"Wait..."
He raised his hand, gesturing, and lifted the bento box in his hand, "Let me finish eating first."
Saying that, he opened the bento box and, without savoring his own cooking, sped up his swallowing.
Unexpectedly, the gaze of the person beside him had a hint of strangeness.
"Gugu…"
"What's that sound?"
Izumi Chihiro vaguely heard a sound, turned his head to look, but found that Kasumigaoka Senior's gaze was directed at the computer screen, though the flush on her earlobes still betrayed her.
"Gugu…"
The faint sound rang out again.
This time, the evidence was conclusive.
"Kasumigaoka Senior, you must be hungry, right? It doesn't look like you prepared a bento either."
Izumi Chihiro asked tentatively.
"That's right, I woke up too late this morning, didn't even eat breakfast, and forgot my bento…"
Seeing that she couldn't deny it, Kasumigaoka Utaha candidly replied.
She was truly starving right now.
"Why don't you go to the convenience store and buy some bread?"
Izumi Chihiro continued.
"Junior-kun, are you playing dumb, or do you really not understand a woman's heart? How could I possibly squeeze into such a small convenience store with all those people."
Kasumigaoka Utaha looked at him askance, speaking with a disdainful tone, "This is a great irony for a scumbag who says 'I want it all' right off the bat."
"Still trying to act tough with your words? You're practically out of breath."
Izumi Chihiro remained unmoved.
"Gugu…"
Kasumigaoka Utaha unconsciously pressed her hand to her stomach, then looked over with bright eyes.
Though she was self-reliant, she wouldn't harbor the naive thought of 'not accepting charity'.
Seeing her gaze fixed on him, how could Izumi Chihiro still eat his meal?
Such a beautiful senior in black stockings was waiting for him to feed her!
Having maintained contact for over a year, he couldn't remain indifferent.
"Alright, I'll share some with you."
Izumi Chihiro sighed.
Anyway, he could resupply when he went home in the afternoon, but Kasumigaoka Senior looked so 'pitifully' adorable.
"Here."
He picked up a piece of rolled omelet with his chopsticks and offered it to his right, but Kasumigaoka Senior's subsequent actions completely caught him off guard.
"I accept your kind offer, Junior-kun."
Kasumigaoka Utaha moved her computer aside, then pulled her cascading long hair back, leaned forward slowly, bit off the rolled omelet with her rosy lips, and then licked the tip of the chopsticks with her small tongue, exuding an indescribable allure.
"H-huh!?"
Izumi Chihiro almost lost his composure.
"Couldn't you just use your hand?"
He glanced at the saliva on the chopsticks and said urgently.
"Ah, I forgot."
Kasumigaoka Utaha licked the corner of her mouth, still seeming to savor the moment.
"This couldn't be that indirect kiss, could it!"
She pretended to be flustered.
Izumi Chihiro's expression became even more awkward.
Such an action was truly beyond his scope, as someone who had never been in love.
"Ahem, the rest is all for you, Kasumigaoka Senior. The food I've eaten is enough to last until after school."
He directly handed over the bento box and chopsticks.
Seeing his somewhat embarrassed appearance, Kasumigaoka Utaha's smile widened, even as her earlobes turned red.
Didn't that just prove it?
Who said someone who writes love stories necessarily understands love? The teacher is actually just like her, merely for show.
Indeed, only a virgin would say 'I want it all'!
…
While Kasumigaoka Utaha was eating.
Izumi Chihiro also picked up his laptop and opened the document for the fifth volume of love metronome.
During this year since her debut, Kasumigaoka Utaha had spent an average of over three months updating each volume, which was quite diligent.
Because a large number of authors update at a rate of four months per volume, or even longer, or even 'only update when they remember something'.
With meticulous crafting, abundant talent, and his guidance, which helped her avoid detours, love metronome's average per-volume sales had now reached nearly 200,000, making her a pillar of the industry.
Although his guidance was very successful, he believed Kasumigaoka Senior's talent and effort were even more important.
Her literary talent was self-evident, consistently maintaining a perfect score, at a super-high school level, and she was even invited to write scripts for the drama club. Her writing skill upon debut had already reached the level he had spent a long time achieving.
As for effort, she stayed up all night every day, making up for sleep during classes, and occasionally, when an exciting writing topic came up, she would argue with him for several hours.
Therefore, she achieved results far surpassing the same period in the original work.
A volume's story typically contained around 100,000 characters, and a careful reading would certainly not be enough in the remaining half hour, so he used a 'quantum reading method' for rapid reading, almost reading ten lines at a glance.
In the past, when he read some formulaic online novels, he used this method, which also meant that such works usually failed to leave a deep impression on him.
"Clatter."
Kasumigaoka Utaha closed the bento box and, seeing that he was still reading, didn't disturb him.
After putting down the bento box, she crossed her legs, propped her chin on one hand, and quietly watched everything.
"I'm done."
Soon, Izumi Chihiro withdrew his gaze and was about to chat with Kasumigaoka senpai when he turned his head and found her staring intently at him, her wine-red pupils as captivating as an abyss.
"Uh."
"Teacher, I've been waiting for you for a long time."
Kasumigaoka Utaha suddenly straightened up, stretched, and displayed her perfect body curves.
Izumi Chihiro instinctively averted his gaze.
Afterward, the two fully exchanged writing opinions, each benefiting from the discussion.
"Speaking of which, the plot of love metronome has already reached its mid-to-late stage, hasn't it, Kasumigaoka senpai? How many more volumes do you plan to write?"
Finally, he asked this question.
The early revisions prevented the work from relying solely on a strong finish, but the exact length still depended on the creator's wishes.
"Seven volumes in total, I think.
After all, it's my first light novel, so I need to carefully consider the ending to ensure I don't disappoint my readers."
Kasumigaoka Utaha looked at the blue sky and white clouds, her gaze distant.
"Rather than that, I'd like Junior-kun to guess who will be the final victor between Sayuka and Mami?"
She withdrew her gaze and turned to ask.
"Of course I want…"
Izumi Chihiro, without thinking, made a fist.
"All of them!"
"As expected, just go die ten thousand times, Scumbag-kun!"
Kasumigaoka Utaha smiled sweetly, but her voice was exceptionally cold.
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💯 PS = 2 bonus chapter