I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

"If the two cats represent the Yukinoshita sisters, then the canary might also represent someone who is beside me or about to appear in front of me... It shouldn't have disappeared yet."

"Once we confirm its identity, we must seize this opportunity to investigate thoroughly, otherwise... we'll be at a loss again."

"Furthermore, as one of the key figures we are focusing on, Kasumigaoka Utaha is still alive and well, she just hasn't been attending class."

"If there are two reasons for the disappearance: one is that it is related to oneself in reality, and the other is that it has been in contact with oneself in this world, then Kasumigaoka Utaha, who is unaffected, may have a secret that she herself does not know."

"A special existence that will not disappear... This may be the direction I should investigate, and the key to solving all the mysteries."

In the computer lab, Yuu Tenkuji's eyes gradually regained their clarity, her confusion dissipated, and a determined light shone again.

"To prevent things from getting worse, it's time to abandon our cautiousness and start charging ahead!"

He slammed his hand on the table, stood up, wrote down the address of Kasumigaoka's house on his phone, grabbed his schoolbag, and strode out of the school.

Chapter Ninety-Eight: The Hill of Second Encounters

Kasumigaoka's house isn't far from the school; it only takes half an hour by train.

Even without going at full speed, Yuu Tenkuji arrived at this quiet and ordinary residential area within twenty minutes.

It's class time now, and a student like him in uniform walking down the street should, in theory, attract a lot of attention.

However, with his "subtle presence" in mind, as long as he doesn't do anything outrageous, even the old men strolling in the park won't bother to look at him.

The streets were clean and bright, and sunlight filtered through the green leaves, scattering delicate dappled light across the sidewalk.

Unlike the bustling city center, the residential area is as peaceful and serene as another world.

Yuu Tenkuji quickly found a house with a sign that read "Kasumigaoka". It was neither luxurious nor dilapidated, just like any other ordinary house.

Looking at it this way, Kasumigaoka Utaha seems to be a rich young lady, but her family background can only be considered middle-class—perhaps the royalties she earns now are higher than her father's income?

Sky Temple Yuu thought this without a care in the world, first circling around her house, his eyes not missing any suspicious places, just like a terrifying sasaeng fan who had found out the address of his idol.

After confirming that everything was alright, he picked up the fruit he had bought on the way and rang the doorbell.

Not long after, a woman in her forties, who looked somewhat similar to Kasumigaoka Utaha but appeared slightly older, opened the door.

"You've arrived. May I ask who you are...?"

"Are you Kasumigaoka-senpai's mother? Nice to meet you!" Offering fruit with both hands, Tenkuji Yuuki said in a cheerful and open tone, "I am Kasumigaoka-senpai's junior. My surname is Tenkuji. Is she at home?"

"Oh dear, I can't accept this..."

Blinking slightly in surprise, Kasumigaoka's mother instinctively took the bag of fruit, then looked at him with a puzzled expression, tilting her head. "Wait, Shinobu's junior? Why is she here at this time..."

Tenkuji Yu revealed the sweet, boyish smile that married women love most.

"I'm so sorry to bother you. I'm also a student with self-study permission. I was on my way to the city library when I suddenly had something I wanted to ask you, so I stopped by to drop by!"

Kasumigaoka's mother, of course, did not see through his lie. She simply looked him up and down with surprise and curiosity before smiling gently at him: "I see. Shi didn't tell me she had such a lovely junior. She's always been a loner... I'm sorry, that child has a rather peculiar temper. It must be tiring to get along with her, right?"

"Hmm... To be honest, when I first met my senior, she gave me a good scolding. I really hated her back then and wished I could never have anything to do with her again."

Instead of going along with the pretense, Tenkuji nodded in deep agreement and said with genuine emotion, "However, after spending time with her these past few days, I've gradually come to realize that she's not a bad person. She's just not good at handling interpersonal relationships, and because of her straightforward and emotional personality, she often offends others unintentionally... Once you get used to it, these aren't really flaws."

Whether Kasumigaoka's mother believed it or not, Tenkuji Yu didn't believe a single word he said.

Unfortunately, in order not to ruin the persona of "a well-behaved junior who respects his senior", Tenkuji Yu could only rely on his shallow impression of Kasumigaoka Utaha to make up these lines that were ostensibly derogatory but actually complimentary, in order to fool Kasumigaoka's mother.

However, as it turned out, his wild analysis was quite accurate—it seemed to have touched on the heart of Kasumigaoka's mother. The middle-aged woman couldn't help but nod repeatedly, looking up at the second floor with a soft look of worry and affection in her eyes.

“That girl has never brought any friends home. Apart from the editor, Ms. Machida, I thought there would never be anyone else around her who understood her… That’s so good.”

After she finished speaking, she wiped her eyes, looking deeply moved.

Tenkuji Yu's eyelids twitched slightly, and a feeling of guilt welled up inside him—but the pangs of conscience didn't last long, and he continued to perfectly immerse himself in his current identity.

"I should be the one saying that it is my honor to get to know Shiyu-senpai."

"Oh dear, you child..." Her hand gently stroked his smiling face, her gaze becoming even more kind and gentle, as if a mother-in-law were looking at her son-in-law. Kasumigaoka's mother seemed to want to say something, but seeing him standing outside the door, she quickly changed her words, "I really am, I made you stand outside for so long! Come in and have a cup of tea, I'll go upstairs and call Xiaoshi down."

Tenkuji Yu shook her head and said apologetically, "I just came to talk to you about something, and I have to go to the library later. Please forgive me for declining your offer."

"I see..." Kasumigaoka's mother sighed regretfully, but for some reason, she muttered something strange like, "It's okay, there's plenty of time. We should encourage Shizuka to be more proactive..." After leaving a knowing look, she turned and went upstairs.

"Please wait here for a moment. Xiaoshi should be working now. If she falls asleep, I'll wake her up!"

With a youthful wave of her hand, the forty-year-old woman strode upstairs and disappeared around the corner at the end of the stairs.

Standing in front of the open door, Yuu Tenkuji's sweet and cheerful smile vanished the moment she made sure no one was watching her. She rubbed her cheek and sighed wearily.

"I always feel so tired when dealing with girls' parents... I've only met Aya's parents before, and I haven't been given any trouble."

Despite the exhaustion, his instinctive skill allowed him to perform flawlessly, intuitively knowing what to say to please the parents.

Even if he wasn't facing his girlfriend's mother, this skill seemed to work passively, perfectly winning him initial favor with her parents.

"That's fine too. Even if Kasumigaoka Utaha's mother misunderstands... I'm winning because I can put the pressure of the conversation on her."

He took out his phone from his pocket, confirmed that he was still on Kasumigaoka Utaha's blacklist, and continued to wait nonchalantly for the two to come downstairs.

—Since she blocked me, I had no choice but to go to her door to confront her.

Less than a minute later, footsteps could be heard from upstairs, along with the soft sounds of a mother and daughter talking.

"Someone's coming to see me? I don't remember making an appointment with anyone, and Ms. Machida didn't say she was coming today... Mom, you haven't been scammed by a pyramid scheme, have you?"

"Stop denying it. I'm not that rigid, and I didn't mean to make fun of you... Okay, hurry up, they're still waiting outside."

"Really..."

With a helpless sigh, Kasumigaoka Utaha rubbed her hair as she walked downstairs, with half a circle of newly dyed dark circles under her eyes.

She yawned, rubbed her wet eyes, and as her vision cleared, the figure standing at the door came into view.

"What's wrong?" Kasumigaoka's mother, who had almost bumped into her daughter's back because of Kasumigaoka Utaha's sudden stop, quickly stopped and looked at his seemingly stiff profile with a puzzled expression. "It's rare for a junior to come and visit you, especially such an outstanding young man. Why do you look so unhappy?"

"..."

Completely oblivious to what her mother was saying, Kasumigaoka Utaha simply stared wide-eyed, frozen in place. Seemingly overwhelmed with surprise and confusion, her entire body was tense, like a statue, and she murmured in disbelief:

"What are you doing here...?"

Meeting her gaze, Tenkuji Yu smiled perfectly again and nodded amicably: "I had something to ask you, senpai, so I just happened to be passing by. Please forgive me for any rudeness."

"No, you..."

Before the other person could even gather their thoughts, he asked earnestly, "Senior, could you please come out for a moment? That matter is very important to me and to us, and I hope we can have a proper talk."

Kasumigaoka's mother joined in, pushing her daughter's shoulder and scolding, "Xiao Shi, why are you just standing here? Go on, or invite him in for a cup of tea. You can't not treat him well."

"..."

She glanced speechlessly at her mother, who seemed to know nothing, then turned her sharp, cold gaze to Tenkuji Yuu—at that moment, Kasumigaoka Utaha suddenly realized what was happening.

Is this guy deliberately trying to get on my mother's good side because he's afraid I'll turn him away like I did with him when I blacklist him?!

How can such a treacherous and scheming person exist! Unable to find the person in question, they actually went after their relatives...

"Tsk."

Ignoring how he knew her address, Kasumigaoka Utaha's expression changed unsightly as she faced this extremely dangerous "fanatic." She couldn't help but take a deep breath to calm the tension in her heart, which she didn't know whether to call anger or vigilance.

'No, I'll just have to go along with his disgusting acting for now and see what he's up to... That'll save me the trouble of going after him later.'

Thinking this, Kasumigaoka regained her composure, stood on the steps looking down at him, arms crossed, a cold smile playing on her lips.

"That matter? Sure, since you've asked me so sincerely, I'll reluctantly agree this once, junior."

Although his tone was relatively friendly, the underlying sarcasm and mockery still made Tenkuji Yu's fists clench slightly and his smile stiffen considerably.

Even so, she still maintained her persona, smiling contentedly as she said, "Then thank you in advance, Kasumigaoka...senpai."

Seeing his strained appearance, Kasumigaoka Utaha's gloomy face finally brightened a little.

Kasumigaoka's mother, blocked at the bottom of the stairs and unable to see what was happening below, assumed the tense atmosphere was just a special mood between them and didn't pay much attention. She clasped her hands together happily and said, "In that case, why don't you come in and finish what you need to say before you leave? It won't take up too much of your time, and we'll have some tea and yokan to serve you..."

“Mom, it’s okay if you don’t treat this guy too well.” Kasumigaoka Utaha interrupted her mother, gently brushing a strand of hair behind her ear and saying in a calm tone, “I don’t have a very good relationship with him, so don’t misunderstand those messy things.”

"Eh? Is that so?" Kasumigaoka's mother peeked out and looked at Tenkuji Yu with a questioning gaze.

He could only give a helpless, bitter smile and shrug, his meaning unspoken.

"I see..."

Although she didn't know exactly what she understood, the imaginative middle-aged woman quickly grasped the deeper meaning and cast an encouraging glance at the sky.

Knowing she shouldn't get involved in her children's romantic entanglements, lest she anger her proud daughter and ruin the conversation, Kasumigaoka's mother obediently kept quiet and huddled in a corner of the stairs to observe how things would unfold.

"What unpleasant acting..."

With utter disdain, Kasumigaoka Utaha turned around, walked past her mother, and went back upstairs, grumbling as she glanced at the way Tenkuji Yu was behaving towards her mother.

He simply said something devoid of emotion: "Come to my room. I don't have any extra tea to offer you. Now that I've said that, please leave and don't come back."

"I understand."

First, Asakagaoka's mother nodded apologetically, then took off her shoes and placed them in front of the entrance. Tenkuji Yu followed her beautiful figure upstairs to the second floor.

"I'll bring the tea up in a bit, don't worry. That Xiao Shi, she's always so two-faced!"

As she passed by her mother in Kasumigaoka, she whispered this to herself.

Seeing the other person walking briskly towards the kitchen, Tenkuji Yu gave a genuine wry smile this time.

"There's no other way. The only way to create an opportunity for her to listen to me is for this lady to push things along..."

His conscience was aching again. He realized that he was not good at acting in front of innocent people and easily felt guilty.

However, after following Kasumigaoka Utaha into her room on the second floor, that feeling vanished, and her attention shifted to the important matter that was about to begin.

The black-haired girl didn't seem worried that he would take the opportunity to attack her. Despite wearing only a thin nightgown and at most a vest over it, she walked to the bedside naturally, watching him calmly close the door, and swung her fair, jade-like legs.

"So, junior Tenkuji Yu, who [provoked me upon our first meeting, asked me a bunch of weird and nonsensical questions, and then left on his own], what is your purpose in skipping class to come and see me?"

She curled the corners of her mouth, rested her hand on her delicately shaped chin, and said slowly, "The library wasn't enough to create opportunities for us to meet, so you actually followed me to my home. Your fan base is so strong that I want to call the police right now... So, are you trying to prove to me your persistence and love for me the 'very important thing for both of us' thing you mentioned?"

Pinching a strand of black hair between her fingertips, Kasumigaoka Utaha narrowed her eyes slightly, her voice suddenly deepening, filled with oppressive and chilling aura.

"If you're just trying to fool me like before, you can get out now."

But in Yuu Tenkuji's eyes, this was nothing more than a girl's blustering self-protection, which she could easily defeat.