I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

"As expected, it wasn't just my imagination..."

She remembered the broken ring item in the game.

I remembered the nun's completed duo mission.

I recalled the login and logout data from almost the same time.

I recalled the palpitations and longing that have almost never subsided since then.

"Pfft... pfft..."

For some inexplicable reason, she couldn't help but smile, and quickly bent over, hiding under the covers and laughing to herself.

Like a primary school student who doesn't have to do summer homework, she laughed a little silly and a little blankly, and twisted around on the bed like a maggot, completely unable to control the joyful bubbles that came from the bottom of her heart.

"Phew...that's great..."

After a while, I finally calmed down a bit.

After confirming that her silly giggles hadn't alerted anyone, Asuna peeked out and rolled around in her blanket.

She gazed out the window, letting her last, slightly amused sigh drift into the darkness through the crack.

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

Even though it was a night when no stars could be seen, the moonlight outside the glass was clearer and more real than ever before.

"I'm coming to find you."

"I'll go right away, I'll run there."

"Wait for me, I'm coming to see you..."

The girl drifted off to sleep amidst dreamlike murmurs.

Perhaps she was having a sweet dream, for she was gently enveloped by the night, and a sweet, faint smile remained on her lips.

My hand rests gently on the pillow, with a little space between my palms.

It's as if I've already grasped the shape of happiness.

……

the next day.

In the morning light, birds chirped outside the window, their notes like rays of light spilling across the carpet.

Slowly opening her eyes, Yuu Tenkuji sat up in bed, her gaze calmly fixed on the distance. The digital clock cruelly displayed the date of the cultural festival.

"...Finally, this moment has come."

On December 12th, it is inadvisable to travel, hold celebrations, or attend gatherings.

"Aha--"

With her hand covering half her cheek, Yuu Tenkuji propped her head up and let out a deep sigh as soon as she got up.

Even so, his expression remained calm and composed, like a blood-soaked warrior who had already traversed countless battlefields, fearlessly facing the blood-soaked realities of life.

"Complaining won't help... I might as well take a day off."

—Then I decisively decided to admit defeat.

No one knows how much pressure he has been under ever since he heard that the mothers of his two girlfriends were coming to visit the cultural festival and would "casually" say hello to him.

Besides that, there was another thing she couldn't tell them, hidden deep in Tenkuji Yu's heart...

So, unusually, today, he really didn't want to face reality.

After only ten minutes of spacing out in bed, Yuu Tenkuji resignedly got out of bed and left the room to wash up.

"What should I do...? They'll all forget about it once the mission is over, but I can't keep putting it off until then..."

I spent the entire morning thinking about this question.

Unfortunately, before they could get an answer, they were already preparing to go out to participate in the cultural festival.

Chapter 141 The Responsibility of a Younger Sister

"Are you really going to come out with me? I'm telling you, if you come to school with me, you'll be surrounded by a bunch of people as soon as you enter the school gate."

"It's better than going out alone in a while, right? Aren't you afraid I'll get hit on by bad guys on the street?"

At the entrance, meeting the slightly hesitant gaze of Tenkuji Yu, Kasugano Sora casually pulled up her hood, letting the shadows cover her small face.

Today she finally dug out her outerwear that had been lying dormant in the closet for a long time.

After all, it's late winter, and wearing that thin dress would probably freeze you to death on the street. Plus, you're going to be in a crowded place, so wearing too little makes me feel uneasy.

Thus, a Lolita-style white dress, layers of lace paired with a sky-blue vest and thick stockings that obscured her skin, her flowing silver hair draped elegantly over her shoulders, a braid hanging down in front of her slightly heaving chest—

Her hair was styled by Yuu Tenkuji, using her "braiding (expert level)" skills that she had acquired long ago but never used; and the winter outfit that Sora was wearing was a birthday gift that her mother had specially chosen for her a few years ago before the plane crash.

It's absurd that she can still fit into it, which proves that his younger sister's figure has hardly grown since elementary school—perhaps it's also related to her mother deliberately buying a size larger.

The style is fashionable but not childish; it's clearly designed to dress up one's daughter like a little princess, and it suits Qiong perfectly.

...However, she seemed unwilling to be seen by outsiders in this dignified and lovely attire, so she draped a purple and white cat-ear cloak over herself, covering herself completely from head to toe.

Wearing the same long cape as Emilia, her petite figure didn't seem suspicious at all; instead, it gave her a cute, deliberately mysterious air, which didn't really matter.

Ultimately, as long as I don't look at them, I won't know they're looking at me.

Beneath her hood, Kasugano Sora gave a disdainful sneer, her tone cold.

Then she changed the subject: "Just remember to protect me. If anyone surrounds you and asks questions, chase them away. If there are too many people, take me and run away. I don't want to have to say hello to your classmates or teachers!"

Look at this, what a self-righteous statement from someone with social anxiety!

"Okay, okay~" With a helpless shrug, Yuu patted her little head twice, changed her shoes, and walked towards the door.

"Then let's set off."

Close the door and lock it.

The brother and sister left home hand in hand, walking towards the dry, cold morning streets.

The weather forecast indicates that it will not rain for the next two days, and the daytime temperature will drop below 10 degrees Celsius. Remember to moisturize your lips – the cold wind in Tokyo is physically damaging, and without proper protection, your lips can easily become chapped.

To prevent this from happening, Kasugano Sora, who actually pays great attention to her appearance, not only applied strawberry-flavored lip balm but also wore a mask to cover half of her face.

Before she could put on her sunglasses, Yuu Tenkuji decisively reached out to stop her, lest her strange, fully armed appearance attract more attention.

Even so, the further they got from home, the more obvious the white cloak's timidity and fear became.

Instead of holding hands, they hugged each other's arms. Qiong pressed her body tightly against him, as if she wanted to crawl under his coat. Her face under the hood never lifted up.

The streets were relatively quiet on the weekend morning, but once you left the residential area and walked towards the station, you could see pedestrians and vehicles coming and going, and every now and then you could hear the crisp sound of bicycle bells passing by.

The middle-aged owner of the fish shop gripped the iron gate, raised his thick arm, and shouted in a loud and energetic voice.

The elderly men and women strolling in the park greeted each other, watching with kind eyes the plump woman running away, panting heavily, and praying that she would finally lose weight.

The middle-aged man, wearing pajamas and scratching his stomach, grabbed the newspaper from the mailbox and retreated into his home. The cold wind reluctantly jolted him awake from his drowsy state.

Merchants, pedestrians, residents...

A lazy cat on the wall, a sparrow full of energy on the high-voltage power line, a crow eyeing the garbage dump...

The street scene, like a newly lit flame, was just a warm and familiar picture to Yuu Tenkuji; but to Sora Kasugano, who rarely left her home, it was too cold and unfamiliar, as if it were a world away.

That's why I feel afraid involuntarily.

Completely different from her feelings during her follow-up visit, she was now stepping back into this unfamiliar world. The familiar and quiet room around her was no longer her own, but a cold and noisy steel city filled with a sense of oppression.

She needs time to get used to it.

"Qiong, when we get to school, do you want to stay in my class until the cultural festival starts, or do you want to rest in our club?"

To distract her, Yuu Tenkuji casually asked a question.

"I'll go wherever there's no one... You said before that your Service Department is in a rather remote special building, right?"

She pondered thoughtfully, her body gradually relaxing, and then nodded, saying, "Then I'll go to your club. Come find me after the opening ceremony."

Although she knew this was the best method and there seemed to be no other alternative, Yuu Tenkuji still couldn't help but worry.

"Aren't you scared to be alone in the classroom? Are you okay? How about I put my phone in my chest pocket with the camera pointing outside, and then I'll wear Bluetooth headphones and make a video call? That way, you can not only see the campus scenery, but you can also receive messages instantly if you need to contact me."

"Your mother's thinking is getting more and more meticulous..."

After muttering a somewhat speechless comment, Kasugano Sora patted the small bag on her back, tilted her head slightly, and said with a calm yet proud tone, "However, when it comes to being alone, Yu is still too inexperienced!"

"The games on the game console are enough to play all day, and with a fully charged phone and a power bank—let alone Monster Hunter, if I were to train Sai ○ as a stallion, I wouldn't have enough time to stay in the club all day."

When her older brother went to school or work, Kasugano Sora's only companions were electronic devices and the cold, lonely air.

There were no cats back then, no one to talk to, and no one to confide in—yet she was more reluctant to engage with the outside world than to fear being alone.

So I got used to it.

You can only get used to it if you don't want to, until you can feel at ease with loneliness, and then Kasugano Sora will no longer be afraid of being alone.

"This is one of my few special skills, so don't underestimate me!"

Seeing her unwavering and stubborn demeanor, Tenkuji Yu couldn't help but chuckle.

"That's right, I forgot that homebodies are the least afraid of being alone..."

That was the end of the conversation; he didn't want to delve deeper into how his sister cultivated loneliness into a special skill.

Simply feeling sorry for her is useless. In any case, Tenkuji Yu had already sworn to Sora that he would never abandon her in this lifetime.

……

The route I took to school today was a little different from usual.

Usually, I would walk up that uphill section first, meet up with Yui Yuigahama, and then head to the station.

To avoid making her younger sister walk too much, Yuu Tenkuji took a shortcut today, running through the middle of the shopping street directly to the station, where she would wait for Yui Yuigahama to board the train together.

It was only after he changed course that he realized that Qiong's physical abilities were no longer what they used to be, and he didn't need to be considerate of her at all.

"Hey! Little brother Tenkuji, you're still up so early on the holiday."

As he stepped onto the clean red brick sidewalk of the shopping street, the woman from the flower shop next door leaned against the door, smoking a cigarette as she greeted him warmly.