I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

"You discovered she wasn't wearing anything?"

Both of them froze, then simultaneously revealed similar expressions of shock as she stared in disbelief at Yukino Yukinoshita, whose fair skin was flushed and whose head was turned away, her face red.

"No... Dango-chan trusted you so much, and you actually did it?!"

Natsukawa Masuzu's eyes widened, her fists clenched, and the bitterness and resentment in her heart turned into condemnation of her: "So envious... no, so despicable! Your friendship can't even withstand six hours of sex!"

"Were you trying to say you were envious... No, that's not the point."

Seemingly finding those two gazes extremely piercing, Yukino Yukinoshita frantically brushed her long hair aside to cover her profile, which was already bathed in the glow of the setting sun.

Then, looking at the corner of the wall, he took a deep breath and tried to calmly defend himself:

"Even if you say that, I can't remember anything right now, and there's nothing unusual about my body... Maybe, maybe I just took it off myself!"

"Heh, is this your last excuse?" Natsukawa Masaki sneered, then suddenly turned to Yukinoshita Haruno, who was still searching for something, and raised her voice.

"Miss Yang Nai, your sister—"

"Wait, wait a minute, things aren't settled yet!"

A nameless fear and dread welled up inside her, and Yukino, forgetting all about being shy, turned around and tried to cover her mouth with her hand, attempting to prevent a war against her from starting.

"Let's discuss this after Tenkuji-kun wakes up. Otherwise, if things get complicated now, we might miss the best time to save him!"

As his mouth was silenced by a warm, soft hand, Natsukawa Masaki looked down at her, her face flushed with embarrassment and panic, his icy blue eyes revealing a haughty, condescending sneer.

It's as if it's saying, "Then please beg me not to tell anyone."

Yukino Yukinoshita gritted her teeth and gave her a serious look, advising her to be prudent and know when to stop, and not to cause trouble during such a critical time.

As the two confronted each other, Kasugano Sora slowly suppressed her shock and muttered to herself, covering her mouth slightly.

"Yu refused to reveal the specific details, but it turns out that last night it really was with the black-haired, flat-chested girl... wait a minute."

Suddenly remembering something, Kasugano Sora turned to look at Natsukawa Masuzu, frowning as she asked, "You silver-haired pervert over there, it turns out you weren't just talking nonsense, their... you know... sounds really did come from upstairs to downstairs?"

Natsukawa Masuzu slapped Yukino's hand away impatiently, then sighed with feigned grievance, "I'm sorry, only that part was nonsense. At first, I also thought that Yuu wasn't the kind of person who would abandon his other girlfriends to make a move on Yukino. I never expected that they would just take advantage of the situation, fall in love, collude, and become such close friends..."

"Idioms aren't for you to use so carelessly." Biting her lip and glaring at her, Yukino Yukinoshita pulled up her collar to cool off, still somewhat unable to face reality.

"The matter is still unresolved. Before we have concrete evidence, please don't make it sound like I actually had a relationship with him... And to be honest, even if I did become his second girlfriend, I would never abandon Yui and do something so shameless just because it's Christmas Eve!"

Natsukawa Masaki simply crossed her arms and continued to sneer, "Hmph, that's hard to say..."

Before the debate could be resolved, Yukinoshita Haruno's excited voice suddenly came from the desk deep inside the room.

"Found it!"

Chapter Thirty-Five: Things That Become Keys

Standing by the door, watching the three girls' antics with a mixture of amusement and curiosity, Kasumigaoka Utaha overheard this and immediately became interested, abandoning them and heading over with her notebook.

"Have we finally found it? Are you sure it can become the 'key'?"

"I don't know if it can become a key, but only this bracelet connects my past and future with him."

Yukinoshita leaned against the desk, put on the bracelet she had just found in the drawer, and then half-raised her hand, admiring the cheap, colorful beads with a gentle look in her eyes.

Those were nights when she reminisced about the past, imagined his warmth, and poured her unwavering feelings into her fingertips, stringing each bead together with nylon thread to create the most perfect piece.

And she tried to win back his attention in this ridiculous and pathetic way.

...Speaking of which, what were Xiao Youyou's feelings when she deliberately cut off contact and waited for him to take the initiative to establish a relationship, and that's when she made that bracelet that ended up scattered on the road?

I do not know.

But perhaps it will be even more burdensome and painful than it is for me?

"No matter who it is, everyone hates being separated from the person they love most."

A helpless smile crept across her lips as Yukino Yukinoshita sighed softly and slowly lowered her hand.

As for the result, how could the omnipotent Haruno-chan possibly fail?

Although she experienced a lot of pain and resentment that she didn't want to recall, in the end, she still found him again with the help of this bracelet—the one who would forgive her lies and promised to stay with her forever in this world where she couldn't find the real thing. Xiao Youyou finally came back to her side.

Well, although there is no evidence, Yukino Yukinoshita still believes that it was the bracelet she made that made Yuuki dream about the past every day, and then gradually regain the emotions he had lost - so it is basically her achievement!

After the segment about remembering past hardships and appreciating present happiness ended, she looked up and met the gaze of Kasumigaoka Utaha, who had walked up to her, and began to speak in a relaxed and cheerful manner.

"Kasumigaoka-senpai, according to the instructions in the notebook, the more important something is to me and Yu-Yu, the more likely it is to be the key to enter the dream, right?"

Kasumigaoka Utaha opened the notebook, her gaze sweeping over the pages again, and after a moment, she nodded in confirmation.

"If there's no other way to interpret it, then that's correct."

"That's the only one left!"

Yukinoshita Haruno spoke with certainty, her eyes glancing at the black-covered notebook: "Do you have a way to confirm this?"

Kasumigaoka Utaha hesitated for a moment, then asked uncertainly, "...Shall I give it a try?"

For an author, unrestrained and bold imagination is the most important element.

And she—the famous young female JK writer, Shizuko Kasumi—in addition to her imagination, also has the drive to bring these imaginations to life through her writing.

It doesn't matter if you don't know the specific steps, since there's no cost to trial and error. Just keep trying the most likely methods.

So after thinking for a while, she turned the notebook pages toward Yukinoshita Haruno and gently wrapped them around her bracelet as if she were drawing a topological pattern.

"Will this work?" Yang Nai gave her a strange look.

"How will you know if you don't try?" With an indifferent shrug, Kasumigaoka Utaha put away her notebook, glanced around, and quickly raised her chin, revealing a smug smile.

"Hmph, just as I expected~"

"It actually succeeded? I didn't expect it to be so easy." With a slight amusement, Yang raised an eyebrow and beckoned to Shiyu, indicating that she should show him the contents.

"take it."

Although she was unhappy with the way this person always seemed to be in control and bossed her around, she still appreciated that he was a college student, came from a wealthy and powerful family, and was the most proactive among them in helping her with her "task."

Kasumigaoka Utaha, not wanting to cause any more trouble, simply handed the notebook to her.

With a serious expression, Yukino Yukinoshita focused her gaze, carefully scanning the words in the notebook. After confirming that the content was unchanged from what she had seen in the living room, she looked at the latest line of text:

Yukino Yukinoshita has obtained the key.

'Qualified candidates: Asuna Yuuki (not qualified), Masuzu Natsukawa (not qualified), Yukino Yukinoshita (not qualified).'

"It's really simple and easy to understand."

With a slight pout, Yukinoshita Haruno's face showed a thoughtful expression. She looked at the notebook and pondered for a while before returning it to Kasumigaoka Utaha.

Then he turned his head, smiled at the three people who had surrounded him, and waved the bracelet on his wrist, as if showing off.

"I'm all set here, what about you guys? You didn't just sit there chatting without looking for anything, did you?"

Secretly clicking her tongue in displeasure, Natsukawa Masaki spread her hands and said with feigned nonchalance, "You know how Ayu treated me during the last mission. I didn't give him anything, so of course he wouldn't give me anything either... Even if he did before, I can't remember now."

Yukinoshita Haruno didn't laugh at her; instead, she smiled brightly and offered a friendly suggestion: "Then look around the room more. Maybe he kept something as a keepsake, like photos, a diary, or something... If you really can't find it, just give it to me, Yuu-yuu! I'll bring him back in perfect condition!"

"...Tsk, you just wait."

Natsukawa Masaki gritted her teeth, filled with resentment, and turned to conduct a thorough search of the rest of the room.

As expected, the older and younger sisters are at different levels of combat strength...

How exactly do we take down this guy who seems to have the aura of an empress?

Unaware of what difficult problem Natsukawa Masuzu was pondering, Kasugano Sora saw her striding aggressively toward her brother's bedside table and immediately followed her with a wary expression.

"I'll help you find it, and I'll keep an eye on you while I'm at it."

"And next..."

Yang Nai turned her gaze, and now, in front of her, besides Kasumigaoka Utaha, who had pulled out a computer chair and was rubbing her black-stockinged legs, there was only her younger sister.

"And you?" She reached out and affectionately tidied her sister's hair by her side. "Did you find the key?"

"..."

After a moment of silence, Yukino nodded gently and turned to ask Kasumigaoka Utaha for her notebook.

She had her back to me, and her movements were furtive, as if she didn't want me to know what it was.

Yukinoshita Haruno didn't force her to turn around. She just raised an eyebrow with a half-smile and said with a hint of sarcasm, "What, are you afraid I'll take you away?"

"Of course. From childhood to adulthood, how many things have you taken from me under the guise of 'I'm doing this for your own good'?"

Yukino Yukinoshita spoke coldly without turning her head, then slightly bent down toward the notebook and seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

After straightening her sweater collar, she finally turned around and showed Haruno the words "Yukino Yukinoshita has obtained the key" in the notebook before returning it to Kasumigaoka Utaha.

"Besides, don't think I've forgotten what you did before."

"Well, what a vengeful sister."

Facing a piercing, sharp gaze that seemed to have swept away all unease and hesitation, just like it had been yesterday, Yukino Shino simply shrugged indifferently and abruptly changed the subject:

"I didn't quite catch what you were arguing about, but Yukino, you wouldn't be thinking of calling Yui-chan over to join us, would you?"

Yukino was taken aback, then her expression quickly darkened, and she asked in a suppressed voice, "...Do you, like Natsukawa, also oppose letting your girlfriend know the truth?"

"Official girlfriend? Pfft, that's hilarious."

She couldn't help but chuckle, waving her hand in front of her upturned lips, seemingly dismissing the statement with disdain.

"It's as if we're imposters. Little Youyou already said that out of the four of us, you're the only one who became his 'target' after he started dating Tuanzi-chan."

Looking at her silent sister, who was slowly clenching her fists, Yukinoshita Haruno smiled and told her the truth that was incredibly cruel to her—

"In other words, we all came first, so there's no need to worry about Tuanzi-chan being 'your boyfriend's cheating partner'—only you, who came later, would feel sorry for her."

"On another note, she hasn't even regained her memories yet, but she's already given herself the title of 'fake girlfriend'... Tsk tsk tsk, that's really a self-torturing approach, Yukino."

"..."

Under her sister's repeated blows, Yukino Yukinoshita bit her lip hard, her long hair obscuring her expression, and she just looked down at the ground without saying a word.

Soon, the smile on her lips faded, and Yang Nai sighed silently, rubbing her hair in frustration.

After bullying her sister to this extent, she realized she had gone too far—she had already vented her anger at noon and was still treating her so badly. What if her sister decided to sever their relationship?

Regardless of whether they were rivals or not, and no matter how many times they had argued, Yukinoshita Haruno never doubted that she would always love her awkward and difficult younger sister, and of course she didn't want to really break up with her.