I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

But Yui Yuigahama seemed to see through the meaning behind his behavior. She blushed slightly, puffed out her cheeks, and mischievously placed her soft, cool fingers, still damp, on the back of his neck.

"Tenkuji-kun, your gaze is very rude."

Completely unfazed by the cold touch, Tenkuji Yu blinked innocently: "What did I do now? I just wanted to admire my cute girlfriend, is that illegal?"

"Hmph, don't think you can fool me with sweet words~" She snorted defiantly, but couldn't suppress the silly smile on her face.

However, before he could say more than a few words, the instructor, Hiratsuka, who had already stepped to the front of the stage, slammed the roll call book twice, his tone fierce and sinister.

"Those of you who haven't returned to your seats yet, those still flirting, get back to your places immediately! You have three seconds. If anyone is still standing after that, you'll be on stage singing the school song for everyone!"

The other students who hadn't returned to their seats immediately quickened their pace, and Yui Yuigahama, after a brief greeting, rushed off towards Yumiko Miura as if fleeing.

Seeing that she had successfully broken up quite a few couples—even if only temporarily—the older, single female teacher finally smiled and nodded in satisfaction.

"Alright, let's begin the class meeting. Today we'll be discussing all the notices for this week's cultural festival. Class monitor, please come and distribute the forms first..."

Time flies.

In the blink of an eye, the lunch break bell rang, and the quiet winter air of the campus was once again filled with scattered noise.

Because she was going to have lunch with Miura and the others, Yui Yuigahama told them before the first break that she wouldn't be going to the Service Club that noon.

Whether it was intentional or not, Yuu Tenkuji was unsure.

However, as he was about to leave the classroom with his lunchbox, she suddenly stopped him, as if entrusting him with a great responsibility, and placed her hands heavily on his shoulders.

"Xiao You, the club room is a sacred place."

"...Hmm, so what?"

"Even couples have things they can and cannot do in different situations."

Do you think I'm a three-year-old...?

"So Xiaoyou, you must hold back. Just because you're in the early stages of your relationship doesn't mean you can lay a hand on Xiaoxue, who won't fight back!"

"No, I think she'll definitely resist..."

Yui Yuigahama's eyes widened in horror: "You really intend to attack her?!"

"Your reaction is so classic, I don't even know how to retort..."

Yuu Tenkuji sighed silently, removing the pair of fair and delicate hands from her shoulders, and even giving them a couple of squeezes as a reward: "Don't worry, we're in a Platonic relationship, neither of us will turn into a beast just because we're alone... at least I won't."

Feeling a bit uncomfortable from his pinching, Yui blushed and covered her hand, but still glared at him with displeasure.

"Then Xiaoxue would be even less likely to do it, okay? What girl is more proactive than a boy?"

Thanks for the invitation, I have one right in front of me.

"Why are you on her side? I'm clearly your boyfriend... Never mind, I'm just going to eat anyway." Without saying what was on her mind, Tenkuji Yu rubbed his forehead as if in a headache, waved his bento at her, and prepared to turn and leave.

"I see..." Yui Yuigahama pinched her bangs and lowered her eyes as she looked at his back. She muttered softly, "Everyone says that high school boys are like wild beasts. Once they have a girlfriend, they go into heat completely... So Yui, if you really can't hold back, remember to tell me."

"No, it's not that I want to take the initiative! You see, Xiaoxue definitely doesn't like doing that kind of thing. As for me, it doesn't matter if it's Xiaoyou. I said last time that I'm already mentally prepared... Rather, it's just that I don't want Xiaoxue to get ahead of me..."

As she spoke, she seemed to become confused and unsure of what she was saying. Her voice grew softer and softer, almost a whisper, and she seemed to radiate heat from her entire body.

When Tenkuji Yu turned his head, Yuigahama Yui instinctively turned her face away, avoiding his gaze, and frantically cried out, "I...I didn't say anything!"

Then she decisively turned around, cupped her blushing face, and ran back to her seat in the small group.

A few seconds later, a furious, questioning voice came from there: "You, Tenkuji, what did you do to Yui?!"

"Exactly! The 'YuXCai' pairing I recommended has plummeted to its daily limit. Can't you just hold back a little?!"

"You idiot Himeko, you're the one who should restrain yourself!"

Sky Temple chuckled leisurely, ignored them, and strolled out of the classroom.

As he walked toward the special building, watching the students coming and going around him, his originally calm mood began to stir slightly for some reason.

As the footsteps deepened, they gradually stirred the lake of his heart, causing a strange, restless emotion to rise in his chest.

Why is that?

He separated his consciousness from the crowd and tried to find the answer on his own.

The campus in winter is as ordinary as ever, yet it carries a hint of youthful vitality, with its withered branches swaying gently, as if about to burst into flame.

The noise of the crowd was as constant as ever, noisy yet harmoniously blending into the background, flowing almost imperceptibly past the ears of the lone traveler.

As always, I headed down the path, carrying my lunchbox, to steal a half-day of leisure in the quiet Service Department. While eating, I could also flirt with the pretty female classmates. How pleasant and carefree!

If nothing changes, where does this inexplicable anticipation and joy come from?

As Yuu Tenkuji stepped onto the stairs, the surroundings were so tranquil it felt like another world.

Every footstep was clearly audible, filling his eardrums along with his pounding heartbeat as he went upstairs.

The closer one gets to the Service Department, the more one notices that something is wrong with oneself.

Why?

Unable to find the answer along the way, he slowly opened the door to the Service Department, filled with doubt.

Strangely enough, I couldn't hear the door sliding.

In the crisp, clear air, Yukino Yukinoshita sat quietly by the window, like a crystal sculpture.

Her black hair lay smoothly against her back, glossy and shiny from the warm winter sun, with a red headband adding a touch of playfulness.

She looked up and met the gaze of Tenkuji Yu standing in front of the door.

Without any surprise, her beautiful and aloof face simply melted like snow, and a quiet smile appeared on her face, her voice light and gentle.

"Here you are."

Her mere presence occupied all of my visual and auditory information.

Gradually snapping out of her daze, Yuu Tenkuji suddenly realized what was going on.

'Looking forward to seeing my girlfriend...that's the feeling.'

She was his girlfriend.

Yukino Yukinoshita is Yuu Tenkuji's girlfriend.

This fact alone is enough to make one's heart flutter and a sense of satisfaction flow from the heart.

Although it was initiated by his request, both of them understood that there was not a single lie in the feelings they exchanged on that Ferris wheel.

It was an incredibly real emotion that originated from something fake.

"Pfft...cough, huff..."

Her cheeks twitched, and Tenkuji Yu tried to purse her lips, but a bright smile still crept out. She took a deep breath but couldn't calm down. She just kept smiling at her, not knowing why.

"Tenkuji-kun?"

Yukino Yukinoshita watched him standing at the door grinning foolishly. She frowned slightly in confusion, then quickly gave a helpless smile, put down her book, and stood up.

"I know my beauty is irresistible to you, but while you're staring in amazement, could you please close the door? The cold wind is blowing in."

As if a switch had been flipped, Yuu Tenkuji's smile vanished instantly, replaced by a disdainful sneer.

"What do you mean 'stunned'? I just suddenly had a flash of insight and realized something very important."

As he said this, he simultaneously closed the door with his foot.

"What is it? The proof of Goldbach's Conjecture?" she said casually, walking to the kettle and taking out a tea canister and disposable paper cups from the cabinet.

"I could be that great, but that will have to wait a few years; it's not possible now."

Following her narcissistic approach, Tenkuji Yu casually shrugged and said as she walked towards the long table:

"I liked you at a time that probably started even before I commissioned you."

Yukino Yukinoshita stopped moving instantly.

After about five or six seconds, she picked up the cup again and casually filled it with hot water.

"Really? I can't feel it at all."

With her back to the sky, Siyou couldn't see her expression, and her voice didn't sound strange at all.

But it seemed as if it had been scalded by the rising white steam, as the snow-white skin between her hairs turned slightly red, and the ends of her hair swayed slightly as if she were feeling uneasy.

After a pause, Yukino suddenly lowered her voice and said, "Um, I... I also..."

After stammering for a while, I couldn't get the rest of my words out, and my hands were so unsteady that I almost dropped the paper cup.

If you turn her face back to the front, you'll probably see her cute face, full of shyness yet trying to muster up her courage.

"Don't force yourself."

Pulling out a chair and sitting down, Tenkuji Yu chuckled, trying to ease her tension: "You're not as frivolous as me, always spouting sweet nothings to flirt with girls. Right?"

"It has nothing to do with you. Not daring to face your own feelings is a sign of cowardice."

She shook her head stubbornly, tilting her head back slightly as if taking a deep breath.

"..."

As he watched her retreating figure, Tenkuji Yu slowed his breathing, silently waiting for her next move.

Thump thump—thump thump—

No one spoke; a silence so profound one could hear a pin drop spread out, as if even the sound of a heartbeat was being dragged into the air for a moment of silence.

Click.

Setting aside the teacup with its floating tea leaves on the cabinet, Yukino Yukinoshita suddenly turned around, letting her black hair fall lightly across her face, her gaze fixed firmly on the person behind her.

Those dark blue eyes were moist, with a faint light flickering within them, quietly containing the world in which he existed.

"Tenkuji-kun, I like you."

Her cheeks were flushed, and her tone was light and cheerful, yet earnest to the point of being pure.

she says:

"I probably liked you even before you liked me."

You must confess your feelings once and for all, and formally express your true emotions.

At least, that's what Yukino Yukinoshita thinks.