come and pick it up then, thanks."

"Not at all, Mr. Hiratsuka, we welcome custom orders like this. If you are satisfied, please come back to us again in the future." A middle-aged man on the other end of the phone was smiling kindly.

"Sure, we'll definitely get more orders in the future."

After exchanging a few words, Xuehui hung up the phone and looked at several photos on her computer screen, ranging from sketches to unfinished works. Besides these, there was a photo with a completely different style—a pair of small items that Xuehui had spent a long time selecting.

"It seems I can't hide it from Sister Jing anymore tomorrow."

Sure enough, the next day, after purchasing the furniture, Xuehui deliberately took a detour to a shop to pick up the customized items. Xiaojing looked at Xuehui with a very strange expression in the car.

"When did you start having so many ideas?"

"Isn't this normal? What, you want one too, Shizuka-nee? Sorry, this one is for Yukino. As for Shizuka-nee, how about I give you something special for your birthday?" Smiling, Yuki put the small box in his pocket and took Shizuka-nee's hand.

"You said it yourself, and my birthday is only a few months away." Sister Xiaojing didn't seem to have any complaints about Xuehui's words. She had already received a lot, and it wasn't like she hadn't received anything at all.