Miura Yumiko steadied herself, her face flushed red, burning red.
She didn't even dare look at Lin Ye now. Whenever his gaze fell on her, all she could do was dodge it.
"I'm heading back," she said.
The moment the words left her mouth, Miura Yumiko turned to leave, but Lin Ye caught her wrist.
He wasn't about to let her get away that easily.
"What was that about?"
"What was what?"
"Why did you do that?"
"You didn't like it?"
Faced with that question, Lin Ye found himself at a loss for words.
Did he like it?
He couldn't say he liked it, but he definitely didn't dislike it either.
How could he not like the softness of a girl's lips and body?
But still —
He didn't like this kind of unclear, undefined contact. He wanted to know why she'd done it.
After all, if there was a first time, there'd be a second, a third.
If this kept going, how was he supposed to face Miura Yumiko afterward?
"The reason I kissed you," Miura Yumiko pursed her lips, thought for a moment, then spoke slowly, "is that even if I didn't, you'd find some excuse to make me do it anyway. So I figured I might as well just kiss you myself."
What kind of logic was that?
Was he really going to make her kiss him?
Was he going to demand she kiss him?
That was completely absurd.
"I know exactly what kind of man you are. You helped me, so of course you'd expect some kind of compensation, and that compensation is bound to be taking advantage of me. I've already satisfied you now, so don't you dare bring this up again."
That logic almost seemed to hold together.
But it had enormous holes in it.
Still, faced with the girl's explanation, Lin Ye couldn't find anything to say.
"Student Miura,"
"What? I'm telling you, I'm never kissing you again. Absolutely never,"
But by the end of that sentence, her confidence had faltered.
A moment later, she gritted her teeth and kissed him on the mouth again.
"That's it! At most, I'll let you touch me one more time!"
Lin Ye: ???
He gave up.
He truly, completely gave up.
A woman like Miura Yumiko really was something else.
Lin Ye quickly gathered his thoughts and continued, "I don't need any compensation or payment for helping you. Please remember that."
He emphasized the point.
But Miura Yumiko didn't believe a word of it. Lin Ye not wanting payment, not wanting to take advantage of her — that was as likely as the sun rising in the west.
And yet, the seriousness on his face made her instinctively feel he might actually mean it.
So,
what was really going on?
Miura Yumiko couldn't tell.
"From now on, you don't need to offer me kisses or let me touch you as payment or thanks."
"You, you're not thinking of..."
Something occurred to Miura Yumiko and her face went pale with shock. She thought Lin Ye was planning to take that final step — that he wanted her body.
That... she absolutely could not accept.
No matter what, her body was her last line of defense. There was no way she'd hand it over to Lin Ye.
She intended to give herself to her future husband, or at the very least a boyfriend she truly loved — not some scoundrel like Lin Ye.
"What are you imagining now?"
"You... you're not thinking about my... body?"
Miura Yumiko asked, her voice full of alarm.
Lin Ye sighed helplessly.
How had this turned into him coveting her body?
Her body — he had no interest in it.
"If I were interested in your body, do you really think you'd be able to stop me?"
Miura Yumiko froze on the spot.
If Lin Ye truly wanted to, she thought, she might really end up handing her body over to him under threat.
"Now that you've already given in once, do you really think you can still hold the line?"
"I can,"
She said it with a fair amount of conviction.
But then Lin Ye stepped forward, closing the distance until he was right in front of her, and her heart leapt into her throat.
She was scared.
Scared he'd actually go through with it.
"You think, in the state you're in right now, you could actually refuse me?"
She couldn't.
That thought surfaced in Miura Yumiko's mind.
But,
she was too proud to admit it. Her last shred of dignity kept her from saying it out loud.
"Look at you — you don't even have the strength left to argue,"
Miura Yumiko fell silent.
"So, you can't refuse me. In the end, you'll give in. As long as I want it, this body of yours still belongs to me — isn't that right?"
"N-no it's not..."
But there wasn't a shred of conviction left in her voice.
Lin Ye rested a hand on the girl's shoulder, and Miura Yumiko's whole body shuddered.
"What do you think would happen if Student Yuigahama and the others saw you like this right now?"
"Don't,"
Miura Yumiko immediately begged, gripping his arm with both hands, her eyes pleading.
She hoped Lin Ye would go easy on her, that he wouldn't do anything too extreme.
Because she knew exactly what state she was in right now — not her usual domineering self, but the timid weakness of a girl, her most vulnerable side laid bare.
"If Yui Yuigahama saw you like this, she'd definitely be shocked, wouldn't she?"
"Don't tell Yui, please, please,"
The words of surrender kept coming from Miura Yumiko.
Watching her, Lin Ye couldn't help but notice how sharply this golden-haired girl contrasted with the image he'd always had of her.
This was the soft side of Miura Yumiko.
"So, do you still think you can refuse me? A Student Miura who's already begging for mercy — can she really still stand firm and reject me?"
The answer was obviously no.
She really couldn't refuse him.
In truth, deep down she'd known it, been certain of it, for a while now — she just hadn't wanted to admit it.
And now,
she felt it was time to be honest with herself. There was no point in deceiving herself any longer.
"I can't. I can't refuse you."
The moment she said it, her whole body relaxed, every nerve in her going slack.
Seeing this, Lin Ye continued, "Now that you know you can't refuse me, there's no need to worry about that kind of thing. I can tell you right now — I'm not going to touch you. I have no interest in you."
No interest in me? After acting like that toward me just now?
That was the first thought that ran through Miura Yumiko's head.
As far as she was concerned, Lin Ye's aggressive advances and threats could only mean he was interested in her body, that he craved it.
But now he was saying he had no interest — what did that even mean?
It was completely different from what he'd said before.
Miura Yumiko wondered if she'd misheard him.
"Whatever I did to you before, from now on, starting from this moment, I'm telling you I have no interest in you. Let's just treat each other as ordinary classmates from here on."
Lin Ye patted Miura Yumiko's shoulder. "Can you understand that?"
He'd made it as clear as he possibly could, laying out his position.
"I... is that not okay?"
Lin Ye had expected Miura Yumiko to accept this calmly, but instead she came out with that. He found it strange.
What on earth was going on with her?
"Whether it's okay or not has nothing to do with it. I have no interest in you. That's all there is to it."
"Then what you did to me before..."
Lin Ye shook his head. "What happened before is in the past. If you insist on dragging it up again, I don't mind taking you to a hotel tonight."
Lin Ye delivered the threat bluntly and decisively.
He wanted to see just how far she'd push this.
"So, do you accept what I'm saying, or do you want to come to a hotel with me tonight? Your choice."
A choice between two options.
The decision was simple enough.
Of course she'd accept what Lin Ye said.
Miura Yumiko made her choice, and she also came to believe Lin Ye was being serious about this, not just messing with her for fun.
"Since you've chosen to accept what I said, from now on we're just classmates. As for our public relationship as a couple, we'll find a time and a suitable excuse to end it."
Miura Yumiko kept nodding.
"If you don't want to lose to Isshiki, but you're fine losing to Yukinoshita — no problem, I'll talk it over with Yukinoshita."
At those words, Miura Yumiko spoke up immediately.
She wanted to do something about this herself.
"Let me be the one to persuade her!"
Miura Yumiko figured her relationship with Yukinoshita was surely better than whatever relationship Lin Ye had with her, and besides, it wasn't really appropriate for Lin Ye, as the party involved, to be the one negotiating this.
So,
as a woman herself, she was the best person to make the request.
"My relationship with Yukinoshita is decent right now. It'd be best if I handled this. No matter what, there's no way you could succeed in convincing Yukinoshita to temporarily pretend to be your girlfriend."
She's already my girlfriend.
But Lin Ye didn't say that — it wasn't the right time.
If Miura Yumiko knew the truth, though, who could say what kind of interesting reaction she'd have.
"Pretend to be what?"
Lin Ye's counter-question left Miura Yumiko stunned.
She didn't understand what he meant.
"What are you..."
"If I handle it myself, it won't be pretending at all — Yukinoshita will become my actual girlfriend. Not an act. The real thing."
Miura Yumiko was stunned for a moment, unable to process what Lin Ye meant right away.
After a good while, it finally clicked, and she understood exactly what he was saying.
She laughed. She genuinely laughed.
"You're overthinking this. There's no way Yukinoshita would ever agree to be your girlfriend."
She couldn't help herself. She thought Lin Ye was letting the fake relationship go to his head, giving him some kind of misplaced confidence.
"If you really had that kind of power, you'd have already done it. There's no way it still wouldn't have happened by now."
"You don't believe me?"
"That's right,"
"I have that ability."
"If you really have that ability, if you can really pull it off, then I, Miura Yumiko, will become your girlfriend too. A real girlfriend."
Lin Ye: ...
Who wants you as a girlfriend?
"If you want to be my girlfriend, just say so directly. No need to beat around the bush like this."
It took Miura Yumiko a good moment to process that.
"Ha! Who'd want to be your girlfriend? Not me. Whoever I choose as a boyfriend, it definitely won't be a scoundrel pervert like you."
Toward Lin Ye, what she felt was mostly irritation, more than anything else.
"Remember what you just said,"
"Of course I remember. Once you make Yukinoshita your girlfriend, I, Miura Yumiko, will be your girlfriend too. A real one."
Hearing this, Lin Ye couldn't help but wonder if there was something wrong with Miura Yumiko's head.
Otherwise, how could she come out with something this ridiculous?
"Have you been drinking too much milk or something?"
"Huh?"
"All the nutrients went straight to your chest."
Miura Yumiko: ???
Sure, they were on the large side, but did he really have to say that?
She felt like Lin Ye was mocking her.
Miura Yumiko gritted her teeth and bared them, showing her anger.
"What I want you to remember is that I, Miura Yumiko, will never have any relationship with you beyond classmates. Do you understand?"
Miura Yumiko could only feel Lin Ye's distance and disdain toward her, as if she were something vile that people should stay away from.
Hard to take.
This guy's irritation left her thoroughly uncomfortable.
What was the point of this?
She was extremely unhappy.
"Unless you make Yukinoshita your girlfriend, there's no possibility of that. I can guarantee you that."
Lin Ye considered using Hypnosis.
Yes — he thought about hypnotizing Miura Yumiko so she'd forget this whole memory forever.
But thinking it over now, he decided against it, at least for the time being.
This woman was fickle and unpredictable.
He'd just firmly refuse when the time came, that would do.
"I don't want a blondie like you."
Blondie???
"Who's the blondie? You're the blondie!"
Miura Yumiko's emotions flared up instantly. She'd never liked people making an issue of her hair.
Anyone else who dared bring up her hair, she'd retaliate against in the harshest way possible.
But,
facing Lin Ye, she had no real recourse, and could only silently endure it.
"You're getting this worked up — doesn't that just prove you accept being a blondie?"
Miura Yumiko fumed.
But her anger had no effect on Lin Ye whatsoever.
And Lin Ye found her pointless outbursts of emotion utterly indifferent to him.
"Alright, we'll find a time to end our public relationship as a couple. No problem, right?"
This point, Lin Ye wanted to confirm.
"No problem. I'll go talk to Yukinoshita,"
Miura Yumiko said again.
As for what Lin Ye had said, she truly didn't believe it.
If Lin Ye could actually make Yukinoshita his girlfriend, he'd have already succeeded by now. There was no way he hadn't.
She figured he was just exaggerating about himself.
"Go ahead, then. If you don't manage it, I'll step in myself."
"If even I can't manage it, you think you can?"
Miura Yumiko asked back with a small laugh.
With that, their conversation drew to a close.
"Class is about to start, let's head back."
"Sure."
Miura Yumiko walked ahead of him.
A number of latecomer students noticed Lin Ye and Miura Yumiko, but since the two of them were a couple, no one thought much of it.
But a few with overactive imaginations wondered if Lin Ye and Miura Yumiko coming to school together this early in the morning meant something else entirely.
It might not be entirely wrong, either.
A few students couldn't help letting their imaginations run wild.
Meanwhile, Lin Ye made his way back to the International Class classroom.
He was the last one to arrive. The moment he walked in, the chatter in the room cut off abruptly.
After all, Lin Ye was the very subject of their discussion — how could they not feel awkward with the man himself standing right there?
"Keep going, keep talking. Don't mind me,"
Lin Ye said with a smile. "Really, don't worry about me being here. I'd love to hear what everyone's been saying about me."
He acted like he didn't care, but just because he didn't care didn't mean the other International Class students felt the same.
"Why'd everyone stop talking?"
"Yamada, what were you all just talking about? I'd love to hear it too."
Facing Lin Ye as he leaned in close, Yamada looked utterly mortified.
"N-nothing, really..."
His voice carried no conviction at all.
"Well, if it's nothing, then never mind."
Lin Ye shrugged helplessly and walked over to his seat.
He didn't care about himself, but he did care about Yukinoshita.
This girl would likely still have some kind of reaction to it, however small.
So,
even though Lin Ye had no idea what the class had actually been discussing, he felt he needed to make some kind of show of it.
The students needed to learn where the line was.
Otherwise, they'd only push further and further.
Lin Ye arrived at his seat.
Yukino Yukinoshita maintained her usual aloof composure, radiating an unmistakably distant air.
Lin Ye didn't try to strike up a conversation.
Not disturbing her now was the best choice.
He could talk things over properly at lunch.
Lin Ye thought to himself quietly.
The bell rang.
Class was starting.
Sensei appeared, and class began right on schedule as usual.
Lin Ye waited quietly.
The time for this week's superpower refresh was drawing closer and closer.
He was curious what superpower he'd get this week.
The time arrived,
and right on the dot, the text appeared.
[Your superpower from last week, Body Swap, experience concluded.]
[Drawback decrypted.]
[Drawback: Every day after falling asleep, there is a random chance of swapping bodies with a woman you know.]
Random? A chance?
There'd indeed been a few nights where the swap hadn't happened, and he'd stayed in his own body, but this randomness felt off somehow.
It had always been Haruno Yukinoshita — no matter how you looked at it, that couldn't be a coincidence.
He was absolutely certain the system had been targeting him specifically. Otherwise, there was no way this could keep happening.
Though it was supposed to be a body swap with a random woman, honestly, if it had been anyone else, that would've been troublesome too.
Haruno was, all things considered, still a bearable option.
If it had been someone he barely knew, someone he wasn't close to at all, that would've caused far more problems.
Fortunately, that week had passed.
The Body Swap superpower's drawback had refreshed and was gone now.
He wouldn't have to experience Haruno taking over his body again.
Lin Ye had genuinely worried that Haruno might have no scruples at all and use his body to mess around with other girls.
If that had happened, how would he even deal with it?
He truly had no idea.
This time around, though Haruno had caused no end of trouble and had indeed occupied girls' bodies, she'd never crossed that particular line.
If Haruno had actually done something like that,
then... he'd have been mentally prepared to make her pay in blood for it.
He would've made absolutely sure Haruno understood exactly why flowers bloom so red.
[Your superpower for this week has been updated.]
[Superpower — Death Countdown.]
[But the drawback is ■■]
Looking at the freshly refreshed text, Lin Ye blinked and looked again to confirm it.
A moment later, the text vanished completely from view.
Death Countdown?
What kind of superpower was that?
Lin Ye didn't quite get it.
What kind of ability could this even be called?
Was it something like the Death Note?
Lin Ye thought about it and decided that wasn't quite right either.
He mulled it over, but this superpower didn't seem to activate directly the way Hypnosis did.
It probably required some formal method of use.
Lin Ye pondered idly, his gaze eventually landing on Sensei standing at the podium.
At first, nothing changed.
But after a moment, a string of numbers appeared.
That string of numbers was slowly counting down.
The rate it decreased matched the speed of seconds ticking by.
It was measured in seconds — a countdown.
So...
It suddenly clicked for Lin Ye.
He might now be able to see a target's time of death,
down to the exact second.
This ability could be useful, or it could be nothing at all, depending on how you looked at it.
At the right moment, it might play a crucial role.
Lin Ye decided he'd find time later to test this ability out.
But right now, what concerned him more was what the drawback of this ability actually was.
He hoped the drawback wouldn't be too extreme.
Anything like the Body Swap's drawback — please, not that again.
Lin Ye turned his gaze toward the others in the room.
It seemed that if he fixed his gaze on someone for more than three seconds, their death countdown would appear.
Lin Ye saw Yukino Yukinoshita's countdown time.
Very healthy, a long life ahead.
As long as no accidents happened, at least.
For now, anyway, that seemed to be the case.
As for exactly how this countdown worked, he'd need actual testing to find out.
Lin Ye had plenty of ideas he needed to try out to get concrete data.
Meanwhile, Yukino Yukinoshita noticed that Lin Ye was unusually distracted today, glancing this way and that, clearly unfocused.
Lin Ye had never been like this before.
She grew curious — something must have happened to him, otherwise why would he be acting this way?
Yukino Yukinoshita decided she'd ask him about it at lunch.
Time passed.
The lunch break arrived.
After everyone else had left,
Lin Ye and Yukino Yukinoshita rose from their seats one after the other. Since Lin Ye had made breakfast that morning, he hadn't prepared a bento for lunch, so he headed to the school store to buy some simple bread and milk. He got a portion for Yukino too, of course.
"Ah, if I'd known Yukinon and Lin-kun didn't bring lunch, I'd have packed extra,"
Yui Yuigahama said, unable to hold back when she saw the two of them with nothing but bread and milk to eat.
If she'd really known, she'd have prepared something in advance — and made sure it was delicious, too.
"Let's skip Student Yuigahama's dark cuisine, thanks,"
At Lin Ye's remark, Yui Yuigahama's face flushed red and she immediately shot back, "M-my bento is made by my mom! My mom's cooking is really good! Of course, the ingredients definitely aren't as good as Yukino's..."
The ingredients Yukino used were, admittedly, beyond what an ordinary family could afford.
The gap between families really was quite large.
Still, Yui would do her best to prepare something so her friend Yukino and Lin Ye could enjoy a taste of her mother's cooking.
"Your thoughtfulness is enough. Next time I'll prepare bento myself — I'll make one for Yui too."
"That... that's not necessary, is it?"
Yui Yuigahama hesitated, wanting to accept but also worried it might be improper.
After all, she wasn't sure if Yukino was just being polite.
"If you don't want it, never mind then,"
"No, I want it, I want it, I really want it!"
Yui panicked the moment she heard that — how could she refuse something like this? If she refused, Yukino would be hurt, and Yui really didn't want that.
Besides, she'd always looked forward to trying Yukino's cooking. She'd had it before, but never a bento made specifically for her. Now that the chance had come,
there was no way she'd let it slip. She absolutely couldn't let this opportunity go.
Earlier, her hesitation had just been a polite, reflexive response out of courtesy.
"What do you mean, 'I want it'? Yuigahama-senpai, saying it like that could easily be misunderstood, you know? You can only say that kind of thing to me, your boyfriend."
Right on cue,
Iroha Isshiki arrived.
She'd heard Yui Yuigahama's repeated "I want it, I want it" from a distance.
That phrasing — no matter how you heard it, it sounded off.
Only a boyfriend should get to hear that kind of thing from her.
As his girlfriend, Iroha Isshiki felt obligated to point this out.
"What? What?"
Yui Yuigahama had no idea what was going on at first, not until Iroha Isshiki explained it to her, at which point Yui's face turned red with embarrassment.
She never would have guessed "I want it" could carry that kind of meaning.
She had no idea at all — she really was that innocent.
As Yui's face burned red, she glanced over at the only boy present, Lin Ye.
Lin Ye kept a calm expression, feigning complete ignorance, which helped keep Yui's embarrassment from growing any worse.
Yui Yuigahama really was too innocent, while Iroha Isshiki knew far more about these things.
"Senpai, why don't you get Yuigahama-senpai to say 'I don't want it' too?"
Lin Ye rolled his eyes. "You try it."
"No way, I'm a girl, how would I even try that?"
"You're her boyfriend, aren't you?"
"That's a completely different thing! Besides, if I become your girlfriend, senpai, then Yuigahama-senpai will also be your girlfriend, and you could have us both, and have us both say 'I don't want it,' haha!"
At this point,
Yui Yuigahama's face went even redder, and she couldn't help but speak up. "Iroha-chan, stop talking about this stuff!"
"This stuff? What about this stuff?"
Iroha Isshiki put on a mock-annoyed expression. "This stuff is great, really not bad at all. Senpai might even end up liking it a lot!"
She even sounded a bit confident about it.
How to put it —
that pure, innocent type of girl might actually end up being even more interested in that kind of thing.
In Iroha Isshiki's view, Yui fell squarely into that category.
As for Yukino Yukinoshita, that cool, aloof beauty — even more so.
The colder the exterior, the greater the hidden desire — that was Iroha Isshiki's theory.
"I do not like that! Isshiki, don't talk nonsense!"
"You're getting this worked up — senpai must really, really like it. Otherwise, why such a strong reaction? Haha!"
Iroha Isshiki refused to back down at all, sticking firmly to her theory, which only made Yui Yuigahama blush even harder.
You could say that,
when it came to matters of sex, Yui Yuigahama was naturally shy about it — even mentioning romance made her blush, let alone anything related to that side of things between men and women.
"Alright, let's eat lunch."
Yukino Yukinoshita spoke up, cutting off the topic.
At her prompting, everyone sat down and began eating.
Iroha Isshiki noticed that Lin Ye and Yukino Yukinoshita weren't eating bento today, just bread.
That shriveled-looking bread didn't look appetizing at all, no appeal whatsoever.
It didn't look good.
"Senpai, have some of my bento. I can share some with you, it's really good!"
Iroha Isshiki pushed her bento toward Lin Ye.
Her portion wasn't actually that large — for a man like Lin Ye, it would hardly be enough.
"No need,"
"Senpai, don't be so polite with me!"
Iroha Isshiki said with a laugh.
But Lin Ye pushed the bento back toward her. "I appreciate the thought, but I'll pass."
"Senpai, you're really being this polite?"
Iroha Isshiki didn't push any further this time.
She could tell Lin Ye meant it, and no amount of persuading would change his mind.
"Bread is fine."
"I see, well, I'll just have to accept that then. But how about I treat you to dinner tonight as thanks?"
Iroha Isshiki blinked her big eyes, waiting eagerly for Lin Ye's response.
Surely,
Lin Ye should say yes this time.
Surely he had to agree, right?
"I have plans tonight."
"Eh?!"
Iroha Isshiki looked stunned.
"D-don't tell me it's with Senpai again?"
Iroha Isshiki looked over at Yukino Yukinoshita.
After all, Lin Ye had eaten with Yukino Yukinoshita before, which had once made Iroha Isshiki suspect there was something going on between them.
"With Ryou,"
Lin Ye had said Ryou Fujibayashi's name.
It was the truth — he really did have plans with Ryou tonight.
"Oh, it's Fujibayashi-neesan!"
Iroha Isshiki said, realization dawning on her.
But still, how should she put it — if Lin Ye was with Ryou Fujibayashi, that inevitably meant something was going to happen between them.
Her head ached a little at the thought, and she felt a pang of reluctance, but in the end she accepted it. It wasn't like she was going to try to stop it.
It was a matter between two people who cared for each other — she had no grounds to interfere.
But Iroha Isshiki's reaction made Yukino Yukinoshita realize something.
Iroha Isshiki had known Ryou Fujibayashi before she had.
A wave of frustration hit her — was there something wrong with Lin Ye?
Iroha Isshiki already knew Ryou Fujibayashi, while she herself had only found out yesterday.
Something was clearly off about that.
Yukino Yukinoshita felt this was quite wrong, that something wasn't right about it.
But thinking it over, she supposed she had no right to stop Lin Ye's ordinary relationships with other people.
"That's right,"
"Then can I come too? I haven't seen Fujibayashi-neesan in ages, I've missed her a bit,"
The missing her part was a lie — the truth was she wanted to join in, wanted to be part of Lin Ye and Ryou Fujibayashi's date.
Butting in on the fun —
Iroha Isshiki loved doing that.
"That's not appropriate,"
"What's not appropriate about it? I won't get in the way of your date with Fujibayashi-neesan, senpai!"
Iroha Isshiki said.
But Lin Ye's answer stayed exactly the same, unchanged. No, and no again.
Tonight, with Yukino also joining, there was no way he'd let Iroha Isshiki come along too.
Letting Isshiki come would only make things more complicated.
This girl was a master of stirring up trouble — there was no way he'd let her show up.
"I will,"
"Wow, so it really is a date! Ugh, I'm so jealous! Senpai gets to go on a date with Fujibayashi-neesan, I'm so envious! I really want to go on a date with senpai too!"
She gazed at him pleadingly, like a puppy begging for food.
"Senpai, when are you going to take me on a date? I really look forward to going on a date with you, senpai,"
Iroha Isshiki blinked her big, bright eyes as if she were speaking in complete earnest.
Lin Ye, of course, had no intention of agreeing, and turned her down again. "No time."
"Whenever senpai has time, just let me know then."
But Lin Ye's answer didn't change at all — he kept the same position, though unfortunately, that attitude didn't make Iroha Isshiki budge one bit either.
Iroha Isshiki was utterly relentless, undeterred by Lin Ye's rejections.
Watching this, Yui Yuigahama felt a mix of admiration and, honestly, thought that maybe giving up would be the better choice for Isshiki, wouldn't it?
She felt Student Isshiki really didn't need to be this persistent over a man who didn't even like her.
All that persistence would earn her was heartbreak and disappointment, over and over.
Maybe it really was true love, but there was no need to sacrifice herself for it like this.
Yui Yuigahama decided she'd try talking to Iroha Isshiki privately again sometime to convince her otherwise, though whether it would work, she honestly had no idea. All she could do was try her best.
"Never any time — Isshiki, seriously,"
"Senpai, are you really going to just watch your cute junior go without even a single date?"
Lin Ye pointed at Yui Yuigahama. "You should go on a date with your own girlfriend — that'd make more sense."
"But I'd much rather go on a date with you, senpai!"
he said,
thinking to himself that Iroha Isshiki's mental fortitude was really something. Most girls would give up after being rejected twice, but Iroha Isshiki had been through this how many times now?
Lin Ye was starting to think Iroha Isshiki was just stubbornly digging in out of sheer spite.
Nothing would change his mind, and Iroha Isshiki had apparently decided to hold her ground to the bitter end regardless.
It cost him nothing, really, but still, how to put it —
being clung to like this by Isshiki did occasionally leave Lin Ye feeling irritated, feeling like she was wasting his time, even if it was all of her own choosing.
"How about I go on a date with Yuigahama instead, and you guard this place here?"
Not just Iroha Isshiki, even Yui Yuigahama froze at that.
After a brief moment of shock, Yukino Yukinoshita figured Lin Ye must be trying to get Iroha Isshiki to back off, but this junior wasn't the type to give up so easily.
If she'd been going to give up, she'd have done it long ago — she wouldn't have held on this long.
She'd chosen to persist, and she'd keep persisting, all the way to the moment of victory, or the moment she finally gave up entirely.
But right now, clearly, Iroha Isshiki was still very far from that moment of giving up. Very far indeed.
"That won't work! If senpai's taking Yuigahama-senpai away, then obviously I have to be taken too. Otherwise, leaving me here alone — what's that supposed to mean? I don't want to guard an empty room by myself!"
Iroha Isshiki pouted, thoroughly displeased, expressing her feelings clearly. But Lin Ye remained just as unmoved.
"Being alone suits you."
"It does not! What I want is a happy, joyful dating life with senpai! How could senpai treat me this way — can you really bear to, senpai?"
The answer that came, of course, was that yes, he could bear it just fine.
Lin Ye showed Iroha Isshiki no mercy whatsoever, his attitude remaining completely unchanged.
But this only tempered Iroha Isshiki's resolve, making her more steadfast than ever.
"In any case, senpai, you'd better be prepared! I'm never giving up. Get ready to be pestered by me for the rest of your life!"
That was Iroha Isshiki's declaration.
"Don't worry, I won't give you the chance to pester me for a lifetime,"
"Hmph, that's not up to you to decide, senpai."
But then Iroha Isshiki suddenly remembered Lin Ye's Hypnosis.
How to put it, though —
with Yui Yuigahama right there, she couldn't very well bring up Hypnosis now.
Besides, she genuinely didn't want senpai to use Hypnosis to get rid of her, even though he'd already done it once before.
That time, she'd lost a precious memory because of it.
"When the time comes, I'll just have my girlfriend deal with you."
"I'll be waiting. I'll definitely get on senpai's girlfriend's good side, so you still won't be able to shake me off."
"My girlfriend's pretty fierce, you know."
"No way. There's no way senpai would ever pick a fierce girlfriend, I don't believe it."
"My girlfriend's very cool and aloof, with a really imposing presence."
Wait, isn't that describing me?
Yukino Yukinoshita said nothing, continuing to calmly eat her bread.
Eating bread for lunch — this was probably a first for her.
She figured the experience counted as something novel, at least.
"As aloof and imposing as Yukino-senpai here? That aloof, that imposing?"
Iroha Isshiki went ahead and used Yukino as her example.
"Yes, even more so."
Yukino frowned.
She really didn't think Mai Sakurajima's presence was any more imposing or cold than her own.
"Well then, no problem — ten senpais like that, I could handle it! Senpai, you can rest easy, completely at ease, haha!"
She laughed loudly, telling Lin Ye to relax, though Lin Ye just felt helpless about the whole thing.
All he could say was that Iroha Isshiki's resilience really was something else.
He couldn't push her away no matter how he tried.
Lin Ye finished the bread in his hand and drank the last of his milk.
Iroha Isshiki smiled as she ate her own bento.
Yui Yuigahama fed Yukino Yukinoshita a few bites from her own bento.
Yukino Yukinoshita had felt awkward about it at first and had tried to refuse, but eventually she gave in and simply opened her mouth to eat.
Yui Yuigahama could only manage dark cuisine herself, but her mother's cooking skills were genuinely good — quite delicious, with wonderful flavor.
Yukino Yukinoshita tasted something in it — a warmth she could only describe as the taste of home.
It was a flavor her own daily meals never had.
That Yui Yuigahama got to live in a family like that — sometimes Yukino Yukinoshita genuinely envied her for it.
Though she herself had been born into a prestigious, envied family, if given the choice, she would rather have been born into an ordinary household, one where she could enjoy the warmth of home.
These days, her own family always felt a bit cold.
Even her relationship with Lin Ye existed, in part, because of family connections.
Even if Lin Ye himself didn't mind that, the thought of it still weighed on her.
What would the future hold?
Yukino Yukinoshita didn't know, but she hoped certain things wouldn't repeat themselves.
She hoped that her own children, someday, could live simpler, purer lives, without so many tangled interests woven into everything.
Yukino Yukinoshita looked at Lin Ye, thinking that if it were him, there'd surely be none of those problems at all.
Yes.
On that point,
Yukino Yukinoshita felt completely certain.
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