I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

"Hmm~ Looks like my gaming skills haven't gotten worse... Oh, and I even broke a machine record?"

He patted his shoulder and praised, "As expected of you, Brother You."

A deep voice suddenly came from the side.

"...√Straight man."

"what?"

He thought he just heard a loser barking... He, who prided himself on having an emotional intelligence of 180, would never say something like that.

Looking at the black-haired girl next to him, whose head was pressed against the steering wheel, whose body was exuding black aura, and whose heels were constantly shaking in agitation, Tenkuji Yu said innocently, "You told me to go all out, so I didn't hold back. You can't blame me for this, right? Besides, it's not just you who lost to me, but also all the players who left records on this machine. There's no need to feel resentful."

Kasumigaoka Utaha took a deep breath, her hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly they turned white, and a surge of murderous intent was rising rapidly.

As if oblivious to what was happening, Tenkuji Yu sincerely suggested while taking out a coin, "How about another round? I'll go easy on you this time, but whether you win or not depends on your skill."

Although I'll still let her win in the end, after all, she needs a chance to vent her frustration and grievances...

Please type "high EQ" in the comments.

"Don't joke around, do you think I'm an idiot?!"

With a sudden slap of her hand, Kasumigaoka Utaha stood up angrily, glaring at him through gritted teeth, her anger burning: "I still have some self-awareness. The gap in strength can't be bridged by luck, and no matter what, I can't beat you, you heartless man who crushes his girlfriend and ruthlessly humiliates her—I understand that fact very well!"

"Are you talking about Mario Kart?"

Despite the horrified gazes from all around, Tenkuji Yuu smiled and confirmed.

Kasumigaoka Utaha clenched her fist tightly, biting her lip, her face full of resentment.

"Even so, I will not easily admit defeat... I will absolutely not let you take advantage of your winning status to hurl insults and abuse at me!"

"I've never done that before, have I?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed someone seemed to be taking out their phone. I didn't know if they were planning to record a video or call the police.

Tenkuji Yu was almost laughing so hard she was frozen, and could only signal to her with her eyes to tone it down.

"No matter what outrageous things you plan to do to me when you get back, it's only now!" Seemingly determined to embarrass him so much he'd dig a Mario Kart out of his feet, Kasumigaoka Utaha continued her restrained yet emotional performance, striving to draw the surrounding audience's attention. "Only now, I will not submit to your tyranny... Just you wait! Even though I'm weak as a chicken, I'll eventually pin you to the ground and humiliate you, just like you did to me!"

Tenkuji Yu pressed her temples as if she had a headache, somewhat regretting why she had teased her like that.

"so?"

"Next game."

The exaggerated movements vanished instantly. Kasumigaoka Utaha expressionlessly picked up her bag, strode away from the racing machine, and walked out with forceful steps.

Without Yuu Tenkuji trying to comfort her, she would find ways to vent her frustration and resentment at being ruthlessly crushed by her 'boyfriend' and regulate her own emotions.

It's quite reassuring, but her methods for regulating her emotions... Doesn't the word 'social death' exist in her dictionary?

Yuu Tenkuji shook his head silently, ignoring the strange looks around him, and followed Kasumigaoka Utaha's slender and graceful figure.

It's a bit of a headache, but having a girlfriend like this makes it anything but boring.

……

If a brave soul, overestimating his abilities, were to charge forward, even at the cost of a hundred deaths, how would the dragon deal with him?

"Don't even think about holding back, come at me head-on!"

The hero himself provided the answer.

Seemingly ignited by her competitive spirit, Kasumigaoka Utaha dragged him to play several competitive games in a row—not to mention racing, motorcycle racing, yacht racing, etc., apart from basketball machines that required a lot of physical activity, she basically tried every machine in the entire arcade once, and lost to them all once.

If you lose at rhythm games, you play taiko drums; if you lose at taiko drums, you play table football; if you lose at table football, you play frisbee; if you lose at frisbee, you play puzzle games…

Tenkuji Yuu didn't hold back, and her record was naturally undefeated. However, in order not to let her lose too badly, she still tried her best to go back and forth with her, even if it was going to be a 20-0 score, she couldn't look too relaxed, and at the end she even said that she was a die-hard scorer to mock her.

Even if you're forbidden from intentionally losing, you still have to make sure the girls have a gaming experience.

Just like LCK playing against wildcard teams, this hour was almost entirely wasted on this meaningless crushing match.

Yuu Tenkuji originally wanted to offer some kind words of advice, telling Kasumigaoka Utaha not to act like a masochist, constantly challenging him even though she knew she couldn't win. He suggested she play some cooperative games to relax, reduce her competitive spirit, and show more affection as a couple.

However, when I caught a glimpse of her expression after yet another failure, I couldn't detect the initial resentment and anger in it.

His eyes were unusually calm, as if he had already accepted the fact that he would not win, and there was even a faint smile of relief and relaxation on his lips.

She stretched, and after noticing his gaze, she gave him a defiant look.

"Continue, next one."

“…Okay.” Tenkuji Yu smiled helplessly, his fingertips tracing the soft black hair that had fallen in front of her, and he said subconsciously, “Although you look pretty with short hair, I prefer you with long, straight black hair.”

Kasumigaoka Utaha paused, turning back to look at him in surprise: "Short hair? When did I grow my hair short?"

"……what."

"what."

Their eyes met in mid-air, and then they both realized something at the same time, their breaths catching in their throats, and the air fell into an awkward silence.

Keeping a straight face, Tenkuji Yu thought to herself, 'Oh no, I said the wrong thing… She probably cut her hair short after being rejected by that jerk Yu, and they've only known each other for a year. Even if she cut it before and let it grow long, it wouldn't have grown this fast! I've given her a free opening…'

Her expression remained puzzled, but Kasumigaoka Utaha sensed something was wrong: 'Tsk, I answered without thinking… If he's seen me with short hair before, he might notice something's off… But wait, I haven't had short hair since elementary school, right? Unless he saw photos of me before elementary school. But then my tone seems a bit off…'

Both harbored their own secrets, their nerves taut with thoughts running high, countless guesses and coping strategies flashing through their minds.

But remaining silent for too long is tantamount to openly telling the other party that you have a problem.

So in about five seconds, Tenkuji Yu casually smiled and said, "Sorry, I didn't tell you, wasn't there a popular hairstyle-changing app before? I took the liberty of changing your long hair in the photo to short hair. You're pretty, but you're still not as pretty as my original girlfriend."

"A hairstyle change app...?"

With a slight frown, Kasumigaoka Utaha couldn't help but look him up and down.

She felt something was off, but couldn't quite put her finger on it—most importantly, she knew far too little about this body and its past.

Even if she were to suspect that the person in front of her, Yuu Tenkuji, had encountered the same "personal experience" as herself, she couldn't find enough strong evidence, and being punished made her even less willing to test the waters directly.

Putting aside the possibility of misjudging, even if the two are indeed in the same situation, the system might still stipulate this—

"No matter which Tenkuji Yu it is, the mission will fail if he discovers your true identity."

Then her writing skills were cruelly stripped away, and from then on she could only be a pretty but busty vase, saying goodbye to "Kasumi Shiko" forever.

To avoid that future, Kasumigaoka Utaha took a deep breath and finally decided to stick to her plan of "not getting exposed is a victory." She suddenly realized something and said to him, "That app? I vaguely remember it. Ms. Machida played it a while ago, but I wasn't interested."

Tenkuji Yu laughed and said, "I'm not really interested. I just wanted to see what you would look like with short hair. I'll delete it after I see it."

She laughed too: "Then why don't I really get a short haircut? To be honest, the time I spend styling this long hair every day is enough for me to write two thousand words."

"No, I really love your long hair." Tenkuji Yu stood in front of her, twirling a lock of hair from her temple with her fingertips, her eyes lowered, and her tone became inexplicably gentle.

"If you find it troublesome, you can leave it to me to take care of. I do have some knowledge about hair care."

Even if we don't have it now, we can learn it in the future—of course, talking about the future in the current situation is basically no different from lying.

Kasumigaoka Utaha seemed to be moved by him. After staring blankly for a while with wide eyes, she gently squinted her eyes and gently held his warm hand that was placed on her cheek. She said in a reproachful voice, "Just kidding. Don't take it seriously at a time like this. It will make me lose my fighting spirit... I haven't beaten you yet, you jerk."

"Shall we continue?" Tenkuji Yu stepped back and asked with a smile.

"Continue." With her hands behind her back, Kasumigaoka Utaha winked playfully at him, a soft and elegant smile curving her lips. "Time's almost up. I'll definitely beat you in this last round!"

Concealing a relieved look in her eyes, Tenkuji Yu raised an eyebrow: "That's something to look forward to. What are we going to compete in?"

Pressing her hand to her chest and exhaling, casting aside all other thoughts, Kasumigaoka Utaha looked at him with a smile in her eyes, and said confidently, word by word:

"Catch, baby, baby!"

Chapter 113 Men conquer the world, while women conquer men.

The arcade has a special area dedicated to claw machines, which is filled with all sorts of different claw machines.

There are large plush toys, small toys that look like ornaments; technological products such as mobile phones and earphones, as well as the most common prize models.

There are many ways to grab the prizes: some grab, some scissors, some push, and some throw. This place is never short of people. Everywhere you can see uncles carrying bags, couples, and students challenging the various difficulties set by the store. If you grab a certain number of prizes, you can go to the counter to redeem them for prizes.

If you really can't grab it, you can ask the patrolling staff nearby to help adjust the position. If that still doesn't work, you'll have to guarantee that you'll get the goods.

For Yuu Tenkuji, playing claw machines wasn't exactly a hobby, but it had long been honed to the point of being a specialty.

After all, you can give the prize to a girl, or show off a bit in this way—if you're on a date with your girlfriend and she takes a fancy to a certain doll in the machine, but you can't get it yourself and have to ask the staff for help, wouldn't that be embarrassing?

In order not to lose face, he studied it for a period of time, and now it is no exaggeration to call him a claw machine master. He could even start a claw machine tutorial channel on YouTube to make money in this way.

After all, eyesight, muscle control, and intelligence are not the most important factors in claw machines. To ensure that you can catch your target within a certain amount, you not only need experience and knowledge in judging the claw method, but also need to make various adjustments based on the tightness of the claw and the maximum swing arc.

Kasumigaoka Utaha, on the other hand, looks like she's good at claw machines... but not so good at them.

Even if a newbie has some luck, it can't compare to a seasoned veteran like him.

"So, you're really planning to play the claw machine game?"

After exchanging the change, Yuu Tenkuji asked her one more time, as if to confirm.

Kasumigaoka Utaha nodded, glancing left and right as if searching for a machine where she could easily grab something.

"You're very confident, aren't you? With your versatility in games, you must be a pro at claw machines, hitting the target every time."

Tenkuji Yu watched her actions strangely, saying, "Hitting the target every time is an exaggeration, but as long as the machine isn't tampered with, you can get one for under 1000 yen."

"Yeah, you really are a monster."

Kasumigaoka Utaha glanced at him, then suddenly took a step forward, as if she had already found her target.

Yuu Tenkuji subconsciously followed, staring blankly at her back—her tone just now gave him a strange sense of familiarity.

It wasn't his girlfriend, Kasumigaoka Utaha, who would say those words to him, but rather to Kasumigaoka Utaha, who was in the same situation and didn't get along with him.

His gaze shifted upwards, as if he wanted to meet the gaze of the spirit that should be floating behind Kasumigaoka Utaha.

'Although their experiences are different, they are essentially the same person. Maybe I'm overthinking it…'

But it's also possible that she encountered the same thing as you?

As if lost in thought, Yuu Tenkuji hadn't yet found an answer when Kasumigaoka Utaha suddenly stopped in front of a claw machine, pointed to the large Ditto inside, and said to him:

"Let's take this one."

Yuu Tenkuji temporarily put aside his doubts and looked at the only Ditto plushie in the machine, which was not only beautiful but also difficult to grab, and couldn't help but frown.

"Are you sure? This kind of setup is basically a way for the shop to rip people off. It's far from the hole and there's nothing to hold it up to. Even if the clamps weren't deliberately loosened, the chances of it being caught directly are slim. Calling the staff won't help. It's practically a sure thing."