I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

“Who knows?” Tenkuji Yu shrugged. “He’s a bastard who’s been targeting me ever since he met you.”

"Agreed! How dare they toy with my memories! I won't be satisfied until they've been thoroughly retaliated against!"

Knowing that even if she talked, she wouldn't be able to deal with the being that could change the world, Yukino Yukinoshita muttered a couple of curses before turning to ask, "If it's not a problem, I also want Yukino to know that her older sister doesn't have any delusions. She wouldn't be such a crazy woman after only meeting someone two or three times, so obsessed with him..."

Yukino Yukinoshita pouted slightly and squeezed Yuu Tenkuji's hand hard, as if she was sulking.

"...But Xiaoyou, are you sure you don't want Tuanzi-chan to come and listen to this?"

While gently scratching Yukino's soft, delicate palm, Tenkuji Yu looked at Haruno in surprise: "Yui? Why did you suddenly bring her up..."

Yang smiled mysteriously, with an air of composure as if he had completely grasped the information, and said meaningfully, "Do you think I've done so many things behind the scenes and still don't know anything? You should understand what I'm talking about."

Tenkuji Yu's eye twitched slightly, somewhat speechless: "...Sister, it's already dark, can we stop playing games?"

"Who told you to play dumb first?"

Yukino Yukinoshita helplessly spread her hands, then smiled slyly and directly revealed his secret.

"Yui Yuigahama, is she your 'target' this time?"

"That's why you made her your girlfriend and are repeating what we've been through."

"..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the air between the three of them froze once again.

Sure enough, she saw a shocked expression on the faces of the two people, as if they were too confused to speak.

One is unable to believe that they have already discovered the truth, and the other... is surprised by the secret of having two relationships at the same time?

'Ugh. '

Yukino sighed inwardly, feeling none of the joy she had imagined from uncovering the truth.

Having the intelligence advantage certainly gave her a sense of pride and satisfaction like a victor—but Yukino was, after all, her younger sister, that silly and naive girl who was easily fooled by a few words.

Seeing my sister's expression now, as if she'd been deceived by a scumbag, even if I don't regret telling the truth, I still feel a pang of heartache.

There's nothing we can do about it. It's because Yuuyu clearly has Tuanzi-chan as her target, yet she still tries to hook up with Yukino.

She just let Yukino experience the cruelty of reality in advance; the fault lies entirely with him and that god!

"...Sister, I'm really sorry to bother you when you seem to have seen through everything and are sighing about it."

Unexpectedly, Yukino Haruno was surprised.

After a series of changes in expression, Yukino Yukinoshita suddenly bowed her head to her as if admitting defeat, her tone calm and regretful, her shoulders trembling slightly, and the taut lines of her snow-white profile could be vaguely seen.

It felt like suppressing laughter, or like trying to stay calm so as not to burst out laughing—wait, the two seem pretty much the same?

Yukino slowly composed herself, a strange sense of foreboding creeping into her heart.

"Actually, it's not what you think." Yukino said seriously, raising her head to look at her older sister.

His lips twitched slightly as if by a spasm, but in the end he couldn't help it.

"Pfft, an excessive sense of self-awareness..."

The moment she burst out laughing, she quickly buried her head behind Tenkuji Yu's shoulder, gripped his sleeve tightly, took a few deep breaths, and then her beautiful face regained its composure.

Ignoring Yukino's dark expression, Yukino continued nonchalantly, "This time, Tenkuji-kun's 'target' is me, not Yuihama-kun."

“Before we became this kind of relationship, Yuihama was already dating him… Although she knew what I knew, in this 'mission' that goes against common sense, she could only be considered an outsider.”

Yukino Yukinoshita sighed, her face expressionless, but the teasing and cheerful tone in her voice was unmistakable.

"I'm sorry, I made you misunderstand."

Yukinoshita Yono: "..."

Today's outcome -

Yukino Yukinoshita's victory.

……

"...Let's get down to business, it's getting late."

After a long silence, Yang Nai closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. She wasn't angry or embarrassed; instead, she adopted a mature and adult demeanor and used an emotionless voice to steer the conversation back on track.

"Tell me about what happened between you two first, and then I'll tell you about what happened between me and Xiaoyouyou in the past, and how I lost my memory."

"After everything is compiled, ask Xiaoyouyou any questions... That's it, anyone have any objections?"

Yuuki Tenkuji and Yukino exchanged a glance and shook their heads in unison, indicating that they had no objections.

Yuu Tenkuji added, "Let's go somewhere else first. It's not convenient to talk here... I remember there's a coffee shop nearby. Let's call Yui over too, so we can share information together."

With Yukino Yukinoshita, who won't have her heart crushed by the system, has regained her past memories, and can say things she can't say herself, he can finally betray the system and escape his identity as the Riddler.

Admittedly, once you've laid everything out, there will be a mountain of things to explain, and you might be met with disdain, dislike, or even distance due to past experiences—the side effects are countless.

But it's still better than the development of keeping all the important people in the dark, bearing the heavy burden alone for some trivial mission, only saying cool things with a bitter smile, and then only telling them the truth at the end.

That's something only heroes do.

In his own life, Yuu Tenkuji will never be a hero, so he chooses to let Yukino and Yui know about the "mission" and entrusts his cowardice to others.

Because he already understood that rather than hiding it, they wanted to face it together with him; if they trusted each other, they should cooperate, speak their minds, and discuss how to solve the problem.

The people who told him this were Yukino Yukinoshita and Yui Yuigahama.

If he hadn't grown in mindset, he probably wouldn't have been able to talk about the past with Yukino Yukinoshita so easily.

Thinking of this, Yuu Tenkuji couldn't help but smile and took out his phone from his pocket.

“I called her, hoping she was nearby…”

I pressed two buttons at random, dialed a number, and heard a busy tone in my ear.

Not long after, a light and familiar bell rang from the other side of the stairs.

Then came the anxious, deliberately hushed voices of two people talking.

"Oh no, I forgot to turn off the mute! What am I going to do about Little Little Cool?!"

"Yui, you...sigh, isn't it basic common sense to turn off your phone when you're stalking and eavesdropping? You only remembered this after hiding it for so long, I really don't know what to say to you..."

"Who would know the basics of stalking and eavesdropping! Let's not talk about this anymore. Should we hang up? Or should we answer and tell him we're somewhere else..."

"God, why would I think this idiot is my best friend... Tsk, you're so loud, they must have heard you already. You should go and turn yourself in."

With a guilty-looking Yui Yuigahama by her side, Natsukawa Masuzu walked over from the other side of the stairs, calmly waved to them, and said with a smile:

"Goodnight, everyone. We two started eavesdropping when you said, 'I'm sorry, Haruno... there are more people important to me than you right now, so I'm sorry I can't rekindle our old relationship.' For the previous five minutes or so, we were on the second-floor terrace of the cafe across the street, silently reading your lips through binoculars. Now, because of a small mistake, we've decided to come out and apologize to you all."

"I'm so sorry for invading your privacy."

She spoke clearly and calmly, bowing deeply with a very proper attitude.

"Okay, now that you've bowed and apologized, you can't blame me anymore"—as she straightened up, the smile on her face seemed to say this, completely lacking the shame and embarrassment of the girl with the bun hairstyle next to her, which was inexplicably infuriating.

"Xiao Liang, that's not a confession, it's clearly a summary of the crime... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have eavesdropped."

After making a quiet complaint, Yui Yuigahama obediently lowered her head and apologized.

Her gaze, which she subtly raised, kept glancing at the Yukinoshita sisters and Yuu Soraji, as if she wanted to say something but hesitated, unsure of what to say.

"Don't mind it, it's our fault for speaking in public like this." Putting away his phone, Tenkuji said casually, "If I hadn't been focused on what I was doing, I wouldn't have let you eavesdrop for so long without even noticing your presence... You won this time, there's nothing to blame you for."

"That's good..." Yui Yuigahama said with a sigh of relief, and suddenly took a step and walked carefully toward him.

Then, she tentatively reached out and took his free hand, holding it tighter and tighter like a little girl afraid her candy would be taken away.

She didn't speak, and neither did Yuuki Tenkuji. They simply turned around and held her tightly, in the same way they held Yukino Yukinoshita.

Before anyone else could react, he casually took the two pretty girls' hands, and the three of them walked towards the coffee shop.

"Let's go. I remember that coffee shop was the type that could have private rooms..."

“Let’s start the first ‘Girlfriend Conference’ right there.”

No one knows how much relief and memories were contained in his words.

Silence followed the footprints, continuing to extend behind them—

Aside from the whispers of the other two.

Yukino Yukinoshita: "Tsk tsk, he really dares to do that. Just thinking about it makes me feel ashamed for Yukino, she's so pitiful."

Natsukawa Masaki: "Yeah, this is a busy amusement park. Are guys who play both sides really this arrogant these days? No wonder he's like this, he doesn't care about other people's opinions at all."

With her left hand, Yukino Yukinoshita spoke quietly.

“...I said, dear Tenkuji-kun.”

Tenkuji Yu looked at her with a puzzled expression: "What's wrong?"

Taking a deep breath to hide her embarrassment, she said coldly, "If you don't let go of my hand, from now on, you can forget about touching a single finger of mine!"

"So ruthless?!"

On her right, Yui Yuigahama blushed and chuckled awkwardly.

"Haha, it's really embarrassing to be stared at like that by so many people..."

……

In short, after a minor commotion, the group of five finally got into a private room in the cafe and ordered some exquisite afternoon tea sets for dinner.

After the waiter closed the door and left, Yuu Tenkuji sat in the main seat facing the door, his hands on his lap and chin resting on his hand, and looked around at the four girls... women with whom he had a close relationship, with a serious expression.

Yukinoshita, the first girlfriend, has regained her memories.

Natsukawa Masuzu, the third girlfriend, has not recovered her memory and is influenced by Haruno's provocation and lingering feelings for her.

Yui Yuigahama, his real girlfriend unrelated to the mission, is the most important pillar in his life besides Sora.

Yukino Yukinoshita, the fourth girlfriend, is the person who knows the most information about the "mission" during their dates.

'In less than half a year, I've already gotten involved with so many girls... If Asuna were to kick down the door right now, they'd all be there.'

Unfortunately, such a sudden situation is so absurd that it is practically impossible.

With a nonchalant look away, Yuu Tenkuji closed her eyes and sighed softly before speaking calmly.

"Before we get down to business, let me tell you something that you should all vaguely understand."