I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

Yukino had to embellish the story herself, imagining some scenes that would seem very romantic... such as kissing in the rain, or doing things in a photo booth that no one else could see.

Then, with these side dishes, she slowly combed her hair with a wooden comb.

One, two...

"Well."

For no apparent reason, my heart skipped a beat.

The image that flashed through my mind was of a boy carrying a girl on his back, walking slowly down the road, the two of them chatting intimately in each other's ears.

The girl's face was blurry, but for a moment it seemed to change from long silver hair to short, slightly wavy black hair, from a mountain road to a road, from a sunny day to night, everything gently and peacefully enveloping the two of them.

Unfortunately, it wasn't myself there.

This isn't a memory, it's just an illusion.

Yukino took a deep breath, and the comb that had stopped in its path continued downwards, slipping past the ends of her hair and returning to the top of her head.

"He's just a little boy I've only met a few times, there's no way I could ever like him..."

Having set this premise for himself, he straightened his hair again with the comb, simulating other scenarios in his mind.

—Did he help her finish the food she couldn't eat at lunchtime?

When they went shopping for clothes, did he deliberately ask her about her body size?

—During passionate kisses, did he secretly stick his tongue into his mouth?

The comb slipped from her head, bringing with it the despair of never being able to receive that tenderness again.

Fragments flashed through my mind, filling me with the sadness of a tenderness that didn't belong to me.

why?

Why am I so far away from him, so far that I can't reach him even if I stretch my arms out the longest?

"Ugh..." Yukinoshita Haruno trembled involuntarily, and her hair-combing movements gradually slowed down like a malfunctioning machine.

--pain.

It hurt more than I imagined; it was a pain I had never experienced since birth.

Two different kinds of pain overlapped, like a dull, rusty knife slicing through the heart, one cut, two cuts, heavily cutting it open...

She gasped for breath, her lips were bitten until they turned white, and her face was completely bloodless.

Even with her eyes closed, Yang Nai still knew exactly how pathetic and pitiful the person reflected in the mirror looked, with a distorted expression.

It's like a fish out of water, like a bird without its nest.

"Ha... It would be terrible if someone saw me like this."

She laughed self-deprecatingly, her voice dry and weak.

Losing face is one thing, but being mistaken for performing some strange ritual is another.

This kind of thing often appears in urban legends, right?

If you comb your hair in front of a mirror at midnight, you can see what your future partner looks like—that's the legend I remember.

Yukino Yukinoshita wasn't superstitious and naturally scoffed at such claims... However, now, she was in so much pain because of mere imagination and combing her hair that she was almost crying out in agony, which was even more bizarre than an urban legend.

"If I had to put it in a word, this is the power of 'love,' isn't it?"

She chuckled, but didn't stop. She continued to torture herself, wanting to understand the pain more deeply.

—I heard there's an amusement park in the Qingshui Scenic Area.

So, will they have a blast at the amusement park, experiencing all the roller coasters, pirate ships, and Ferris wheels, and then, at the most romantic moment, make a promise to each other that will last forever...?

Crack.

Before I knew it, the comb had slipped from my hand and fallen to the ground.

Yukino slowly opened her eyes. In the blurry world, she looked at herself in the mirror with two lines of clear tears streaming down her face. She was like a pitiful girl who had lost her beloved, feeling both confused and helpless.

"...And can anyone tell me why this is?"

I couldn't help but smile, a smile tinged with helplessness and bitterness.

She sniffled, her nose reddening, wiped away her tears, picked up the comb, and then, feeling exhausted, slumped onto the cold dressing table.

Her cheeks rolled back and forth twice, and Yukinoshita Haruno lightly pounded the table a few times with her fist, letting out a dying wail.

"Ugh—I really don't want to do this again!"

She's not a masochist; physical pain is bearable, but mental anguish is truly unbearable!

Even though she was in so much pain, she still didn't realize why she cared about him so much, or even why she 'liked' him.

—It's all so inexplicable, everything related to him.

"...It's decided!"

Burying her face in her arms, Yukinoshita Haruno muttered to herself in a slightly coquettish voice, "Completely sealing away the double suicide attack of combing hair and imagining things!"

"If we want to find the answer, we should go directly to him and have in-depth conversations with him. We will definitely get more information... That's right, there's no need to be so extreme."

I must have been out of my mind a few days ago to come up with this twisted, self-destructive method of "no destruction, no construction" and "using pain to understand the truth."

Let's try to be normal from now on. We can't get used to torturing ourselves like this...

Yukino sighed softly and raised her gaze.

With her head resting on her arm, she stretched out her finger again, her delicate pink fingertip gently poking the wooden comb on the dressing table, the confusion in her eyes still lingering.

"Tenkuji Yu... Little Yuyu."

Even that name carries a bittersweet flavor.

"What good things did you do for me without my knowledge?"

……

...

The same night, in a luxury apartment building, in different rooms.

"If I give you half of my life, will you give me half of yours in return...?"

Lying sprawled on the bed, Natsukawa Masaki stared at the ceiling, muttering to himself with a heavy expression:

"This is an equal exchange, not 'love'... It's an equal exchange that belongs only to him and me, one that will never betray each other..."

She suddenly chuckled, picked up a pillow and pressed it down on her now-absent-face grin, then clamped the blanket between her thighs and rolled around several times.

"Goo-hoo, goo-hoo-hoo-hoo~ Saigoni is having a blast, duck~"

Chapter Sixty-Three Together, Like This and Like That

This grotesque behavior, reminiscent of a pervert, continued for quite some time.

"Achoo!" Natsukawa Masu suddenly sneezed, rubbed her nose, sat up, stared blankly ahead, and muttered in a daze, "Oh right... I should take a shower after getting caught in the rain. Otherwise I'll catch a cold."

He had told himself the same thing, not to make him worry because of his cold.

As she put down her pillow and was about to grab her clothes and go into the bathroom for a hot bath, a sudden thought struck her. She stopped in her tracks and thoughtfully touched her chin.

"If I 'accidentally' catch a cold like this, then visiting someone in the hospital will naturally follow... I, Natsukawa Masuzu, will never give up any seemingly ordinary opportunity!"

Visiting someone in the hospital – a classic romantic comedy plot.

It's a cliché, but think about it from another angle: what if those kinds of scenarios actually happened to you, and you were in this room doing those kinds of things with him...?

It sounds a bit vulgar, but Natsukawa Masuzu has to admit that she's actually getting a little excited!

"Well, she's a normal woman after all, so it's perfectly normal for her to have these kinds of thoughts!"

Even though there was no one else around, she blushed slightly as she clarified her situation, proudly justifying her anticipation: "Besides saying this and that, I won't actually let him do that to me... These things have to be done step by step, and I need to protect my value as a woman!"

"If he really can't help turning into a beast, at most it will go to that point... and then I'll have to do everything I can to refuse! Well, if I can't refuse, that's his problem, and it has nothing to do with me, the weak and pitiful one."

After talking to himself, Natsukawa Masaki sighed and shrugged helplessly.

"But given Ayou's personality, this kind of thing probably won't happen."

Even if the two made a deal to make each other their possessions—that virgin monster, that virginity demon, only his kissing skills are becoming more and more proficient. Even in a girl's room where no one will get in the way, he will probably maintain his gentlemanly behavior for various reasons such as ideals, manners, and persistence.

"That's right, just like the protagonist in a classic manga, he truly is the man I've set my sights on!"

Feeling both proud and relaxed, Natsukawa Masaki went into the bathroom, took a cold shower, and then turned on the fan and air conditioning without drying her hair, continuing this for half an hour.

After confirming that her body was starting to experience various adverse reactions, she turned off the lights and other electrical appliances, shivering as she huddled under the covers, and turned on her phone's flashlight.

White light illuminated the dark space inside the quilt, and deep blue eyes looked at the headshot on the phone case, which was also the first intimate photo of the two of them.

She naturally moved her face closer, rubbing against him for a few moments before letting out a frustrated sigh: "Just being able to rub against his photos is too empty... Next time, I might as well secretly switch his indoor shoes, or steal his chopsticks..."

As Natsukawa Masami put her phone back on the bedside table, pondering her method of committing the crime, she suddenly felt a momentary dizziness, followed by several coughs that sent a dry, burning pain through her throat.

Feeling cold all over, yet her face began to burn, and her lips were trembling involuntarily—Natsukawa Masaki knew that these were all signs of an impending cold.

Rather, given her constitution, she'll probably develop a high fever soon; if it gets worse, she might not recover until Monday and will have to take time off to see a doctor.

“I was too hasty…” Thinking of the consequences of catching a cold while living alone, Natsukawa Masaki clicked her tongue as if she had made a mistake. “If he has something to do and can’t come, I might die at home and no one might even find out… I need to plan out a few contingency strategies first.”

Even so, there's no going back now. Let's just go all the way!

Struggling against the urge to fall into a deep sleep, Natsukawa Masaki took a few breaths and sent out the message.

After he read and replied with a message full of care, "If you really have a cold, I'll come visit you. Take a hot shower and get some rest. Don't torture yourself just so I can come over," she contentedly placed her phone against her chest and peacefully closed her eyes.

"I hope tomorrow comes quickly... I hope I can live to see tomorrow's sun..."

Then I can finally get my hands on him and have some fun!

△

Let's rewind a little, to around dinnertime.

Sky Temple House.

Waving her chopsticks, Yuu Tenkuji shared the various interesting things that happened that day with her younger sister at the dining table.

"The group assignments were randomly drawn, and I just happened to be in a group with two girls... one of whom you know."