I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

"..."

Tenkuji Yu gazed at her silently, his expression shifting several times before he simply scratched his head helplessly, as if he had already accepted the fact.

"So, nothing has changed after all? Then what is this so-called 'remedy'?"

"...It's not that nothing has changed."

Tachibana Kanade slowly raised his head, his gaze clear and resolute, reflecting his slightly puzzled expression.

She suddenly asked, "Yu, would you like to play a duet with me?"

This time, Sky Temple Yu frowned, seemingly puzzled.

"An ensemble, a piece?"

This is so sudden.

"Yes, it's the sheet music that Xiao Qiong gave me, and it's the piece I just played."

She reached out and took the yellowed paper from the music stand, handing it to Yuu Tenkuji: "You probably don't know this, do you? This is the piece we played together at the autumn exhibition, and we won the Best Performance Award at the time... By the way, this is also the first piece we composed together."

Sweet memories welled up in her heart, and Tachibana Kanade couldn't help but smile nostalgically: "I haven't heard it for hundreds of years... I never expected that Sora would actually restore the score from back then. She must have worked so hard."

"An original piece? No wonder I've never heard of it..."

Muttering to herself, Yuu Tenkuji looked at the sheet music while also recalling the videos she had watched 'yesterday'.

Through his sister's editing, he only knew that in the original timeline, he and Tachibana Kanade had performed on stage in front of the entire school, and naturally moved all the listeners, even attracting many music universities to extend offers to them.

However, Qiong did not cut out the piece of music, but only gave a result—that's why he was so unfamiliar with the melody he had just heard, yet felt it was incomparably beautiful and almost became intoxicated by it.

After all, one of the composers was himself...

Setting aside her narcissistic thoughts for the moment, Tenkuji Yu quickly memorized the not-so-complex melody, mentally simulating its performance as she put the sheet music back on the music stand, and looked at Tachibana Kanade, who was now facing the piano with an upright and elegant posture.

“Playing together is no problem… Tachibana, is your last regret that you want to play this piece with me again?”

Then, having fulfilled this wish, will they disappear contentedly?

Yuu Tenkuji always felt something was hard to let go of.

After all, this doesn't seem like a remedy at all; on the contrary, it's helping the earthbound spirit attain Buddhahood...

"That's true, but not entirely."

Tachibana Kanade suddenly became cryptic, not answering his question directly, nor even looking at him. She simply mumbled something, then gently and steadily placed her hands on the black and white piano keys, her eyes half-closed in focused concentration.

Subsequently, a clear and melodious voice became the main theme of this space.

"I want to use the last four minutes and thirty seconds to say goodbye to these hundreds of years of time."

Chapter Seventy-Five: Bringing to her the miraculous happiness I once possessed.

The morning light shone on the black piano lid, like a large obsidian stone reflecting a heavy luster.

In the quiet music classroom, only a man and a woman sat side by side in front of the piano, neither intimate nor distant, like strangers who had just met and happened to want to play the same piano. Their attention was not on each other, but on the piano keys and sheet music in front of them.

Is it okay now?

"at any time."

Without needing to discuss it, both of them understood the primary and secondary positions of the piece.

With Tachibana Kanade as the main melody and Tenkuji Yu in charge of the chords, the girl placed her hands on the keys, while the boy simply raised his left hand casually, his well-defined, fair, and slender fingers slightly suspended in the air without trembling at all.

The girl took a soft breath, her innocent and adorable face filled with maturity and focus.

She slowly closed her eyes, which had flashed with reminiscence, and seemed to suddenly go blank. Her slender body swayed unsteadily, but while gently shaking her head, she resolutely pressed her pink fingertips onto the black and white piano keys.

Then a gentle breeze rose from the ground, and the beautiful piano music, like an angel spreading its wings, dispelled the stagnant air in the room.

"This is……"

Like white feathers falling, an angel suddenly played music alone on the horizon.

Yuu Tenkuji was stunned, staring at the girl's flawless profile for a long time before snapping out of his reverie and quickly bringing his fingertips down to match the girl's playing with the slightly less melodious chords.

She didn't mind that he was a beat behind, and simply followed the gradually quickening rhythm, gently shaking her small head, a soft smile curving her lips.

It was as if she and the melody had become one. Even with her eyes closed, the smooth and light music flowed effortlessly from her fingertips, passing through the window and the breeze, and joyfully drifting into the distance towards the campus under the clear sky.

Yuu Tenkuji, standing to the side, tried her best not to get lost in the beautiful and gentle piano music, while recalling the notes on the score and following her chords with perfect technique.

However, after playing for only a few seconds, he suddenly realized that this was not enough.

If that's all you've got, you're not worthy of being her accompanist at all—you'd only ruin the piece.

This piece is not difficult; even an expert-level player can play it very well, and a perfect player would simply be icing on the cake, especially with the chords.

While Tachibana Kanade's technique wasn't perfect, she managed to use relatively simple fingering to bring the piece to its fullest potential and perform it flawlessly.

After a moment's thought, Yuu Tenkuji quickly found the crux of the problem: it was emotions.

Regardless of technique, he must put in the same amount of emotion as Tachibana Kanade in order to keep up with the girl's melody, instead of feeling like he's superfluous as he does now, with the main melody and chords completely separate.

'But, can I really do it?'

Surprisingly, Tenkuji Yu hesitated.

This was a piece she and Tachibana Kanade co-wrote, and she naturally poured her deep emotions into it—but she wasn't the one who died at the hands of the system. Not to mention the various memories she had shared with Tachibana Kanade, she was hearing these melodies for the first time, so how could she possibly have the same emotions as her?

But if he doesn't do that, and just mechanically plays the chords on the sheet music in a standard way, Yuu Tenkuji feels something is off, and he really hates it...

It's like something that should be perfect, but becomes flawed because of itself.

He always demanded the best of himself in everything he could do and in everything he promised others.

"...I'll give it my all."

Tenkuji slowly exhaled, finally making a decision. He let his fingers continue playing the accompaniment he had memorized, while he relaxed his mind and focused completely on the gentle, flowing music beside him, letting himself sink into it.

It's not about avoiding being influenced, but about deliberately allowing yourself to be influenced.

If you can't put your heart into playing this piece, then play the accompaniment in a way that echoes the emotions she conveys, centering the accompaniment around her.

This is the first time that Yuu Tenkuji has performed a duet with someone.

But the moment the music started, he felt as if he had been pulled into a new world. He unconsciously closed his eyes and let his body sway gently with the melody.

……

The black and white piano keys created ripples, and memories floated and drifted on the water's surface.

Whether clear or blurry, each tap felt like a powerful stroke of the oar, propelling the small boat forward into the distance.

He saw pleasant memories.

Every moment the girl and boy spent together was filled with a heartwarming happiness that brought a smile to their faces. She, who once didn't know how to express her feelings, gradually learned how to convey her emotions.

He saw sad memories.

The girl witnessed the boy's despair after her death, and she was overwhelmed by helplessness and self-blame. Even though she tried to create a miracle to change the outcome, she still couldn't be the one to save him.

He saw a memory of hope.

Day after day, year after year, the girl stayed by the boy's side. Even though he couldn't see her, even though he never remembered her existence, even though she had to keep moving forward alone, she never gave up on the future she was looking forward to. Every little change made her happy from the bottom of her heart.

He saw the memories of disappointment.

After hundreds of failures, the girl realized that she had become a stumbling block on his path to happiness. Despite her reluctance, despite her guilt, and despite wanting to pretend that nothing had happened, she resolutely eliminated her own existence and entrusted her hope to a trustworthy friend to continue.

At first, she was the only one on this road.

Later, she tried to hold her companion's hand, but then let go because of her own willfulness, and once again faced countless failures alone.

In the end, she chose to let go, allowing her companion to become the next version of herself, and walked alone on a road with no end in sight.

It should have ended here, and it shouldn't have been remembered by anyone.

But in the very end, fate gave her a chance to look back.

So she turned around timidly and suddenly found that her lover and friends were all by her side, smiling and reaching out their hands to her, lighting up the path that she had thought had no light at all.

Even though things are not what they used to be.

Even though the end is right in front of us.

—That was also her most precious treasure.

"Yu, it's so great to have met you."

The music suddenly slowed down, no longer cheerful, no longer undulating, no longer struggling, but just like a poet singing a sad little tune, slowly telling the story of parting and regret.

Tachibana Kanade kept her eyes closed, completely focused on her performance, but Tenkuji Yu seemed to hear her innermost thoughts, which flowed into his heart along with the music.

That might not be an illusion.

She smiled serenely and gently, and although she wasn't facing me, it was as if she were speaking to me, her emotional voice echoing in my mind.

"You taught me many things and accompanied me through many difficulties."

"You told me many secrets, and we became each other's support."

"Meeting you always feels like a dream, so lucky and happy that it feels unreal."

"So, I want to continue this dream. I don't want you to disappear."

She slowly opened her eyes, gently turned her head, and quietly gazed at Tenkuji Yu, their eyes meeting.

Even as the music surrounded them, and even without speaking, she murmured with a sigh, as if bidding farewell to someone:

"It's not for you, it's not for Xiao Qiong, it's for myself."

"A one in eight billion chance has given me you in my short life—to me, that is a treasure more important than any miracle."

Four minutes later, the girl gradually slowed down her fingers. The chords had long since come to an end, leaving only the main melody lingering, as if reluctant to end.

"Yu, I like you."

A clear and gentle voice quietly rang out, and Tachibana Kanade looked at him and said:

"Perhaps it was only in order to say those words to you again that I was able to miraculously play a duet with you like this now?"

"Thank you for always being there for me."

"Thank you for liking me so much."