I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

Iroha Isshiki was unaware of this and thought that he was so moved by her decision to give up studying abroad and choose to stay in the country to study that she bought him more than a dozen cosplay outfits to wear.

After all, on the day she confessed her feelings, he had said that he wanted to study abroad after graduation... Although she answered him with great determination at the time, it still became a shadow that was hard for the girl to shake off for a long time.

Even now, she still knows nothing about the world after five o'clock in the evening, and always holds a joyful and warm hope for the future of the two of them, planning for tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and the day after that, even planning where the two of them should meet after he goes to college.

Tenkuji Yu didn't want to tell her the truth.

Even if he only had two hours left, he wanted to face this life that was about to end with her smile.

"Should I skip a grade and graduate from university as quickly as possible, then come back to work as a faculty member at Soubu High School?"

Regaining her composure, Tenkuji Yu raised her face and smiled at her.

Iroha looked down at him with disdain: "Isn't that a huge waste of your talent? Besides, by the time you skip a grade, everyone else will have already graduated, okay? Please don't make such unrealistic assumptions."

"You're still as outrageous as ever... but I love Ayaha just the way she is." Yuu Tenkuji said happily.

Isshiki Iroha sighed.

"Yes, yes, I like you the most, senior too~"

After giving that perfunctory answer, she suddenly raised her face, pulled his head down again, and kissed him domineeringly.

As Yuu Tenkuji stared in astonishment, the girl's cheeks flushed and she playfully curled her lips into a smile.

"No, it's my favorite!"

This statement was quickly swallowed up by the everyday banter between the couple.

……

After getting off Yuu Tenkuji, Iroha Isshiki straightened her clothes and turned around in front of the dressing mirror to make sure she hadn't left any marks that would be noticed by others before she breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, with her hands on her hips, she pouted at her boyfriend, "I just said I love you, that shouldn't count as flirting!"

"It doesn't count, so I didn't finish it either~" Tenkuji said slowly, leaning back in his chair, leisurely admiring his girlfriend's radiant appearance after her pleasure.

Iroha Isshiki snorted heavily, turning her head away as if she didn't want to talk to him, but muttered resentfully, "You really are a perverted senior! Sometimes I really doubt whether I can satisfy your needs... I wouldn't be surprised if you cheated on me one day because of unsatisfied desires..."

"How could that be? There's no man more devoted than me," Yuu Tenkuji said confidently with a smile. "While it's impossible, if I ever betray you and make a move on another woman, you're welcome to personally eliminate the threat. Physical or chemical castration is fine with me. If I dare to resist, I'm not a man!"

"You said it yourself, didn't you?" Iroha Isshiki finally looked at him, her expression extremely serious, as if she had memorized those words deeply.

"When the time comes, they won't hesitate... Anyway, I've long been prepared to support my senior for life!"

Tenkuji Yu's expression froze, and he couldn't help but chuckle awkwardly: "I clearly didn't do anything, why are you acting like this..."

"Because they really love you~"

With another sly smile, Ichiro Yu spoke lightly.

Her skirt swept past her smooth, white thighs as she turned around and looked around the student council president's office, which she knew all too well.

Since joining the student council, the two have spent intimate time in this office, whether it's after school in the afternoon or on weekdays or holidays, like a love nest or secret base that belongs only to them.

Sometimes we chatted, sometimes we played games, and sometimes we would go to the cubicles to unlock more positions, then lie there and waste a lot of time, and only sneak out to eat dinner after the school had closed.

This place is filled with her memories and his presence—and now, one of them is about to leave this place and embark on a journey where she will not be by his side for the time being.

Perhaps there's no need to spend time in an office anymore?

I felt inexplicably sad, but thankfully the seniors behind me didn't see it.

Isshiki Hatake continued to casually survey the layout of the office, then suddenly paused, as if remembering something, and frowned, tilting her head.

"Wait a minute, something feels off..."

"Something seems off?"

After leaving her desk, Tenkuji Yu stood beside her, repeating her earlier gesture of looking around with a questioning gaze.

"Nothing seems off. Did you see a ninja on the ceiling?"

"Senior, I'm not joking."

With her hand on her chin, she fell into deep thought. Iroha didn't turn to look at him, but instead focused completely on trying to understand the strange feeling that had arisen within her.

After a long pause, she frowned and said in a very uncertain tone, "Senior, is this office really only used by us...? I'm just realizing now, doesn't it feel a bit empty? It feels like someone's missing..."

"Who's missing?"

Yuu Tenkuji was stunned, and at the same time, he thought of the mystery that had been left unsolved since the summer.

Unexpectedly, Ayaha had the same feeling as me at this moment?

After a thousand thoughts raced through his mind, he tentatively asked, "You mean, like suddenly losing a hand, yet feeling that a human with one hand is perfectly normal, that kind of sense of disharmony?"

Iroha Isshiki denied it without hesitation: "It's not that scary! It's like having a really good friend you hang out with every day, but suddenly you can't remember her name or what she looks like, and you only vaguely remember that she once chatted with us here."

"Here?" Yuu Tenkuji frowned, searching through his memories. "No one but us can get into this office... When we called the student council members over to handle things before, it was just about official business, not a chat at all."

Issei Iroha pressed her temples, seemingly suffering from a headache, and bit her lip in annoyance.

"I know, but it's just..."

I feel like I've really forgotten someone very important. Leaving this office will be like saying goodbye to her.

...But it must be just my imagination, right?

With a sigh, Isshiki lowered her hands, deciding to cast aside unnecessary worries and stop being affected by that strange illusion.

Please take a day off.

Although it's on sale, I recently went to get vaccinated and wasn't feeling well, so I had to take a day off to rest.

Also, this book will probably be finished before November, right?

I don't know either. After all, I've finished writing Iroha's story, and then there's Kanade; after Kanade, there's the story of the background heroine of this volume—senpai.

Meanwhile, we'll be pushing forward with the final stage of destroying the system... Anyway, the whole book will exceed two million words, and it won't miss the female lead with a significant role; it'll be a happy ending.

I recommend reading this volume after you've resolved all the foreshadowing, since I've planted so many plot holes that it's a hassle to unravel them all... But readers who are following the story don't need to hoard chapters; I'm counting on your little critiques. If all else fails, I can just reread it (laughs).

My new book is already in preparation; it should be an original work. If it flops, I'll come back to writing a crossover anime/manga series called "Seishun Ri".

Well, I'll never write another pretentious and stubborn virgin male protagonist, unless it's a single-female lead; but writing about Qing Ri without a harem is a dead end for Hedgehog Cat, so... (shrugs)

See you tomorrow!

Chapter Sixty-Two: The Blessing of the Angels?

As the noise on campus gradually faded away, Yuu Tenkuji packed her things, turned off the light in the student council president's office, and prepared to go home with Iroha Isshiki.

A year has passed since the trial began.

Today is the last day, and the last two hours before all of this comes to an end. Perhaps we won't even have time to see the sunset before we have to say goodbye to these familiar things.

All the things and efforts we've accumulated will be wiped out and we'll have to start all over again in the blink of an eye. Just thinking about it gives me a terrifying feeling of facing the end of the world.

Fortunately, he didn't end up in the worst possible situation—at least he was back to a year ago, when Iroha Isshiki was still secretly in love with him.

Instead of starting from scratch, being looked at with a confused and unfamiliar gaze, and being asked cruel questions like "Who are you?"

Yu Tenkuji considers himself a delicate and fragile, refined and beautiful young man. If his beloved girlfriend said that to him, he would probably collapse completely as if he had been struck by Avada Kedavra.

If this cycle were to repeat itself a few more times, his heart would probably break down, becoming so numb that he would never experience joy or sorrow again in this life.

"Is it a stroke of luck amidst misfortune...?"

Despite this, Yuu Tenkuji was able to think about these things with the same calm mindset as a poor student waiting for the school bell to ring on the day of the monthly exam.

Or rather, he has had enough time to prepare himself mentally, and apart from some unease and regret, there is nothing left to fear.

In this year, he and his girlfriend have experienced everything that needed to be said, done, wanted to say, and wanted to do, leaving few regrets.

This time, I deliberately let the trial mission stagnate... I can't be so willful next time.

Holding the girl's hand beside him, Tenkuji Yu muttered to himself, forcing himself to make a decision—he was really afraid that in the next trial, he would still be unable to resist making a move on Isshiki Hayao, and from then on, he would be so engrossed in pleasure that he would forget about the important matters and be so focused on "doing the important things" that he would forget about the important matters.

This is not impossible.

For him, since arriving in this world and this country, the thing he was most unwilling to give up, the thing he valued more than life itself, was the love he already held in his hands.

Whether it's familial love, friendship, or romantic love between men and women, that warm and noble existence, whenever encountered, Yuu Tenkuji wants to hold it in the palm of her hand and cherish it.

Now he had to say goodbye to this happiness, and he wasn't sure if he would suddenly have some new ideas and continue to delay the task like he did today.

"Well, so the real trial won't begin until tomorrow!"

Isshiki Iroha turned her head in confusion, looking at him whose eyes had suddenly hardened: "Senpai? What's wrong?"

"nothing."

Tenkuji Yu gently massaged her delicate little hand and laughed heartily, "I was just thinking about what to have for dinner tonight. Since it's graduation season, how about hot pot?"

"What's the connection between these two things..." After frowning and thinking for a moment, Iroha quickly gave up on the question. Her pretty face became serious, and she rested her hand on her chin, muttering to herself in deep thought, "Well, it's not a bad idea to have hot pot... I'll go to the supermarket first, and then go to my senpai's house to prepare it? How many people should I buy the ingredients for..."

While pondering this question, the two of them, like any ordinary couple, slowly descended the steps and strolled leisurely in a corner of the teaching building where there weren't many people at the moment.

Iroha Isshiki suddenly noticed something and took the initiative to let go of Yuu Tenkuji's hand.

"Senior, I'm going to pick a flower~"

She waved her hand casually and walked towards the nearby restroom with light, cat-like steps.

Tenkuji Yu was stunned for a moment before realizing that she hadn't discovered anything, but simply wanted to use the restroom.

"...Okay, I'll wait for you outside."

Next to it was an empty science classroom. Yuu Tenkuji leaned against the wall by the door, quietly watching her figure disappear into the distance.

Even though the two were so close that they tried all sorts of play, Iroha never neglected her girlish reserve, shyness, and cuteness in daily life. She did not reveal her true nature as the relationship deepened, and her image as a mischievous junior remained unchanged.

According to her, she wanted to be captivated by her cuteness and vivacity every day, never getting bored, and never tiring of playing with her—her first and favorite character.

Although Yuu Tenkuji felt this was unnecessary... his girlfriend's legs alone were enough for him to appreciate for years, let alone her whole body, he probably wouldn't have enough in his lifetime.

Anyway, Aya-chan's insistence on certain quirky little details is also particularly charming to him.

"By the way, senior."

Just as Isshiki Hajime was about to enter the restroom, she suddenly stopped, turned halfway around, and gave him a bright smile that was even more radiant than a clear sky with cherry blossoms in bloom.

"I forgot to tell you—happy graduation! Thank you so much for your hard work these past three years!"