I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

"Ayu, what are you laughing at? Do you want me to beat you until you cry?"

With her flawless acting skills, Yuuki Tenkuji instantly suppressed her smile and said calmly, "Why are you so angry? Isn't what Yuihama said true?"

"I've said it before, haven't I? You have to be even more real than the real one. So as the fake girlfriend, I should be even angrier than the real girlfriend right now."

With a twitch at the corner of her eye, Natsukawa Masuzu turned her truly icy gaze to Yuigahama Yui, and the two stared at each other.

"Dumpling-chan, what makes you think I wouldn't have any objections?"

"Because you're a fake girlfriend! Xiaoyou doesn't like you, and you don't like Xiaoyou either."

Seemingly accepting this fact, Yui Yuigahama answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Even if he kissed Xiaoyou, it's still fake. To those of us in the know, it's just 'that's how it is.' There's no need to worry about you too much, right?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the air suddenly turned several degrees colder.

"Just 'that's all'?... Ha, you really dare to say that."

His eyes narrowed, half of Natsukawa Masaki's pretty face darkened, and his deep voice, like bubbling black soup, burst out from between his teeth.

"If only I had done everything in my power to stop him from telling anyone..."

"Don't worry!"

Yui Yuigahama raised her fist, directly confronting the tense atmosphere, and declared with great enthusiasm:

"Even though I'm very envious of you, Natsukawa, I won't tell anyone about the 'fake girlfriend' thing! Because this is something Yu wants to do, so I'll do my best to support him!"

"This is the mindset and awareness that a 'true' good friend should have!"

puff!puff!

Each word was like an invisible arrow piercing Natsukawa Masuzu's chest, causing her to bend over and only be able to steady herself by holding onto Tenkuji Yu's clothes to avoid falling to the ground.

"Goodness, you're being sarcastic with your words... I knew I hadn't misjudged you, Dango-chan."

She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth that hadn't actually flowed, and breathed heavily.

Yuu Tenkuji: "...You're so dramatic."

"Huh? No." Yui blinked innocently at her and asked in confusion, "I was just expressing my thoughts, I didn't mean to mock Natsukawa-san."

Natsukawa Masaki chuckled coldly, showing no intention of believing her. In her mind, she had already presumptuously labeled Yui Yuigahama as a girl with a dark side, no longer considering her a naive and innocent girl whose brain had been poisoned by love.

"Uh, I really... never mind."

Yui Yuigahama hesitated for a moment, then scratched her cheek, feeling that the other person seemed to have misunderstood something.

But compared to this...

She looked again at Tenkuji Yu, who was being held by the hem of his clothes and arms by Natsukawa Masuzu, staring speechlessly into the distance.

That was the boy she liked in the past, and liked even more now, but could only be a good friend to her.

Even so, she was still one step closer to him than before.

Just keep moving forward, don't stop...

Sooner or later, your own happiness will come!

With this belief, Yui Yuigahama revealed a bright, sunny smile.

"Xiao You, now that we're good friends, isn't it time you changed how you address me?"

"So suddenly? It's not impossible..." Turning his gaze away from the distant scenery, Tenkuji Yu looked at her face and called her by her name for the first time.

"Yui".

"—Yes, Yui is here!"

It was a clear voice that seemed to blow away all the bleakness of autumn and fill the whole world with the bright and beautiful spring.

It's as if she wants to tell all the seasons that Yui Yuigahama loves Yuu Tenkuji.

Naturally, Natsukawa Masuri was extremely displeased, and this manifested in her actions as follows—

"Let's go, it's time to go home."

She held onto Tenkuji Yu's arm tightly and casually dragged him outside.

Upon seeing this, Yui Yuigahama rushed over and grabbed Tenkuji Yu's other hand. Before anyone else outside could see, she quickly let go, ignoring Natsukawa Masuzu's icy gaze, and coughed twice with a flushed face.

"I'll come along too, it's on my way anyway."

Natsukawa Masaki gave a fake smile: "We're a couple, walking home together after school. What business is it of yours, my good friend? Aren't you afraid the other students will gossip?"

"That's true..."

Muttering to herself, Yui Yuigahama slowly moved closer and closer to Yuu Tenkuji's shoulder.

"But you see, there are also people who go home with their best friend's partner! Everyone should be able to understand that..."

"Tsk, those kinds of people are usually called third wheels."

"Isn't that a good thing? After all, it's something that brings light to people..."

"Tuanzi-chan, your shamelessness is truly impressive, I admire you greatly."

"Hehehe~ It's not that amazing~"

"..."

While arguing amongst themselves in a way that wasn't particularly heated, the two walked out of the secluded corner of the stairwell, weaving through the curious gazes that gathered around them, and headed together toward the school gate.

Meanwhile, Yuu Tenkuji, standing between the two girls, wore a cheerful expression, seemingly having let go of everything. He let them chatter in his ear while thinking about what delicious dish he would make for his sister that night that would move her to tears.

"I've done everything I could. As for the rest, whatever..."

Perhaps this is the tragic battleground between my "fake girlfriend" and "good friend"?

No, it hasn't reached the point of devastation yet—on the contrary, it has added more fun to life.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but smile.

Yuu Tenkuji still holds an optimistic view of his future.

"Congratulations, host, you have received the reward: Presence Adjustment (Status)."

Interlude. [Conclusion: Yui Yuigahama has someone she likes.]

This book was compiled by the [Hedgehog Cat Pineapple Bun Novel Exchange Group]. Copyright belongs to the original author. The text is for preview purposes only!

More novels are available in the [Hedgehog Cat Pineapple Bun Novel Exchange Group] 488749799

That was the season when the cherry blossoms were just beginning to bloom.

Shimizu Junior High School, Chiba City.

The uniform was an old-fashioned black sailor suit, with a skirt that had to be ten centimeters below the knee, basically only showing part of the calves, which had to be covered by white socks.

Although many people alter school uniforms, it's still difficult for Yui Yuigahama to indulge herself like others.

Anyway, she's only in third grade, so she'll debut in high school after graduation! Thinking this, she blended into the crowd today, indiscriminately becoming an inconspicuous member of the group.

Have you read any romance novels lately?

"Ah, is that the 'Sweet Today' book? I remember it was adapted into a comic..."

"'Jin Tian' was first released as a comic book, then as a novel! The novel is written by a well-known author, and I recently heard it's going to be adapted into a TV series..."

"I've seen it! I've seen it! It's super popular, oh my god!"

It's rare to see friends who usually only talk about pop songs, celebrities, and handsome guys on the soccer team start talking about a romance novel.

I've heard of the work "Kon-Tsui" by Yui Yuigahama, and although I'm quite interested in it, I haven't bought the book to read it yet.

There was no other way; she spent all her allowance on singing and shopping with her classmates, so she had to cut back on other entertainment expenses and save money.

If one day everyone wants to go out and have fun, but you don't have enough money to go, and end up drifting further and further away from the small group you've finally managed to fit into, that would be terrible.

Campus life without friends is worse than staying at home!

"Mmm, that's really touching~"

Still reading the air, nodding in agreement with the unfamiliar storylines, Yui Yuigahama secretly decided that after school she would go to the library to see if there were any of "Kami-chan's" novels she could borrow.

After all, if you don't keep up with the conversation, you'll drift further and further away from where you belong.

……

After school, the plainly dressed pink-haired girl arrived at the library.

"Haha, this seems to be the first time I've stepped into a library in years..."

Looking at the old, tall building in front of her, she couldn't help but smile awkwardly before pushing open the door and going inside.

She disliked reading and her grades had never fallen out of the middle or lower ranks of her class, so she naturally wouldn't come to the library to torture herself—the serious and heavy study atmosphere alone was enough to make people stay away, and the stacks of books gave off a cold and aloof feeling that kept people at a distance.

"Excuse me..."

With her shoulders hunched, she strode into the silent bookshelf area and quickly headed towards the novels, following the book categories.

The surrounding area was full of students studying diligently, and she was the only one who came to find a romance novel to read, which made Yui Yuigahama feel a lot of pressure, and her whereabouts looked as sneaky as a little mouse preparing to steal oil.

However, the operation went surprisingly smoothly.

As she walked to the last row of bookshelves, the book committee member was pulling a book cart and placed a recently returned copy of "Kon-Tsui - Volume 1" on the shelf. After the person left, Yui Yuigahama quickly took it down, hugged it to her chest, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Retreat! Retreat! The library is really not for me..."

Just as she was about to turn and leave, she caught a glimpse of someone who looked somewhat familiar out of the corner of her eye.

He sat in the corner of the study area, with several open books on the table. He was writing furiously in what should have been a notebook full of exercises, engrossed in his studies.

The warm afternoon sun outside the window shone on his face, making his calm and handsome face look like it was coated with a soft filter, so beautiful that it could win a photography award.

While the other person was focused on studying, Yui Yuigahama subconsciously hid behind the bookshelf, swallowing hard and peeking at his profile—this was a normal reaction to seeing a handsome guy, as for whether she was attracted to him, that was hard to say.

An ordinary girl like her, who has nothing special about her and at most has a slightly larger chest than others, would instinctively distance herself from such a handsome guy and wouldn't dare to have any improper thoughts.

"Our classmate, Tenkuji? He comes to the library to study after school..."

Yui Yuigahama muttered quietly to her classmates in the distance.