I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

And now, she has done it.

After a slight surprise, Yuuya Tenkuji also revealed a peaceful smile, as if he had put down some heavy responsibility.

"Although I already knew this... it really felt like we were boyfriend and girlfriend after the confession."

"Is this what they call procedural? No, or is a sense of ritual more accurate?"

She exhaled softly, speaking as if deep in thought, as she brought over the two cups of brewed black tea.

As if receiving a royal decree, Tenkuji Yuu respectfully raised his hand and bowed his head: "Ah! Thank you for your grace, my dear girlfriend!"

"affectation!"

Yukino rolled her eyes at him, turned her head away in disgust, but couldn't help but smile with a relieved look on her face.

"...You're welcome, boyfriend."

Chapter 135 Yukino's First Kiss

Something's not right.

Yuu Tenkuji bit his chopsticks and secretly glanced at Yukino Yukinoshita, who was opening her bento box at the other end of the long table.

When I arrived, I didn't see her eating; instead, she was flipping through a book. I knew what she was up to—I knew from the group chat that Yui wasn't planning to come to the Service Club at noon today. In the past, she would have started eating as soon as she arrived at the clubroom, but now she waited for me to arrive before acting nonchalant, as if she wanted to start eating with me.

In these unintentional gestures, she is always so adorable that it makes you feel a ticklish sensation, like being scratched on the chest by a cat's paw.

Let's get back to the main topic.

To be honest, given the atmosphere of that confession just now, Yuu Tenkuji almost thought that this mission was about to end, and that the system notification "Yukino Yukinoshita, the conditions have been met. Congratulations to the host for completing the mission" would pop up in front of him the next moment.

After all, the two of them genuinely liked each other and had confessed their feelings to one another, no longer hiding anything from each other—and in such a situation, one usually has to be prepared to say goodbye.

They started by leaving their last words, and then they spent some final tender moments together.

After confessing his feelings, nothing happened.

The warm aroma of black tea still lingered in the service department, and her skin remained as white and translucent as ever, only tinged with a misty blush.

The world is full of color, and time keeps moving forward.

The fourth mission is not yet complete.

Is it because I haven't become her "ideal boyfriend" yet?

'Or does the system not want to end things so soon, and intend to wait until our feelings deepen before trying to break us up, so that it will feel more natural?'

The rest is purely malicious speculation. Yuu Tenkuji estimates that the reason is that the objective of this mission isn't to fill anyone's void or fulfill anyone's wishes, but rather to become her 'ideal'.

As long as one does not reach the ideal level, this task will never end—judging from the current situation, that is probably the case.

This is not good news for Yuu Tenkuji.

After all, a scumbag like him, who has two relationships at the same time and has three ex-girlfriends, one of whom is even her sister, could never possibly become the ideal boyfriend!

Especially considering Yukino Yukinoshita, who always upholds the standards of a proper young girl, it's even more impossible.

If I really want to become her ideal, I estimate I'd have to break up with Yui Yuigahama first, then cut ties with my ex-girlfriends, and wholeheartedly treat her well until the mission is over before I'll have a chance to do so.

If we don't do this, the time it takes to get stuck on the fourth mission...

Perhaps at the latest, it will be until I graduate, and maybe I'll have had a few children with them?

Then, while enjoying the happiness of a complete family, a notification suddenly sounded that the mission was over; then time abruptly reversed, returning to his high school days when he had no children and no wife, leaving him standing there blankly and helplessly, before completely collapsing...

"Hey, hey, hey, stop joking around! Where did this third-rate novel plot come from?!"

He secretly clenched his chopsticks, pulling his gaze away from Yukino's face to avoid letting her see the anxiety in his heart.

Actually, Yuu Tenkuji had thought about the "ideal boyfriend" question before, but she always avoided thinking about it too deeply.

Because he knew that he couldn't bring himself to break up with Yui—even if the world line was reset and this fact would be erased, he couldn't possibly do anything to hurt his girlfriend just to get rid of the system.

The mission cannot be completed without breaking up with Yui; to complete the mission, one must hurt Yui.

That overly strong girl already has countless scars of her own making; even so, would he really want to inflict another wound on her for his own sake?

Impossible, impossible.

If he had to do it that way, he would rather spend a year or two finding other possibilities and creating an ending where everyone could be happy.

Even if the hope is slim, there are always more solutions than problems.

For them, Yuu Tenkuji would make herself omnipotent.

"What's wrong?"

Seeing him with his head down, biting his chopsticks and not opening the bento box, Yukino Yukinoshita turned her head, a look of doubt on her pretty face, and looked him up and down: "You don't seem to be waiting for me to start eating... Did you suddenly think of some problem and it's bothering you so much that you can't eat?"

"..."

She's always like this, as if she can read your mind. If you don't seriously pretend, you can't hide anything from her.

With a sigh of resignation, Yuu Tenkuji composed himself and reached for his bento box.

"Nothing, I was just waiting for you..."

"Lies!" Her tone suddenly turned cold, and she glared at herself with displeasure, like an angry kitten that had started to arch its back, radiating a chilling aura.

"To dare to fob me off with such an obvious lie, it seems that problem is very important to you, to the point that you've even forgotten that I don't like it when you lie to me..."

"Okay, I'm coming clean!"

Before she could think about it more deeply, Tenkuji Yu sat up straight, slapped his hands on the table, and stared at her intently.

"I just imagined a wonderful future where I marry you all and have lots of kids!"

It wasn't a lie; he really did think that way just now.

"..."

Stunned by his eyes, which seemed to gleam with unwavering determination, Yukino Yukinoshita immediately fell silent.

Amazing Cats All Year Round.JPG

After a moment of stunned silence, she awkwardly and slowly withdrew her gaze, pursed her lips, and gently ran her fingers through her loose black hair. A blush of embarrassment crept onto her usually cold face, and her voice was no longer so forceful.

"You're thinking too far ahead... We've only just started dating. And I don't want to have children so soon; I want to wait until I graduate from university."

Her face flushed as she spoke about her future plans, but her serious expression suddenly froze as she realized something was wrong.

"Even if it's just wishful thinking, what's there to worry about?"

“Because we need to control the Prime Minister and the Cabinet before we can change the law,” Tenkuji Yu said matter-of-factly. “Bigamy is a bad thing, and we need to find a way to decriminalize it, which is not easy to do.”

“You…” Looking at his serious-sounding nonsense, Yukino Yukinoshita’s eyebrows twitched slightly, and she cutely bit her lower lip, as if she wanted to criticize his utterly shameless delusions.

But in the end, he simply shook his head, sighed softly, and withdrew his gaze as if giving up.

"Stop thinking about all that nonsense and hurry up and eat."

"Alright~" Tenkuji Yu followed suit, opened the bento box, picked up the chopsticks, and said "I'm starting to eat" at the same time as her, and then prepared to start eating.

"and many more."

Yukino Yukinoshita called him back again, tentatively asking:

"How does the black tea taste?"

"Oh, right." Yuu Tenkuji put down her chopsticks, picked up her teacup, and the black tea was still steaming with a fragrant aroma.

"...Mmm, it tastes good."

"Really? How delicious is it?" She smiled mischievously, her eyes crinkling.

Tenkuji Yu thought about it seriously, then took another sip: "It's about the same as mine, the only thing it beats me in..."

Yukino Yukinoshita raised an eyebrow slightly, watching with interest as he tried to come up with his next story.

"...Perhaps it's because it's filled with love and warmth?"

With a satisfied sigh, Tenkuji Yu let out a breath, and then began to offer his evaluation with great conviction.

"I can tell that the girl who brewed this tea did so because she wanted her loved one to drink a very delicious cup of black tea. She kept adjusting and improving her recipes every day, and in the end, she created this extraordinary taste of love!"

"..."

Yukino Yukinoshita stared at him blankly, not yet making any reaction, her snow-white skin gradually turning red from her neck.

Without looking in that direction, Yuu Tenkuji raised her voice, staring at the ceiling and holding up her paper cup, shouting passionately, "That's right—! Straightforward yet awkward, pure yet complex, all the love is blended into a sweet aroma, concentrated in this small cup! This is no longer black tea, but the elixir of love—"

The cold wind outside the window seemed to suddenly rush in.

"Shut up if you don't want to drink tea through your nose."

"Ok."

Tenkuji Yu sat obediently in the chair and sipped the gradually cooling black tea.

Although I exaggerated a bit just now, the taste was indeed very good, in no way inferior to the black tea brewed in a coffee shop.

I don't know if it's the quality of the tea leaves or the skill of the tea brewer.

"……snort."

After taking a deep breath as usual and calming down her feelings of shame and annoyance, Yukino suddenly waved to him.

"come over."

Tenkuji Yu paused, slowly lifting his lips from the rim of the cup, his eyes sharply fixed on her.

Seemingly dissatisfied, he lowered his voice and said, word by word:

"Miss Yukino, is it too late for me to apologize now?"

"I'm not going to hit you, just come here."

She gave him a coquettish glare, and after he obediently pulled up a chair, lunchbox, and teacup to sit next to her, Yukino Yukinoshita continued, "Don't you think it's strange for couples to sit so far apart when they're eating? From now on, sit next to me."

Startled, Tenkuji Yu looked at her expressionless, delicate profile, then suddenly realized what was happening and drawled out:

"Oh, you're afraid of being alone—"

Before he could finish speaking...

"Tenkuji-kun, there's only a limit to the number of times you can tease me in a day, you know?"