Following the direction of Hayato's slender finger.
Aiya Yayoi mechanically turned her head.
Right at her doorstep, directly opposite, was an old apartment building.
However, her house was on the left side of the street, and the apartment was on the right.
"Eh—?" Aiya Yayoi dragged out a long, incredulous sound.
"Is something wrong?"
"You, you live here?"
"Yes," Hayato nodded and said, "Otherwise, why would I come to this place?"
Wow!
Although Hayato didn't explicitly say it, Aiya Yayoi's heart felt like it had been violently struck.
What are you feeling so good about yourself for!! Aiya Yayoi's face flushed with shame; he had no intention of taking advantage of her, he was just going home!!
"If it's still far, I suggest you call a taxi."
Hayato's calm words continued to kill Aiya Yayoi's "ordinary" yet confident fantasy: "And next time you buy things, don't just think about discounts and promotions; consider your own arm strength a bit."
"Hmm—"
More realistic words struck Aiya Yayoi's back like a giant hammer.
She struggled to straighten her back.
Ha, haha, so it was just like that, she was already a woman almost thirty, yet she was still fantasizing about a pure high school boy having feelings for her.
"No, no need," Aiya Yayoi pointed to her own house: "It's right here."
"So, we're neighbors."
Hayato glanced at it without much surprise: "Wow, a detached house."
"It's just a single-family home," Aiya Yayoi corrected.
Her house was a typical Japan single-family model.
For details, you can refer to the layout of Nobita's or Shin-chan's house.
Although it couldn't be considered luxurious, it was still much more affluent than Hayato's shabby apartment.
Hayato saw that the house number indeed said "Aiya," but he had never paid attention to it.
Hayato nodded, then turned and left without hesitation, unable to say goodbye.
"Wait," Aiya Yayoi called out to him.
Thinking about it, her inner thoughts just now were quite offensive to him, and besides, this brat really did help her carry such heavy things to her doorstep.
"Have you eaten?"
He shook his head.
"Come to my place for dinner; I bought so many dishes anyway."
He hesitated.
It wasn't shyness, but rather suspicion of Aiya Yayoi's cooking skills.
"And there's something I want to talk to you about," Aiya Yayoi said, "It's about Snake Mound George."
Hayato's dark pupils, as if sensing danger, instantly constricted to pinpricks.
He nodded.
To review, Snake Mound George was… the blond character in the notebook where Yayoi was.
Hayato followed Yayoi into her house.
Seeing Hayato curiously peeking around at the house's structure, Aiya Yayoi casually explained:
"My house has two floors in total, two people live here, me and Aiya Hiroshi; I usually live on the second floor, and Aiya Hiroshi lives on the first floor."
Then she sighed, as if complaining about something,
"As high school coursework becomes increasingly heavy, my communication with Aiya Hiroshi has also become less and less recently… And boys your age are the strangest; sometimes I really don't know what he's thinking."
Aiya Yayoi planned to cook first, then tell him about Snake Mound George.
Haste makes waste.
So Hayato didn't ask much; besides, Yayoi's stir-frying technique was quite skilled, and the smell was very fragrant, so there was no need to rush to escape.
After Yayoi mentioned "Aiya Hiroshi" a few times.
"I'm home—"
A leisurely voice reached the living room.
Next to the living room was an open-plan kitchen, and Yayoi responded without turning her head:
"Welcome home!"
Then.
Aiya Hiroshi had just thrown his crossbody backpack onto the sofa when his eyes met Hayato, who was sitting there.
"…Uh, who are you?"
Aiya Hiroshi was a bit confused.
His deceased brother was Aiya Yayoi's husband.
In other words, Yayoi was his sister-in-law.
And he had indeed just heard his sister-in-law's voice, which proved that the person sitting there wasn't a burglar.
Sister-in-law! Brought a man home!?
His brother had passed away seven years ago, and his sister-in-law was still very young.
Aiya Hiroshi didn't think his sister-in-law should remain a widow, and even when some Grandmas came to set her up, he would fan the flames and encourage his sister-in-law to attend.
So, his sister-in-law bringing a man home should have been a good thing.
But! Why was this man wearing the same school uniform as him!? Was he his classmate?
This was too abstract! There must be a difference of about ten years!
"Oh, Aiya Hiroshi."
Yayoi poked her graceful figure out from the kitchen, laughing heartily: "I happened to meet your classmate while shopping in Shibuya, and he helped me carry everything back, so I invited him to stay for dinner."
So that's how it was.
Aiya Hiroshi breathed a sigh of relief; he almost thought he was about to become kin with a schoolmate.
But, Aiya Hiroshi still eyed Hayato suspiciously.
The brat was quite tall… But, damn it, he was also a bit handsome.
Was it really a "chance" encounter? He knew that many boys at school had a crush on his sister-in-law! Maybe he manufactured the encounter.
But then Aiya Hiroshi somewhat frantically averted his gaze, because when you gaze into the abyss, the abyss smiles back at you.
Yes, Hayato smiled at him fearlessly, then looked back at him with interest.
As a male lecturer proficient in human nature, Hayato could immediately discern the emotions expressed in Aiya Hiroshi's eyes: "vigilance" and "caution."
That is to say, Aiya Hiroshi was afraid he would do something bad to Yayoi; this was a look similar to "protecting family."
However, there was no jealousy, which meant that the current Aiya Hiroshi had no romantic feelings for Yayoi yet.
As expected, it was still before the start of the plot; otherwise, Aiya Hiroshi shouldn't have only such pure feelings.
"Don't you two know each other?" Hearing no sound from outside, Yayoi in the kitchen began to ask.
She had heard Hayato mention Aiwu Guang's name before, and thought they at least had met.
"Don't know…" Aiya Hiroshi frowned.
He didn't have a good impression of such a flamboyant man, so he directly expressed his dissatisfaction with him, telling his sister-in-law not to bring him home next time.
"I'm going back to my room to do my homework," Aiya Hiroshi said, not even intending to exchange names with Hayato.
"Wait!" Yayoi-nee, however, called out to him, "I heard from a student who came to the infirmary earlier that you guys had a test this time, Aiya Hiroshi? How were your grades? Let me see your test paper."
She walked out of the kitchen, rubbing the water from her slender white hands onto her apron.
Aiya Hiroshi immediately felt as if he was facing a formidable enemy!
His body stiffened slightly, and his eyes were flustered and helpless.
Yayoi-nee then turned to Hayato and asked, "Hayato, how did you do on your test? You're also in the second year of high school, right?"
"How did you know—" Hayato was about to start reciting.
But then he thought that he had already pulled this stunt a few times, and doing it again would be a bit bland, so he just smiled shyly: "It was alright, pretty average."
"Hayato!?" Aiya Hiroshi was shocked by the surname: "...Wait, you're the Hayato from Baiqiu High School's second year? Hayato? The top student this time!?"
Hayato smiled even more shyly: "Just lucky, just lucky. Ah, I don't even want to bring it up."
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