They all have hidden attributes!

“I have no doubt that you are different from them and would not lie to me,” [Love] said.

Uesugi Maya did not respond. She walked straight to the tram station through the wet street, her fair and delicate face expressionless.

[Love] chased after her, arriving at the long-missed tram station. He sat down on a bench on the platform, looked up at the sky, and said:

"I've seen many confessions of love. If someone sends a love letter and agrees to a date, it means they're also interested in a relationship. As long as you're bold enough to confess, you'll get the desired result."

"You sent him a book, of course he'll keep the appointment, and his heart will be pounding so hard it'll hurt. You don't have a heart condition, do you?"

Maya Uesugi stood silently in front of the platform, waiting for the streetcar, her words still chattering on and on, until the red carriage slowly came to a stop in front of her.

"You don't care at all whether they lied to you or not."

After Uesugi Maya said that, [love] shattered into butterflies shimmering in the sunlight, and flew away with the wind whipped up by the train.

She walked into the carriage alone, took out disinfectant wipes from the pocket of her pleated skirt, wiped the handrails, and stood in her usual spot to wait for departure.

The electric bell rang, and the tram slowly moved forward along the tracks. Sunlight streamed through the windows, casting tall, slender shadows on the ground.

Let's go to the supermarket; there are no groceries in the apartment.

For dinner, we'll have tamagoyaki (Japanese rolled omelet) and beef rice. As for vegetables, the asparagus is fresh and tender this season, while the rapeseed flowers will turn bitter and astringent in a few days, so we'll fry them into tempura.

Just as I was thinking about these things, the train arrived at Kishimojin-mae Station. After getting off, the sunlight was even more intense than in Shinjuku.

Maya Uesugi started shopping at the supermarket, and as she crossed the pedestrian overpass carrying her shopping bags, her heart gradually grew cold.

She sighed, thinking to herself that this was exactly the kind of person she was.

As I entered the apartment building lobby, I encountered the building manager.

"good evening."

The building manager greeted him warmly with a smile, but Uesugi Maya nodded indifferently and stepped into the elevator, where the light was cold.

The elevator went up, stopped, and the doors opened. Uesugi Maya walked to her front door; the light in the hallway was also cold.

She pushed open the door and said coldly, "I'm back."

Welcome home.

In the living room with the curtains drawn, Makoto Takahashi lay on a beanbag chair, watching a movie on a projector.

"I used to think that movies should be watched alone."

Maya Uesugi took off her shoes, walked into the living room, placed the shopping bag in her hand on the coffee table, and shifted her gaze to the screen: "That way it's more focused, and I can savor it more carefully after it's over."

"Do you still prefer watching alone?" Makoto Takahashi asked.

"Do you prefer watching it alone or with others?" Maya Uesugi asked in return.

"I prefer to share my thoughts with you after watching it."

After saying that, Makoto Takahashi picked up the book beside him, turned to a page, and began to read: "Next, you will say that we have never shared popcorn, but couples in the movie theater always do it, and you don't think it makes sense."

Uesugi Maya stood frozen in place, watching him lie on the sofa, reading aloud from his book by the light of the changing screen.

Makoto Takahashi's face was like the tip of an iceberg in the shadows, and his voice was gentle: "You stand here and listen to me read the book you wrote, look at my face like the tip of an iceberg, and recall the lonely days of the past, and think about how those painful memories have faded away."

"You want an older brother or a younger brother, a father or a child, a master or a slave, a close friend or a nemesis, an accomplice or a toy."

"You remember me saying you have the potential to be a cat, so your heart pounds painfully, your body becomes restless, and you're about to blurt out—"

As Uesugi Maya watched him get up from the sofa, her steps suddenly faltered, and she blurted out, "I love you."

She suddenly felt a little uncomfortable, not wanting to admit that she had written it herself; she felt embarrassed and afraid of being called childish.

"I'm sorry."

Makoto Takahashi walked up to her and continued reading: "But I must say, even if I break free from your book, I will not speak according to every word you have written, because [love] is in the present tense."

Something seemed to flutter and flash past my eyes, probably a butterfly or something.

Maya Uesugi turned around, a slight smile playing on her lips, her heart filled with waves of love.

Makoto Takahashi dropped the book in his hand, grabbed her arm and pulled her into his embrace. The warm scent of cedarwood wafted from her black hair, gently caressing his nostrils.

"Before she became my cat, we were lovers first."

"I am yours."

Uesugi Maya felt relieved, but then her lips were suddenly taken away. Faced with Takahashi Makoto's unyielding aura, she struggled to protest with her eyes: "Wait, I still have to make dinner."

Without a word, Makoto Takahashi picked up Maya Uesugi and carried her to the bedroom, pushing her down onto the bed. This sudden action left Maya Uesugi completely bewildered.

Makoto Takahashi's gaze froze as he looked down at her, a hint of menace in his eyes.

"Wait, so now we need to..." Uesugi Maya swallowed, her body burning up, making her thoughts sluggish.

Makoto Takahashi held down her wrists with one hand and stroked Maya Uesugi's thigh with the other. The pleated skirt offered little protection, easily making her put on a shameful yet fierce look.

"A-Ye, you overestimate my patience."

Makoto Takahashi gave her a slightly teasing smile and kissed her neck.

Seeing the slight anxiety in his eyes, Uesugi Maya hugged Takahashi Makoto's head, revealing an ambiguous smile, letting him do as he pleased.

......

In the dimly lit room, where the sunlight was blocked by the curtains, an atmosphere of mingled tension filled the air, and the newly turned-on air conditioner exhaled a gentle breeze as if sighing.

Uesugi Maya lay weakly and breathlessly on Takahashi Makoto's chest, her disheveled school uniform unable to conceal her slender figure, her snow-white skin exposed to the sweltering air.

After letting out a hot sigh, she looked down at her body. The scene was more sensual than she had imagined, and a strange sense of happiness ran down her spine.

My mood was even more pleasant than I had imagined.

Looking up at Takahashi Makoto's satisfied expression, Uesugi Maya asked in a deliberately indifferent tone, "What do you usually talk about with them at times like this?"

"A topic so bland that it has no emotion whatsoever."

"Then share your thoughts."

"Impressions..."

Makoto Takahashi lowered his head, meeting her alluring gaze, and said with a serious expression, "You're even softer than I imagined. I never thought you could make such a charming voice."

"Mmm." Uesugi Maya made a faint nasal sound, closing her eyes to listen to his heartbeat.

"Her hair feels smooth and comfortable to the touch, her legs are toned and beautiful, and her bust is well-proportioned. Not only her figure, but her appearance also suits my taste."

As he spoke, Makoto Takahashi stroked her long black hair, her cheek, and her neck.

Realizing that this was the truth, Uesugi Maya suddenly felt hot all over and fell into a feverish daze: "Mmm."

I always felt it was unreal, but I didn't dislike this dreamlike feeling.

After a while, she managed to muster her remaining sanity and raised her hand to touch the hickey on her neck: "It's like I've been marked."

"Shall we go take a shower?" Takahashi Makoto asked.

"Let me hug you a little longer." Uesugi Maya rubbed her cheek against his chest a couple of times in a coquettish manner.

After a while, she murmured languidly, "It's almost time for the sun to set."

"I don't really want to cook dinner."

"Let her do it." Uesugi Maya held a grudge as always.

"Are you sure?" Makoto Takahashi asked, amused.

"Never mind, she's your girlfriend too."

Maya Uesugi promptly found a way to save face, being even more obedient than expected.

"Order takeout? Or go out to eat," Makoto Takahashi suggested.

Uesugi Maya had no choice but to change her position, lazily lying on him, enjoying the feeling of being embraced with a sense of fullness that seemed to fill the void in her heart.

In the contented silence, the setting sun cast a darker hue through the curtains.

Suddenly, Uesugi Maya hugged Takahashi Makoto tightly, raised her face, and looked at him with incredibly sincere eyes, her gaze revealing no hint of joking: "Will you ever start to dislike me someday?"

Why would you ask that?

“On my way home from school, I overheard a few girls chatting, and sometimes I felt like I was being too heavy-hearted.”

Maya Uesugi paused for a moment, then briefly recounted the conversations she had with several girls. Makoto Takahashi brushed aside the messy black hair on her face and commented:

"I'm not that stupid. Besides, I've always thought that your emotional outbursts are even cuter than usual."

"is it?"

Uesugi Maya used her fingertips to dab the marks he had left on her body and put them in her mouth: "It's so bitter, it tastes awful, and it's stuck in my throat."

Faced with her sudden action, Takahashi Makoto looked bewildered: "Yo, what are you doing?"

"Although I hate it, I still want to try it because you went to so much trouble for me. That's the kind of woman I am."

Maya Uesugi swallowed hard, giving him a blatant look of disgust, her voice gradually turning cold: "But, you like this kind of thing, don't you?"

"That's true."

"Scum, pests, vulgarity."

"Aye, I can't calm down at all when you say that."

"whispering sound."

......

The next morning, Makoto Takahashi and Maya Uesugi walked briskly out of their house.

The sky was cloudless and a clear, deep blue, as if reflecting the two people's state of mind. Even the unchanging street scene looked somewhat different.

Although Tachibana Yuki said he would bully Uesugi Maya, once he realized that their relationship had changed, he simply didn't show up. He even took a whole day off from school under the pretext of work.

I expect something interesting will happen when I get home tonight.

Makoto Takahashi was thinking to himself as he took the streetcar to school with Maya Uesugi. Maya Uesugi tried her best to act as usual, keeping a cold face to hide her inner thoughts.

Good morning, Acheng.

As soon as Takahashi Seijin walked into the classroom through the front door, he was grabbed by Nekoya Hina: "You look great today, did something good happen?"

"No," Maya Uesugi answered for him.

"If you say no, then no." Takahashi Makoto hesitated briefly, then pulled out a chair and sat down in his seat.