"Sorry, I didn't bring the application form with me right now. Club recruitment is actually outside the auditorium. How about you wait for me here, and I'll go get it?"
Haruno was a decisive person. Since she got the result she wanted, she had to seal the deal quickly.
"You don't need to make another trip, senpai. How about this, senpai, leave me your Line. I still have some things to take care of here. Once I'm done, how about I find you at the recruitment area?"
As he spoke, Toru had already taken out his phone.
Haruno raised an eyebrow, half-smiling. "Fujiwara-kun, are you using 'having something to do' as an excuse just to get my Line?"
"Wanting your Line is true. Having something to do now is also true."
Toru glanced behind Haruno. His biological father and his wife had been waiting for a long time. Toru had actually noticed them a while ago.
Haruno generously pulled out her phone and exchanged Line with him. She gave her phone a shake. "Then it's settled, Fujiwara-kun. Don't go back on your word."
With that, she prepared to leave temporarily, but when she turned around and saw the two people behind her, she paused.
She recognized them too. With a perfect smile, she walked over and greeted them warmly, "Uncle, Aunt."
Yoshitaka nodded and gave his wife a look.
Madam Fujiwara understood immediately. She took Haruno's hand and asked kindly, "Haruno, Aunt hasn't seen you in a long time. Shall we go chat over there?"
Haruno looked at Yoshitaka, thoughtful, then nodded obediently. "Okay."
She allowed herself to be led away by her aunt, and from the corner of her eye, she saw her uncle walking toward Toru.
After leaving the room backstage and arriving at the corridor, before her aunt could speak, Haruno asked, "What's the relationship between Fujiwara-kun and Uncle?"
"They're father and son by blood," Madam Fujiwara said grimly.
"Why haven't I heard about this before?"
"It's a complicated matter."
"I see. Then I won't ask."
Haruno had a rough guess already. She didn't want to dig into it and make things awkward for her aunt.
If her little sister were here, she might have really pressed for answers. Yukino was the type who always pursued the truth, regardless of how others felt.
Put nicely, she was unconventional. Put bluntly, she lacked tact and had zero ability to read the room. Or more accurately, she was a bit chuunibyou.
Haruno's favorite pastime was mocking her little sister.
Memories of her family floated to Haruno's mind.
The Yukinoshita family of the Chiba area could be considered a prominent family. Though not as old as the noble houses with centuries of history, they were still quite reputable locally, and their family assets were considerable.
Her grandfather had two daughters—her mother and her aunt.
Since the family had no sons and needed someone to inherit, a household like the Yukinoshita would naturally seek an adopted son-in-law.
Haruno's father had married into the Yukinoshita this way. So, the current family head was her mother, while her father handled some of the business operations.
In this kind of family, aside from the heir, the other children were either left to pursue love freely or married off in arranged alliances.
Haruno's aunt was given the right to pursue love.
No one expected that her aunt would end up in a genuine romantic relationship with Fujiwara Yoshitaka, the second son of the Fujiwara family.
This resulted in both a marriage alliance and true love. At the time, her grandfather was overjoyed, thinking his younger daughter was incredibly lucky.
However, blessings never come in pairs, and misfortunes never come alone. After getting married, her aunt never had children.
For large families that needed heirs, children were essential. Out of necessity, her aunt and uncle went for a medical examination, and the result was that her aunt was infertile.
This was a heavy blow to both the Fujiwara and the Yukinoshita families. Under normal circumstances, a divorce would have followed.
But by then, Yoshitaka had already entered politics and was preparing for a high-ranking position. Divorce would have negatively impacted his political career.
Plus, they had genuinely loved each other since their student days, so they didn't choose to separate.
But being childless made her aunt's position in the Fujiwara family extremely difficult. It was said that the old master of the Fujiwara family had flown into a rage several times.
"Haruno… do you, do you know that Fujiwara Toru?" Madam Fujiwara asked nervously, even a little afraid.
Haruno looked at the anticipation in her aunt's eyes and sighed inwardly.
Her mother and aunt didn't have a good relationship. Saying they were enemies wouldn't be an exaggeration.
Her mother had been forced to marry someone she didn't love and take on the family business, while her aunt had pursued love and married into a powerful family.
Back then, her proud and youthful aunt had said many unpleasant things, and the two sisters had become estranged. Whenever her mother mentioned her sister, there was always resentment in her eyes.
Haruno could already guess what her aunt wanted from her.
(To be continued.)