I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

Yukino Yukinoshita was about to agree, but then hesitated: "...Shouldn't you go back to the classroom first? I'm not sure how late I'll be busy."

Yuuka Tenkuji glanced at the meeting room where only a few people had entered, and couldn't help but show a slightly troubled expression: "Was your manpower shortage... always like this?"

"Sigh... A lot happened in between, but overall it's still functioning." Sighing and rubbing her forehead, Yukino Yukinoshita seemed unwilling to talk more. She patted his shoulder with her soft, white hand and urged him gently, "Go back to the classroom first, I'll contact you when it's all over."

"Don't you need me to stay and help?"

She rolled her eyes cutely, said nothing, her long, lead-black hair swirling in the arc of her flowing skirt as she turned and left.

Yuu Tenkuji watched her retreating figure until the committee's door closed, but he didn't turn back to the classroom as she had said.

"Let's stay and see how things go."

Thinking this, he scratched his neck, which wasn't itchy at all.

Then, as if realizing something, he suddenly shuddered, his muscles tensing like a wary tiger crouching, and he squinted as he scanned his surroundings.

—Someone is watching me!

Chapter Sixty-Nine: Red bean bread and milk are essential when stalking or spying.

With improved physical fitness and a bunch of miscellaneous status skills, Yuu Tenkuji is like a girl wearing a miniskirt but no safety shorts, extremely sensitive to sight.

However, since he is usually the center of attention, he is used to it and naturally won't let passersby glance at him. He then strikes the DIO pose, touches his neck, and turns around.

Even if someone is captivated by his handsomeness and can't help but glance at him a few more times, as long as they are not acquaintances or are not the kind of intense stares, Tenkuji Yu will subconsciously ignore them to avoid becoming more and more neurotic.

And now, it just happens to be one of those two situations—wait, it seems like both are true?

His alertness froze on the spot. Tenkuji Yu looked toward the corner of the stairs, and a strand of almost transparent silver hair flashed across his vision. It seemed to have reacted very quickly, hiding itself the moment he noticed it.

Although they could all be categorized as having silver hair, the three girls he knew had slightly different hair colors.

Her younger sister, Kasugano Sora, is near-gray silver; her junior, Tachibana Kanade, is snow-white silver; and her ex-girlfriend, Natsukawa Masuzu, is transparent silver.

It was obvious that the person who had been spying on him and then quickly ran downstairs after being discovered was none other than Natsukawa Masuzu, who had tried to forcibly kiss him yesterday.

"This guy, has he already started targeting me...?" Tenkuji Yu couldn't help but click his tongue.

Compared to Yukino Yukinoshita in the last mission, things will definitely become more troublesome if Natsukawa Masuzu notices something and then becomes attached to him—even though they are in different classes, she will have more time and closer proximity to observe him, and may even actively cause trouble at school.

For now, it's just spying, and Yuu Tenkuji can pretend she didn't notice; but what if one day she really gets into trouble that affects her daily life in order to find out the truth...

Then he could only put aside his pity and apology and give her a stern warning.

"Let's ignore them for now; we agreed not to bother with them."

He shook his head and sighed, putting the matter out of his mind and focusing on his immediate goal.

Using "presence fine-tuning," Yuu Tenkuji stood outside the committee member's office, hands in her pockets, leaning leisurely against the corridor wall.

Instead of staring intently at the girl sitting in the chairperson's seat through the window, he casually observed the situation inside the room.

After ensuring that he was kept as low as possible, Yuuya Tenkuji began to spy on Yukino Yukinoshita.

……

The student association building, rooftop.

Kasumigaoka Utaha put down her binoculars, took a bite of red bean bread, and then drank some milk.

"As expected, red bean bread and milk are still indispensable when you're tracking someone."

She sighed contentedly, then shivered from the cold wind on the rooftop and quickly wrapped her coat and scarf around herself.

"But this guy is too perceptive. Even though he deliberately kept his distance, he still managed to sense that someone was watching him... Are oblivious male protagonists more popular these days?"

Muttering to herself, Kasumigaoka Utaha recalled the black notebook and felt a renewed urge to open it and see what he had been thinking just now.

However, that thing is now sealed in her bookshelf, and her curiosity was extinguished by the cold wind on the rooftop before she actually went back to open it.

She calmed down again, hugged her calves with both hands, rested her chin on her knees which were covered by thick black stockings, slightly furrowed her beautiful eyebrows, and looked serene.

"Let's observe for a while longer, then we'll go and confront him directly... It's very likely that he knows about that notebook."

Although it hasn't caused any harm yet, the laptop keeps reappearing in my room no matter how I throw it away or burn it. It's like a cursed item, making it impossible to leave it alone.

Meanwhile, Kasumigaoka Utaha was also curious about who this junior was and why she had gotten involved in this strange incident related to him.

"If all goes well, it might be useful as material for Volume 4~"

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but reveal a smile that was both fervent and inexplicably expectant.

then……

"Achoo!"

She sneezed loudly, hugged her arms and trembled all over. Kasumigaoka Utaha quickly packed her things and hurried down the rooftop, shivering.

"Why would I be like those people and spy on others from the rooftop? It's freezing..."

……

Cultural Season Executive Committee Office.

The air was heavy and quiet, and everyone was engrossed in their own tasks.

"Where are the members responsible for personnel coordination, media outreach, and accounting auditing?"

Holding the progress chart in her hand, Yukino Yukinoshita noticed a mistake while checking it. She looked up and asked, her clear, cool voice echoing in the room.

The meeting room wasn't very big, but perhaps because fewer and fewer members were arriving on time, it felt very empty.

She asked the short-haired girl sitting in the first seat on the left, whose surname was Okuda. She was in charge of personnel coordination and record keeping, and was considered the most conscientious committee member besides herself.

"Um, Chairman..." Okuda paused on the keyboard, offering an awkward yet polite smile, and said helplessly, "Most of them took the day off. The rest will probably arrive later, right?"

"Taking leave? Why didn't you tell me?" Yukino Yukinoshita frowned, her expression growing even colder. "And if everyone is habitually late, when will we ever finish our work on time?"

It's all because you're so cold-hearted; nobody wants to contact you privately...

Unable to voice her true feelings, Okuda sighed, opened the chat history, and handed over her phone.

"I just received messages from their respective representatives... Well, at least they're still willing to give me some notification."

Yukino Yukinoshita took a look and saw that the reasons given by these people for taking leave were all similar. They all said that they had class matters to attend to, and that the committee's work was progressing very smoothly, so taking a day off should not be a big deal.

However, many of them were absent last week, which delayed the overall work progress considerably. Although it is not yet at the point of collapse, the buffer time originally reserved is almost gone, which will also cause more trouble for members of other groups.

After all, if the person who is supposed to do the work today is not here, it will have to be handed over to another member of the group. If everyone is busy, then all the work will fall on Yukino Yukinoshita's shoulders, and she will be responsible for handling it all by herself.

“Chairperson, this can’t go on like this. Should we use some threats?” Okuda cautiously glanced at the expressionless Yukino Yukinoshita. “For example, if she’s late or absent too many times, we can report her to the teacher or make her write a self-criticism…”

“…No need.” Yukino Yukinoshita thought for a while, then handed the phone back to Okuda and said in a calm tone, “Tell them in the group that each group needs someone to take charge of their tasks, otherwise the committee cannot function, and everyone who slacks off will be held responsible.”

"Huh? Is it really okay to be this gentle..."

“Lazy people would rather be whipped to death than take action. Just tell them the consequences of being lazy. As for whether they come or not, it depends on whether they are willing to do a good job in this cultural festival. I don’t want to get things done by threatening them.” Yukino Yukinoshita let out a soft breath, her eyes regaining their indifferent calm, and she gave a cold, sneer. “Even if you force those kinds of people to do things, the results will definitely not be very good. Their not coming will actually improve the quality of the final product.”

"But Chairman, we really don't have enough manpower..." Okuda scratched his head, honestly sending a message in the group while sighing, "Those three groups also have things to do today, right? The problem is that everyone else is already fully booked. Even if I force them to help me with my baseball bat, they're just as overwhelmed as I am..."

"..."

Looking at the documents in her hand, Yukino Yukinoshita fell silent, biting her lip as if she were quite conflicted.

Not long after, a sigh escaped her lips. She raised her eyes, her expression becoming more resolute, and solemnly instructed, "Have the latecomers come over as soon as possible. Until then, I can take charge of some of the work related to media publicity and accounting audits."

"Uh, Chairman, you already have enough work on your shoulders, don't you?" Okuda said with a wry smile, sounding both worried and complaining. "You're not made of iron. It's not good for the committee or for you to carry all the burdens on your shoulders..."

"It's alright, I can handle this." Yukino Yukinoshita's serious expression remained unchanged as she looked at Okuda and softened her tone. "As for personnel coordination, I'll have to trouble you with that."

"Ah, this..."

Scratching her head, Okuda looked at the pile of unfinished work on her computer, her usually cute face scrunching up as if she'd eaten a bitter pill.

Just as she was struggling with whether to refuse or accept, gritting her teeth in distress.

With a snap, very quickly, Yuu Tenkuji pushed open the door and came in.

"Report, your overseas support has arrived!"

"..." Yukino Yukinoshita froze on the spot.

Okuda paused for a moment, then suddenly clapped his hands in surprise.

"Ah, it's the Chairman's boyfriend!"

Before she could even express her opinion on the person who had suddenly barged in, Yukino Yukinoshita glared at her, her cheeks flushing slightly.

"who……!"

He wanted to say something, but hesitated for a moment before he could speak.

...It seems there's no way to refute this?

Chapter Seventy: Can you please help me?

Yukino Yukinoshita will not break the promise she made.

In other words, from the moment she agreed to his request to "choose herself as his girlfriend" in the kitchen, she had already agreed to be his girlfriend and to complete that inexplicable task with him.

Furthermore, Yukino Yukinoshita hates lying, especially lying to people who know she hates lying.

So when Okuda-san spoke the truth, and there was that annoying guy who suddenly barged in and was watching, no matter how much she wanted to refute or defend herself, no matter how hot her face became, no matter how much unprecedented shyness rushed into her mind—

She could only grit her teeth in humiliation, trying her best to suppress her anger, pretending not to have heard what Okuda had said, and fiercely glared at Tenkuji Yu.

"Didn't I tell you to go back to the classroom and wait? Why are you still eavesdropping outside!"

Yukino Yukinoshita hopes that Yuuto Tenkuji can understand her eyes—speak normally and stop making a mess in front of everyone!

Of course, Yuu Tenkuji understood. Just as she understood her own personality, which was why she issued a warning beforehand, he also knew what she didn't want him to do.

However, seeing Miss Yuki's pretty face flushed, her eyes moist, and her cherry lips half-bitten as she stared at him with a mixture of embarrassment and awkwardness, an uncontrollable surge of pleasure welled up inside him, and a dark impulse was bubbling up in his chest.

This was the first time he'd ever seen her with that expression! Honestly, it was just too cute!

Who could resist doing that?

"Why? Isn't this simple?"

Following her instinctive impulse, Yuu Tenkuji blinked innocently: "I'm your 'boyfriend,' how could I possibly leave you in trouble?"

As soon as those three stressed words were uttered, Okuda, who was sitting next to him, immediately realized that he had become a third wheel between the two of them. He quickly lowered his head to minimize his presence, while typing on the keyboard and eavesdropping on their conversation.