I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

However, seeing Yukino Yukinoshita with her hair tied up in a ponytail and focused on washing the dishes, Yuu Tenkuji suddenly wanted to correct the above statement.

Long-haired girls with ponytails look good too...

If I had to explain why, her snow-white nape, rarely seen and streaked with strands of hair, was incredibly alluring, as was the virtuous wife-like aura conveyed by the apron, and the increasingly reddened roots of her ears when she lowered her head were even more captivating.

Like a finely crafted work of art, he couldn't help but divert half his attention to admiring his female friend's naturally beautiful and pleasing appearance.

"..."

The tap was suddenly turned off, and the clean dishes were placed on the shelf.

Yukino Yukinoshita did not turn her head, but quietly brushed the hair that fell down her face with her pale, still damp fingers.

A light pinkish-peach hue subtly spread across her exposed profile, her soft skin shimmering with a translucent glow under the light, and her delicate cherry-colored lips, thin and glistening, appeared even softer.

Under the unwavering gaze of Tenkuji Yu, she sighed softly, her tone tinged with sarcasm.

"The pot calling the kettle black, ha!"

"..."

He remained silent for a moment with a strange expression.

Without waiting for a response from Tenkuji Yu, she picked up a porcelain plate from the shelf and calmly handed it over.

"It's time to serve it."

"……really."

Yuu Tenkuji took the plate, tossed the wok, and ladled the steaming hot Mapo Tofu into it.

Yukino Yukinoshita covered the food with a lid to keep it warm, planning to take it out together once all the dishes were cooked.

After that, neither of them spoke, but silently went about their business, and finished more and more dishes.

Occasionally their shoulders would touch or their fingers would brush, but their expressions remained unchanged, as if they didn't care about each other's presence at all, maintaining the stability and calmness expected of someone at work.

Before the last dish was finished, Yukino Yukinoshita opened the rice cooker and poured rice, enough for about ten people, into a wooden basin.

White smoke billowed out as she gently exhaled, a thin layer of sweat glistening on her forehead.

"Help me taste it."

A spoon was offered to her, and she turned her face to take a small bite. After tasting it, she nodded gently.

"can."

"Row."

The spoon retracted, and Yukino inserted the rice spoon into the rice, then carried the wooden bucket outside.

She paused slightly midway, as if suddenly realizing something, but she didn't turn around or say anything. She prepared to open the kitchen door to greet the diners who had come in to peek several times and were said to be starving to the point of fainting.

"Oh, right, Yukinoshita."

At that moment, he suddenly called out to himself.

Yukino Yukinoshita instinctively wanted to turn around, but feeling her face was still a little hot, she stopped herself, simply turning her back to him and asking in a calm and gentle voice:

"what happened?"

I want to ask you a question.

Tenkuji Yu's tone was unexpectedly serious.

Chapter Fifty-Four: A Discussion on Life

Faintly, you can hear laughter coming from outside the door as people play games.

Separated by a door, it felt as if we were isolated in another world, and the kitchen gradually quieted down.

The fluorescent light became the only sun, pulling the two people's shadows in opposite directions.

The range hood fan stopped spinning, and Yukino Yukinoshita's gaze fell on Yuu Tenkuji.

"What's the problem?"

As she asked this question, she couldn't help but sigh silently in her heart—

That same expression again.

He clearly said he had let it go last time, but this guy is indeed a liar.

On the other hand, what could possibly be bothering him for so long? Is it related to his family or his relationship?

"I guess it's a multiple-choice question?"

He gave a somewhat nonsensical answer and put the dish he was holding back on the table.

Suddenly feeling a bit sore in his hand, Yukino Yukinoshita placed the wooden bucket of rice in his hand and told him to put it away.

Then, she slowly leaned her back against the refrigerator, crossed her arms, and gazed at him, who seemed to be organizing his thoughts and looked slightly bewildered.

"Go ahead and say it, I'm listening"—after silently conveying this with her eyes, she quickly received a relieved smile from him.

Even so, his voice still carried a heavy weight, so earnest that not a single syllable could be missed.

"I have a friend……"

He paused here, looking at her tentatively with an expression as if waiting for her to offer her opinion or criticism.

But what's there to complain about with just this one sentence?

Yukino Yukinoshita tilted her head in confusion, thought for a moment, and then gave a serious answer that was neither biased nor subjective: "I won't ask which friend, but what happened to your friend?"

"...Okay, looks like this joke won't ease the tension." Muttering something unintelligible, Tenkuji Yu let out a soft sigh, her gaze drifting towards the corner of the kitchen, and continued in a nonchalant tone:

"My friend is amazing. He was just an ordinary person, but somehow he learned more and more things..."

"Wait a moment."

Yukino Yukinoshita frowned slightly, looking inexplicably unhappy: "Isn't it common sense to look at the other person when discussing serious matters?"

Why doesn't he dare to look at me? Is it because what I'm about to say makes him feel guilty?

As this guess flashed through his mind, he finally turned his eyes back, and as if to retaliate, he stared at him with a blank expression and burning gaze, as if trying to draw him into his eyes.

Yukino Yukinoshita remained fearless, her resolute gaze fixed on the deep blackness, allowing no escape.

"and then?"

"...Then, he is now faced with a choice."

In a calm, factual tone, Tenkuji Yuu said quietly, "He has made many choices, and although he has been sad and upset along the way, he has never regretted them and believes that everything he has done is right. Precisely because it is more right than anything else, the reality he has achieved now is worth cherishing and has no room for doubt."

She paused, then remained silent for a few seconds before narrowing her eyes with a hint of doubt: "Although it's using the male 'he,'... are you talking about me?"

“No, although he is very similar to you, he is not you.” He laughed self-deprecatingly, stretching his fingers to ease the weight that had unconsciously settled on his body. “He is much smarter and more capable than you, but he is becoming more and more indecisive. Even with the support of those around him, he still hesitated when faced with the fourth challenge. He has not grown at all.”

“You’re talking about yourself.” In an instant, she was so certain.

If you ask why, she smelled a familiar scent of narcissism.

"Go on," Tenkuji Yu didn't answer directly. His gaze had just moved an inch towards the ceiling when he suddenly stopped, obediently returning to meet her eyes.

With her hand near her mouth, Yukino Yukinoshita curved her eyes into crescents and chuckled playfully, "Hmm, continue. About your friend."

For some reason, there was a sense of relief in his eyes, like, "You finally know the joke."

But what about the fourth hurdle?

He seemed invincible, easily winning the national championship, yet he encountered four major obstacles. What was going on...?

"Let's leave the past aside for now; he's encountered a problem,"

The relaxed atmosphere was quickly replaced by his heavy tone, and Yukino Yukinoshita also put away all her smiles, calmly and earnestly responding to his gaze.

Even the laughter outside the door seemed to have faded away, only his breathing could be clearly heard in front of me.

"Choosing everyone will hurt more people...choosing one person will hurt yourself and that person."

“He had always been forced to make choices before, and could comfortably blame it on ‘fate.’ He was also prepared to have to go through this twice more… But when it came time to make his own choices, even though he knew what the right thing to do was, he couldn’t make a decision right away.”

This is like a riddle; to be honest, I don't understand it at all.

He didn't seem to intend for her to understand; he just poured out all his tangled and depressed feelings in a venting manner, his fists bulging with veins from the force.

...But, at least we were able to touch upon his true feelings, which he always kept hidden.

So, he can make that kind of expression too?

So there's so much about him that I didn't know?

Yukino listened quietly and watched silently.

Her gaze never left his eyes, and her eyes gradually softened, as if she were comforting a boy who suddenly no longer seemed so tall.

"...Even so, a choice still needs to be made."

"It won't work if we don't move forward, it won't work if we don't become stronger. He has already promised her and sworn to himself."

The lapse in composure vanished like ripples, and the well water returned to calm.

The vulnerability that had just been revealed was forcefully covered up again by him.

Tenkuji Yu took a deep breath, slowly loosening his clenched fist. His intense gaze, so strong it was almost painful, was fixed squarely on him.

"I promised Yui that I would date her... I should say I would definitely fall in love with her and I would definitely date her."

"..."

For a moment, I forgot to breathe.

After a brief moment of shock, Yukino Yukinoshita unconsciously bit her lip, and the bite became increasingly forceful.

An unexplained dull pain in her chest spread like a virus, causing her to feel suffocated and dizzy for a moment, but she forced herself to calm down quickly.

Because he hadn't finished speaking—that was just a premise, not the main point.

"And then? Does that concern me?"

She found her voice was a little dry, so she coughed a few times and took a deep breath while pressing her chest.

But Tenkuji Yu's next words made her open her mouth again, her eyes widening in astonishment.

"And from now on, I want to be with you, Isshiki, and Tachibana..."