Can't We Skip Dating?

As soon as those words were spoken, the atmosphere in the room shifted.

Akira had anticipated some reaction, but when he noticed that the looks in everyone's eyes were stranger than expected, he felt something was off.

He glanced at Utaha.

Utaha turned her head away.

Great. This woman had definitely been talking behind his back again.

"Excuse me… when you say 'take her in,' you mean…" Sorata cautiously asked.

Since it was impossible to explain away cleanly, Akira decided to go all in. 

After all, he was someone with a bit of a dark sense of humor, and playing the villain was something he genuinely enjoyed.

"Putting it nicely, you could call it employment," Akira said with a cheerful smile. 

"As for the other terms—adoption, fostering, keeping, caging, training—take your pick. Whichever sounds best to you."

After a brief silence, the room descended into utter chaos.

"Ehhhhh?! Is our little Nanami going to be turned into a pet and locked in a cage with a collar?!" cried Misaki, practically vibrating with excitement.

"Sorata, what's 'keeping' mean? Is it something you can eat?" asked the clueless blonde girl.

"Phew… training and caging and all that… that sounds way too exciting," said Jin, holding his nose dramatically.

"Waaah, to be kept by such a young and handsome guy… so lucky… so lucky…" added the teacher, her expression a mix of envy, jealousy, and regret.

Things had once again gone far beyond what Akira had expected.

But considering this place was known as a gathering spot for eccentrics, maybe it wasn't all that strange.

And so, in this room full of commotion, the one person who stared at them all with an expression of indescribable confusion—Utaha—ended up looking like the only normal one.

No—there was still one other genuine normal person, whose face was completely blank.

"Everyone, wait a second! Just wait!!" Sorata's eyes widened in shock as he struggled to bring order to the chaos. 

"That's keeping! As in, you know… that thing…"

"Oh, come now, what's so bad about it?" Jin said cheerfully, slinging an arm around Sorata's shoulder. 

"At the very least, he's helping Aoyama, isn't he? And besides, something like this… shouldn't we ask Aoyama herself how she feels?"

Without hesitation, Akira replied, "Of course. That's the prerequisite—and the bottom line."

After casually tossing out that key answer, Jin patted Sorata on the shoulder hard and beamed even brighter. 

"Hahaha! Then everything's totally fine! Oh, by the way, we haven't introduced ourselves yet. You are…?"

"Ogiwara Akira. A humble practitioner of the esoteric arts—mainly feng shui, funerals, and exorcisms." Akira slid a business card to the center of the table. 

"If you ever need anything, feel free to contact me. Since it's through Miss Aoyama, I'll give you a 30% discount."

Several heads immediately leaned in, full of curiosity about the profession listed on the card: Onmyou-sensei. 

Some even mistook it for Onmyouji—though that misunderstanding didn't last long. 

Just as it was about to take root, the screen of Sorata's phone on the table suddenly lit up—with a chibi maid character.

"Hi hi! Time for Maid-chan's Educational Corner! 'Onmyou-sensei' and 'Onmyouji' are actually different things!"

Akira looked at the animated, bubbly maid on the screen with great interest. 

If he remembered correctly, this AI was developed by the last and rarely-seen resident of Sakura Dorm—Akasaka Ryuunosuke.

Very few things could spark Akira's curiosity. 

But this AI absolutely qualified. It didn't just speak fluently—it had tone, gestures, and expressions. Its intelligence was already beyond scientific norms.

In Akira's eyes, Akasaka Ryuunosuke—who created something so ahead of its time—was an even more outrageous genius than Shiina Mashiro, who had reached the peak of the art world at such a young age.

After all, one could fly; the other was practically warping through time.

If someone later revealed that Akasaka Ryuunosuke was actually from the future, Akira wouldn't be surprised at all.

After finishing the explanation about the difference between Onmyou-sensei and Onmyouji, Maid-chan suddenly turned toward Akira and bowed.

"Hello! You must be the 'Unlucky Lucky Bird,' also known as the mysterious 'Mr. Sensei' from urban legend, right?"

The Unlucky Lucky Bird was Akira's nickname in high society. 

Since he always showed up to work dressed like someone attending a funeral—and he was usually invited rather than arriving unannounced—people had come up with a more flattering way to refer to his grim appearance.

As for the "Mr. Sensei" from the urban legend, that was the result of taking over Ichihara Yuuko's duties.

Unlike Akira, who mostly exploited wealthy clients, Yuuko would accept any job—so long as the person "should" have entered her shop. 

The requests she received ranged from the mundane to the bizarre, many coming from ordinary people.

As the part-timer who had made a deal with her, any job that couldn't be handled within the shop was dumped onto Akira. 

And so, the urban legend of "a certain witch" gradually morphed into "a certain gentleman."

"Not bad. Your information-gathering skills are impressive." Akira gave a small nod, acknowledging the remark.

"It's just basic data sorting, really. B-but…" Maid-chan hesitated for a moment, then shifted awkwardly. 

"Relying on such methods to make a living… Are you really okay with it? What if one day you're exposed? Wouldn't that cause trouble for Miss Aoyama?"

What was this—materialism provoking spiritualism?

Akira used to believe in science, until he transmigrated and became an Onmyou-sensei. 

So now, facing a challenge with such obvious provocation, he didn't bother playing dumb anymore.

"Akasaka Ryuunosuke." Akira grinned maliciously and directly called out the creator's name. 

"If you give me your birth date and time, I can tell you—right here and now—the last time you wet the bed… and exactly which woman you're destined to fall for."

Maid-chan froze on the screen, as if she had crashed.

Seriously—why would a high schooler from Japan who might very well be the one to push humanity's tech into the future try to provoke a supernatural cheat-wielding transmigrator from China? 

The former might achieve greatness, sure—but the latter could kill him.

Isn't being alive a good thing?

"All right. If there's nothing else, I'll be heading out. Someone should be delivering a tonic soup soon. 

If Miss Aoyama is still asleep, please leave it somewhere she can see when she wakes."

With that as his closing statement, Akira stood up and made his exit.

His main goal here had been to clear up any unnecessary suspicion around Nanami. Now that he'd achieved that, there was no need to linger.

Of course, Akira wasn't about to assume everyone would behave just like "in the original story," so he left one last reminder:

"One more thing. I don't want to hear any negative rumors about Miss Aoyama after today's conversation. You all understand what I mean, right?"

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