I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

……

With the video call on, Natsukawa Masaki frowned at Natsukawa Mana, and after listening to her self-indulgent announcement, questioned her sternly:

"You're transferring here after the cultural season? Why? Is it someone's order...?"

"Not really. Anyway, I don't know why, but I suddenly wanted to transfer to the same school as you, Ryo... Don't get me wrong, it's not to protect you or anything, I just wanted to do it!"

"Ha, I don't think so. It's surveillance, isn't it? Did he discover anything?"

"Tsk... Anyway, I'll be there to check it out on the day of the cultural festival, and then I'll just transfer to Soubu High School as a first-year student! That's it, goodbye, you big idiot Ryou!"

"Hey, Masahiro—!"

The call was unilaterally cut off.

Staring at her now-black phone screen, Natsukawa Masaki unconsciously bit her thumbnail, lowered her head with a gloomy expression, and murmured anxiously:

"Mana is actually transferring schools... Knowing that kid's personality, it's bound to make things even more complicated..."

Chapter 140 Asuna Yuuki, Preparing to Depart

As the calendar pages turn, each eagerly anticipated day seems to pass slowly yet moves quickly, but the pace of progress never stops.

As night fell, at the Yuki residence.

The transfer procedures have been completed, the farewell party has been attended, and I even got a perfect score on the transfer qualification exam.

Now, Asuna Yuuki has everything ready, just waiting for the weekend to officially transfer to Soubu High School and go to see the person she misses day and night and can't wait to see.

Of course, we don't have to wait until then; we should be able to run into him at tomorrow's cultural festival.

Although she obtained the contact information of the three members of Soubu High School during the Kyoto tournament, Asuna Yuuki never took the initiative to chat with them.

My first thought was to give them a surprise, and my second thought was to get to know them again after all the doubts were resolved.

Most importantly, ever since returning from her trip to Kyoto, she has felt as if she were wrapped in an opaque film. The whole world, everyone, and even herself suddenly have an unreal and illusory feeling, and she seems to see strange double images in a daze.

That's right, it's like playing a fully immersive virtual reality game.

It feels even more realistic than Swordsman Online, but the sense of dislocation from reality is even more pronounced than in the game.

The unknown brought fear, and after realizing this, Asuna Yuuki couldn't help but feel scared, and even began to become paranoid.

But he quickly regained his composure.

She didn't know when her mental fortitude had become so strong, as if she had become accustomed to all kinds of storms—but it was precisely because of this that she was able to maintain a calm mindset to examine everything, and before completely tearing down this veil, she decided to keep her distance from everyone, not even her family.

After all, even one's own memories might just be a kind of "setup".

"The only thing I can believe in is this instinctive urge to see him..."

Her fingers lightly traced the numbers on the calendar, her chestnut hair cascading down her shoulders.

The girl in her pajamas let out a long sigh, her chest pressed against the desk, and her cheek slowly pressed against the cool surface.

She closed her eyes; in the dark and quiet room, only the sound of her heartbeat filled her ears.

The closer it got to the day I could see him, the faster my heart beat, and the more restless and anxious I felt in my chest.

Having not seen him for so long, I thought his face would become blurry in my memory, but unexpectedly it is becoming clearer and clearer.

It's as if I've stared at it blankly for a whole day, and every outline has become so familiar that it's etched into my soul.

"Tenkuji Yu... Yu-kun..."

She murmured his name softly, feeling as if she were in heat, and couldn't help but cover her burning cheeks with a touch of shame.

It didn't feel like romance, but Asuna couldn't quite put her finger on what those feelings were either—

That's why I was so looking forward to meeting him.

No matter how many questions she has, she can get answers as long as she goes to him... Even if it's just an illusion, he's still the person she wants to see even if it means transferring schools.

If emotions are as intense as the tip of a sword, then there is no need for hesitation!

In short, let's just stab him first!

"Okay, let's do the final confirmation!"

To lift her spirits, Asuna Yuuki got up from her prone position, took out her phone, and made a call.

"Hey, brother? Do you have time to talk now?"

"Huh? Yeah, what's up?" The sounds of playing games could be faintly heard, and the older brother's somewhat silly voice came over, "Aren't you going to the cultural festival at Soubu High School tomorrow? Why aren't you asleep yet?"

"I'm going to sleep now, but I just wanted to ask you a few questions before I go to sleep."

With a friendly tone, Asuna Yuuki smiled and said:

"Brother, you didn't tell Tenkuji about what happened to me, did you?"

She already knew all this information, including Tenkuji Yu's class, whether he would be in class or in a club during the cultural festival, what projects his class had prepared, etc., through a certain informant a long time ago.

Although they don't usually meet in real life, my brother seems to be discussing some kind of business with that person, and the frequency of their online chats has increased significantly recently; even though 90% of the time they are talking about serious matters, there is still an inevitable 10% of casual chatter between friends, talking about each other's recent situations and so on.

So one day, using curiosity as an excuse, Asuna Yuuki extracted information from her brother, and gradually became more and more demanding, skillfully using him as a ruthless intelligence machine.

Ask him what you want to know, and order him to find out what you want to know. Without revealing your own identity, slowly and gradually, you will get to know more and more about Tenkuji Yu.

Of course, to prevent her brother from saying things like, "My sister is very interested in you and is currently frantically gathering information about you," or from meddling in other people's business and taking the initiative to bring the two of them together, Yuuki Asuna still had an extra layer of protection.

"Of course I didn't say anything. How could I? I didn't mention your name once, but I asked about him every day. It almost made Ayou think I was gay..."

At this point, the elder brother's voice suddenly revealed a hint of sorrow.

Like a hostage being dragged outside by robbers, forced to tremble under countless gun barrels.

He sniffled insincerely as he sobbed, "All I did was be forced by my friends to cosplay as a woman at a comic convention once! Who knew you'd happen to pass by, take pictures, and threaten me, saying you'd send them to my mom's email if I didn't do what you asked... Asuna, you weren't this kind of bad kid before! What happened to you?!"

"Nothing much~" Asuna Yuuki swung her legs leisurely, her face devoid of any pity, and answered casually, "It's just that you don't understand me, brother. I'm just that kind of bad woman who will do anything to achieve my goals~"

Koichiro Yuuki gritted his teeth: "Is it worth it for him?"

"Sacrificing your brother? Hmm..." Asuna tapped her chin, puffed out one cheek, and nodded thoughtfully. "I think it was quite worth it."

"what--!"

On the other end of the phone, Yuuki Koichiro seemed to slam down the controller, and muttered in despair, "To be able to say such a ridiculous thing so matter-of-factly, you're not the innocent and cute Asuna you used to be... But then again, it's just that he won the national championship, is it really necessary to be so obsessed with him?"

This was the excuse Asuna used to appease her brother—after seeing him compete in the National Kendo Tournament and spending two days with his team members, she inadvertently started to care about him.

As for why she secretly gathered intelligence instead of actively creating opportunities to contact him... isn't it normal for girls to be a little shy?

Anyway, no one would believe her no matter what she said, so Asuna Yuuki couldn't care less about her brother's opinion.

"Yes, yes, I'm totally obsessed with him~" Asuna sighed helplessly and stood up from her chair. "Don't worry, I'll delete the photos after I meet him, so you don't need to help me gather information about him anymore."

He breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good, that's good. If you keep talking to him like this, it'll be terrible if I end up liking him more than you do... After all, Asuna seems like she has absolutely no idea how to pursue boys."

After a moment of silence, she asked with a light laugh, "What did you say? Can you say it again?"

"I was just kidding." Sensing the strong sense of crisis in her tone, Yuuki Koichiro immediately became serious, his voice revealing a strong desire to survive. "Asuna, if you ever want to take him home to meet your parents, I'm willing to be the first to speak well of him to your mother!"

"Yeah……"

As if she hadn't heard him, Asuna Yuuki sighed sadly, then muttered to herself, "Sigh, if my mother knew that the reason her son, whom she raised as an elite, likes to cross-dress was because he's in love with a male friend who's not even in high school, I wonder how shocked she would be..."

"I'm sorry, I was wrong!" If he were there, he might have already knelt down before his sister.

"From now on, I'll do whatever you tell me to do, without a second thought! Even if it means knocking that brat Ayou unconscious and tying him up in your room, I...I will...!"

The fierce tone suddenly paused, and then weakened: "I can't do it either... That kid Ayou is as strong as a monster. Even with weapons, I might not be able to handle him... It's hard to say in the game."

“You can’t beat him in the game either, okay? I can…” Asuna subconsciously blurted out this, then suddenly stopped in her tracks, frowning slightly.

Before her brother could realize something was amiss, she quickly changed her tune, saying, "Anyway, from today onwards, you don't need to worry about our affairs anymore, brother. Thank you for your help all this time."

"Huh? Help me? If you hadn't threatened me..."

Her smile was merciless: "That's it. If there's nothing else, I'm going to sleep."

"Wait, don't hang up yet!" Yuki Koichiro quickly called out to her.

"Is there anything else?" Asuna asked lazily as she walked toward the bed.

"Your attitude changed way too quickly, it's like you just casually threw away a popsicle stick that didn't win a prize..." After complaining, Yuki Koichiro finally got down to business.

“I have a few junior classmates who are in the Soubu High School game club. They borrowed a few NERvGears from me for this cultural festival, saying they're going to hold a virtual reality martial arts tournament... Could you keep an eye on things for me while you're there and check if they're messing things up?”

"The World Martial Arts Tournament?"

Speaking of this, Asuna is no longer sleepy.

She sat on the edge of the bed, her eyes shining, a faint surge of excitement coursing through her veins. Intrigued, she asked, "Is this event held in 'Swordsman Online'? Can I participate?"

Koichiro Yuki gave a couple of awkward, dry laughs.

"You shouldn't go fry fish anymore, it won't sound good if word gets out."

"What?! I would never fry fish!" Asuna wrinkled her nose and pouted, looking aggrieved. "So what if I beat all of you strategy teams? Is it really necessary to disqualify me from the competition? Maybe the juniors in your e-sports club are pretty good too!"

"Can they be stronger than the national college women's fencing champion?" Yuki Koichiro sighed helplessly. "Anyway, go over there and check the situation for me. If you really feel the urge, just give them a couple of pointers. Don't take it too seriously and bully them."

"Um...okay, okay, I know!" As if doused with a bucket of cold water, Asuna immediately lost interest, her cheeks puffing out slightly. "Anyway, with Mom around, she might not even let me play the game."

"That's good." Yuki Koichiro continued to remind them, "Remember to pay attention to the pain level. They don't have the key to adjust it to 100%, but 60% is painful enough... If anything goes wrong, we'll be the ones responsible."

"Then why are you still borrowing it?" Rolling her eyes speechlessly, Yuuki Asuna hung up the phone after giving a few perfunctory replies and placed it on the charging dock by the bedside.

I turned off the lights and got into bed. The night outside instantly enveloped me, as if it wanted to blend into the room.

However, my thoughts were still racing, and I was far from sleepy.

Asuna Yuuki stared wide-eyed, the words she had blurted out naturally flashing through her mind—

"You can't beat him in the game, after all, I... can't beat him either?"

The supplementary question is stated in an affirmative tone.

If I had actually played that game with him, and even gotten married in the game... given my unexpectedly combative personality, I would definitely drag him into sparring every now and then, and whoever won would have to listen to the other person for the whole day.

Then, precisely because she had never won, she subconsciously believed that even in the game, her brother could not beat Yuu Tenkuji.

The logic is so sound that I have absolutely no idea how to refute myself.

Asuna Yuuki pulled the blanket up to her chin and sighed softly.