Chapter 55

"Lord Aoyama, can you help me with my training tonight?" The email from Suginami Fukuyuki read.

"No problem," Aoyama replied quickly.

Soon after the school bell rang, Suginami Fukuyuki appeared at the door of Aoyama's classroom, standing there gracefully and waiting quietly for Aoyama.

All the students who were coming and going looked at Suginami Fukuyuki with puzzled eyes, not knowing who she was waiting for. It wasn't until Aoyama walked out of the classroom and called her "Lord Aoyama, good afternoon," that the students realized Suginami Fukuyuki was waiting for Aoyama, and she even called him "Lord Aoyama."

Instantly, anger and gossip flared up in everyone's hearts. Thus, everyone watched with their eyes as Aoyama and Suginami Fukuyuki left, until they were far away, and then everyone burst into loud discussions.

Suginami Fukuyuki always kept half a step behind Aoyama. The two discussed the various problems Suginami Fukuyuki encountered during her training, but mostly it was Suginami Fukuyuki asking questions and Aoyama answering them.

Thus, the two left the school without changing their expressions, despite the entire school's gaze.

Don't be fooled by Suginami Fukuyuki's hesitation over whether to greet Aoyama by email; it was just because she cared so much about Aoyama's opinion of her.

But when it came to these ordinary classmates she didn't care about, even hundreds of people watching and whispering from a distance, Suginami Fukuyuki could remain calm and composed.

As for Aoyama, this small scene was not enough to shake him.

Thus, the two left the school boldly, waited for the train at the station, and then took the train to Aoyama's apartment.

After getting off the train and walking for ten minutes, they arrived at Aoyama's apartment.

Even from a distance, Aoyama could see a long luxury car parked near the apartment and the beautiful female driver sitting in the driver's seat, waiting as usual.

Thus, Aoyama knew that Yamawaki Natsu had come to visit Kitagawa Koko again.

This was the first time Suginami Fukuyuki had come to Aoyama's apartment, so as they got closer, her nervousness grew, though it was not visible from the outside.

"Koko, good afternoon! Yamawaki, good afternoon," Aoyama greeted as he walked into the small courtyard of the apartment, where Kitagawa Koko and Yamawaki Natsu were still sitting on the wooden floor under the eaves, drinking tea.

"Aoyama-kun, good afternoon," Kitagawa Koko greeted first, followed by Yamawaki Natsu, who said, "Uesugi-kun, good afternoon."

Then Kitagawa Koko saw Suginami Fukuyuki following Aoyama into the courtyard and smiled, "Aoyama-kun, you really bring girls back here often!"

"Hey, don't make it sound like I'm a playboy," Aoyama laughed.

At this point, Yamawaki Natsu also recognized Suginami Fukuyuki and asked curiously, "Isn't that Suginami-san?"

"Yamawaki-san is here too, good afternoon," Suginami Fukuyuki also recognized Yamawaki Natsu and greeted her.

"Suginami-san, good afternoon," Yamawaki Natsu replied.

As the two top beauties of the school, although they didn't have a deep relationship and hadn't spoken much, they at least knew of each other's existence, so they recognized each other immediately.

"An acquaintance?" Kitagawa Koko asked curiously.

"Yep, we're classmates at the same school," Aoyama said.

"I see! Nice to meet you, I'm Kitagawa Koko, the manager of this apartment. Please take care of me, little one," Kitagawa Koko introduced herself to Suginami Fukuyuki.

"Nice to meet you, Kitagawa-san. I'm Suginami Fukuyuki. Please take care of me," Suginami Fukuyuki introduced herself.

"So your name is Suginami Fukuyuki. You can just call me Koko, no need to be so formal," Koko said in her usual friendly manner.

"Calling you by your name on our first meeting would be too impolite. Please forgive me, Kitagawa-san," Suginami Fukuyuki refused seriously.

Faced with such a serious Suginami Fukuyuki, even the friendly Kitagawa Koko was momentarily intimidated by her presence.

Thus, the issue of how to address each other was left unresolved.

"Since it's rare to see Suginami-san outside of school, why don't we have a cup of tea together?" Yamawaki Natsu invited.

"I'm very sorry, but I have some important matters to attend to today at Lord Aoyama's place, so I must decline your offer, Yamawaki-san," Suginami Fukuyuki said.

"Ah? Is that so! Suginami-san, you call Uesugi-kun 'Lord Aoyama'?" Yamawaki Natsu squinted her eyes, looking at the two, wondering what was going on.

"Alright, we have things to do, so we'll head to my room first," Aoyama said as he walked into the apartment.

"Then, Kitagawa-san, Yamawaki-san, see you later," Suginami Fukuyuki bowed slightly and followed Aoyama into the apartment.

Aoyama opened the apartment door and let Suginami Fukuyuki into the room.

"The room is small, please bear with it!" Aoyama said as he gestured for Suginami Fukuyuki to sit down.

"Not at all, a smaller room feels more comfortable and is easier to clean," Suginami Fukuyuki replied immediately.

"Alright, let me introduce you. This is Shiro Oni, who is like my familiar," Aoyama pointed to the opposite side of the table where Suginami Fukuyuki was sitting.

Suginami Fukuyuki was initially stunned, but then she saw a figure kneeling on the opposite side of the table, which had been empty a moment ago.

Instantly, Suginami Fukuyuki instinctively became alert and reached for the katana disguised as a bamboo sword in her bamboo sword bag.

But then she reacted and asked Aoyama, "You said she is? A familiar?"

"Yep, to be precise, she can't be called a familiar, but if you want to understand it in a way that Japanese people can grasp, you can think of her as a familiar, or at least something similar," Aoyama explained as he sat down at the table.

"Nice to meet you, Suginami-san! No, I can't say it's our first meeting, because I have actually seen you before! But this might be the first time you've seen me," Shiro Oni said politely.

"Yes, this is the first time I've seen you! You said you've seen me before?" Suginami Fukuyuki asked, puzzled.

"Yes, when you first met the master, I was there too, but you couldn't see me," Shiro Oni explained.

"What exactly are you? What kind of existence?" Suginami Fukuyuki asked, frowning, because Shiro Oni's state was too strange. Although she looked real overall, her edges were like a phantom, constantly shifting between reality and illusion.

"I was just an ordinary ghost before, but then I met Lord Aoyama," Shiro Oni answered succinctly.

"Ghost? Are there really ghosts in this world?" Suginami Fukuyuki was completely stunned.

Although she had already mastered the advanced cultivation technique "Yōmei-jutsu," she still didn't know some of the common knowledge in the cultivation world, which was exactly what Aoyama planned to help her catch up on in the future.

******

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