Rui Tachibana.
This short-blue-haired girl stood at the entrance of the academic building.
After noticing Lin Ye appear, her expression shifted slightly, and she turned to face him.
Lin Ye intended to ignore her and pretend he hadn't seen her, but the girl's voice rang out.
"Student Lin,"
She took the initiative to greet Lin Ye, and even walked over toward him.
Only then did Lin Ye turn to look squarely at Rui Tachibana.
"Student Tachibana, good morning. Is there something you need?"
It was probably about Tachibana-sensei again—this really was pretty much in line with how she behaved in the original work.
Was Rui Tachibana at heart a sister-complex type, her inner self yearning for her older sister Hina? That very will influenced the girl's actions.
"Do you have time after school?"
The somewhat dull, somewhat cold blue-haired girl simply gazed at Lin Ye, waiting for his answer.
"Can I refuse?"
"You can,"
Unexpectedly, she didn't deny it. "But I'll follow Student Lin around."
"Actually, Student Tachibana, regarding the matter of Tachibana-sensei, I've already made my position clear—I'm not going to talk about it."
"I won't give up, and this time it isn't about that matter, either."
Rui Tachibana said earnestly.
"All right, then!"
Seeing that Lin Ye hadn't refused but had agreed, Rui Tachibana let out a breath of relief.
She'd already prepared herself mentally to keep doggedly persisting after being refused, but she hadn't expected Lin Ye to agree.
"But as the corresponding return, I hope that from now on Student Tachibana can give up asking about what happened between Tachibana-sensei and me. Knowing it really wouldn't be good for you."
This condition—
surely it was hard to accept!
Lin Ye thought.
This was actually Lin Ye refusing in a roundabout way.
"Okay."
But, against Lin Ye's expectations, the girl still agreed.
This response, for a moment, made Lin Ye wonder whether Rui Tachibana was bluffing him—just brushing him off to get him to agree, intending to go back on her word later.
Lin Ye stared into the girl's eyes, and seeing that her expression was earnest, in the end he chose to believe her promise.
"See you after school."
"See you after school."
Rui Tachibana nodded to signal Lin Ye, then left.
The two of them were in the same year, but not the same class, so they walked one ahead of the other.
Because of the aura the two of them gave off, no one thought that Lin Ye and Rui Tachibana were on good terms.
A few minutes later,
Lin Ye arrived at the classroom.
The moment he stepped through the door, he looked toward that familiar spot.
Bright sunlight poured in through the window, the thin, gentle rays spreading across the inside of the classroom.
The girl with long black hair's beautiful tresses fluttered faintly in the breeze, her exquisite features revealing a trace of holiness.
Class J was the international track; there were more girls in the class, but Yukino Yukinoshita was still the most outstanding one among them. Her every move always drew the attention of many students in the class.
Beauty—regardless of whether one is male or female—is something instinctively pursued.
Lin Ye walked along step by step, his gaze fixed on the girl, watching for her reaction.
Yesterday's matter—
in the end he'd relied on the Hypnosis superpower to alter the girl's consciousness, making her accept the fact that he was dating Mai.
But all in all, deep down the girl was definitely unwilling.
Today—now that she'd calmed down—with what kind of attitude would she face him?
This also bore on her attitude going forward.
"Morning, Yukinoshita."
Lin Ye greeted her.
The students around had already grown used to Lin Ye loudly hailing Yukinoshita.
At the very beginning, Yukino Yukinoshita would ignore him, but recently, word had it that Lin Ye had joined the Service Club that Yukinoshita founded, so in the face of Lin Ye's greetings, Yukinoshita would also give a response.
They'd seen Yukinoshita respond more than once.
No matter how novel a thing is, once it happens often enough, they stop being surprised by it.
This time, too, Yukinoshita ought to give a simple response.
Yet the students who were thinking this way discovered that Yukino Yukinoshita sat in her own seat, her eyes lowered slightly, gazing at the book on her desk, completely ignoring Lin Ye, who had greeted her on his own initiative.
Didn't she hear?
No, impossible.
This was absolutely a deliberate act on Yukinoshita's part.
In other words, the relationship between the two had soured, and Yukinoshita no longer even wanted to pay Lin Ye any mind.
At once, several of the boys were overjoyed in their hearts, delighted beyond measure.
The icy beauty Yukino Yukinoshita had been getting close to a certain boy, and of course they'd been worried that in the future the news of 'the two of them dating' would emerge.
But from the looks of it now, their worry was unnecessary—there was nothing to worry about at all.
Lin Ye, who had already been rejected, how could he possibly be dating Yukinoshita!
It was impossible. The two had simply become a little closer because of the club, and now, Lin Ye had probably developed a delusion because of that tiny change, leading him to confess once more—only, regrettably, he'd been rejected by Yukino Yukinoshita again.
And now, Yukino Yukinoshita was using her own cold attitude to show Lin Ye the resolve in her heart.
For them, this was absolutely a good thing.
In the enormous classroom, hushed whispers rose.
The voices were very soft, but if you listened carefully, you could still hear the students' exchanges.
"He definitely did something to make Yukinoshita unhappy,"
"Probably confessed again!"
"Haha, that really is possible. How could Yukinoshita ever agree, how could she ever fall in love,"
"At our school, the only one is probably Hayama…"
...
'Thud!'
It was right at this moment that a 'thud'—a tremendous crash—abruptly rang out. The book slamming against the desk produced a piercing roar.
In an instant the classroom fell into dead silence; everyone stared blankly toward the direction the sound had come from.
That was the direction where Yukino Yukinoshita was.
The roar just now had been entirely her doing.
"There's a mosquito, it's so noisy,"
The book she'd smacked against the desk had already bounced and slid down to the floor.
"Student Lin, could you help me pick it up?"
Actually,
the book wasn't far away. The girl only needed to bend over slightly to pick it up, and Yukino Yukinoshita herself was a girl who disliked troubling others.
But this time, she spoke up.
The meaning this act represented—Lin Ye saw it immediately, and the other students all guessed it too.
This was once again, in a roundabout way, her backing Lin Ye up!
Shock.
The students of Class J were shocked once more.
Was this already the second time they'd been shocked by the same person?
They couldn't imagine it.
What on earth was the relationship between these two, that it would make Yukino Yukinoshita—who at a glance seemed to find Lin Ye repugnant today—choose to step in and back him up.
The relationship between these two was quite intimate and complicated!
The boys who, a moment ago, had been secretly rejoicing in their hearts now felt their hearts go ice-cold, utterly miserable.
It would have been better if Yukino Yukinoshita had treated him normally from the start.
After a brief moment of stunned bewilderment, Lin Ye immediately bent down and picked up the book that had fallen on the floor. He dusted it off and placed it on Yukinoshita's desk.
"Here,"
"Thank you,"
"I'm the one who should be thanking you,"
Her navy-blue eyes were quite calm—until, with a speed swift as lightning, Lin Ye quickly pinched Yukinoshita's cheek, and only then did her expression change.
Yukinoshita hadn't actually seen that lightning-quick movement, but the skin of her cheek had most definitely felt it.
Restraining the impulse within her, she shot Lin Ye a glare, venting her displeased, angry emotions, then adjusted her posture and faced forward again.
Lin Ye returned to his own seat with an inward smile.
From that reaction just now, Lin Ye knew Yukino still had him in her heart.
Her being angry wasn't much of a problem.
He just needed to comfort her properly; a girl simply needs him to comfort her well.
Class went on as usual.
Lin Ye didn't deliberately strike up conversation with Yukinoshita to provoke a reaction from the girl, either.
The whole morning passed like this, no different from any ordinary day.
At noon,
after the other students had left the classroom, Lin Ye followed the girl to the club building where the Service Club was located.
Yukinoshita's steps were light and steady; she paid no heed to Lin Ye following her, gazing straight ahead, her expression natural, as if she were completely ignoring the man trailing at her side.
A few minutes later,
the two of them arrived.
At this time the Service Club had no one else there yet; Lin Ye and Yukinoshita were the first to arrive.
Lin Ye stepped in first and pulled out and arranged a chair for the girl. This proactive gesture left Yukinoshita momentarily stunned.
Because this was the first time Lin Ye had done such a thing for her, and this small, considerate gesture was very well executed, but Yukino Yukinoshita instinctively felt something was off.
Sudden enthusiasm always hides some problem.
"If you've got something to say, say it directly, while Student Yuigahama still hasn't arrived,"
"It's nothing,"
"Time is limited,"
Didn't she understand Lin Ye by now?
"I'm caring for and looking after my girlfriend—surely that's allowed! And besides, according to what Yukino said, we're already a married couple-to-be."
The relationship of being a married couple-to-be was something she herself had added, and she'd worried Lin Ye would refuse it, but at least last night, when her sister was present, Lin Ye hadn't denied it, hadn't made her lose face.
"That was merely something said to fob off my sister; you needn't mind it,"
"Eh!"
Lin Ye put on a feigned look of astonishment.
"Fobbing off Haruno? Was that true or false?"
"What do you think!"
Yukinoshita still didn't give Lin Ye a definite answer.
"I see,"
Lin Ye revealed a crestfallen expression. "It's true—I know it's true,"
Having said that,
Lin Ye took hold of Yukino's hand. This sudden intimate act made the girl instinctively withdraw her hand, but she didn't succeed—Lin Ye held it very tightly, giving Yukino no chance to pull away at all.
"Let go of me,"
"I won't. What's wrong with holding my fiancée's hand?"
"Let go,"
"I won't,"
She struggled even harder, very angry, but more than that it was bashfulness and helplessness.
"Student Yuigahama is about to arrive,"
"Isn't that perfect?"
"..."
Facing the smile at the corner of Lin Ye's lips, she let out a soft breath and slowly said, "I'm begging you,"
She let out a pleading voice.
A plea coming from his girlfriend-cum-fiancée—how could Lin Ye possibly have any reason to refuse.
"Make it up to me tonight."
Saying that, without even waiting for the girl's agreement, Lin Ye let go.
Yukino Yukinoshita opened her mouth several times, but swallowed back the words she'd meant to say.
At this moment,
footsteps sounded outside the Service Club.
'Tap, tap, tap…'
The footsteps were quite fast.
It was Yui Yuigahama arriving.
"Yahallo, Yukinon, Student Lin,"
"Yo."
Lin Ye replied.
In less than a minute, Isshiki Iroha arrived too.
"Senpai, Senpai, good afternoon!"
She broke into a brilliant smile, except that the look she gave Lin Ye carried an added, hard-to-describe trace of bashfulness.
Lin Ye found it very strange,
why would she suddenly be shy.
Isshiki had already lost her memory of the day before yesterday—seeing him shouldn't make her shy!
He hadn't done anything to Isshiki that would make her shy, nor said anything that would.
A bit odd.
Isshiki Iroha took her seat and opened her own bento.
"Senpai, Senpai, hurry and open your bento—let us see what lunch Yukinoshita-senpai prepared for you today."
She was cheerful, quick to make herself at home, not minding in the least.
Lin Ye reached out and opened the bento on the table.
An enticing aroma wafted out.
Isshiki Iroha's eyes lit up at the sight, and Yui Yuigahama swallowed. After eating the bento Yukinoshita had made yesterday, she still couldn't get it out of her mind even now, and wanted to taste it once more—she'd even thought for a moment that if Lin Ye hadn't come to school today, she could have tasted the lunch bento Yukino made once again.
"Wow! Senpai's cooking really is amazing!"
"I really want some—Senpai, share a bit with me!"
...
Isshiki Iroha put forward her request without the slightest reserve.
"No,"
Lin Ye refused flatly, giving her no opening whatsoever.
"Stingy. Senpai's eaten it so many times already and still won't share even a tiny bit with me—too stingy."
A reproachful voice rose; Isshiki Iroha was the very picture of discontent.
"Mm, I'm very stingy,"
Lin Ye simply lay flat and gave up the act, admitting it outright, leaving the whole series of verbal tactics Isshiki Iroha had prepared with no use at all.
How frustrating!
Senpai really didn't care in the slightest about his own face.
In front of three pretty girls, Senpai didn't put on the slightest pretense—ugh, too much.
It infuriated Isshiki Iroha.
"Senpai…"
"No,"
Clean and decisive,
leaving Isshiki Iroha no choice but to give up.
Inside the Service Club, the four of them ate the bentos before them.
A peaceful, ordinary day.
Yukino Yukinoshita watched Lin Ye finish the very last grain of rice in the bento box, and her mood grew even better.
Isshiki Iroha, who ate the fastest, had already started scrolling on her phone, browsing today's Trending search news.
"Wow!"
A cry of surprise rang out.
Isshiki Iroha looked at the news displayed on her phone screen, her expression excited.
"Miss Mai Sakurajima has come forward!"
"She's already come forward and held a press conference to explain her current situation. Amazing—she actually didn't choose to let it sit cold and wait for the heat to die down, but instead came forward to explain right now. How much courage that must take."
"At the press conference, I hope there won't be a situation where the fans go berserk."
...
...
As she spoke,
Isshiki Iroha clicked open the link.
It was a video of the press conference held by the agency Mai Sakurajima belonged to, and Mai Sakurajima was sitting upright on the stage, her expression calm and natural, showing no stage fright or fear at all in front of the fans below the stage—on the contrary, a poised, full-of-confidence demeanor.
"Senpai, you're curious too!"
Isshiki Iroha had noticed the gaze Lin Ye cast over.
"Since Senpai's curious, then I'll be magnanimous and share it with Senpai, let's watch together,"
Yui Yuigahama was also very curious, and leaned over too.
They all had phones, but compared to searching for the relevant news all over again themselves, it was better to just watch directly.
Yukino Yukinoshita, sitting on the other side, was actually very curious too and wanted to watch the video, but her own way of doing things destined her to be incapable of leaning over on her own initiative.
Isshiki Iroha switched on the speaker, "Yukinoshita-senpai, I'm going to turn on the speaker volume, is that all right?"
She sought Yukinoshita's opinion.
At this, Yukino Yukinoshita directly nodded to show she accepted.
"Thank you, thank you, Yukinoshita-senpai is so nice."
Saying that,
Isshiki Iroha clicked open the video.
It was an edited video; the on-site live broadcast had already passed.
At the very start, the account given by the agency's person in charge was very simple.
The crux was still handed over to Mai Sakurajima.
For the agency, how Mai Sakurajima could quell the public opinion around herself, win back the fans she might lose, and retain her qualification in the entertainment industry—that was the key.
Japanese actors, especially young actresses, shouldn't have gossip-column news, but this time Mai Sakurajima's Akihabara confession incident came about suddenly. Forget the agency and the fans—even Mai Sakurajima herself had only learned of Lin Ye's plan a little while in advance.
She actually hadn't held any hope of success at the time; she'd only meant to play along with Lin Ye.
But as it turned out, Lin Ye succeeded, and her acting career also began to suffer the greatest challenge yet, coming from the fans and public opinion.
If she failed,
her career as an actress and her acting career would come to an end right then and there.
Gazing at that familiar girl in the video, Lin Ye believed she could handle it properly herself, but as her boyfriend, an additional touch of worry was still indispensable.
If Mai failed, he would help.
At worst, Hypnosis.
Hypnotize the whole world—hahaha. Though this was an exaggeration, Lin Ye felt that just maybe he could pull it off!
Yukino Yukinoshita concentrated on listening to the sound coming from the phone screen she couldn't see, while her eyes fell on Lin Ye's cheek, observing his reaction.
Deep down, she cared very much about Lin Ye's attitude and feelings toward this present Mai Sakurajima.
Mai Sakurajima's sweet voice sounded from the phone.
She rose and first gave a bow to everyone below the stage, expressing her courtesy and respect.
"Thank you to all the fans and media friends who came here in person, and thank you also to all the many fans who have supported me all along. I… really am very grateful to everyone for their support of me, Mai Sakurajima,"
"Without everyone's support, there would be no me today,"
A standard opening,
but Mai Sakurajima's words were sincere and her bearing well-judged, making people sense her sincerity.
"Today I will give an explanation of what happened the night before last in Akihabara,"
This was what those below the stage, and the many fans and curious onlookers watching the video, most wanted to know.
Mai Sakurajima's Akihabara confession incident this time could be said to have raised Mai Sakurajima's traffic and fame to another level. If she could properly resolve this PR crisis, it could be said that 'Mai Sakurajima,' this young actress, would become a truly first-rate star in the real sense.
But if she failed, she would then bow out in dejection, becoming a fallen rising star of the entertainment world.
Many people would feel regret.
"There's been a lot of speculation online, among which it's been mentioned that this was the filming of a scene for my newly released movie,"
"Some netizens have also said that I was deliberately hyping things up to gain traffic,"
"There's a lot of speculation, a lot of conjecture, and I won't go through it all here one by one."
"What I want to say is that it was not acting, nor was it about gaining traffic—it was real,"
"I accepted his confession and became his girlfriend. We… are officially dating."
A single statement,
plunged everyone below the stage completely into silence; their expectant eyes turned one after another into bewilderment.
No one present had imagined Mai Sakurajima would be so decisive, seeking no excuse or pretext, defining the nature of the Akihabara confession incident first and confirming the facts.
This reduced all the many speculations and analyses to nothing.
'Swish!'
A reporter raised their hand.
"Please, go ahead,"
"Miss Mai Sakurajima, aren't you worried that your romance will affect your acting career?"
This was actually a veiled reminder of the unspoken rules of Japan's entertainment industry—it's very hard on young stars who officially announce a relationship; they lose great numbers of fans.
"I'm worried, but once you've fallen for someone, you've fallen for them; once you're dating, you're dating. If I let him slip away, I'd regret it for the rest of my life."
Regret it for the rest of her life?
One stone raised a thousand ripples.
Especially the men—they widened their eyes all the more, unable to help their minds running wild: what charm did that one man have, to be worthy of Mai Sakurajima describing him this way.
They recalled some of the circumstances and conduct of the man in the Akihabara incident.
Although the man was very handsome, very sincere, and wholeheartedly devoted to Mai Sakurajima, even all these conditions added together still shouldn't be enough to make Mai Sakurajima say 'I'd regret letting him slip away for the rest of my life,' should they!
They found it hard to accept.
"Miss Sakurajima, what's so good about him? I think our audience here on site, and the countless viewers in front of their screens, are all very curious—could you share it with us?"
A reporter asked the very thing everyone wanted to know.
"Me! I encountered something—a matter that was a low point in my life. I alone was powerless to walk out of it, able only to wander alone. I longed to break free successfully, to return to my original life, but I failed,"
Mai Sakurajima naturally didn't say outright that she had encountered an anomaly that caused her presence to drop to the point of being ignored by everyone.
As the audience saw it, Mai Sakurajima had run into a major problem in life—perhaps in her daily life, perhaps in her career.
"When I was about to give up, when I was about to fall into complete despair, he appeared,"
"He appeared before me, offered help, and did everything he could to solve the problem I was facing,"
"In the end, the problem was resolved,"
"I returned to my present life, full of hope and passion for the future,"
"Facing a boy like that, who reached out a helping hand when I was in dire straits, how… how could I ever refuse his confession!"
"I like him. I like him more than any other girl in the whole world."
In this moment, Mai Sakurajima's eyes brimmed with an expression of love and stirring emotion.
This was love!
Most of those present had experienced it to some degree.
Even those who hadn't experienced it had come to understand love through fictional works—films and television, novels, anime, and so on.
For love, a great many people throw themselves at it like moths to a flame, heedless of everything.
And Mai Sakurajima had clearly become one such person.
"I know many fans will turn away and leave the fandom over this; I also know that a great many people can't accept the fact that I'm in love,"
"But I don't regret it,"
"With his companionship, I will press onward toward new goals on this path of being an actress,"
"I don't beg all my fans to keep supporting me as they always have,"
"But I pray and hope for it like this in my heart,"
"And I will also do my utmost in the future to bring everyone better film and television works that satisfy you all even more."
...
Her words were clear, her speech sincere.
There was certainly anger,
but as for being too angry—that really couldn't be said.
This was the thought of many viewers.
Most of the fans still liked this actress because of Mai Sakurajima's acting skills.
And to leave the fandom and turn into haters just because she'd fallen in love and was dating a man who'd helped her—that really couldn't be said to be the case.
Apart from the extreme fans, most of the fans still had their reason.
The partner Mai Sakurajima had found wasn't married, nor was it anything immoral,
and now she'd even sincerely expressed her apology and spoken the plain truth,
so the discontent of the many people had mostly dissipated as well.
After that,
Mai Sakurajima went on to express her apology—an apology for the public uproar caused by the Akihabara confession incident the night before last, and to the many members of the public who had been following this matter.
The sincerity was put squarely in place.
Many fans had also come to terms with it.
This press conference, although a little late, wasn't especially late either, so they could accept it.
Of course,
negative comments still existed online,
smears against Mai Sakurajima still appeared,
but compared to before, the numbers had already dropped considerably.
Public opinion was slowly settling,
the situation was quietly coming to a halt.
The edited video ended.
The Service Club's club room returned to calm.
"Wow! Right to the end she still didn't say who that man is."
What Isshiki Iroha cared about most was this very matter,
but even when a reporter asked, Mai Sakurajima politely declined and didn't disclose the relevant information.
Mai Sakurajima didn't want his life to suffer any more disturbance.
"I'm so curious, I really want to know!"
Isshiki Iroha lamented. "Senpai, Senpai, what do you think Mai's boyfriend's status is! Even now no one's been able to dig him up."
She poked Lin Ye in the side and asked.
"No idea. Maybe he's a high schooler like us!"
"Ha!"
Isshiki Iroha was taken aback. "How could he possibly be a high schooler? So mature and charismatic—that's absolutely not the kind of temperament and aura a high schooler could possess."
The junior shook her head vigorously, denying Lin Ye's guess.
Lin Ye, helpless, looked over toward Yukino Yukinoshita.
Their gazes met and intertwined.
The girl with long black hair rolled her eyes, showing a slight displeasure.
From the audio of the video alone, she'd already figured out most of it.
It was because of Lin Ye's help to Mai Sakurajima that that big star had developed a fondness for Lin Ye,
and the final confession had even broken through the last line of defense in her heart.
Knowing full well that Lin Ye had a Quasi-fiancée, knowing full well that Lin Ye had a girl with whom he shared an intimate relationship, Mai Sakurajima had nonetheless taken this step.
Yukinoshita knew that if she were to spread this around—that Mai Sakurajima was seducing a man who had a fiancée—Mai Sakurajima's future in the entertainment world would absolutely be finished, and she'd even lose all her honor.
But Yukino Yukinoshita was, after all, not a woman who would do such a thing.
Her heart was still kind.
In her contest with Mai Sakurajima, she would still choose fairness and impartiality. Matters of the heart should be settled on the battlefield of the heart, not by using other means.
"Yukinoshita-senpai, how do you view Mai's press conference this time?"
"Quite sincere. This is actually the best method for her to handle the PR."
After thinking it over, Yukino Yukinoshita continued, "Sincerity is the ultimate move. In the public-opinion storm that's currently formed, no matter how she explains, there are problems. Better to just admit it directly, show the public the emotional journey between herself and him, and win sympathy and resonance."
And the result—she succeeded.
At the very least, public opinion had already begun to settle; what more of the followers were curious about was the man's identity and exactly what had happened between the two of them.
A great deal of attention had already been drawn to that man of unknown identity.
What would happen going forward depended on the guidance of public opinion.
There were haters constantly bashing her, but the agency's side had clearly also hired a professional team to handle the online smears and attacks against Mai Sakurajima, working to minimize the impact as much as possible and to cut short the duration of that impact as quickly as possible.
"Yes, yes! I was even worried Mai might quit the entertainment industry over this. Now it seems I was overthinking it—Mai will still be active on the screen,"
Isshiki Iroha clearly liked Mai Sakurajima quite a lot.
Yui Yuigahama also had quite a good impression of Mai Sakurajima.
"Mai is pretty, has a good personality, outstanding acting skills, and great fashion sense. I read a lot of fashion magazines, and she's a model in all of them—a lot of my clothes I bought following her lead,"
Yui Yuigahama began praising her too.
"Her boyfriend is sincere and responsible, helping Mai when she was at her most difficult,"
"The two of them are a match made in heaven."
A single sentence,
made Yukino Yukinoshita relegate this girl Yui Yuigahama onto the gray list.
Lin Ye and Mai Sakurajima a match made in heaven—then what did she, Yukino Yukinoshita, count as? The third party?
She, Yukino Yukinoshita, was the third party?
What kind of joke was that.
A wisp of cold air emerged, dropping the Service Club's temperature by several degrees.
Isshiki Iroha and Yui Yuigahama instinctively shivered.
What's going on? It's the middle of the day—how did the weather turn cold?
"It's about time. Let's head back to the classroom!"
Lin Ye spoke up just in time.
If this went on any longer, Lin Ye had no idea what topic they'd end up talking about.
If Yukino spilled the beans on him, he had no idea how he'd be pestered by Isshiki Iroha, this junior.
Having finally handled yesterday's matter properly, Lin Ye really didn't want to face Isshiki Iroha's pestering again.
Although he could still use the Hypnosis superpower to solve the Isshiki problem, unless it was necessary, Lin Ye still didn't want to use it.
The several of them began clearing up the dishes, and after tidying up, they headed to the classroom.
The afternoon's lessons began right on time.
On the lectern of Class J, Shizuka Hiratsuka, in her white coat, was teaching Japanese literature.
And the focus of her attention was Lin Ye,
and Lin Ye gave Shizuka Hiratsuka this much face, being very attentive the whole class, only with his mind pondering his own affairs.
The dismissal bell rang.
After all the other students had left, Yukino Yukinoshita rose again, preparing to head to the Service Club.
"Yukinoshita, I have an appointment after school, so I won't be going to the Service Club today."
"Mm."
She nodded to show she understood, without even asking who Lin Ye had an appointment with—as if expressing enormous trust in Lin Ye.
This, on the contrary, made Lin Ye feel embarrassed.
Should he say it or not!
If he said it, he feared Yukinoshita would overthink; if he didn't, he feared Yukinoshita would find out later, and then it would inevitably cause a misunderstanding.
So hard!
Lin Ye grew nostalgic for his single life.
As long as he was single, no matter what girl he talked to or had contact with, he wouldn't have to consider the feelings of other girls at all.
Sigh! The good days—they're gone!
...
...
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