I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

The way she was so cautious was like a widow who was about to seduce her neighbor's husband, only to be caught red-handed by her wife who had just returned from grocery shopping. She quickly pretended to be just visiting, ready to run away at any moment.

Temporarily abandoning her glare at Yuuki Tenkuji, Yukino Yukinoshita turned to look at him, her expression still indifferent, but her voice surprisingly gentle.

Good morning, Isshiki-senpai.

Knowing she couldn't stay any longer, Iroha Isshiki glanced gloatingly at the obedient-looking Yuu Tenkuji, then decisively made her escape: "That's it then! You guys chat first, I'm going back!"

Before that, the cunning Tenkuji Yu muttered under her breath, "You were the one who said 'Iron Wall' first..."

Just as Yukino Yukinoshita was about to look at him, she raised an eyebrow and turned her gaze back.

Issei Iroha's body suddenly stiffened as she descended the stairs. After a moment of contemplation, her eyes darted around, and she turned back, her face full of righteous indignation, saying:

"Senior, I'm reporting this! The senior just said that even a beautiful girl like you will still smell terrible if you take off your shoes after it rains!"

Tenkuuji Yuu: "???"

"...You said something like that?"

Miss Yukino stared at him intently, as if she could see a counter next to his head slowly charging up.

Whether it was embarrassment or anger, it was impossible to tell from his expression, but in any case, it was very bad.

Yuu Tenkuji quickly defended himself: "No, I didn't even say it out loud... I didn't even think about it!"

"Ha, you start lying when you're in a hurry, just like you."

Seemingly quite disappointed in him, Yukino Yukinoshita indifferently withdrew her gaze, but instead of continuing upstairs, she turned and went down the stairs, looking as if she was so angry with him that she was preparing to skip class and go home.

By the way, Iroha Isshiki downstairs disappeared without a trace, running faster than a rabbit.

"where are you going?"

Tenkuji Yu reflexively called out to her, and a strange sense of déjà vu followed.

Oh right, yesterday in the committee meeting, she seemed to have asked herself the same question in a similar tone...

Stepping onto the ground floor, Yukino Yukinoshita, holding the handrail, turned around. As if she had thought of the same thing as him, a mischievous smile appeared on her cold face.

"You don't need to wait for me here, go back to your own classroom."

Despite the test of her shame, Yuu Tenkuji remained unfazed: "Class J's classroom isn't there."

"Never mind that, I have something to do."

She squinted, looking somewhat annoyed. Her long, straight, lead-powder-like black hair swirled in the air as Yukino Yukinoshita strode quickly toward the infirmary, ignoring him completely.

Looking at her target, Yuu Tenkuji in the stairwell instantly understood.

This guy was actually really bothered by what that was said earlier, which is why he planned to go to the infirmary to dry his feet before going back to the classroom alone, so that the other person wouldn't smell anything strange...

—Damn, what a cute creature!

He couldn't help but sigh, and murmured in a voice she could hear, "That's why I told you to be careful not to get water in your shoes..."

"..."

Yukino Yukinoshita didn't answer, but her ears silently turned red. As if fleeing, her figure quickly disappeared behind the door of the infirmary.

After watching her leave like that, Tenkuji Yuu hummed a song happily as he strolled upstairs with his hands in his pockets.

The number of students on campus gradually increased, and the morning was enveloped in a noisy and youthful atmosphere. As the clock struck midnight, each classroom became like a stage of various shapes, where different scripts were being performed.

The preparatory bell rings, signaling the start of the day's classes.

Chapter 84 Of course I'd be angry if my friend associated with a scumbag (19/23)

Congratulations! Yui Yuigahama arrived just ten seconds before class started.

She was almost late, and there was another student who arrived at school ten minutes late today.

When Hiratsuka Shizuka asked him why, he simply adjusted his glasses, his eyes clear like a child's, yet unwavering like a warrior's, and answered:

"In order to raise my East Sea Emperor, and for my lovely racehorse girls, I forgot to sleep, forgot to update, and now I've only forgotten to go to school—Teacher, you can surely understand me, right?"

Sa!

No sooner had he finished speaking than a gust of wind roared past the latecomer's ear, taking away the little hair he had left.

Hiratsuka Shizuka withdrew her jab, patted his shoulder kindly, and smiled broadly.

"Forgiving you is God's business, and the teacher's duty is to send you to see God."

What resounded at this moment was the saint's devout and sincere divine judgment—

"Come to my office after class."

The late student knelt on the ground, his face ashen, like a heretic being sentenced to be burned at the stake.

The little incident from this morning has passed.

……

At noon, Totsuka Saika came to find Tenkuji Yu for lunch, only to be met with a direct question from him.

"True Love Fan Club? Ah... I've heard of it. They seem to have invited me to join, but I'm Yu's friend, so it feels a bit strange to join."

"The people inside are all weird. It's good that you didn't join them." Yuu Tenkuji picked up her bento box, asked the question, and then stood up. "I'm going to the Service Club for lunch today. Sorry."

"It's alright, I'll go check out the tennis club too." Totsuka Ayaka smiled, glanced at Yuigahama Yui who was probably waiting for him at the door, and couldn't help but recall the things said on the forum.

Who is his girlfriend after all...?

After hesitating for a moment, the silver-haired boy ultimately said nothing, but simply extended his fair and slender fingers, which were covered in calluses, and straightened the wrinkles at the collar.

“No matter what happens, I’ll always be Yu’s friend.” Looking directly at him, Totsuka Ayaka’s eyes were serious, and her smile was sincere and pure. “You can come and talk to me if you encounter any difficulties! Although I may not be able to give you any good advice, at least I can be your emotional dumping ground.”

The friendship between men is about supporting each other silently no matter what happens, becoming each other's pillar of strength!

Feeling his sincerity, Tenkuji Yu raised her fist at him, smiled, and said with a raised eyebrow, "You said it yourself. If I ever come to you with a bottle of liquor and complain, you can't kick me out."

"Ah, that's a bit... It's probably better for minors not to drink alcohol, but champagne should be okay, right?" With a wry smile, Totsuka Saika also raised her fist and gently touched it.

No need for many words; a fist bump is enough for men to understand each other's feelings.

"Just kidding, I'll just ask you to have some tea at most." Yuu Tenkuji waved his hand, said goodbye to Saika Totsuka, and turned to leave his seat.

In fact, besides Totsuka Saika, there were quite a few other classmates who looked at him with suspicion after seeing the posts on the forum.

The most radical and the one who dared to speak up to him was naturally Yui Yuigahama's friend, Yumiko Miura.

Looking back.

He had barely entered the classroom in the morning when the blond, double-helix drill-like boy, who had arrived early, grabbed him by the collar and nearly pinned him against the wall for interrogation.

The reason it's described as "almost" is because the opponent's strength was far inferior to his, and Yuu Tenkuji had no intention of being manipulated by others—so the result was that Yuko Miura lunged at him as if hitting a wall, but like an ant trying to shake a tree, she couldn't make him take a single step back.

Luckily, the hand gripping her collar was in front of her, otherwise her fairly well-endowed chest would have been pressed directly against her.

"You bastard, what did I say before?! You actually dared to betray Yui?!"

There was no struggle, nor was there an immediate push away.

Yuu Tenkuji looked down at her, who was filled with genuine indignation and disgust, and sighed helplessly: "Doing something like this in front of so many people will only make it more awkward for Yui when she enters the classroom."

"what?!"

"I don't care how I feel, but before you take your anger out on yourself, at least think about how Yui feels, right? Aren't you angry on her behalf? If you can't even do that, then you're just indulging yourself and putting on a show to make others think you're very considerate of your friends."

"...a guy who talks big but doesn't walk the talk!"

Clenching her teeth in anger, Miura Yumiko flung his collar open, her eyes blazing with fury as she stared at him as if she wanted to burn him to ashes: "I'm just feeling sorry for Yui! Can't you even tell how much that guy likes you?!"

Tenkuji Yu brushed off the spot where she had touched him and calmly replied, "Of course, I'm her boyfriend. You're not an outsider to comment on this kind of thing."

"I was her friend before you started dating Yui, so who's the outsider here!" Enraged, Miura Yumiko tried to retaliate again, but was blocked by Ebina Hina behind her with her whole body, her face full of ferocity, like a lioness trying to bite someone through a cage.

"Alright, alright, Yumiko, calm down. This is ultimately their relationship issue! You can be angry, but don't be so impulsive..."

After comforting her for a while, Ebina Hina looked at Tenkuji Yuu, a cold light flashing across her square-framed glasses, but a kind, peacemaker-like smile appeared on her face: "Tenkuji-chan, you know that Yuuko is the kind of person who can't stand seeing her friends get hurt, so you probably won't hold it against her, right?"

"I don't care if he cares or not—" Miura Yumiko made a threatening sound.

"Do I look like I hold a grudge?" Tenkuji Yu shrugged, not only not taking it to heart, but even responding with a smile. "In fact, I'm glad that Yui has such a genuine, albeit somewhat wild, friend."

"Who are you calling wild, you bastard—"

"Haha, that's quite a high EQ statement~" Hina Ebina laughed a few times, tilting her head slightly, her gaze behind her glasses still fixed on his eyes, not looking away at all, nor showing much of a smile, "Then can you tell us, as Yui's friends, that what's being said on the forum is true? While you were dating Yui, you were also telling other people that Yukino Yukinoshita was your girlfriend?"

The tone remained friendly and gentle, but the voice was chillingly cold, as if interrogating a convicted scoundrel.

Despite being stared at and judged by the two women with dangerous eyes, Yuu Tenkuji remained calm and simply took a deep breath.

—He had already thought about how to answer while he was going up the stairs.

……

Lunch break, in the corridor.

"I feel like everyone's attitude towards Xiaoyou has changed so quickly."

Ignoring the strange looks around her, Yuu Tenkuji replied naturally, "Of course, after all, to them, I'm a scumbag who admits to liking two girls at the same time, and I'm no longer the school idol I used to be."

"She actually calls herself a campus idol... Oh well, being shameless is one of Xiaoyou's strengths, I guess."

Walking alongside him towards the Service Club, Yui Yuigahama waved the bento box in her hand, let out a heavy sigh, and began to grumble in a low voice:

"As a result, I was treated strangely. I always felt like they were pitying me or talking about me behind my back as if I was stupid or something..."

The arrogant and carefree Tenkuji Yuu suddenly wilted, coughed apologetically twice, and looked conflicted, trying to dig out a few words to comfort her.

After all, he was the culprit for putting her in this "public spotlight" situation, and he had to take full responsibility for what he said on the committee.

Chapter 85 It's your instinct to please girls, right? (20/23)

In Class 2-F, anyone who dared to gossip or tease Yui Yuigahama today was firmly blocked by the "Queen of Flames"—Yumiko Miura—and chased away in a harsh tone.

The fact that Yuu Tenkuji and Yui Yuigahama are dating is only circulating among the students in Class F, and it hasn't become as widely known as it is on the school's intranet yet.

In other words, most people who are currently paying attention to this matter only know that he and Yukino Yukinoshita are "boyfriend and girlfriend" and work together on the committee, and their reputation has not been affected like it has been in the class.

Even if a student from Class F posted a question on the forum like, "Isn't he dating Yui from our class?", it was quickly overshadowed by similar rumors.

After all, Yuu Tenkuji was not only popular with girls, but he also used to visit other clubs often, and he could basically leave a deep impression on everyone.