I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

After the carousel ride ended and she left with the crowd, Tenkuji Yuu turned to Kasumigaoka Utaha and asked:

"So, would you like to do it again?"

"..."

For some reason, her relaxed smile faded, she shook her head slightly, and gazed into the distance without focus.

Her voice was very soft: "Forget it, let's go to the next place and then get ready to eat."

"Huh?" Tenkuji Yu paused, looking puzzled. She couldn't understand why her mood had suddenly turned so low when she had been so happy just moments before.

Did I say anything wrong? And nothing unexpected happened that would make me unhappy...?

He stopped guessing and asked directly, "Who upset you?"

"I'm not upset." She turned her face away, as if trying to pull her small hand out of his palm.

Tenkuji Yu gripped her tightly, pulling her into his arms. Feeling her body suddenly stiffen, he whispered in the girl's delicate earlobe:

"Then who ruined my little Shiyu's good mood? If you don't tell me, I'm going to carry you around like this all day."

"...If we keep talking, it will ruin our mood at the amusement park."

After several changes in attitude, Kasumigaoka Utaha sighed softly, slowly relaxed her body, and let him hold her tightly like this. She lowered her eyes and whispered, "I just suddenly thought of some annoying things and people. Don't worry about it."

"Shiyu..."

In his arms, where he no longer exerted any force, Kasumigaoka Utaha gently pushed away his warm yet hard chest, turned around, and revealed a complex smile that was both lonely and desolate, feigned strength, and full of determination.

"You did nothing wrong, the only mistake was that I liked you too much."

"So please, forget all that for now, and have a great date with me before it ends?"

That was a thin voice, more sorrowful than the falling maple leaves of autumn or the accumulated snow of winter.

She was smiling, but the glistening tears in her eyes couldn't hide the sobs beneath her mask.

"I……"

Tenkuji Yu stared blankly at her, his mouth slightly open, as if he had something stuck in his throat, wanting to say something but unable to.

Shaking her head, Kasumigaoka Utaha took his hand again, turned around, and, feigning cheerfulness, pulled him toward the roller coaster.

"Okay, okay, I told you not to worry about it!"

Her fingers gently traced the corner of her eye, and amidst the fluttering of her black hair, she could vaguely see transparent teardrops dancing in the air.

"At least for now, I'm your girlfriend, you're my boyfriend, and this is an important date for our anniversary—whether it's real or not, right?"

"……Um."

A moment later, I heard his slightly heavy reply come from behind me.

Kasumigaoka Utaha looked down at the ground, her free hand gently covering her lips, as if trying to keep her sadness from showing on her face.

However, in reality, she was trying hard not to let the smug smile spread to her ears, so that Tenkuji Yu, who was seemingly thinking about how to comfort herself, would notice something was wrong. In her heart, she was already laughing so hard that she was bent over backwards and couldn't contain her arrogance.

'Hmph, hahahahaha... Waiting for him to question me? No, I, Kasumigaoka Utaha, am not such a passive woman!'

'Since suspicion is inevitable sooner or later, might as well take the initiative and plunge him into a vortex of doubt—leaving him no time to 'notic anything amiss,' only to 'doubt whether he's done something wrong!'

In other words, by utilizing women's greatest weapon, one can gain an invincible position from the outset!

He'll probably find that very strange.

He'll probably think he's telling a riddle, won't he?

He might think he's having an episode and is starting to stop talking like a normal person, right?

—That's right, that's the correct way to think!

As soon as she starts thinking like this, Yuu Tenkuji begins to wonder if he has done something wrong, or if she has discovered some hidden secrets and is testing him with this attitude, hoping that he will honestly confess.

Regardless of whether there is a secret she hasn't revealed, once Kasumigaoka Utaha shows this strange attitude, given his intelligence, he will inevitably think in a deeper, more complex, and more unusual direction that she doesn't want him to notice. It doesn't matter what answer he comes up with in the end, since the mystery will be revealed after the confession. By then, she will have already completed her mission and won't have anything to worry about.

This is a classic case of being too clever for one's own good!

After all, it's normal for girls to not speak like normal people, to suddenly throw tantrums, to have fluctuating emotions, and to change their minds faster than flipping through a book, isn't it?

By exploiting women's greatest weapon and the fact that men often have a lot of mischief in their hearts, with a few thoughtless lines and a few forced tears, she successfully orchestrated this scheme, no longer afraid that her true identity might be exposed later on.

Amidst the laughter and cheers of the entire amusement park, Kasumigaoka Utaha had never admired her own quick wit and intelligence as much as she did now.

Why Chapter 110? I've been thinking about that too.

Since then, Kasumigaoka Utaha has acted as usual, as if she had never said those inexplicable things, and even seemed happier and more enjoying the rides.

In contrast, Tenkuji Yu became much quieter, occasionally glancing at her with a hesitant expression, as if he were making a difficult choice. In the end, he said nothing, but the strength in his grip on her small hand became much firmer.

Kasumigaoka Utaha was happy to play dumb. Since she was already in an invincible position, she didn't need to care about what kind of internal struggle he had gone through. There was only one thing she needed to consider: the timing and method of her confession.

After riding the roller coaster, Kasumigaoka Utaha, who had been shouting excitedly without any fear, went to the restroom to tidy up her appearance, which had been disheveled by the strong wind.

Tenkuji Yuzuru bought two cups of coffee and sat on a bench outside to wait for her.

The first thing that came to mind was what she said when she got on the roller coaster—

"If there were a steel cable running through the tunnel, do you think it would be more spectacular to see a row of heads flying out in unison when the roller coaster goes through it, or to see scalps and hair flying out in a mess?"

"My great writer, can't you speak appropriately... Didn't you see that the people in front of us are too scared to sit down?"

"Go blame that Grim Reaper elementary school student! Oh, look over there, those two in black clothes and sunglasses, could they be Gin and Vodka?"

"Alright, alright, we've already messed up the worldview enough. If we keep talking, the staff will come and kick us out."

Then the roller coaster slowly climbed, stopping at its highest point, with a sheer drop below, and the air seemed to freeze there. She spoke again then—

“I once imagined a scene: as the roller coaster is about to go down, a couple embraces and seals each other's lips. The heartbeat that accelerates due to gravity, the blood that boils due to speed, and the breath that is suffocated due to fear, all merge into one in this kiss. The feeling of entrusting everything to each other in the moment of life and death... there is nothing more romantic than this.”

"Your romanticism is a bit anti-human... Well, want to try it now?"

"Ha, I'll try it when I feel like dying. I can drag you down with me then."

"You want the roller coaster to become a murder scene no matter what, don't you...?"

Finally, after the roller coaster ride, which had been soaring and crashing, her unrestrained and flamboyant soprano voice echoing throughout the sky, she said to herself with shining eyes:

"It was surprisingly fun! And it had a great stress-relieving effect. I felt like all my worries and burdens were thrown into the sky. After the sprint, I felt like I was stripped naked and had nothing left... Damn it, I should have known better than to avoid it because it was crowded and too exciting!"

"It's good that you're not scared. It would be even better if you could keep your voice down a little."

"Sorry, I got a little too excited... Shall we go for a second ride?"

"Of course, but I need to buy some earplugs first, they've been leaking air in them lately."

"..."

In the end, they didn't go on the roller coaster a second time because the queue was too long.

It was almost lunchtime, and there was a small shopping mall next to the facility with many restaurants that were mediocre but ridiculously expensive. However, neither of them were stingy with money, so they would just go to whichever place looked good and eat there without worrying about the price.

While waiting for her to return from the restroom, Yuu Tenkuji's thoughts drifted away from the roller coaster experience and she recalled what Yuu had said when she left the carousel.

"That tone... Could it be that she's already discovered all the scumbag Yu's dirty deeds and is now fishing for his attention?"

That's a possibility.

Although her emotional shift was so drastic and abrupt that it made people wonder if she was just having a fit of madness or deliberately playing a prank on him, rather than intending to bait him before the date.

However, just as a woman's quick temper should not be underestimated, girls' keen sense of their boyfriends' infidelity is by no means ordinary.

Tenkuji Yu likes to prepare for the worst first—let's just assume that she really knows everything and just wants to use this date to force 'scumbag Yu' to make a statement.

How should I respond?

"The task prompt says, 'Be honest about those dirty things without her noticing anything amiss, and politely reject her confession to me'... The first point should be fine."

"If the third point really happens, it would be that even though she knows that the scumbag You betrayed her, she not only doesn't hold his wrongdoing against him, but also plans to confess to him and try to win him back? That's too brave..."

Pick up your coffee and use the cool droplets on the cup to cool the wrinkles between your brows.

Yuu Tenkuji muttered to himself with a headache, "Damn it, this is getting more and more complicated."

“Once she knows everything, it means I have to lay everything bare and fight her head-on to have any chance of winning... It’s much more difficult than using a roundabout strategy.”

Simply put, it means reducing the number of limbs at once.

Alternatively, he could admit his mistake and force Kasumigaoka Utaha to make a choice—whether she stays or leaves is up to her, since he couldn't let his junior girlfriend have an abortion, and if she couldn't accept being cheated on, she would have to leave.

Given Kasumigaoka Utaha's personality, she would surely slap herself hard, and then the two would never speak to each other again, which would be tantamount to rejecting her confession.

Or he might pretend he knows nothing, wait for her to confess, then casually find an excuse to politely decline, letting her reveal the truth herself—and then leave with a heartfelt confession: "I love you, Shiyu. No matter how much you hate me, I will always love you... my girlfriend," before turning away alone with a sad and complicated bitter smile.

In that case, she would start to imagine whether there was some hidden story, subconsciously ignoring the painful feelings of being betrayed and rejected, and hopefully begin to run around in order to find the truth and the possibility of them forgiving each other.

Between these two possibilities, Yuu Tenkuji doesn't know which one "scumbag Yuu" chose—in any case, he wouldn't choose either.

The second option might allow him to leave without any burden, but that would only change the ending from Bad Ena to True End, still far from the happy ending he was pursuing.

If you're going to do something, you have to do it to the best of your ability.

In other words, the core problem that Yuu Tenkuji is facing now is "how to get her to forgive him from the bottom of her heart after she knows that he has cheated on her".

As for politely declining a confession, you can just play a few word games – after rejecting the confession, why not just confess to the other person yourself?

Considering this, one can optimistically say that as long as he solves the core problem, a happy ending can be achieved naturally.

After sorting things out in just a few minutes, Yuu Tenkuji couldn't help but sigh, looking up at the midday sun and squinting.

"So, changing history that exists only in memories isn't such a simple matter after all?"

If conventional methods don't work, perhaps we have no choice but to resort to slightly extreme or even unconventional methods...

She lowered her head thoughtfully, just as the graceful figure of the young woman emerged from the women's restroom.

She wiped the water stains from her fair and slender hands with a handkerchief, her cascading black hair lying quietly behind her. With a pure and innocent appearance like a literary girl, and a figure and temperament far superior to the top courtesan in Ginza, the eighteen-year-old girl named Kasumigaoka Utaha looked around a few times before quickly locking onto him on the bench. Then, she stepped forward, her long legs encased in black stockings, and rushed towards him, bringing a fragrant breeze with her.

"Awaited."

"It's faster than I expected." Yuu Tenkuji handed over the cup in his other hand. "Your coffee."

"Thank you, although I prefer black tea." Kasumigaoka Utaha accepted the tea, sat down gracefully next to him, and took a few sips to moisten her dry mouth. "You should know my preferences, right? Are you deliberately getting revenge for me yelling at you until your eardrums burst?"

"How could I dare? It's just that the coffee here smelled so good that I forgot about the black tea." Tenkuji Yu shrugged and said nonchalantly, "But you don't dislike coffee, do you? You don't mean you drink energy drinks when you're up all night writing."

"That's true."