Our attention returns to Tomie.
—Kawakami Tomie.
She had always been a very arrogant person, especially regarding her beauty and charm. In Tomie's eyes, there was no man in this world she couldn't conquer.
Hayashi was no different in her eyes; she arrogantly scorned all males.
Hayashi was, at most, a more valuable toy than the average simp. His good looks allowed her to patiently play the game of impersonating Yukinoshita.
That's how Tomie originally saw it... According to Tomie's plan, as long as she crooked her finger, Hayashi would fall madly in love with her like those other men. As for Yukinoshita... she would soon be forgotten.
Then, as the victor, she would treat Hayashi, who was groveling at her feet, as a trained loyal dog and flaunt him as a trophy in front of Yukinoshita Yukino.
She would enjoy Yukino's jealousy and the pleasure of cuckolding the girl's budding romance.
Finally, she would discard the boy like a used rag, completely devour Yukinoshita, and then seek out her next benefactor.
That's how it was supposed to be!
But Tomie quickly discovered something different about Hayashi.
She could make any man who saw her fall madly in love and develop intense possessiveness, but with Hayashi... Tomie clearly saw the desire in his eyes! Although he didn't show it overtly, how could the soul of an LSP escape the notice of Tomie, the embodiment of desire?
Yet, Tomie was surprised to find that he could resist her charm, even while she was using Yukinoshita's body... This was unacceptable to Tomie; her charm was unquestionable, regardless of the form she took.
But when it came to Hayashi, she always felt as if four white male lions were entrenched in his eyes, guarding the boy.
'Interesting!'
This discovery piqued Tomie's interest. Merely four white lions, and they dared to resist her!
Following this, Tomie, in the guise of Yukino-nyan, engaged in deeper interaction with Hayashi, and Tomie was very skilled at controlling Yukino's body.
As the personification of desire, no one understood how to catalyze human desire better than an interested Tomie.
Greed, possessiveness, violence!
With deeper contact, Tomie could clearly hear the wails of those four white lions! They couldn't protect their master anymore!
This greatly pleased Tomie, and combined with her possession of Yukino, she felt the joy of victory.
Oh, right, and that woman outside the door... defeating six people was part of her victory!
How dare they compare themselves to me, Tomie!?
But just as Tomie was preparing to enjoy the fruits of victory, stepping on Hayashi and treating him like a toy right in front of Yukino.
Tomie was astonished to find... that after their interaction, Hayashi, who should have been irreversibly captivated by her charm, seemed to have his status refreshed! He reverted to the state he was in before the interaction.
In fact, if it weren't for the lingering memory in his eyes, Tomie would have thought the scene where she "danced with silver snakes" for him was just an illusion!
Could it be that once wasn't enough?!
'This man has resolve; I like it!'
A single failure did not discourage Tomie; instead, Hayashi became even more intriguing to her.
So Tomie, still looking like Yukino, watched movies with him, went to the amusement park... In the two-person booth, on the Ferris wheel, and in the haunted house, Tomie tried again and again to incite the downfall of Hayashi's humanity.
But every time Tomie felt she had him secured, she would sense that the other party's status had suddenly refreshed—once, twice, thrice... This drove the arrogant Tomie crazy. She scorned everything and believed all males instinctively ought to revolve around her. She, who treated Hayashi as an interesting toy, suddenly realized:
She herself seemed to have been treated as a toy by him.
So much so that...
In the end.
As the sun set in the west, by the river in the amusement park, 'Yukino' looked at Hayashi.
Sunlight filtered through the clouds, spilling onto 'Yukino's' cold face, outlining subtle halos of light. Her eyes held charm, captivating Hayashi.
Cold yet seductive, aloof yet passionate... she asked expectantly.
"Am I beautiful?"
"Very beautiful!"
Hayashi answered without hesitation, following his true feelings.
'Yukino' was quite satisfied with Hayashi's answer, which restored a bit of her confidence. A confident and stunning faint smile curved her lips, but it wasn't enough, so she pressed further.
"Then, how do I compare to the 'me' who was formerly ignorant of pleasure?"
As she asked this, Tomie repeatedly poked Yukinoshita in her mind, feeling defeated by Hayashi and attempting to regain confidence through the girl...
'Yukinoshita, how do you think Hayashi will answer?'
'...'
Yukino's long silence came from the depths of her mind. How was Yukino supposed to answer? Throughout this entire journey with Hayashi, she had clearly witnessed Tomie's charm.
Even just a glance was enough for passing men to be captured by her charm. If Hayashi's aura hadn't been so terrifying, those men might have done something awful.
Yukino could even clearly see the men's eyes gradually turning beastly through Tomie's deliberate glances, only for them to retreat, intimidated by Hayashi.
At the same time, she couldn't perceive the changes in Hayashi's desire as keenly as Tomie could.
She knew that Tomie, controlling her body, had done many shameless things.
As for Hayashi's change after each time... she thought it was the so-called 'Sage Time' for men!
In this situation... even Yukino, who was confident in her own appearance, lost her self-assurance. Especially since Tomie was using her face... So Yukino remained silent, unwilling to speak and let Tomie gloat.
But just then, Hayashi's voice reached them, causing Yukino in the Sea of Consciousness to freeze and the confident smile on 'Yukino's' face to solidify.
"Don't joke around. How can you compare to her!"
Hayashi's voice, laced with a light, strong mockery, rang out, igniting fury in 'Yukino's' eyes.
However, she thought she had misheard. Her beautiful face suppressed her anger, and she spoke with a dry, incredulous tone.
"What did you say?"
"What?"
A hint of playfulness appeared on Hayashi's face. He then reached out and patted 'Yukino's' delicate face, even rubbing the tear mole—the only feature indicating Tomie's presence—with a meaningful look.
"Then I'll make myself clear. Bitch, do you even deserve to compare yourself to Yukino?"
Hayashi spoke slowly, coldly, and mockingly, every single word hitting Tomie's ears, causing the forced smile on her face—which she could no longer maintain—to completely vanish.
She looked at Hayashi, at this heartless fellow! Tomie asked coldly.
"When did you figure out I wasn't Yukino?"
"That's better. This cold demeanor actually captures three-tenths of Yukino's spirit!"
Hayashi teased, and under Tomie's increasingly angry gaze, he finally lied without hesitation.
"Today."
"I was slow yesterday and didn't notice, but your acting is really poor today, or rather, you weren't even trying to act, were you?"
Because Yukino might gain Memory Fragments after the time loop, Hayashi naturally couldn't say he had recognized Tomie's identity from the start.
Operating on the principle of 'don't miss a good girl, don't waste a bad girl,' he played along with Tomie's role-playing game.
Hayashi lied without hesitation.