I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

Unfortunately, now is not the time.

Suppressing her impulse, she walked past Tenkuji Yu and called out to the entrance hall, which was blocked by his body:

"I'm here to take Yukino home. Yukino~ Is little Yukino here~"

"elder sister?"

Holding the cat, Yukino peeked out and asked, "Why did you come here...?"

Before she could finish speaking, Yang Nai, who had just met the eyes of the cat in her arms, exclaimed in delight:

"Shuonong! You're still raising her? And she's grown so big! Come here, let Mommy hug her~"

She stretched out her hands, a rare genuine smile blooming on her face, tinged with nostalgia.

The gray-spotted kitten meowed happily when it saw Yukino Yukinoshita, and jumped out of Yukino Yukinoshita's arms, pounced on Yukino's chest.

"Ah, wait a minute..."

With a sense of loss, I raised my hand, but I couldn't bring back the kitten that had already left my arms.

The feeling of emptiness lasted only a few seconds before Yukino Yukinoshita suddenly frowned, as if she had sensed something was wrong, and looked back and forth between Yuukokuji and Haruno Yukinoshita.

A cold wind swept through, blowing her long, ink-black hair, and her clear, cool voice gently landed under the winter sky.

"Sister, how do you know its name is Xue Nong? And it looks like I've seen it before?"

"What's wrong with Mom... Xue Nong, did you two raise her together?"

Hearing the sound, the other girls also curiously peeked out from behind the door, looking at the three people and the cat in the frozen atmosphere, each with a different expression.

Whether it was from the cold or the fright, at this moment, Yuu Tenkuji got goosebumps all over his body.

Chapter 63 Tenkuji-kun, say something! Why aren't you saying anything?

"oops……"

After hugging the kitten she hadn't seen for months, which held a significant place in her memories, Yukinoshita Haruno realized something was amiss.

It seems I've inadvertently revealed something.

Blinking innocently, Yang Nai showed no sign of panic. Looking at the person in front of her whose eyes were starting to tremble, the surge of pleasure almost made her burst out laughing on the spot. She was almost injuring herself from holding back her laughter.

What to say?

The more I like him, the more I want to see him panicked and scared, unlike his usual calm and confident self... That's right, it has nothing to do with any sadistic or sadistic personality, it's just an expression of love!

"Meow~"

Seemingly sensing her pleasant mood, Xue Nong scratched at her chest with her paws while gently licking her face, then wrinkled her cat face and stuck out her tongue.

"Oh, sorry, I wore some makeup today~"

Yang Nai quickly lowered his head and teased his and Xiao Youyou's "love child". The more he looked at it, the more he liked it. He regretted that he had been too busy with work and hadn't come to his house every day to communicate with it.

Her indifferent demeanor drew the attention of Yukino Yukinoshita, and indeed everyone else, to Yuu Tenkuji.

"Xue Nong seems to be very attached to her older sister, but logically speaking, this should be their first meeting..."

After getting a general idea of ​​the current situation, Kasugano Sora chimed in from behind: "Yukino hasn't left the house since she came to our house. If they've met her, then I... your sister? We should have met her too."

However, the truth is that Kasugano Sora had never met this beautiful and elegant older sister before, nor did she know what her relationship with Yu was.

Yu knows so many women, from junior girls to mature women, and most of them have feelings for him... Damn it, is this what they call a "social butterfly"?

Kasugano Sora was too exhausted to even complain, let alone be jealous. She could only accept the fact that her brother was a light novel protagonist—there was nothing wrong with that, at least he wasn't a walking human cannon.

What's so special about a cat? You should be grateful that it's not bringing a baby to claim kinship.

"That's Yuki's older sister, Yukino Yukinoshita, a university student. She helped our club with the autumn performance before."

After quietly explaining to the bewildered others, Yui Yuigahama looked at the back of Tenkuji Yu's head, also somewhat puzzled: "Yes, Yu, is Yukino related to Haruno-san?"

"..."

Yukino Yukinoshita narrowed her eyes slightly, staring intently at the slightly tense profile of Yuu Tenkuji, her expression thoughtful, as if she were guessing all the possibilities.

He once said that Xue Nong was adopted by him during the summer vacation.

But on the day of the autumn performance, he mentioned to his sister that it was their first meeting, and his sister didn't seem to know him before...

Ultimately, the name Yukino is quite peculiar, with a style that suggests it was chosen deliberately to tease oneself—yes, very much like what Yukinoshita Haruno would do.

Thinking about it this way, his roundabout explanation of the origin of his name, which seemed to be concealing something, seems to point to an unbelievable answer.

—It wasn't just Yuu Tenkuji who adopted cats from the animal hospital; Yukino Yukinoshita also did, and even the cat's name was the result of her wicked sense of humor.

Yuuto Tenkuji didn't want to lie to Yukino Yukinoshita, so when she asked him about it, he deliberately omitted the parts related to Haruno, giving an answer that wasn't a lie, but wasn't the truth either.

In this way, everything makes sense.

But that's not right!

If they had adopted a cat together and even named it, why would the older sister come to her asking about him, and why did she only start paying attention to him after the "First Meeting" at the fall performance?

The logic is very messy; it feels like there are loopholes everywhere, and nothing makes sense.

It's impossible that after a chance encounter at the animal hospital, the older sister casually named the kitten she saw, and he just casually settled on a name, and then the two of them forgot they had ever met until now, right?

Judging from how close my sister and Xue Nong are, it can't be just that kind of thing...

The more she thought about it, the more her head ached. Yukino Yukinoshita frowned and reminded Tenkuji Yu with a sharp gaze that it would be best to give her a reasonable explanation now.

……

Tenkuji Yu's current mood is probably like when he wanted to read a novel in class, but accidentally clicked on a pornographic ad on a website, and his phone, which was on full volume, suddenly started blaring cheap erotic noises, turning the entire classroom into his stage.

In short, I have a headache above, and... my stomach hurts below too.

Just when you think that the mundane routine is the shape of happiness, that shape immediately shatters, and the person who broke it is still petting their cat, completely unconcerned and not making any attempt to smooth things over.

Damn it, what kind of development is this?!

Couldn't he have brought this eventful day to a perfect close...?

Yuu Tenkuji couldn't help but mentally complain:

"Speaking of which, System, it's one thing that Yang Nai's memories can be restored, but why can't you even erase a cat's memories... Are you really that incompetent?"

"..."

The system seemed to be broken and didn't respond; sure enough, the update had introduced a bunch of bugs.

Perhaps it was the change brought about by Hino regaining her memories—but whatever the reason, Yuu Tenkuji had to deal with the current predicament first.

As for why it was described as embarrassing...

His younger sister, best friend, and girlfriend-to-be were all staring at him, urging him to fill their curiosity with their gazes. There were also two female classmates watching the show nearby.

In addition, his ex-girlfriend was still glancing at him from the corner of her eye from time to time, looking like she was waiting to see what kind of 'lie' he would tell.

In this situation, how could Tenkuji Yuu not feel embarrassed, since he's not made of iron?

"Tenkuji-kun, why did you suddenly stop talking?"

With a slight tilt of her head, Yukino Yukinoshita revealed a cold smile on her cute little face, and once again turned her sharp spear towards him.

"Could it be that Xue Nong was really adopted by you and your sister? She's the mother, and you're the father?"

As the words fell, the atmosphere inexplicably turned ominous; yet the biting winter wind made the body feel increasingly hot, as if a bonfire were burning nearby.

It seems that whenever it comes to her older sister, she can't be as considerate of him as she is with Yui.

Tenkuji Yu took a soft breath.

Without relying on a "clear and still mind," one can quickly calm oneself down and clarify one's thoughts simply through strong rationality.

Lying will be seen through, and if you waver too much, you'll only make things worse.

With this intelligent and insightful young woman around, Yuu's usually reliable rhetoric is practically useless. He's also unsure if Yukino Yukinoshita will directly expose his flaws and leave him speechless in front of everyone.

But there's still room to struggle!

He has never done anything to wrong anyone.

At least in this world that has been altered three times, Yuu Tenkuji did indeed meet Haruno Yukinoshita for the first time after the autumn performance.

So, just say it with your head held high.

"If you check the animal hospital records, you'll find out that I adopted Xue Nong by myself... As for how Ms. Yang Nai knew its name and why she was so close to it, you can ask her. I don't know how to explain it to you."

"However, Ms. Yang Nai and I did meet once during the summer vacation."

He smiled slightly, meeting everyone's gazes and looking calmly into Yukinoshita's curious eyes, and said:

"I once brushed past Xue Nong on the street corner where she was abandoned... So, to be honest, it wasn't the first time we met during the autumn performance."

Chapter Sixty-Four: Too much talk leads to mistakes.

Naturally, upon hearing this, Yukino Yukinoshita also raised a corresponding question.

"You even remember who you brushed past just months ago?"

With a forced smile, Yukinoshita Haruno nodded seriously, "Yeah, I don't even remember brushing past you over there. Tenkuji-kun, is your memory just that good, or have you been thinking about me ever since then?"

“Of course it’s because of my excellent memory.” Without the slightest panic, Tenkuji Yu spread his hands, mimicking her innocent face, “Not to mention that Ms. Haruno’s appearance is stunning and her temperament is distinctive, any normal man would unconsciously take notice of her… Although I didn’t witness it myself, now that I think about it, you probably found Yukino at that telephone pole and took her to the vet, right? That’s why Yukino is so close to you, and it also matches the appearance of the kind person who paid for Yukino’s treatment and hospitalization fees that the hospital once told me about—that’s the basis for my above assumption.”

"Hmm, that's a bit of a long explanation, but it makes a lot of sense." Yang Nai nodded slightly, then raised an eyebrow with a half-smile, staring at him dangerously. "Miss? You?"

Tenkuji Yuu was momentarily stunned, only now recalling that Yukinoshita Haruno had once told him, "If you keep using honorifics, I'm not going to act anymore."

The situation is already complicated enough. If she were to actively cause trouble and claim that she had dated him before, Yuukokuji would not know how to face Yukino Yukinoshita and Yui Yuigahama. From a pragmatic point of view, the difficulty of completing the mission would likely increase significantly.

Life is hard, I can only sigh.

If everything could be solved by simply being honest, he wouldn't want to be a riddle teller, and he's still trying so hard to fool some lie detector lady...

"In short, it doesn't matter how much you doubt whether I knew Yang Nai... or not. If we really knew each other, why did we keep it from you during the Autumn Performance?" With a forced smile, Tenkuji Yu sighed and continued to persuade people with reason, which he was best at.

"Even if I cheated and wanted to cover it up, my motive wasn't strong enough. Back then, Yui and Yukinoshita weren't as close to me as they are now, so there was no reason for me to pretend I didn't know them in front of you..."

His specialty is to not give definitive answers, but to use reasoning and inference to make people think, "Wow, you're right, that makes a lot of sense!"

For example, Yui Yuigahama is now nodding as if she suddenly understands, and looking at Yukinoshita Haruno who is getting along well with the kitten, she no longer has the faint doubt and disbelief she had before.