After Transmigrating to Become Lady Skylark - Chapter 58

Chapter 58

After school, Jin Chaoyan made a special trip to a real estate agency. After looking at several rental apartments with reasonable prices and decent environments, she happened to run into a Disciplinary Committee member out on patrol. Seeing the real estate agent beside her, he asked in shock:

“Do you want to move out of the Chairman’s house?”

His expression looked as if he were witnessing a messy divorce.

The woman waved her hand with a smile, recognizing him as one of the members who had accompanied her to collect protection fees earlier. “No, it’s for my sister. She’s quite timid, and her home environment isn’t great. If she wants to move out on her own later, I plan to help her scope things out first.”

Reminded of this, the member belatedly remembered her status as a transfer student and nodded quickly. “Rest assured, I will mention this to the Vice-Chairman. If we encounter her, we will take special care—”

“No need for ‘special care,'” Jin Chaoyan shook her head. “She’s very timid and easily frightened. But if possible, if you see her being bullied in the future, could you lend a hand?”

“Of course!”

The member, who had been saved by her at the beach, immediately patted his chest. He promised without hesitation that they wouldn’t disrupt her sister’s life but wouldn’t sit idly by if she were bullied. Before leaving, he even went out of his way to buy her a cup of room-temperature milk tea.

Jin Chaoyan, suddenly receiving an offering from Hibari’s underling: “?”

She froze for a moment, looking down at the milk tea. “Why is it room temperature?”

What soul does a milk tea have without ice!

The underling scratched his head, looking a bit embarrassed. “Well… for girls on their period, isn’t it true you can’t have ice?”

Jin Chaoyan: “???”

Just how many people know about this now!

Sucking on the straw, Jin Chaoyan returned to the Hibari residence with her “soulless” milk tea. The boy hadn’t returned yet, likely out patrolling the streets again.

She finished today’s homework, organized her class notes from the past few days, and took out the box containing the six million yen in protection fees she had collected for Hibari, along with the rental information she gathered today. After some thought, she began calling 001 in her consciousness.

“Dear 001, how can I pull an SS-rank Greed Island card in a single ten-pull?”

001 replied instantly: “Adjusting the gacha rate for you. Ten billion yen for one ten-pull chance, with a guaranteed SS-rank card.”

Jin Chaoyan: “You’re just straight-up robbing me now, aren’t you?”

She couldn’t even remember how many SS-rank cards were in Greed Island. If she spent ten billion and didn’t get the one she wanted, she might actually die of anger on the spot.

001: “Your luck in transmigrating is at the ‘Gacha King’ level. Why not give it a try? You might pull the card you want in just one go.”

Jin Chaoyan: “Is that so? I don’t believe it. Unless—”

She immediately entered the BOOK gacha page on the store’s virtual projection and clicked for a single pull, choosing to spend 500,000 yen for one try.

A card immediately popped up in front of her. The border was a simple black frame, looking very ordinary—until the light on the card face faded, revealing its number, name, and rank.

17, Breath of Archangel, SS-3

Jin Chaoyan: “!”

The hand holding the card trembled slightly.

Damn! Am I actually a Gacha King?!

001, who usually only appeared to answer questions, actually lost its robotic persona for once and sent a rare message: “Tch.”

Having missed out on a ten-billion-yen windfall, the “scam store’s” annoyance drifted through Jin Chaoyan’s consciousness. But she had no time to care; she was still immersed in the thrill of pulling the rarest card from Greed Island for a mere 500,000 yen.

After her heart pounded wildly for five minutes, she barely managed to steady herself and asked 001: “Since I’m this lucky, if I go out and buy a lottery ticket right now, wouldn’t I…?”

001: “Go ahead and try.”

Jin Chaoyan thought for a long time before shaking her head. She decided against it. According to the Law of Conservation of Luck, her current good days were traded for her previous life. Besides, she wasn’t short on money now; there was no need to waste her luck like that.

Because the card was too precious, she didn’t know where to put it for now, so she left it in the BOOK slot. After putting it away, she took out a stack of stationery and began researching how to explain the current situation to the original host and encourage her to pull herself together and live a good life.

The clock passed ten.

Jin Chaoyan was carefully sealing envelopes when she heard a familiar yet strangely labored set of footsteps in the hallway. She froze for a moment, then dropped what she was doing and rushed to pull open the door. Before she could clearly see the boy in the shadows, the words were already out:

“Are you injured?”

“…No.”

Kyoya Hibari raised a hand to peel off the bandage Shamal had applied to the side of his face. He pursed his lips, calmly intending to keep walking, but was gently caught by the sleeve of his jacket. “I want to help heal you. Don’t worry, it’s no trouble and very fast. May I?”

The abrasion on his face, looking like it had been scorched by a bullet, was far too obvious. It gave his slightly boyish face a hint of dishevelment, marring his usual cold and aloof aura.

Jin Chaoyan realized she didn’t like seeing him injured at all. Nor did she want him to be like a lone wolf, retreating to the darkness to wait for his wounds to heal alone every time.

Hibari stopped and met her gaze. After a moment, he said slowly, “Didn’t you say that kind of trick was a one-time thing?”

That was a gesture of consent.

Jin Chaoyan’s eyes crinkled into a smile. “But I never said I only knew that one trick, did I?”

She pulled on his sleeve, and the youth followed her into the brightly lit hall. After he sat down in the center of the exquisite washitsu, the free-roaming Hibird flew in from outside, flapping its wings to land on the window frame, chirping:

“Hibari~ Hibari~”

He and the woman turned their heads at the same time. Jin Chaoyan, focused on the wound on his face, coaxed Hibird without looking up, “Be good, Hibird baby. Wait until I finish this, and then I’ll get you something to eat, okay?”

Hearing her coaxing his pet from such a close distance, Hibari’s expression shifted slightly. But in the end, he just sat there obediently until her palm hovered over his cheek—

[Reverse Cursed Technique] activated.

The pain and fatigue throughout his body were healed by an invisible force.

She truly didn’t make him wait long.

Hibari lowered his eyes and suddenly asked, “Can you not say the name of this move either?”

“I can,” Jin Chaoyan told him the name and the principle behind it, then changed the subject. “Did you go to take Reborn’s trial?”

“Mhm.” The youth nodded calmly, then added, “It wasn’t because of the trial. I’ve wanted to fight that infant for a long time. He is strong.”

“Yes, he is the world’s greatest hitman.” Jin Chaoyan thought of the fight between the future Hibari and Reborn. At that time, the killing intent in the training room was like a grade-ten gale, with sand and stones flying everywhere. The speed of their exchanges was something she could barely capture even with her Sharingan active.

Seeing the sharp battle intent and the faint frustration in the eyes of the boy before her, Jin Chaoyan snapped back to reality and said to him, “But you are also very strong. Next time, you definitely won’t lose, right?”

“Of course.”

Hibari nodded with a proud expression, accepting her words as a matter of course.

A youth’s spirit is strong and unbridled. At fifteen, he never held back—nor did he need to. He was the world’s sharpest blade; once drawn, it would only be sheathed after drawing blood.

Jin Chaoyan propped her chin on one hand, leaning against the low desk nearby. She looked warmly at this youth who was slightly different from the twenty-five-year-old Kyoya Hibari, yet was a fascinating snapshot of a stage in his life. Suddenly, she felt very fortunate to have made this trip ten years into the past.

—She had reaped an unexpected, delightful scenery.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Hibari noticed her gaze. He had never been stared at so directly, nor had anyone dared to watch him for so long. He asked with a strange expression.

“Sorry,” Jin Chaoyan realized her gaze was too forward and shifted slightly. “I just thought… you’re very good-looking.”

And very cute. But her intuition told her that the “runaway princess” at this stage didn’t like hearing such praise, so she kept it to herself.

Hibari, of course, knew he was good-looking. Every year when the Namimori freshmen enrolled, there were always girls who hadn’t heard the rumors and would secretly watch him—until they saw him “biting herbivores to death.” Then, those quietly budding crushes would be strangled in the cradle.

And as for thugs like Shamal, they even dared to flirt with him to his face, asking if he had any sisters who looked like him.

However…

He calmly stared back. “You can look.”

“What?”

Jin Chaoyan didn’t react in time, her gaze unexpectedly locking with his grey-blue phoenix eyes, just as she heard him repeat each word clearly:

“If it’s you, you can look.”

“!”

In that instant, Jin Chaoyan finally understood the meaning of the phrase “dazzled by beauty.” Because just for those words from the fifteen-year-old Hibari, she was willing to use every healing skill in her warehouse on him.

Even with his permission, Jin Chaoyan didn’t dare to be too bold. After asking Hibari, she got up to find some food for Hibird. When she returned, the youth was rarely still in the hall, having not left yet.

Receiving her curious gaze, Hibari tilted his chin slightly, remembering the condition she had proposed after helping him heal last time—asking to attend school in Namimori. “This time… is there a condition you want to exchange for?”

“Since you put it that way—”

Jin Chaoyan thought for a moment. “There is indeed something I want to discuss with you. Regarding the six million in protection fees from before, can I treat it as a loan? Because the Jin Chaoyan of ten years ago has run into a bit of trouble. If this money is lent to her, she can slowly pay you back with bank interest once she’s able to do work-study…”

“Didn’t I say you could handle it?”

Hibari didn’t expect her to still be thinking about that money and knit his brows in confusion. He was naturally impatient and disliked hearing others harp on the same subject.

“It’s different.”

Jin Chaoyan saw the change in his expression and softened her tone, explaining as simply as possible. “The Jin Chaoyan from ten years ago isn’t me. She and I are two completely different, independent individuals.”

Hibari: “?”

She hadn’t expected to have to come clean to his fifteen-year-old self, but seeing that the boy was being rarely patient, Jin Chaoyan told him about the contractual marriage and the transmigration. When she finished, she observed his expression with interest.

In the end, she couldn’t see a thing.

Hibari let her study him. Hearing such an incredible story didn’t seem to shock him much. He was just quiet for a moment before asking slowly, “So, this herbivore from ten years ago who looks just like you… isn’t strong and doesn’t have these flashy tricks?”

In the end, you care most about combat power, don’t you!

Jin Chaoyan choked for a second. Thinking of the original host’s personality and upbringing, she nodded helplessly. “Yes.” She added, “And she’s exceptionally timid. Her heart disease also flares up easily.”

Hibari’s interest vanished instantly. He replied with dwindling enthusiasm, “Tell her to hand the money over to the Vice-Chairman.”

“Okay.”

Jin Chaoyan nodded. Thinking of the “flashy tricks” he mentioned, she steered the topic back. “Do you prefer close-quarters combat and refined techniques? I get the feeling you don’t really like my abilities.”

“I don’t dislike them—”

Hibari curled his lips slightly. His grey-blue eyes sparkled under the room’s lights. Looking at her from beneath his black bangs, he said:

“If it’s you using them, they’re quite interesting.”

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