I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

"Huh? Really?!"

Asuna Yuuki's eyes widened in surprise, but she quickly recovered from her overreaction and coughed twice to cover it up. With a serious expression, she suggested, "It's not good for you, Tenkuji-kun, as her boyfriend! You should be considerate of your shy girlfriend and ask her out often, even if it's just to go to a nearby park or tourist attraction. Otherwise, your relationship will gradually cool down."

"I know, but I've just had too many things holding me back and haven't had time to ask her out." Without saying much more about that, Yuu pushed the menu on the table in front of her, maintaining the same distance that ordinary friends should have, just like her.

"Order whatever you like, it's on me today."

“Hehe, then I won’t be polite~” Yuuki Asuna generously accepted the menu, pretending to look it over seriously, as if she wanted to rip him off. However, in the end, she only ordered a limited-time apple-flavored caramel latte, which cost 693 yen including tax.

Yuu Tenkuji, as usual, ordered black coffee and two slices of light cheesecake. Then, turning his gaze to the chestnut-haired girl in front of him, he suddenly asked out of the blue:

"Did you encounter any strange people when you went out?"

"A strange guy?" Asuna Yuuki tilted her head slightly, looking at him with some confusion. "Before leaving, I greeted my brother, who had just finished playing games all night and came back from the dorm to sleep, and then... well, it was just him. What happened to him?"

Tenkuji Yu's eyes twitched slightly.

Good grief, so you categorize Brother Hao as one of the weirdos in your mind?

The strangest thing is that I actually found it perfectly reasonable and couldn't refute it at all...

He glanced at the seat diagonally behind him, sighed faintly, and said with a hint of helplessness, "It's nothing... I hope he can catch up on his sleep, so he won't stay up all night and not see the sun tomorrow."

Knowing that he and his brother might be closer than she was, and that the two were more like close friends than seniors and juniors, Asuna Yuuki didn't care about this curse-like statement. Instead, she nodded in complete agreement.

“I’ve tried to persuade him several times, but not only does he not listen, he also wants me to keep it a secret from my mother…”

She sighed in distress, rubbing her cheek, and said, "Sigh, maybe next time Mom should just pretend to go out and wait at home for my brother who stays up all night playing games to come back."

"Cough cough, that was quite a shock."

Yuu Tenkuji coughed awkwardly twice, which coincided with a cough that sounded like someone choking on saliva, coming from somewhere.

Because her attention was focused on him, Asuna Yuuki didn't notice anything amiss. Her clear, bright brown eyes were filled with confusion, reflecting his face.

"Tenkuji-kun, why did you suddenly ask this?"

"Having such a beautiful friend, of course I'm concerned about whether she'll be followed by any suspicious or unscrupulous people... Anyway, it's fine if she isn't. I trust you'll be careful yourself too."

Tenkuji Yu shrugged and naturally steered the conversation back on track: "The main reason I asked you out today is that I have a few questions I want to ask you in person... Things happened a bit suddenly, I hope it hasn't caused you any trouble."

"Don't mind it~ I was just thinking of going out for some fresh air with a friend after my morning tutoring session!"

Asuna Yuuki spoke with a bright smile, but then suddenly seemed to remember something and frowned with some concern.

"But is it really okay if I don't come with Yuihama-san?"

"Although you said you had informed her, it is still a date with someone of the opposite sex on Christmas. I'm afraid she might not say it, but she'll still feel uncomfortable inside... Don't underestimate a girl's delicate mind."

She looked at Tenkuuji Yu and said with a very serious expression:

"Girls tend to overthink and become anxious and suspicious when their boyfriends aren't around!"

Chapter Seventeen: The Return of Memories and the Surge of Pain

"I see... Hmm, that makes sense. Thank you for reminding me."

After a moment of surprise, Tenkuji Yu nodded, effectively concealing her perfunctory attitude.

I had a feeling that her tone was hinting at something, but it also seemed like she was just simply reminding me to take good care of Yui Yuigahama.

But it doesn't matter, we'll test things out together later anyway.

"By the way, Yuuki-kun, do you still remember the school festival?"

In a less abrupt tone, Yuu Tenkuji steered the conversation toward the question she wanted to ask.

Of course, before speaking, he first activated the "walls have no ears" mode—

From that moment on, no one could hear their conversation or see their interactions, whether they were passersby or acquaintances with ulterior motives.

Even if Yuu Tenkuji stood up and shouted "Henshin! Open your eyes!", he would only be treated differently by Asuna Yuuki in front of him.

"Cultural festival? I do remember..."

Asuna Yuuki blinked, her pretty and gentle face full of confusion: "What's wrong? I don't remember anything important happening that day."

A knowing glint flashed in her eyes. Tenkuji Yu spread her hands casually and asked, "That was your first time visiting Soubu High School, right? I wanted to hear your thoughts on this cultural festival. After all, you're a rare transfer student who came from another school midway through the semester, and I have a junior who's the student council president. So…"

"I understand. It's like a questionnaire survey, right?"

Although he didn't finish his sentence, judging from his expression, Asuna Yuuki clearly understood what he wanted to ask.

Tenkuji Yu smiled and said nothing, which was taken as tacit agreement.

He doesn't like to lie, especially to people he knows and who are friends.

Therefore, when you don't want to tell the truth, you usually use this method to communicate with others, maintaining an information advantage while also being able to get information out of them with a clear conscience.

Asuna Yuuki was indeed a transfer student, and Kanade Tachibana did indeed successfully become the student council president after the cultural festival—but those are just objective facts.

Yuu Tenkuji did not give any answer, meaning he did not tell Asuna Yuuki any lies.

As long as you don't lie, there's no risk of being caught.

The safest communication technique is to subtly deflect the other person's train of thought, coupled with ambiguous words and actions, so that they take the initiative to think and arrive at the answer you want them to get.

Unaware of anything amiss, Asuna Yuuki first offered a few unoriginal compliments about Soubu High's cultural festival and how much she enjoyed it, then suddenly seemed to remember something, raising a finger to Yuu Tenkuji and saying:

"Although we didn't know each other at that time, I actually visited your school before the cultural festival."

"Before that?" Tenkuji Yu's eyebrows twitched, his eyes gradually turning strange. "You mean... around the time of the autumn exhibition?"

"Huh?" Before she could speak, he interrupted her, and Asuna Yuuki couldn't help but raise her hand to cover her slightly agape mouth in surprise. "It's the Autumn Performance... How did you know?"

"After all, before the cultural festival, the only major event our school held was the autumn performance..."

Unconsciously tapping her fingers lightly on the table, Yuu Tenkuji hesitated, unsure whether she should press the matter further.

In the past, he would probably have changed the subject here to avoid saying anything that might trigger her memories...

But now, he must overcome the part of himself that he always avoids and do things he would never have done before.

I promised Yukino I would make changes, so there's no going back now!

Tenkuji Yu took a light breath, his fingers interlacing solemnly on the table, his eyes fixed intently on her.

"Black Lily Girls' High School is so far from Soubu High School, may I ask why you made a special trip to visit our autumn performance?"

"Is there a show you'd like to watch... or did someone invite you here?"

Asuna Yuuki answered instinctively, "Both, I guess? Someone said he'd be performing at the Autumn Festival and then invited me to Soubu..."

But as he spoke, his voice grew softer and softer until he could only exhale air from his throat.

Her matter-of-fact expression froze on her face, like a computer that was about to save a file but suddenly crashed, staring blankly with wide eyes, not knowing what to say.

Seeing this, Yuu Tenkuji pressed on in a gentle and mild tone, "So besides us, do you know anyone else at Soubu High School?"

"Yes...wait, no...but if not, why...why did I visit your school in the first place...?"

System memory rewriting is always so shoddy, just like health supplements that claim to have no side effects; a little thought reveals all sorts of inconsistencies.

Although it's unknown whether this method can completely restore Asuna Yuuki's memories, it's at least worth trying.

Yuu Tenkuji watched as her brows furrowed deeper and deeper, his feelings a mix of trepidation and anticipation. He simply remained silent, allowing her time to reflect alone.

"I did go to Soubu High's autumn performance, and I saw Tenkuji-kun's piano performance... But, if no one had invited me, I should have been in cram school at that time... Not to mention I brought my mom with me, there's no way this would have happened..."

Chaotic thoughts, formulas with no answers, and bizarre memories filled with inconsistencies.

Her breathing became erratic and trembling. Yuuki Asuna instinctively clutched her head, her expression becoming dazed and pained.

As her thoughts sank into a deep abyss, her cherry-pink lips gradually lost their color, and her bright amber eyes widened uncontrollably, the blood vessels at the edges becoming more and more obvious, as if thousands of toothpicks were poking at her brain nerves, bringing indescribable pain from the depths of her soul.

"This shouldn't be happening, it's so strange... And why can't I remember the piano melody from that day... It was so beautiful, I shouldn't have forgotten it..."

Her chestnut-brown hair fell down, and her slender shoulders trembled constantly.

The girl struggled and resisted alone, but all she could find was tears streaming down her face.

He clutched his head with such force that the veins bulged, and his fingernails dug deep into his face, like someone whose limbs had been twisted and stuffed into a box, biting his tongue to fight off the overwhelming pain.

"Stop! Relax, don't think about anything!"

But the next moment.

A stern yet gentle voice, carrying an invisible force, suddenly slammed into my eardrums.

Then it quickly seeped into every part of my body, like the warm sun melting a large snowflake, gradually relaxing my overly tense nerves.

His stiff hands finally released his head and fell limply onto the table.

As her breathing returned to normal, Asuna Yuuki slowly raised her head, blinked her dry, red eyes, and stared blankly at Yuu Tenkuji, who was looking at her with a worried expression.

"I, what is this...?"

Chapter Eighteen: Piercing Through False Memories with One's Heart

It felt as if I had suddenly fallen from a frozen wasteland into a hot spring. The familiar warmth brought a comfortable, numbing sensation to my stiff, cold body, while also enveloping my overheated head, making the pain from before seem like an illusion, disappearing quickly.

Asuna Yuuki isn't stupid. Although she doesn't know what those chaotic and false memories are, or why she's in so much pain...

But it was clearly his words, which possessed a strange power, that freed him and relieved the intense pain that felt like his skull was being torn apart.

Even though she was still breathless and her voice was choked and hoarse, she still managed to force a smile and give Tenkuji Yu a slightly embarrassed, bitter smile.

"I don't know how you did it... but thank you anyway, Tenkuji-kun."

"No, I'm not worthy of your thanks."

His expression was a mixture of apology and shame. He patted his head with some self-reproach and sighed, "If I hadn't been so talkative and kept asking, you wouldn't be in this situation... I'm the one who should be blamed. I'm sorry."

And ultimately, although she hadn't expected that simply noticing the anomalies in her memories would cause her such intense pain, Yuu Tenkuji was still able to stop the situation from escalating further.

The thought that Asuna might regain her memory made him hesitate, which is why he watched her struggle with her head in her hands, hoping that she would say "I remember" the next moment.

As things began to look increasingly wrong, even though it was too late, Yuu Tenkuji quickly used a "Truth Bullet" to pull her out of the painful vortex of memories.

Therefore, such remedial measures are not worth thanking at all. In the end, it was her own demands that harmed her—the painful memories she had created were also created by her own hands.

From any perspective, Yuu Tenkuji is the real culprit and naturally cannot accept her thanks.

"That's not right. Even if you don't ask, when I sense something is wrong, I should try to figure it out myself, right?"