I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

"I...I'm innocent..." Tenkuji Yu gasped, his toes involuntarily rising to his feet, but he couldn't escape her gentle yet domineering control. "Anyway, let go first...Even if no one else can see us, doing this kind of thing on the streets of Chiba is still a bit..."

"Do you think I care about this? Hmm?" Yukinoshita Haruno showed her usual cheerful and gentle smile, but a cold light flashed in her eyes, and her murderous aura was obvious to anyone with eyes.

She didn't use any force, just slightly lifted her wrist, and his expression changed like a neon light – no pain, of course it wouldn't hurt, she couldn't bear to let Xiao Youyou's little Xiao You get hurt in any way.

But it's easy to imagine that the feeling of having his life in a girl's hands would definitely not make him happy.

"You only went on dates with other rented girlfriends so you could have better dates with me, right?"

Yukino turned her gaze to the two people in the cafe. It had been a long time since she had felt this mixture of sourness and anger, and she couldn't help but sneer out of nostalgia.

"It's like practicing sex with your girlfriend's best friend to give her a better first experience... No matter what your intentions were, this is already considered cheating, okay? Cheating after knowing each other for only a few days, you really are something else, Tendou Souji-kun."

The client name he used when placing the order for Mizuhara Chizuru was Tendou Souji.

Yuuki Tenkuji hopes that when she mocks herself, she'll remember to loosen her grip on the future of so many people.

"You can't use today's standards to judge my past behavior..." Having barely gotten used to that feeling, Tenkuji slowly exhaled, her face full of helplessness. "Back then, we didn't have any real feelings for each other, right? At most, we just had a little bit of affection for each other. As long as you didn't take the initiative to ask me out, our private lives were completely separate..."

"Even so, I spent money to hire a 'teacher' to make you happy and to better understand your feelings, and I maintained a proper distance from Mizuhara Chizuru from beginning to end—I don't expect you to praise my noble character, but you don't have to condemn me for infidelity, do you?"

The scene shifts to the place where the two went on a date at a department store. On the Ferris wheel, Tenkuji Yu points at himself, who is chatting with Mizuhara Chizuru with a straight face—his rude and infuriating attitude is something that a cheating person would have.

How could someone with such high moral character cheat on his partner during a legitimate relationship? Having multiple partners only happens after the relationship ends, right?

Faced with Yuu Tenkuji's explanation, Yukino Yukinoshita pondered for a moment before reluctantly letting go of Yuu's small hand—she only just realized that this thing could become more and more addictive the more you squeezed it, no wonder she had often heard that girls would put their hands into their boyfriends' pants to keep warm in winter.

The reason is that she experienced it firsthand and wants to come again next time.

"Just kidding, would I blame you for something so trivial?" She spread her hands innocently. "If I were really that petty, I would have taken a wood-chopping knife and killed you when I found out you were having an affair with Yukino."

Tenkuji Yu chuckled twice, not daring to ask if she was joking as well.

Yukinoshita Haruno seemed to suddenly remember something and turned to ask him, "Speaking of which, your tone just now...did you remember something?"

"You're really perceptive," Yuu Tenkuji said sincerely, earning a pair of beautiful eye rolls in return. "That's right, just like when you see an object full of memories, you can't help but recall what happened back then—during the scene transition, all the memories I had previously experienced came back to me."

Including the emotions he once thought had been completely deleted by the system.

The scene shifts from returning home after the date to the third time they meet, preparing for their date at the department store.

As Yuu Tenkuji closed her eyes, those blurry, déjà vu-like memories were wiped away and flashed through her consciousness with unprecedented clarity.

His thoughts and feelings at that time, his changing feelings for Yukinoshita, and his gradual acceptance of the responsibilities and status of being a "rent-a-boyfriend"...

Not only the things that happened in the past, but even the trivial thoughts that arose in his mind when he made various choices, all felt as if he had truly become his past self, and a precise and real feeling welled up in his chest.

Tenkuji Yu opened his eyes, looked at the young woman who was still holding his hand tightly and was glancing at him with a slightly raised eyebrow, and said with a wry smile:

"To be honest, I feel quite conflicted. Back then, I certainly hadn't truly fallen for you yet, but now I think Yukinoshita Haru is a very important person in my life... These two feelings are intertwined, and I don't even know what expression to use when I talk to you."

"What's wrong with that? Just smile." Yukinoshita Haruno was still a little dissatisfied when she heard the first part of the sentence, but she reluctantly pouted and poked his cheek with her finger when she heard the second part. "When I regained my memories, I was the one who was really uncomfortable, but I still forced a smile to meet you, didn't I?"

"It's no use telling me all this, I don't remember what happened..."

“…This is really annoying.” Seeing him mimic her innocent expression, Yukinoshita Haruno’s face instantly darkened, her voice cold and authoritative.

As the two walked hand in hand into the bookstore not far away, she tiptoed and bit his lip in revenge—it didn't draw blood, but the warmth of his lips and teeth remained vividly.

"This is your punishment for not liking me sooner." With their noses touching, Yukino Yukinoshita stared intently into Tenkuji Yu's eyes, speaking forcefully and word by word, "Even if it's a rented boyfriend, I won't hold hands with someone I don't like."

She seems to still be upset about what happened during her date with Chizuru Mizuhara.

"There won't be a next time." Tenkuji Yu hugged her waist, gently stroking her back as if to comfort her. In the end, he couldn't help but lower his head and use his lips to block their intertwined, hot breaths.

The scene shifted from the bookstore to the restaurant, and from the restaurant to the event venue, where the two on stage shared their first kiss in front of the entire audience, with even a few drops of watermelon juice on their lips.

Tenkuji Yuu finally released the panting Yukinoshita Haruno and slowly said, "I won't kiss someone I hate either..."

He suddenly coughed twice, looked away, just like the boy who tried to hide his shyness back then.

"So back then, we both had a bit of a crush on each other, right?"

"……yes."

After a long while, Yukino Shino finally curved her moist, hot lips into a bright smile and replied, "That was the beginning of our love, and now... it won't be the end either."

It's not over yet, and it's not a new beginning either.

How long does it actually take to go from liking to loving?

As she pondered this question, Yukinoshita leaned against his chest, her gaze tenderly fixed on the two people sharing an umbrella in the rain.

"You will be happy."

She said it with more conviction than ever before.

……

After their date at the department store, the two went to the animal hospital.

There, they not only encountered the gray-spotted kitten, but also met a girl with pink bun hair who was bringing her dachshund to the vet.

Chapter 171 You Are My First Love

The first time I came was to name the kitten, and I'll ask Qiong if she wants to get a cat when I get back.

The second time I came, I officially brought "Snow Nong" home.

"At first, I thought you were joking because you could understand cat language." Yukinoshita Haruno glanced at Tenkuji Yu. "So, that omnipotent system god really gave you the ability to speak animal language?"

Yuu Tenkuji nodded, then sighed enviously, "That's so great~ You can gain superpowers while kidnapping girls. Why wasn't I one of the chosen children?"

He looked surprised: "You also want to abduct girls?"

Yukinoshita tilted her head slightly, looking at him with a kind smile, without saying a word.

She felt immense pressure from that gaze, and within seconds, Tenkuji Yu raised her arm as if in defeat.

"If I didn't have those superpowers, you wouldn't even give me a second glance, would you?"

Hearing him say that, Yukino Yukinoshita also recalled that the opportunity for her to take this rental boyfriend seriously seemed to be when he crushed her in those competitions.

If Yuu Tenkuji were just an ordinary person with no special talents, would she still love him as much as she does now?

After a moment's hesitation, Yukino Yukinoshita gave up on thinking about it—she didn't like the obvious answer.

I can easily tell superficial lies, but right now, I don't want to say them to him.

"After all, I'm just a realistic woman."

She laughed self-deprecatingly, but gripped his hand even tighter: "Just this once, I'll thank the system that brought you to me and gave me the chance to fall in love with you—thank it for negating so many 'ifs' and 'what ifs,' bringing two equally inferior people together."

“Yes…” Tenkuji Yu chuckled softly, her gaze warm as she watched the two people chatting with the gray-spotted kitten in the pet shop.

Then, not long after, Yukinoshita Haruno pointed and smiled at the pink-haired girl who had just run into the pet store, carrying a dachshund.

"Look, that's your girlfriend too."

Yui Yuigahama.

Having regained his memories from this period, Yuu Tenkuji naturally knew who she was—the girl who had confessed to him before. They went to the same junior high school and only started to get closer again after they became classmates in their second year of high school.

In addition, Yukino Yukinoshita also spoke to him very seriously last night:

"You have a girlfriend, but we came in before we could notify her after you fell into a coma..."

"Her name is Yui Yuigahama, and she's the girl who loves you more than anyone else. I hope you'll remember her soon."

Slightly distracted, Yuu gazed at the sixth... no, the seventh? girlfriend's profile, murmuring softly, "In the end, I still dated her..."

He thought that after rejecting her confession, they wouldn't even be able to be friends anymore... What exactly happened in between?

The thought that she might have to pass through four more of these "doors of memory" to revisit her turbulent love life made Yuu Tenkuji's feelings somewhat complicated.

"He doesn't even spare the women he's close to. He really is a sadistic guy like Yu."

Beside him, Yukinoshita Haruno nodded in sharp comment.

The scene unfolds as Yuu Tenkuji, in an attempt to prevent Haruno from making a sound and attracting Yui Yuigahama's attention, obfuscates their own thoughts by using a cage to cover their faces and forcefully kisses the girl with the bun hairstyle from behind.

That appearance was indeed grotesque.

Just to be on the safe side, let me ask first: I don't have any other girlfriends, do I?

Yang Nai laughed mockingly: "Only you know the answer to this question. You dare to ask me? Anyway, since I appeared, I've only ever dated and will only date you, this bastard boyfriend."

Tenkuji Yuu fell silent. He could never shake off the accusation of having multiple partners, and he was in the wrong no matter what he said.

The scene changes again.

After that, Yukino Yukinoshita took Tenkuji Yu on a spicy food adventure—going to various places to eat spicy food, and every time they parted, they would have a passionate exchange with each other using their tongues and lips, both inside and outside the car.

"Do you know why I kissed him so hard that day? It's because my parents arranged an arranged marriage for me with that siscon idiot, Koichiro Yuuki."

During the journey, the young woman next to me casually added some inside information.

“I really didn’t want to go, but at that time, I still had the idea of ​​sacrificing my own happiness for the sake of the family… If I didn’t do that, Yukino might go on a blind date with Yuuki or someone else in order to take on my responsibilities and prove that she is more mature than my older sister.”

"Thank you for your hard work." Tenkuji Yu put his arm around her shoulder and said jokingly, "You've protected this family, Haruno-neechan."

"Hmm?" Yukinoshita Haruno looked over with a smile, her tone very cheerful. "In that case, how about calling me that from now on? 'Haruno-neechan, please let me sleep with you~' or 'Haruno-neechan, please give me the key to your chastity belt~', I want to hear you say that."

Tenkuji Yu chuckled and let go of her hand.

"Then let's forget about it..."

And after that, the story begins with him traveling 131 kilometers to see her.

Yukino hugged his arm again, her eyes filled with reminiscence and warmth as she watched the two embracing on the manor terrace.

"That was probably the first time I realized I liked you, to the point that I wanted to change myself."

Tenkuji Yu asked, "Is it really that touching that I traveled all this way to see you?"

"Didn't I say before? Reality is so boring and cruel, a delicate girl like me can't survive without being a little romantic."

She closed her eyes, seemingly reliving her feelings at the time, and said with a soft laugh:

"And for girls, nothing is more romantic than 'When I miss you, no matter when or where, you are willing to come see me.'"

"Besides, at this point, our relationship is both fake and awkward... The fact that you took the initiative to come to me means that you've broken through that barrier and are no longer willing to be a fake boyfriend, right?"

"In that case, my older girlfriend can't hesitate any longer..."

At the very least, you have to be one step ahead of me.