I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

“Alright, since you put it that way,” Tenkuji Yu shrugged, quickly returning to his usual demeanor. “Then let’s get back to business.”

"call……"

Hiratsuka Shizuka turned to the side to adjust her breathing, and after she had completely calmed down and coughed twice, she turned to him with a serious expression.

Her fair, slender hand was once again placed on the membership application form.

"Putting money aside, didn't I just say, 'Just do me a favor and join the Service Department'? That wasn't an excuse to fool you."

Yuu Tenkuji struck a pose as if she wanted to hear more details.

"First of all, you know that the school will be holding an 'Autumn Club Showcase' in a while, right?"

“Of course I know.” Yuu Tenkuji nodded.

Although he didn't join any clubs, it was still a major annual event at the school, and he had experienced it once during his first year of high school.

The "Autumn Club Showcase" is an event that Soubu High School has developed in recent years. It takes place earlier than the autumn outing, cultural festival, and sports festival, but it is just as lively as the three.

Simply put, it's a cultural festival centered around community groups.

At that time, each club will set up a booth to showcase its best achievements and try to attract the attention of the entire school. This will not only be a second opportunity to promote the club after the spring recruitment, but also help the school improve the club's evaluation and gain more say in the club funding meeting.

Not to mention, there were also two ranking competitions on the same day: the "Club Popularity Ranking" and the "Club Overall Evaluation".

The "Club Popularity Ranking" is designed for students. Every student can vote on the school forum. The clubs voted for will not only receive free publicity, but will also receive many benefits from the school, such as prize money and resources.

The "Club Overall Evaluation" is for the school. The club's performance will be presented in the auditorium. This is mostly a performance-based event. The more exciting, interesting, or relevant the performance is to the club's theme, the higher the score will be given by the school judges. The ranking will naturally affect the various awards received later.

"And as the instructor of the 'Service Club,' I naturally can't escape this autumn performance... How annoying."

Hiratsuka Shizuka sighed heavily, flicked her cigarette butt (which had no ash), and said listlessly, "It was that old man, the principal, who ordered it. He said that no matter whether I produced any results or not, I just had to bring my club to the performance. If I didn't do that, he wouldn't let me smoke at school, and he would send someone to keep a close eye on me."

Remembering something unpleasant, she involuntarily swung her long, crossed legs, kicking the table leg with a loud thud.

She glanced at him apologetically, then straightened her posture, her back pressed against her smooth black hair, and gently scratched her eyebrows with her fingers.

"There's nothing we can do but try our best."

"Hiratsuka-sensei, why don't you just take this opportunity to quit smoking?" Yuuto Tenkuji casually offered this advice, but seeing the delinquent female teacher opposite him scoff and not seem to listen, he continued:

"So the task you mentioned earlier was for me to gather enough people to participate in the autumn performance after joining the 'Service Department' and meet the headmaster's... requirements?"

"Well, more or less." Hiratsuka Shizuka propped her head up with the finger she used to scratch her eyebrow and said with a hint of helplessness, "If you have something to do, you'll be more willing to accept money... It would be foolish not to do something that kills multiple birds with one stone, so I'm not just trying to help you out, let's do it in a mutually beneficial way."

"A win-win situation... So there's something else?" Tenkuji Yu frowned slightly, a bad feeling creeping over her.

"That's right, do you know Yukino Yukinoshita?"

Hiratsuka Shizuka perked up at this point.

The mature woman leaned forward slightly, her eyes shining with a hint of a smile as she looked at him.

"A top student in the international education program, the school's undisputed Ice Queen... Even you, you must have heard of her, right?"

"Teacher, the way you're talking... haven't you gotten over your teenage angst yet?"

"Stop talking nonsense and answer my question!"

Yuu Tenkuji was hit on the head, but he didn't dodge and obediently paid the price of complaining about his elders.

"Of course I've heard about it. Just today, rumors about her and the transfer student Natsukawa are everywhere." He shrugged, a smile playing on his lips. "I also heard they're planning to fight over the title of 'Strongest Second-Year Beauty' after school, and whoever gets their face scratched first loses."

"What the hell? Even if it's just hearsay, this is going too far." Hiratsuka Shizuka couldn't help but sigh and rub her forehead, then waved her hand dismissively. "Forget it, don't believe those rumors. Seeing is believing, you'll have plenty of time to get to know her later."

“You mean…” Tenkuji Yu blinked, a flash of inspiration striking her, and she instantly guessed the meaning behind Hiratsuka Shizuka’s words.

And in the next moment, her guess was confirmed.

"Another member of the Service Club is Yukinoshita; you can think of her as the club president..."

"The second thing I want to ask of you is to join this club and try your best to correct her eccentric thinking and her overly stubborn personality."

As soon as he finished speaking, Tenkuji Yuu and Hirazuka Shizuka stared at each other, their faces full of confusion.

"Correction? Isn't that what psychologists are supposed to do? Why am I being asked to do it?"

Hiratsuka Shizuka spread her hands: "Yukinoshita doesn't have any psychological problems. It's just that her upbringing made her shape a little strange... It's a pity that what she thinks is the right way to survive will lead to a lot of suffering and injuries after she enters society."

"It just so happens that she met me, a teacher who is enthusiastic and likes to meddle. For the sake of her future, I decided to find a reliable peer to subtly change her."

This idea was very much in line with her personality, and Tenkuji Yu didn't find it strange. After nodding slightly, there was still doubt in her eyes.

Hiratsuka Shizuka knew what else he wanted to ask.

"As for why you were chosen despite your average grades, lack of club memberships, and no special achievements... the reason is even simpler."

She sat in the chair with her arms crossed, exuding an air of authority, and looked him straight in the eye, delivering her assessment with seriousness and earnestness:

"Sky Temple, you are the most mature student I have ever met. With that kind of family background, you have also experienced the ups and downs of society earlier than others."

"While I can't say you've become a member of society and been molded into a realistic image... you'd probably be a good whetstone for that Yukinoshita-san who just came out of the refrigerator, right?"

"And that is the third reason why I want you to join the 'Service Department'."

"Of course, Yukino only knows the first two, and I hope you won't tell her."

Chapter Twenty-Two: It would be terrible if he vomited blood!

The shape of Zongwu High School's school buildings is somewhat unusual.

Viewed from above, the school buildings resemble the Chinese character "口" (mouth). Below, several multimedia buildings complete the aerial view of the school.

The passageway is flanked by a classroom building and a special building, with corridors connecting the two buildings on their second floors, forming a quadrilateral.

The open space surrounded by the square school buildings is the courtyard, a holy place for the popular students, and the liveliest place besides the classrooms and the cafeteria during lunch break.

Hiratsuka Shizuka then led him through the courtyard toward the special building.

"You're going to work today, right? Let the two of you get to know each other first, and then we can discuss the fall performance later. There are still two weeks left anyway."

Listening to the crisp sound of heels tapping on the waxed corridor, Yuu Tenkuji casually responded without offering any opinion.

Even though he remembered meeting Yukino Yukinoshita and exchanging a few words with her, it was at best a meeting between a convenience store clerk and a customer; to say they knew each other was a stretch.

As for Yukino Yukinoshita, it goes without saying that she probably doesn't even remember ever meeting her.

Unlike Yuki Koichiro, the two only met in Yukinoshita Haruno's car. Once this "reason" disappeared, they would no longer have this unique point of intersection and would naturally return to their original relationship as strangers.

Of course, these are just Yuu Tenkuji's own assumptions—before they officially make contact, who knows what kind of trouble the system will cause? Being too confident can easily lead to being proven wrong.

Even so, he was not completely ignorant of Yukino Yukinoshita.

It has nothing to do with those superficial and untrue rumors.

While on a date with her sister, Yuu Tenkuji overheard a lot of information about her.

For example, naive thinking, being too stubborn, and a childish personality that shows dislike for the older sister but doesn't want to be disliked by her, etc...

In any case, none of these are good things. The impression she gives is very different from the "Ice Queen" rumored at school. She's just a willful and awkward little sister.

On one occasion, during a conversation, Yukino Yukinoshita suddenly got excited and told him something that only her family would know, something that was considered a dark history for Yukino Yukinoshita...

“Xiaoxue is her. She stopped wetting the bed when she was two years old. Everyone praised her for being so amazing and mature... She was very proud of it and often asked me to praise her for it.”

"As a result, on the night of her fifth birthday, perhaps because she drank too much juice at the birthday party, she wet the bed and tried to destroy the evidence before anyone else found out."

"Unfortunately, I discovered it beforehand."

"Hmph, back then I ignored her pleas for mercy and just pulled up the bed sheet she wet, waving it around like a world map to show it off. Not only her parents, but also her grandparents who came to visit knew about her bedwetting."

"Yukino has always had a strong sense of pride. After realizing that the situation was beyond repair, she resolutely hid in the toilet, crying and shouting things like 'I hate my sister' and 'I'll never talk to my sister again,' and refused to come out no matter what... In the end, I was the one who carried her back to her room after she fell asleep on the toilet."

"Wow, looking back now, my memories are filled with all sorts of wonderful moments~"

"..."

After hearing this, all Tenkuji Yu could say was, "Your sister has really improved herself by not beating you to death when she grew up."

Looking back, he realized he had prayed countless times for Yukino Yukinoshita, hoping she could escape the shadow of that witch as soon as possible.

If this can be considered a kind of acquaintance, then Yuu Tenkuji can confidently assure you that he and this poor girl who has long been oppressed by her older sister are already quite familiar with each other.

However, being familiar with someone one-sidedly is useless. He doesn't plan to pursue Yukino Yukinoshita, so what's the point of knowing so much useless information?

Furthermore, every time Yukino Yukinoshita is mentioned, Yuuto Tenkuji also recalls Haruno Yukinoshita and a whole host of things related to her—

This feeling—that he had absolutely no feelings for the person, yet the memory was so vivid and unforgettable—made him feel extremely uncomfortable.

"arrive."

The footsteps suddenly stopped, and Ms. Hiratsuka stopped in front of what appeared to be a normal classroom.

There were no words on the classroom sign, but the windows were very clean, as if someone had specially cleaned them.

Pulling her wandering thoughts back to the present, Tenkuji Yu looked around curiously, while Hiratsuka Shizuki simply opened the door.

A corner of the classroom was cluttered with desks and chairs, making it look like a warehouse, but it didn't have that dirty, messy, or stuffy feeling.

Apart from that, this place is no different from any other classroom; it's just an ordinary classroom.

After bypassing Hiratsuka-sensei, Tenkuji Yu looked around and had a clear view of the classroom.

Then, as if drawn by a magnet, his gaze quickly settled on the girl at the long table.

Just sitting there reading, she was more noticeable than the setting sun.

The golden light filtering through the window cast a soft luster on her smooth, straight black hair; a few wisps of breeze blew in through the half-open window, occasionally ruffling a stray strand of hair, which she gently tucked behind her ear with her slender, white fingers, her clear, bright eyes still quietly gazing at the pages of her book.

It was as if even if the world ended, the girl would stay there and continue reading.

This picturesque and beautiful scene didn't last long before Hiratsuka Shizuka abruptly pulled her back to harsh reality.

"Hey, Yukinoshita, I've brought you here!"

"Hiratsuka-sensei..."

Yukino Yukinoshita tucked the bookmark into the paperback, looked up, and gave her a disgruntled look: "Shouldn't I have told you beforehand that you should knock before coming in?"

"Knock on the door?" Hiratsuka Shizuka raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms with a strange sense of smugness. "Can't you sense my presence at such close range? Yukinoshita, you've regressed."

Yukino Yukinoshita pressed her temples, looking quite helpless: "I never had that skill in the first place, let alone regressed... Anyway, let's get back to the main topic."

She decisively stopped Hiratsuka Shizuka from continuing her argument and turned her gaze to Tenkuji Yu as if assessing his fighting ability.

"This must be Tenkuuji-kun, right? Are you sure you want to let him join the club?"