I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

Seeing that he suddenly stopped eating, Kasugano Sora frowned slightly and spoke to pull him back from his wandering thoughts.

"I was thinking about whether I should use some means to get you into Class 1-A." Re-moving her frozen arm, Tenkuji Yu picked up a bowl of rice with a natural expression and smiled at her, "If Isshiki and Tachibana are both here, you'll adapt faster and you won't have to worry about being ostracized or anything."

To be honest, the two female students were so popular in their class that it couldn't be described as just "good"—after all, the most steadfast "Tachibana faction" in the entire Soubu High School was Class 1-A.

If I had to describe it, it would be like having the angel and her deputy at the center, with the rest being her devoted personal guards.

There's nothing strange about it; that silver-haired girl, who is somewhat naive yet always straightforward and considerate of others, possesses a powerful charm that makes both men and women want to protect her.

Kasugano Sora is very lucky, having only two friends her own age, as they at least eliminated the possibility of her being bullied at school.

"Using some tricks? Is this the dark side of the adult world..." she muttered, biting her chopsticks, her pale eyes lifting slightly to glance at him. "Won't this cause you any trouble?"

"No big deal!" Yuu Tenkuji patted his chest.

"Okay, then I'll leave it to you." Hearing this, Kasugano Sora no longer hesitated, nodded vigorously without hesitation, and gave him a bright and lovely smile.

"Yu, for the sake of my school life, use all sorts of dirty tricks against those people!"

With a wry smile, Yuu Tenkuji gathered up the empty dishes and chopsticks, then turned and walked towards the kitchen.

"I'll ask Tachibana and the others. You also remember to invite them to come over to play more during winter break, and ask Isshiki to tell you about various things at school... You should have their contact information, right?"

"Huh?" Kasugano Sora paused, then pouted awkwardly. "What? Do I have to invite them over? And if you have a problem with Kanade, why can't you just ask her..."

"If you ask her, all you'll know is which Mapo dish in the cafeteria is the best!"

His helpless voice came from the kitchen, accompanied by the sound of running water: "Don't worry, as long as you hint that they can eat dishes made by their seniors when they come to our house, they will find an opportunity to come over even if you don't actively invite them."

"That's true." Kasugano Sora finally felt relieved. She quickly finished the rest of the food, picked up her bowl and chopsticks, and rushed to the kitchen. She then playfully squeezed in front of the small sink with him to wash the dishes.

The two siblings began to divide the work: Kasugano Sora was in charge of washing, while Tenkuji Yu was in charge of drying them and putting them on the shelf. It was a harmonious and cozy scene.

"By the way, Qiong, I have plans tonight. Do you want to order takeout for dinner, or should I cook it and leave it in the kitchen?"

"You cook, I don't have any takeout options I want... Wait, wait a minute. What's the date today?"

"1224..."

"Christmas Eve?! The legendary six hours of love..."

"Pfft! Cough cough... I told you to stay away from weird websites and not to say those words that get censored!"

"Who cares about all that? So, you're going home, right?"

"Uh, should I?"

"...You wash the dishes yourself, I'm going to go back to sleep."

"Wait, Sora! It's just a hot pot party at Yukino's apartment, Yui will be there too! Nothing will happen!"

"In that case, I can get there, right?"

"Um, Yukino asked me to pass on my apology to you..."

"Tsk, I don't need a bad woman's apology! So annoying, so annoying, so annoying! Go ahead and have your 3s party! I don't care about Yu or anything like that!!"

"Hey, so wait a minute, Sora—if you keep using those censored words, you might turn into a pervert like Masuzu!"

"..."

The noise spread from the kitchen all the way to the second floor, with occasional stomping sounds and someone's ridiculously fake cry of pain.

The Tenkuji family home remains peaceful today.

……

In a luxury apartment.

After confirming that everything was in order before leaving the room, Yukino Yukinoshita adjusted her bow tie in front of the full-length mirror, nodded gently, picked up her schoolbag, and prepared to leave.

But her small feet, encased in black stockings, had barely taken a few steps before she quickly walked back to the bedside; even though there was no one around, the sound of her opening the cabinet was deliberately kept low.

With her soft lips pressed tightly together, Yukino Yukinoshita looked at the rectangular package lying in the cabinet, her face as red as a boiled shrimp, yet she murmured something only she could hear, feigning seriousness:

"It's just a talisman... We're only seventeen, we need to know how to keep ourselves pure... It's just a talisman..."

As for whether the things in the cabinet could still be called amulets, she no longer had the energy to consider such a thing.

Taking a deep breath to relieve the heat on her face, Yukino Yukinoshita closed the cabinet, adding a lock just in case, before turning off the room light and walking towards the living room.

"This is my first time buying something like this online. I'll have to delete all the records later, otherwise my sister might find out... Hmm, I know how to use it, but according to what I read online, it seems like I need to do some kind of 'water content check'..."

As if contemplating some major life event, she gradually overcame her shyness and began to murmur earnestly and thoughtfully.

"Should I ask Yui? No, I'd better not. Asking her would feel like I have to do that to her... She's just a talisman, I have no intention of doing that."

"That's right, there's absolutely nothing improper about it..."

Yukino Yukinoshita stopped walking and suddenly raised her head, gazing out the window, which was shrouded in a light mist.

The city street scene below the high-rise buildings looks desolate and lonely, as if frozen, yet it is also exceptionally beautiful.

—Will the winter sky, which looks like it's about to snow, clear up tomorrow?

Chapter 175 The Tokyo Streets: Neither Lonely Nor Cold

Today is the last day before winter break.

The morning consists of half a day of regular classes, and students are not released until the closing ceremony in the afternoon, followed by a winter break of about two weeks.

Prior to this, the final exams had already been successfully completed, and the rankings were openly posted on the bulletin board—of course, only the top 100 students in each grade were listed; the rest were considered "privacy protected" and could not be posted to hurt the self-esteem of the struggling students.

In Japanese schools, the final exams are not the end; students continue attending classes for a period of time afterward.

However, with no exams and the test papers reviewed, students and teachers who are just waiting for the holiday have basically started treating going to school every day as a classmate reunion and have no intention of taking classes seriously.

The painful Chinese and math classes of the past have all been turned into self-study and movie appreciation. Some teachers have even opened up both indoor and outdoor activities at the same time, so that students who want to rest and those who want to exercise can be satisfied.

So even during class time, you can occasionally hear students running around and making noise. This makes teachers, who are used to order and quiet, frown. But considering that the holiday is coming soon, they just say a few words and let the students vent their heavy academic pressure during this period.

After all, it is the municipal high school with the highest deviation score in Chiba City. The more seriously they study in normal times, the more crazy they will be when they play now, especially as the holidays approach.

Stepping onto the slightly damp asphalt road, Tenkuji casually slung his backpack, which was empty of books, over his shoulder.

The temperature dropped below zero, and the few pedestrians on the street all hunched their necks and used heavy winter clothes to ward off the cold wind. The few patches of skin that were helplessly exposed were red from the cold, making their already hurried steps look even more disheveled.

In comparison, his sense of being different becomes even more striking.

The thin-looking uniform jacket, with two buttons undone to reveal the collarbone, and the upright posture that defied the cold wind, along with the neat and spirited short hair, did not shrink in the slightest despite the bleak winter.

Yuu Tenkuji walked casually through the city streets at the end of the year, ignoring the surprised looks directed at him, and leisurely watching the hot breath he exhaled turn into wisps of white smoke in the air.

That feeling of not being cold when everyone else is cold is really nice—the most important thing is not being unconventional, but the feeling of freedom from constraints.

Sometimes, freedom is the best proof of strength.

The sub-zero temperature is nothing to him now that he is in such good physical condition. Of course, he can wear whatever makes it easy for him to move around, without being restricted by things like coats or scarves.

However, Yui Yuigahama, who met him on the way, didn't think so.

"Seriously, what am I going to do if I catch a cold!"

Like a worried little wife, Yui Yuigahama pouted in dissatisfaction as she buttoned up his clothes without asking.

Yuu Tenkuji looked at her helplessly: "That's impossible. I wouldn't catch a cold even if I went swimming naked in winter, let alone..."

Yui Yuigahama had no intention of listening to him at all. She didn't even look up and said in a perfunctory tone, "Okay, okay, I know you're very strong. Great job, great job~ Come on, lower your head a little."

When he reluctantly lowered his head, she took off her scarf and tiptoed around their necks two or three times.

Finally, the red fabric fell onto their shoulders, the scarves forming slanted rings that covered the gaps between them.

"Okay, that's good!"

A satisfied smile spread across her face as she pulled her scarf up to cover the lower half of her face. A low, muffled laugh, a hint of triumph in her voice, rang out: "Hehe, a double scarf~ I've wanted to do this for so long!"

Taking a light sniff of the fragrance emanating from the scarf in front of his nose, Tenkuji Yu glanced at her sideways, his eyes revealing a hint of resentment.

"I understand now. So you weren't worried about me being cold; you were doing this for your own purposes..."

"No way! Don't imagine your girlfriend to be that kind of bad woman, okay?"

As if punishing him, Yui Yuigahama hugged his arm tightly, as if she wanted to snap it, but it only brought him the fullness of her body that even her trench coat couldn't contain.

"I want to try out a double scarf with you, but I'm also worried you'll catch a cold since you're wearing so little—these two feelings can coexist!"

"But Yui, wearing it like this will only make you colder, won't it? The wind is blowing in from the middle."

"Let's get through this cold with romance and love."

Tenkuji Yu lowered his head, gently touched her cool cheek with his cheek, and whispered in her ear, "...I don't care, I'm just worried you'll catch a cold, you idiot."

"Idiots don't catch colds, though I'm not an idiot!" Yui Yuigahama protested, pulling his hand into her coat pocket before pouting her rosy lips and humming smugly.

"That's good~ Xiaoyou's hands are so big and warm, holding you is like holding a heater, I'm not afraid of catching a cold at all!"

Yuu Tenkuji was taken aback for a moment, then nodded in agreement: "Indeed, I doubt there's anyone in the whole world who's bigger and hotter than me."

"Yeah, yeah... um!?" Yui Yuigahama was about to agree when she suddenly realized what he meant, wrinkled her little nose, and scrutinized his expression. "Yu, were you just making a dirty joke at me?"

Even if that were the case, I didn't intend to do anything to him. Instead, I couldn't help but start fantasizing about just how hot and big that thing was...

Please don't misunderstand, this only refers to hot dogs. It's said that the world's largest hot dog is a whopping 204 meters long!

"Silly Yui, do you think I'm that kind of person?" He patted her head affectionately, his eyes filled with helpless tenderness.

Sky Temple casually changed the subject: "Are you planning to go to school like this today?"

On the way to the station, the number of students and office workers gradually increased, and the gazes directed at him took on a different meaning, yet were also more indifferent than usual.

"After all, today is Christmas Eve!"

Yui Yuigahama shook his arm and said matter-of-factly, "Don't even mention the morning, I want to be with Yu all day long. I don't care if I'm called a clingy person!"

"Really?" With half her face buried in her scarf, Tenkuji Yu looked down at her.

Her pink hair tied into a bun, her fair and delicate ears, her round and rosy cheeks, her soft and warm cherry-colored lips, and her bright eyes blinking under her long eyelashes all combine to make up this lovely and straightforward girl.

In her coat pocket, her fingers were intertwined with her own, as if trying to warm up the whole winter. The touch of their skin generated endless heat that went straight to her heart.

Yuu Tenkuji couldn't help but laugh, slowly raising his gaze to look happily at the Tokyo street that was neither lonely nor cold, even at minus three degrees Celsius.

"What a coincidence, me too."

……