I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

"Of course!" Iroha Isshiki glared at Yuu Tenkuji, baring her little fangs menacingly. "Senpai, please answer seriously!"

"Don't worry, you can ask me any questions I want, and I'll answer them all." Tenkuji Yu smiled, and his gentle and warm gaze reminded her of something, causing her face to blush involuntarily.

"Sigh, why bother..."

A look of pity for Isshiki appeared in her eyes, but Yukino Yukinoshita said nothing and lowered her head to start writing the answer.

After the other two put down their pens, Isshiki Iroha eagerly pointed to Tenkuji Yu.

"Senior, please reveal the answer!"

"Let's announce it together?" Yuuki Tenkuji looked at Yukino Yukinoshita, who nodded, and the two of them raised their notebooks together.

"Troublesome."

"Pfft!"

As if she had suffered a fatal wound that pierced her heart, Isshiki Hatake clutched her chest and took several steps back, staring at Tenkuji Yu in disbelief.

Her lips trembled with grievance, and her eyes glistened with tears: "Why... I was so careful not to cause you any trouble, senior..."

“No, even if you say that…” Tenkuji Yu looked at the snack box placed in the corner of the long table.

"How many packets of hidden mustard were in there today?"

"!"

Her pitiful expression froze instantly, and she guiltily looked away.

"...Only one?"

"Why is it a question mark? Didn't you make that?" Yukino Yukinoshita pressed her temples as if she had a headache.

"No, how should I put it... I just wanted to give my respected senior a surprise! The amount used wasn't much, it's nothing to worry about, haha!"

Scratching her soft, flaxen hair, Isshiki Hatake laughed loudly before quickly turning her attention to the other two's notebooks.

"What answers did Yui-senpai and Kanade write? Let me see..."

"A cute but slightly troublesome junior" and "A kind person who, despite being afraid of spicy food, will eat Mapo Tofu with me."

Iroha couldn't help but complain, "The Service Club members are so in sync! And Kanade, this is senpai's impression of me, not yours!"

Turning the notebook around, Tachibana Kanade blinked her pale golden eyes and nodded in sudden realization.

"Oh, I see... Sorry, I made a mistake."

As for Yui Yuigahama, after glancing at the two people's identical answers, she sighed with a mixture of resentment and unsurprising acceptance.

"It's not just about ideas; we also need to consider Xiaoyou's personality to give the correct answer 100%..."

She grumbled, but wasn't disappointed; instead, she became even more energetic—knowing where her shortcomings lay, the next step was to make changes.

The idea for this game came to me in order to understand how I could understand Xiaoyou as well as Xiaoxue does.

Having known him longer, I should be able to hold my own against Xiaoxue as long as I grasp the knack!

"Okay, both senior students have scored one point. The person with the most points within the five questions wins... Now, next question!"

Isshiki thought for a moment, and a sly smile suddenly appeared on her lips.

She erased the words on the whiteboard and rewrote a row of round, cute, and JK-style characters.

"What kind of girl does the senior like?"

Iroha Isshiki puffed out her chest and looked down at Yuu Tenkuji with a smug expression: "A question that any ordinary high school student would care about, and it doesn't violate any morals—how about it, senpai, can you answer this?"

"Of course, I won't go back on my word." Tenkuji Yu smiled kindly, clasped his hands together and rested his chin on them, his voice as gentle as a spring breeze.

"Just stand still and don't run away after the game is over. I have something I want to say to my cute junior."

"Waaah!"

At this moment, Iroha Isshiki, her face turning green, recalled the fear of being dominated by this guy and the humiliation of being subjected to excessive acts in the corridor.

"...Um, is it too late for me to change the title now?"

"There's no time to lose, start answering!" Yui Yuigahama said decisively, not giving her a chance to back out, and began to write furiously in her notebook with an excited expression.

Lamenting the tragic fate that was about to befall her, Iroha Isshiki ignored the tiny glimmer of hope in her heart, slumped her shoulders in front of the whiteboard, and waited helplessly for them to stop writing.

"Ah~ Is everything ready~ Then let's reveal the answer."

Without any expectation, the atmosphere suddenly became gloomy.

Yuu Tenkuji: "Little sister."

Yukino Yukinoshita: "My little sister, whom I always talk about."

Yui Yuigahama: "Sora! (Little Sister)"

Tachibana Kanade: "Mapo tofu or a gentle person."

Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Fatal Problem

"Unexpectedly... everyone except Kanade gave the same serious answer."

Ignoring Tachibana Kanade's answer as if it were nothing out of the ordinary, Iroha Isshiki sighed helplessly: "Well, everyone knows about her sister complex, so when faced with this kind of question, she'll definitely use her sister as a distraction."

"What are you saying? This is just my honest opinion, okay?" With her arms crossed, Tenkuji Yuu said with displeasure, "Are you trying to say you're more likable than my sister?"

"No, no, Tenkuji-senpai's sister is the best in the world."

With a cold, emotionless gaze, Iroha Isshiki erased the words on the whiteboard after giving a few perfunctory replies.

"The score is now tied at 2-2-0. Okay, next question!"

"Is the senior a dog lover or a cat lover?"

Yu: "I like them both."

Yukino: "Cat." 』

Yui: "A dog."

Zou: "They're all so cute."

"Those must be the animals that the upperclassmen like! And only Kanade got this question right... Wait, does that count as a correct answer?"

Question 4 – "Does the senior prefer big or small?"

Because the question was vague and was directly rejected by Yuuki Tenkuji, and with Yukino Yukinoshita sneering and Yui Yuigahama suppressing her laughter, Iroha Isshiki had no choice but to change the question.

"Western-style or Japanese-style food is too ordinary... Ah, let's just do this."

"Elite career woman or virtuous wife, which type of woman would you rather marry?"

When this question was posed, the way Yuu Tenkuji looked at Iroha Isshiki was so tender that he almost hugged her on the spot and gave her a German-style back throw to express his feelings.

"Are you ready to receive your senior's affection?" From his lip movements, Isshiki Hatake, who was afraid of death but couldn't help but act recklessly, seemed to hear these words.

Behind the long table, Yukino Yukinoshita and Yui Yuigahama exchanged a glance, then quickly looked away as if they had been electrocuted, each lowering their heads as if nothing had happened and writing their answers in their notebooks.

"Ahem, then let's reveal the answer!"

Yu: "It doesn't matter, I'll only marry someone I love."

Yukino: "Anything is fine, I'll only marry someone I love."

Yui: "A virtuous and capable wife!"

Zou: "Someone who's really good at cooking (Mapo Tofu)."

Looking at the two of them with surprise, Iroha Isshiki announced, "Only Yukinoshita-senpai can get the score on this question!"

"Really? There's nothing to be happy about."

Gently clenching her fist where no one could see, Yukino Yukinoshita brushed the hair from her shoulders and calmly turned to the next page of her notebook.

"Is there only one question left? Let's hurry up and end this boring competition, lunch break is about to end."

Yui Yuigahama clutched her head and wailed, "I knew exactly how to write it, but I still couldn't help but let my personal feelings slip in. What a big idiot I am, waaaaah..."

As for Tachibana Kanade, after glancing at her own answer and then looking at Tenkuji Yu, she seemed to have solved some mystery and muttered to herself with sudden enlightenment: "Indeed, a person who is good at cooking does not need a wife who is equally good at cooking... Hmm, it's really hard to get this right."

No, no, no, Kanade, it's okay if you don't get this right—Iroha Isshiki thought to herself, glancing at Tenkuji Yuu who was being secretly observed by the two beautiful upperclassmen, suppressing her somewhat complicated emotions, and sighing silently.

"Alright, the score is now 3 to 2 to 1, with Yukinoshita-senpai in the lead. The final question will determine the winner of this competition!"

"But it seems like the only possible outcome is a draw or Yukinoshita-senpai winning, and there doesn't seem to be enough time for overtime..." She glanced at her watch, then turned to ask, "Kanade, do you still want to play?"

Tachibana Kanade shook his head, put the notebook back into his bag, and started tidying up the trash on the table.

"Then let's have a showdown between the two seniors~" Iroha Isshiki twirled the whiteboard marker in her hand, looking at Yuu Tenkuji with a hint of schadenfreude. "The winner will receive the title of 'Yuu Tenkuji's Soulmate,' which means the officially recognized person who understands the senior the most—how about it? Isn't it exciting?"

“Not at all.” Yukino Yukinoshita put down her notebook, her expression indifferent and lacking interest. “I’m not interested in those boring titles. That’s enough…”

The sudden increase in volume interrupted her: "Wait, let's finish the competition!"

"...Yuigahama-san?"

"You should finish what you start, isn't that what Xiaoxue always says?"

Turning halfway around, Yui looked at her intently, her firm and clear eyes showing no trace of anxiety about being behind.

"If I win the last question, there will be no winner in this competition—Xiaoxue and I are on the same level, so we have to compete until the very end."

"..."

Unable to comprehend, Yukino Yukinoshita frowned and remained silent for a long while.

"This doesn't mean anything."

"OK."

"Whoever wants that title can have it; I have no intention of competing with you for it."

“I know, I proposed this competition on my own initiative.” Yui Yuigahama shook her head stubbornly, her voice filled with an unyielding determination. “You may think it’s meaningless, but I still have something I want to prove…”

So Xiaoxue, please, stay with me until the very end!

Such unreasonable and coercive demands should, in principle, be resolutely rejected.

But looking into Yuigahama Yui's eyes, Yukino Yukinoshita couldn't bring herself to say those words—something that would be fine for her was so important to her that she was willing to use the word "please."

Subconsciously, Yukino Yukinoshita looked at Yuu Tenkuji, her eyes revealing a plea for help that she herself didn't even realize.