I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

Tenkuji Yuya never wavered, just as she clearly still had many opinions about herself back then.

As I gradually got to know her, the hostility and distance faded with time. I learned that she also had a pure and gentle side, and I also saw her charming calmness and decisiveness.

A girl named Kasumigaoka Utaha, who is one year older than him, has distinct flaws and strengths—after such a careful analysis, it doesn't seem so hard to understand why Tenkuji Yu from another world would fall in love with her.

After waking up, their relationship underwent a significant change during what seemed like a short but actually long journey, and both of them softened their attitudes towards each other.

Even without romantic love, they can still be considered friends, but no one is willing to admit it.

After that, he took her home to live with her and went to Black Lily Academy with her.

Trusting each other, entrusting their backs to one another, and facing the unknown abyss together—unconsciously, they have forged such a solid comradeship, valuing each other's existence from the bottom of their hearts.

But something seems to be going wrong on her end.

The initial flirtation was superficial, but it gradually began to cross the line.

After she took him shopping at the mall, this feeling became more and more obvious—she was unconsciously using flirting as an excuse to get closer to him, becoming less and less resistant to physical contact between them, showing an attitude of "if he gets serious, she will half-heartedly give in."

Yuu Tenkuji didn't understand when these feelings had started to accumulate to this point.

It wasn't until she finished reading the two books of "Love Metronome" at the bookstore that she seemed to have overcome a hurdle and began to seriously pursue herself.

However, the literary girl has a rather awkward personality. She is still argumentative and unforgiving, but she insists on writing a 100,000-word work in two days to express her feelings to him.

Looking at the development of their relationship after they met, although it was full of ups and downs, it didn't seem to be deep enough for her to give him her first kiss.

Tenkuji Yu didn't try to please Kasumigaoka Utaha, nor did he intend to date her. He maintained a distance that outsiders would say the author was deliberately being impotent.

So, did Kasumigaoka Utaha just get herself for free?

—Tenkuji Yuu rejected the idea in her heart.

He looked at his toes, taking small but steady steps toward the sun-drenched corner, as if stepping on the strings of his heart, playing a sound different from usual.

Someone once said, "Every ordinary day we live may be a series of miracles."

The time they accumulated was not meaningless, and everything they experienced was anything but ordinary.

Even though the time is short, once the seed is quietly planted, it's only a matter of time before it takes root and sprouts.

She mustered her courage and put her feelings into words, writing a story that belonged to the two of them.

"If I accidentally fall in love with you someday, I'll tell you directly."

She made up her mind that even knowing he was the male protagonist of a harem light novel, she would still make a promise to see him again before the end of the world.

"You need to come find me faster than anyone else and use every method to help me regain my memory."

Her words kept flooding my mind and echoing in my ears.

Gradually, Yuu Tenkuji stopped in front of the last bookshelf.

"He really is someone who likes to talk to himself..."

She arbitrarily turned this feeling into love, and then arbitrarily became serious about it, leaving the problems for him to solve—

He doesn't even consider that if he didn't have so many things to worry about, why would he be able to remain unmoved and continue reading his novel even when a beautiful girl is lying in bed with him?

He, Yuu Tenkuji, is not some scumbag who can just sleep with any pretty girl!

"So, I like her? I like Kasumigaoka Utaha?"

Before taking the final step, Yuu Tenkuji asked himself, calmly analyzing his own feelings from an outsider's perspective.

Since he's allowed her to be so close, even if he doesn't admit it, his body has already accepted her presence—that's an undeniable fact.

But to say that I share the same feelings as my girlfriend...

Could I really ask Isshiki Hachiman to let Kasumigaoka Utaha have his cake and eat it too, just for Kasumigaoka Utaha?

Tenkuji Yu remained silent, unusually unable to make a decisive choice—although this hesitation was already a statement to some extent, it was still far from enough.

It wasn't enough to write down my answers on that questionnaire containing 100,000 words of love letters.

Even so, I still have to face it.

Time was running out, and he had no room for further indecisiveness.

Yuu Tenkuji took a deep breath, put on a polite smile, and stepped out from behind the bookshelf.

He walked openly toward the corner seat, his eyes fixed on the girl sitting there.

Her cascading black hair shimmered in the morning light, her full and mature figure was outlined by her school uniform, revealing taut curves, and her long, slender legs, encased in black stockings, possessed a mysterious and alluring charm.

Her features were exquisite, like a doll's; her wine-red eyes were clear and serene; and she would occasionally purse her soft, small, cherry-colored lips.

With her slender, pale fingertips tracing lines, she lowered her head and gently stroked the pages of the book. Her long, curled eyelashes trembled slightly, her skin was as white as snow, and her flawless profile revealed a serious and focused expression.

A young girl's beauty is a vibrancy that no color can replicate, and a tenderness that no brushstroke can depict.

Stunned, Yuu Tenkuji couldn't take his eyes off her, and his troublesome thoughts gradually faded from his mind.

He began to look at the person named "Kasumigaoka Utaha" from the very beginning, from the most unfamiliar and distant distance, and looked at her again, a person who no longer recognized him.

"……I see."

That's how I feel.

In a daze, Tenkuji Yu suddenly understood many things, and a strange impulse surged into his heart.

—If I were the male lead and she were the female lead.

How should I start a conversation with her at this point?

"what."

He couldn't help but laugh out loud, and at the same time canceled the state of minimizing his presence.

The sudden noise naturally alerted the girl. She looked up from her book and saw that there was someone standing not far away. She couldn't help but shudder as if startled, but quickly calmed down and frowned warily and coldly, looking the stranger up and down.

Before long, he lost interest and looked away, preparing to lower his head again to continue reading.

"Excuse me, may I interrupt for a moment?"

A clear, melodious voice pierced the peaceful morning air, forcing the girl to raise her gaze again and meet the boy's kind, gentle smile.

Perhaps sensing the difference in attitude between the other person and those who had approached her, the girl softened her tone slightly, toned down her hostility a bit, tucked her long black hair behind her ear, and replied softly in a slightly husky voice:

"What is it, junior?"

Tenkuji slowly walked towards her, gazing into her eyes.

It felt as if I were still in that pool of wine-red water, never having left.

"I……"

Chapter 148 Didn't we agree? Let's witness the perfect ending together.

do not know why.

From the moment she woke up in the morning, Kasumigaoka Utaha had a feeling of unease.

An inexplicable sense of unease and restlessness lingered in my heart, like a lost child on the street, unable to find the hand that can lead me home.

Every inch of the ground beneath my feet felt so unfamiliar, and the air was thick with an unpleasant indifference.

Even when you're alone in a room, the pervasive sense of oppression makes you feel nauseous.

So she arrived at the school library early in the morning and went to her usual seat.

Surrounded by the tranquil and peaceful fragrance of books, the suffocating loneliness finally subsided considerably.

Although the third volume of "Love Metronome" has been on the market for a while, the librarian said it will probably be delivered to the school library for shelving in the next day or two.

Thinking that she would borrow it to read tomorrow, and perhaps revisiting her own work here could inspire the fourth volume, Kasumigaoka Utaha casually borrowed a novel and sat down on a chair covered with a warm, sunlit carpet.

The distant chimes were melodious and gentle, as if time itself slowed down because of them. Her consciousness was completely immersed in the story in the book, and she gradually forgot where and when she was.

That's why, when a laugh rang out not far away, it was as if she had been hiding in a closet and was suddenly dragged out to a bright, sunny open space in the blink of an eye; she was so frightened that her heart almost jumped out of her chest.

Who is it?!

Such an embarrassing exclamation could not possibly have come from her mouth.

After a brief moment of panic, Kasumigaoka Utaha quickly calmed down, not letting her racing heartbeat give her away. Her scrutinizing, cold gaze swept over the suddenly appearing stranger—judging from the color of his tie clip, he was definitely her junior.

As long as he's not some weird middle-aged man, that's fine.

Slightly relieved, she prepared to turn back to her book, but then couldn't help but secretly glance up at that gentle and friendly smile a few more times.

It was indeed the first time I'd seen her, and her face wasn't my type, but for some reason, more and more feelings of familiarity and affection bubbled up in my heart.

Was it because his smile was genuine? It doesn't seem so.

Is it because the light in his eyes is so warm? It doesn't seem so.

It's definitely not love at first sight. Even if I've never been in a relationship, I wouldn't be so naive and innocent as to fall for someone just by looking at their face.

Besides, she didn't know if it was just her imagination, but she always felt that this guy had a scumbag, playboy vibe about him...

Maybe he's the ultimate male escort, someone who can make girls instinctively like him?

The more she thought about it, the more something seemed off. Kasumigaoka Utaha stopped looking at him, casually turned a page of her novel, and completely implemented her policy of treating everyone who tried to chat her up as if they were invisible.

Regardless of whether he needed anything from her, she was too lazy to bother with strangers.

"Excuse me, may I interrupt for a moment?"

"..."

He appeared calm on the outside, but inwardly he was slightly startled.

What a beautiful voice... The power of the Cowherd is terrifying!

Under the table, her legs awkwardly pressed together, and her heart began to race for reasons other than fright.

After taking a silent, deep breath, Kasumigaoka Utaha slowly raised her head, brushing the hair that was obstructing her view of his face behind her ear, trying to make him back down with an impatient expression.

But for some reason, she found that the corners of her mouth were softening uncontrollably, and even her voice was inexplicably gentler.

"What is it, junior?"

"I……"

Hmm? Why does he seem even more nervous than I am?