I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

After tidying up the table and washing the dishes, the white-haired girl came out of the kitchen. Seeing that he didn't go upstairs directly, but instead sat on the sofa playing on his phone as if waiting for her, she couldn't help but pause in surprise.

Then, suppressing her barely perceptible surprise, she walked to his side just like yesterday and asked expressionlessly, "As long as it's a dish that exists in reality and can be made by humans, you can tell me what you like to eat. No matter how high-end the ingredients are, it's fine."

"Then let's go with Chinese cuisine." Yuu Tenkuji answered subconsciously, then came to her senses, coughed awkwardly twice, and put away her phone in a serious manner. "It doesn't matter what kind of cooking it is, it won't taste as good as mine anyway."

As he said this, his expression suddenly turned serious, and his gaze became fixed intently on the short girl in front of him.

"You said before that the mastermind had assigned you the core of the operation, and that you would do anything for me, right?"

The android maid looked back calmly, her expression unwavering, but her fingers swiftly and decisively gripped the hem of her dress and pulled it up—

"If you need someone to serve you in bed, it can begin at any time."

Tenkuji Yu was prepared, and simply threw the coat that was placed next to her over her head, covering the flat curves that would make all the Loli lovers stand up, as well as her perfectly smooth, milky white skin that seemed to reflect light.

He rolled his eyes and said, "The more enthusiastic you are about that kind of thing, the more certain I am that the system has ill intentions towards me, and the more wary I will become of you."

For example, if they actually did something to her, a bunch of FBI agents would break down the door and, under the banner of justice, commit inhumane acts against her...

Ha, you think you can fool him with a mere honey trap? I don't know what's wrong with the system. You're underestimating him.

Why not try a more attractive, mature woman? Maybe then there's a slight chance she might make a mistake.

"Put your clothes on and sit over there," he commanded, pointing to the sofa opposite him.

The white-haired girl didn't say much. She quietly got dressed, hugged his coat to her chest, and sat down opposite him like a well-behaved kitten.

"Now, I'll ask you questions, and you'll answer them. Tell me everything you know, okay?"

She nodded.

"First, information about the inside story."

“This is prohibited, and takes precedence over core settings.” The maid answered calmly, her deep black eyes unblinking.

Upon hearing this, Yuu Tenkuji realized that most of his plans had come to naught.

"So they really aren't giving us a chance to exploit loopholes... Oh well, we'll just have to spend more time."

With the confidence that he could eventually get all the inside information under his control, Yuu Tenkuji changed his question and asked, "Do you have any ability that can make animals fear you?"

"No."

"The canary this morning and the cat yesterday are..."

"They are not animals, they are human beings."

"As expected," Yuu Tenkuji thought to himself, then eagerly asked:

Why did they turn into animals? Why do they run away when they see you? What are their true identities?

After he finished speaking rapidly, the little maid said calmly, "Forbidden matters. These are truths that my brother must discover for himself; I cannot tell you."

It was another watertight rejection, which didn't surprise Yuu Tenkuji; she was just a little disappointed that her attempt had failed.

"Alright, it seems there's no way I can get anything out of you."

He sighed helplessly, closed his eyes and pondered for a few seconds before looking at her with a serious expression.

"So, one last question."

His pure black eyes let in no light, and the android maid stared at him like a doll.

"Excuse me."

Yuu Tenkuji said, word by word, "Would the Black Mist... target the things around me for any reason? For example, make a certain cat disappear completely or something."

"..."

Perhaps for the first time, the white-haired girl hesitated and remained silent for a few seconds when faced with her own question.

It didn't seem like she was daydreaming or pondering; it was more likely that Yuu Tenkuji was communicating with the system about how to deal with her problem.

The unease didn't last long. The girl slightly parted her small, pink lips, and a soft, mechanically calm voice rang out:

"Please rest assured, brother, the system will not interfere with any choices the host makes in this world, nor will it interfere with the things around the host."

This is more reassuring than any oath.

Yuu Tenkuji breathed a sigh of relief. The system had never disappointed in terms of credibility. Since the organizers had been generous enough to let him do whatever he wanted without interfering, he shouldn't have to worry about anything from now on and could act boldly.

Having probed the situation and confirmed that there were no more questions to ask this white-haired loli who was known for her "one question, three prohibitions" policy, Yuu Tenkuji got up from the sofa and headed towards her room on the second floor.

That's all for now. Thank you for your cooperation.

As he casually remarked, the little girl sitting on the sofa watched him leave.

Just as he was about to leave the living room, a completely flat voice suddenly rang out, stopping his footsteps in his tracks:

"May I ask my brother for a favor?"

"……what?"

Yuu Tenkuji wasn't asking her what she wanted, but rather he was surprised by what she said.

Just like hearing a robot ask its owner for a better battery, he couldn't help but turn around in surprise to look at that still expressionless, stiff and rigid face.

He suddenly thought of something.

Are the androids created by the system simply reacting according to programmed instructions like AI, or are they indistinguishable from real people, possessing their own desires and thoughts...?

"I want to sleep with my older brother."

"No way."

Tenkuji Yu turned and left.

It turned out I was overthinking things. From beginning to end, the android's words and actions were controlled by the system, which is why I was so reluctant to let go and wanted to use my beauty to deal with him again.

But after taking only a couple of steps, she sighed and changed her mind, saying, "If it doesn't work out, then forget it. How about we play games together?"

Yuu Tenkuji glanced behind her. Good heavens, her expression didn't change at all when she said that, and her voice was completely flat, like a robot broadcasting a pre-recorded audio message—it was impossible to soften her heart.

He waved casually and went upstairs without looking back.

"Let's talk about it when you have more complex emotional modules and facial expressions."

"I have no intention of getting along with you, so don't even think about replacing Qiong in my heart. Save your energy, you shady operation behind the scenes."

After saying those words, Yuu Tenkuji quickly disappeared at the end of the stairs, and the room fell into a deathly silence as the door closed.

The white-haired girl remained in an upward-looking posture, motionless for a long time, her dark eyes deep and dull, like an overly exquisite doll.

After an unknown amount of time, she slowly began to move. She cupped her cheeks with her small, crystal-clear hands and began to rub and knead them, treating her lovely, white jade-like face like dough and kneading it mercilessly.

"In that case, we should be able to get closer to normal people..."

This soliloquy was naturally unheard by anyone.

……

The next morning.

After finishing her run, Yuuki Tenkuji did not encounter the canary again.

Or rather, just like those two black cats, all the animals that were supposed to be transformed from humans disappeared after meeting him once, and never appeared a second time.

This doesn't seem like a coincidence at all, and it's no wonder he couldn't help but suspect that the system had tampered with things behind the scenes.

Now that he has received the answer from the androids that the culprit is not the system and there is no one to take the blame, the truth about where those animals went is worth pondering.

Has it really turned back into a human? Or is there some hidden story behind it?

Having no clue what to do, Yuuki Tenkuji put the problem aside for the time being, ate the breakfast prepared by the maid, and went to school on her own.

I was thinking about whether to deliberately run into Yukino Yukinoshita, force myself to go to school with her, and try to get some information about Kuroneko from her.

However, not knowing when she would leave, and thinking that he could find her anytime at school, Tenkuji Yu didn't waste time blocking the door in front of the apartment and arrived at Toyonosaki Academy smoothly twenty minutes before morning self-study.

He put down his schoolbag and casually responded to the greetings of his classmates. He first went to check the infirmary, but no one was on duty yet. He then took out his phone to check the chat history from last night. The last message he sent was still not read, just like the ending of his chat with Kasumigaoka Utaha, who had blocked him. The stone he threw out did not receive any response.

"They couldn't have just disappeared without a trace, could they...?"

Tenkuji Yu felt inexplicably uneasy, and could only comfort himself with the fact that he had seen Yukino Yukinoshita last night—coincidentally, since Yukino, who had become a skinny cat, was still there, it was impossible for Haruno, who had become a fat cat, to just disappear like that.

Assuming the system doesn't intervene, there shouldn't be another scenario like Kanade's, where her entire existence disappears from the world without any reason, right?

He endured it until the end of the second period.

After confirming that the situation had not improved, Yuu Tenkuji decided to take action.

The first thing to do was to ask if the teachers had seen Ms. Yukinoshita in the infirmary.

He received this answer from the dean of academic affairs.

"Yukino Yukinoshita-sensei? We didn't hire that person."

Next, she went to find other classmates to investigate the matter concerning Yukino Yukinoshita.

He received this answer from the Minister of Information—

"Yukino Yukinoshita? We probably don't have anyone like that at our school, unless she's someone really inconspicuous. But according to what you've said, if such a beautiful girl really exists, our newspaper club would definitely not let such good material slip by!"

To verify their claims, Tenkuji Yu borrowed a computer again, familiar with the process, and thoroughly investigated the two individuals' information, successfully uncovering information about the Yukinoshita family.

The Yukinoshita family is a prominent family in Chiba, with members in prefectural councils in politics and construction companies in business. They have extensive connections and influence in various fields and also have some influence in other parts of Tokyo. However, the current head of the family is a son-in-law who has no children of his own and seems to be considering adoption.

Yukino Yukinoshita and Haruno Yukinoshita are like bubbles in a memory, vanishing without a trace as soon as you wake up, and they don't exist in any records.

"So, they both disappeared together... Seriously, why?!"

With her hands off the keyboard, Yuu Tenkuji pressed her temples as if in pain.

He lowered his head and couldn't help but let out a deep sigh.

This feeling of being the only one who remembers, and having a mismatch between his and others' memories, made him extremely unhappy—the things he experienced with Kozo made him never want to see anyone disappear from his life again.

Even if it's just a girl I've only met a short time, even if it's just a 'real-life girlfriend' whose true identity I'm unsure of, even if I'm not the one who's forgotten them.

Tenkuji Yuuya felt agitated and spent a long time before he could finally calm his thoughts and sort out the tangled mess of ideas.

"Two intelligence nodes have just disappeared like that, and I guess I'll never see those two black cats again... So now, in which direction should I start my investigation again?"

The sudden change occurred without warning, without any apparent cause, and the suspicious points were hidden under layers of mystery.

Even with Tenkuji Yu's brain working at an almost overheated level, listing hundreds of possible solutions, he couldn't find a truly feasible path at this moment, and could only be surrounded by a sense of helplessness.

It was afternoon, and having missed lunch, he managed to find two targets so he wouldn't feel like a headless fly.