Lin Ye had actually succeeded! Otherwise, how could a situation like this even arise? At the very least, he'd taken another step closer to success—there was no way this scene could have played out any other way.
Iroha Isshiki was dumbfounded!
The Senpai she had longed for day and night, the Senpai she had pursued for so long, the Senpai for whose sake she had endured who-knew-how-many rejections and slights—now he was actually going to get together with the girl he liked, Yukinoshita-senpai.
How could Iroha Isshiki possibly accept this?
Even if the two of them were only going on a date for now, the fact that it was a date Yukinoshita-senpai herself had initiated was already enough to put Iroha Isshiki on edge with worry.
If things kept going like this, Senpai might truly slip away from her, and any chance between her and Senpai might truly be lost.
Boo-hoo-hoo!
Iroha Isshiki wanted to cry. She had worked so hard, persevered for so long, yet she couldn't compare to Yukinoshita-senpai in the slightest. This sense of defeat, this frustration—how could Iroha Isshiki simply accept it?
Iroha Isshiki wanted to cry. If she hadn't quickly managed to suppress her own emotions, she really might have burst into tears this time from sheer heartbreak.
Facing Senpai's rejections time after time, she had never made a sound. But this time, truly, she was on the verge of breaking down and crying.
"Yuki... Yukinon..."
Yui Yuigahama blurted out in astonishment.
Honestly, her instinct was to not believe that Yukinoshita would ask Lin Ye out. But Lin Ye was now speaking with such solemn seriousness, as though stating a plain fact, that she truly felt it couldn't be a lie. This was real—Yukinon really had asked Lin Ye out.
She was puzzled, she was curious, she wanted to know the answer.
As for Yukinoshita, the person in question, facing everyone's gaze, she had actually wanted to explain the real situation right away—but beneath the table, out of everyone's sight, her calf had already been given a light nudge by Lin Ye's foot.
It was a reminder to her, asking her to help by not denying it.
Yukinoshita was displeased. Why shouldn't she deny it? Why should she refrain from denying it?
This simply wasn't the truth—of course she was going to deny it.
"Yuki... Yukinon... could this really be true? You... you invited... Student Lin out?"
The more Yui Yuigahama looked, the more it seemed real. Given Yukinon's personality, if it weren't true, why would she hesitate like this instead of denying it outright? This had to be true—that was why she still hadn't denied it.
Yui Yuigahama suddenly realized that Lin Ye's pursuit of Yukinoshita had progressed further.
When did this happen? So impressive!
She marveled.
She really had no idea when the two of them had developed things this far.
She was stunned, and also curious, wanting to know more.
Yukino Yukinoshita very much wanted to deny it, but at this point, was there any meaning left in denial?
She thought it over and neither affirmed nor denied it directly. "I did ask Student Lin for help before."
She gave a reason, which also counted as an answer.
On the surface, it was more or less an admission.
But once it was just the two of them, she would have to make Lin Ye explain himself thoroughly—what did he mean by suddenly pulling a stunt like this?
Was he trying to make her lose face in front of everyone, or what?
Treating her this way when things had been perfectly fine—she was not going to let Lin Ye off easily. Lin Ye would have to pay a price too.
"So... so that's how it is!"
So it was a repayment for his help!
Yui Yuigahama had a sudden moment of realization.
Even Iroha Isshiki, who had been grieving alone off to the side, came around to it.
"Ahhh, so it was Senpai issuing an invitation to repay Senpai's help... aiya, aiya, and here I thought Senpai liked Senpai and had proactively extended the invitation."
As she spoke she even broke into a smile, laughing "hahaha" to relieve the emotions welling up inside her.
"I knew it—there's no way Senpai could win over Yukinoshita-senpai that easily, no way he'd receive a date invitation from Yukinoshita-senpai this quickly, hahahaha..."
At this moment Iroha Isshiki felt a whole lot lighter, and the gloomy air that had covered her face just moments ago vanished completely.
"Senpai, Senpai, if you want to get out of singlehood, if you want a girlfriend, then apart from me, you've got no other choice. And it's a two-for-one deal—two girlfriends at once."
The moment those words came out, Yui Yuigahama panicked!
Anxiously she thrust out both hands and grabbed Iroha Isshiki's arm, shaking it hard.
There was pleading in her eyes, and panic too.
"Iroha-chan, Iroha-chan..."
This was something that couldn't be said!
It was too embarrassing. She didn't want Yukino to know—she didn't want Yukino to know about what had just happened, not even a little.
In that instant, Yui Yuigahama regretted it. She should have spoken up earlier to warn Iroha Isshiki, should have gotten Iroha Isshiki to promise to keep it secret.
At the thought of being Iroha Isshiki's girlfriend, she had no idea what Yukinon would think. Would she connect it with her earlier warning and conclude that her orientation was abnormal, and in the end keep her distance?
No, no, no, absolutely not!
Yui Yuigahama absolutely did not want things to develop that way—not in the slightest.
"Oh oh, Yuigahama-senpai, don't be shy. Yukinoshita-senpai isn't some stranger; it's no big deal if she finds out."
Iroha Isshiki acted as though she regarded Yukino Yukinoshita as one of her own, which only made Yui Yuigahama even more anxious.
Of course she knew Yukinoshita was one of her own, a person worthy of trust—Yukino definitely wouldn't run her mouth and spread it around. But the problem was precisely that she didn't want Yukino to know. The one person she least wanted to find out was Yukino.
That was exactly why she couldn't tell Yukino!
"What is it? Two-for-one?"
Faced with the obviously strange reactions of Iroha Isshiki and Yui Yuigahama, her curiosity was piqued. She felt there was definitely something going on here that she didn't know about.
She wanted to know. She needed to know.
"It's nothing, it's nothing, really nothing at all."
Yui Yuigahama shook her head and waved her hands in repeated denial, terrified of what Yukino Yukinoshita might ask, and of what Iroha Isshiki might answer.
And at the same time, to prevent Iroha Isshiki from opening her mouth, Yui Yuigahama went so far as to clamp a hand over Iroha Isshiki's mouth to keep the girl from speaking.
It could be said that at this moment Yui Yuigahama was unusually forceful, doing something that basically went against her character and that she would never normally do.
"Mmph, mmph, mmph..."
All that was left of Iroha Isshiki was muffled whimpering. She wanted to struggle and speak, but her voice was garbled and she couldn't manage it at all.
Yukino Yukinoshita's curiosity grew ever more intense.
What could it be? Otherwise, how could a scene like this be happening?
This had to be something very important.
And so, Yukino Yukinoshita turned her answer-seeking gaze onto Lin Ye.
She wanted to know how things stood.
"Student Lin..."
Yui Yuigahama spoke up in a pleading tone.
It occurred to her that if Lin Ye chose to speak, there would be absolutely no way for her to stop him. Restraining Iroha Isshiki was already her limit; she had no power at all to stop Lin Ye.
But she reasoned that Lin Ye was a good person and surely wouldn't say it.
Mm-hmm, Student Lin definitely wasn't that kind of person.
So Yui Yuigahama told herself.
Yui Yuigahama held expectations for Lin Ye—extremely high hopes.
She believed in Lin Ye.
"Student Lin, go ahead and speak!"
Yukino spoke up, coming right out with it, which made Yui Yuigahama even more anxious—so anxious she was almost on the verge of bursting into tears.
That teary-eyed look was truly more than the average person could bear; it really would make one's heart soften and give in to Yui Yuigahama.
And a certain part of the dumpling-haired girl was genuinely quite alluring, too.
She herself hadn't noticed, Iroha Isshiki hadn't noticed, and Yukinoshita hadn't noticed either—but Lin Ye, being male, spotted it at first glance.
In order to subdue Iroha Isshiki, Yui Yuigahama had flung herself over to hug her, arms straining, bodies pressed tight, her clothes in disarray, causing a certain part to be squeezed into a rather tempting shape.
Lin Ye watched with a bit of appreciation, and also a bit of sympathy—it would be a shame to have them crushed like that.
Soon, Lin Ye's thoughts returned to normal.
"I'm afraid you won't believe it."
That single sentence made Yui Yuigahama's face reveal a look of shock.
As the person directly involved, she knew all too well what it meant.
It's over, it's all over!
She was about to be sold out.
"Student Lin, Lin-kun, I'm begging you, please don't say it."
At this moment, Yui Yuigahama came right out and pleaded, and that teary-eyed look made even Yukinoshita's heart soften a little as she watched.
A girl's tears always carried a certain destructive power—even a girl like Yukinoshita found it hard to be immune.
But weighed against her curiosity, she still held firm.
She still wanted to know the outcome.
Yes—at worst she'd make it up to Yui Yuigahama afterward. That was Yukinoshita's line of thinking.
She'd treat Yui Yuigahama to a lovely meal then; that ought to do it.
Add in some milk tea and sweets that girls liked, and she figured Yui Yuigahama would be happy and satisfied.
"Sigh, it's very simple."
Realizing what Lin Ye was about to do, Yui Yuigahama's face went pale, and the hand covering Iroha Isshiki's mouth lost all its strength.
It was already about to be exposed—what point was there in her still hiding it and gagging Iroha Isshiki?
"Right now, Student Yuigahama is Isshiki's girlfriend."
As the words fell,
the entire room fell into silence.
Yui Yuigahama's face was pale, her eyes filled with a deadened light, wearing the tragic look of someone who'd lost all will to live.
Meanwhile, Iroha Isshiki, now freed from her restraint, gasped in great gulps of fresh air. Just now, just moments ago, she'd truly felt she'd come within an inch of suffocating to death.
But the outcome wasn't bad—she was fine, and even better, Senpai had said it out loud.
This... was fantastic!
Now that Senpai had said it, the first person Yuigahama-senpai would blame was Senpai, which lowered her level of dislike toward Isshiki quite a lot.
Senpai didn't care about Yuigahama-senpai's dislike, and moreover, the more Yuigahama-senpai disliked Lin Ye-senpai, the better—it could keep Yuigahama-senpai away from Senpai.
This was simply killing several birds with one stone.
Iroha Isshiki was so happy inside she could practically leap up.
Hahaha!
The future looked bright.
She grew more and more hopeful and expectant about what lay ahead.
"Student Lin, are you sure you didn't misspeak? Are you sure you meant to say Student Yuigahama isn't your girlfriend?"
Yukino Yukinoshita thought she'd misheard, thinking the dumpling-haired girl ought to be Lin Ye's girlfriend—only that would make sense.
"Yui Yuigahama is now Iroha Isshiki's girlfriend, while the girlfriend of my dreams is you. So, please, Miss Yukinoshita, don't take it upon yourself to pin some other woman onto me as my girlfriend," Lin Ye said solemnly, then added, "Of course, that's not to say Student Yuigahama is lacking in any way—it's just that my heart already belongs to someone, so there's no need for it anymore."
Yui Yuigahama had no reaction to this at all. At this moment her eyes were fixed intently on Yukinoshita, worried that Yukinoshita might harbor some unfavorable thoughts.
And Yukino Yukinoshita, noticing Yui Yuigahama's reaction, then shifted her gaze to Iroha Isshiki and said, "Student Isshiki, is what Student Lin said true?"
"Of course."
Iroha Isshiki straightened her back, then with one arm scooped Yui Yuigahama's slender waist in.
"Yuigahama-senpai is truly, definitely my girlfriend now. The two-for-one I mentioned just now means exactly this. As long as Senpai accepts me and becomes my boyfriend, both Yui-senpai and I will be Senpai's girlfriends. Two beautiful girls as girlfriends—how many men would envy that!"
As she spoke, Iroha Isshiki broke into a smug little smile. "Senpai, you're tempted, aren't you! Better to act than to yearn—hurry up and say yes!"
Iroha Isshiki had never given up testing the waters, had never stopped testing the waters.
As long as there was even the tiniest chance, she would keep probing away.
Who knew—who knew, maybe it would work out!
That was Iroha Isshiki's way of thinking.
"Not interested. It doesn't compare to the combination of Yukinoshita and Mai."
"Tch, Senpai, you're just daydreaming. You want to embrace beauties on both sides and possess two lovelies at once—now the chance is right in front of you and you won't even take it, and you actually want the higher-caliber combination of Yukinoshita-senpai and the big star Mai Sakurajima? You really are indulging in wild fantasies!"
"I believe there's a possibility of it coming true. What do you say, Yukinoshita?"
Lin Ye turned the question directly back onto the person in question, Yukino Yukinoshita.
The girl with long black hair shot him a cold glance, her attitude one of utter contempt. "In your dreams!"
That was what she said, but this scene had already become reality, and what filled her heart was mostly helplessness.
It was the kind of thing no one would believe if you told them, yet it had now become fact, and Yukino Yukinoshita felt helpless about it too!
It wasn't that she hadn't tried to change things—she'd even offered herself up as a condition—but Lin Ye simply wouldn't bite, simply refused, resolutely declining this condition of hers that, to anyone else, would carry untold allure.
For now, Yukino Yukinoshita could only continue to tacitly go along with it while searching for a new opportunity.
She firmly believed that one day she would knock Mai Sakurajima out of the running, reducing her to a mere passerby in the guise of a loser.
"Senpai, look, even Senpai says you're dreaming. Yuigahama-senpai and I are—"
At this moment Lin Ye proactively cut in and interrupted. "Isshiki, you may be willing, but your girlfriend Student Yuigahama isn't!"
"Hmph hmph, that's not for Yuigahama-senpai to decide. I'm the boyfriend, so I have the say—it absolutely has to be this way!"
"No, no, no, it's not for Iroha-chan to decide. My affairs are mine to decide, I decide them—"
"Tell me about how you two became a couple."
Yukinoshita was very curious about this now.
Everything had been perfectly fine—how had Iroha Isshiki and Yui Yuigahama ended up in such an intimate relationship in the span of a single lunch break?
Her curiosity welled up.
"That's naturally because I confessed and Yuigahama-senpai said yes. It's just that simple."
That was indeed the case, but a long string of preceding events had been left out of the middle.
And under the scrutiny of Yukino Yukinoshita's inquiring gaze, Lin Ye spoke up.
Since it was his own girlfriend's curious inquiry, as her boyfriend he figured it was necessary to provide an explanation and satisfy his girlfriend's curiosity.
...
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