I, the spiritual mentor of beautiful girls from all over the world

Yui Yuigahama's warm orange light was flashing intensely at this moment, filled with anticipation, adoration, and a hint of humble longing that "I want it but I don't deserve it."

Kasugano Sora's icy blue aura instantly contracted into the sharpest spikes, a kind of absolute possessiveness that said, "This was won by Onii-chan, so it is rightfully mine."

Lynn could even hear the crackling of electric sparks in the air.

He understood instantly.

There is only one trophy.

—And there are two people who yearn for it.

Conclusion: A second prize must be created.

And it must be done 'jointly' by them.

Transforming a 'competitive relationship' into a 'cooperative relationship' is the only way to resolve current conflicts at the lowest cost and lay the foundation for future relationships.

"Ugh, this has become troublesome."

He sighed inwardly before speaking in a gentle tone.

"Hmm... one seems a bit difficult to allocate."

He weighed the Shiba Inu in his hand, glanced at the two girls, and then tilted his head toward another claw machine next to him.

Inside, there were piles of pure white rabbit plush toys.

"Wouldn't it be better to have them keep each other company?"

This suggestion stunned both girls.

Lynn didn't give them time to react and directly stuffed a new game coin into Yui Yuigahama's hand.

"Yuhihama-kun, you take over."

Then, he looked at Qiong.

"Qiong, you take command."

The most awkward "two-person concerto" in history officially began under Lynn's forced arrangement.

……

"...Move the joystick to the left, offset... by 1.5 degrees, not... wobbling!" Qiong's voice was cold, but the end of her voice carried a hint of anxiety that she herself didn't even realize.

(This idiot... will affect Onii-chan's opinion of me!)

"I'm so sorry! I felt it was already very light..." Yui Yuigahama moved the joystick shakily. "Ah, my hand is shaking!"

(Damn it! Why do my hands become so unruly in front of Xiaoqiong?! I want to do well in front of the teacher too!)

"...Start over."

"...I said...to align with...the label!"

"Yeah, sorry!"

Under the calm, almost harsh, command of Sora and the flustered, nervous operation of Yui Yuigahama, one game coin after another was wasted.

Each failure was like a heavy hammer blow to their equally fragile self-esteem.

After failing yet again due to Yui's shaky hands, a hint of uncontrollable frustration finally surfaced on Sora's cold profile.

She lowered her hand from her commanding position, took a half step back, and said in a detached, factual tone:

"……never mind."

"You can not."

These seemingly casual words, like an icicle, instantly pierced through all of Yui Yuigahama's efforts and pretense.

Her eyes reddened, and she almost cried.

Just as this awkward partnership was about to break down, Lynn's lazy voice rang out again.

"Hey……"

He shook his head and said in a tired tone, "Sora, your plan is fine, but you overlooked the biggest variable—'Yuihama-san's uncertainty principle'."

"So don't hold her to the same standards you hold yourself to, or you'll go crazy before she does."

He then looked at Yui Yuigahama, who was on the verge of tears, and said in a tone full of indulgence, "Also, since it's a collaboration, you should trust Sora and act directly based on her voice."

"Trust me, this will increase the success rate."

This seemingly equal criticism actually acted like a precise scalpel, cutting open the festering sore called "incompatibility" between the two.

[The last game coin]

"Inhale, exhale." For the first time, Qiong's voice carried a subtle hint of calm, a result of adjusting her strategy.

Instead of issuing precise instructions down to the millimeter, she opted for more vague instructions that were more suitable for Yui.

Yui Yuigahama nodded heavily. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and when she opened them again, her eyes held a resolute focus.

"It's now."

Qiong's voice rang out.

Yui Yuigahama suddenly pressed the button!

The metal claw swooped down, and this time, without the slightest tremor, it precisely grabbed the white rabbit's ear.

Everyone held their breath at that moment.

The claws rose slowly and moved steadily.

With a crisp "click," the pure white rabbit doll successfully fell to the ground.

It worked!

"We did it! Kyō!"

Yui Yuigahama blushed with excitement. She turned around abruptly, wanting to share this hard-won joy with Lynn. Her bright eyes sparkled with a light more dazzling than all the neon lights in the arcade combined.

At the same time, Qiong, who was standing next to her, was bending down and intently taking the rabbit plush toy that belonged to their "shared victory" from the exit of the claw machine.

Lynn frowned almost imperceptibly as he watched Yui Yuigahama nearly jump up and cheer.

--trouble.

He foresaw that any word she uttered in the next second could instantly shatter the sense of "cooperation" that Qiong had just established.

He didn't speak, but calmly reached out and gently, without any ambiguity, touched Yui Yuigahama's smooth forehead with his index finger, stopping her from rushing forward.

The movement was very light, yet it carried an undeniable force of restraint.

"Shhh."

He uttered only one word, but his always languid eyes held a hint of a smile that said, "Well done, but that's enough."

Yui Yuigahama's brain completely shut down.

Her body froze instantly; all sound and light vanished from her at that moment.

The world was left with only the lingering touch on her forehead, still warm from his fingertips, and the affirmation and intimacy contained in that one word that only she could understand.

Her cheeks, at a speed visible to the naked eye, changed from pink to a crimson more radiant than the sunset.

"Yui? What's wrong?"

Sora straightened up, holding the soft white rabbit doll, and looked at Yui Yuigahama with some curiosity.

Seeing Yui Yuigahama's unfocused eyes, flushed cheeks, and sleepwalking-like dazed appearance, she assumed she was simply overjoyed at this hard-won "shared victory."

There's really nothing you can do against her.

As Qiong thought this to herself, a hint of the victor's superiority, which she herself was unaware of, curled up at the corner of her lips.

Holding the rabbit, she walked back to Lynn's side and naturally took his arm.

Lynn's expression remained unchanged, as if nothing had happened.

He took the rabbit from Qiong's hand and then picked up the Shiba Inu he had caught at the beginning.

Then, he handed the adorable Shiba Inu to Yui Yuigahama, who was still in a daze.

"This is what you deserve."

Then, he handed the pure white rabbit, which they had "jointly" won, to Qiong.

"This is proof of your cooperation."

When I left the game center, the atmosphere was completely different from when I arrived.

Yui Yuigahama hugged the Shiba Inu plush toy tightly to her chest, her face beaming with a silly yet genuinely bright smile, her steps unsteady as if she were walking on clouds.

Although Qiong still had no expression, the hand she was holding the new rabbit unconsciously relaxed a lot, no longer the tense and wary posture.

The night breeze was cool, dispelling the daytime heat.

The three walked home, their shadows stretched and overlapped on the ground by the neon lights.

Qiong still habitually linked arms with Lynn's left arm, a position she used to assert her dominance.

This time, when Yui Yuigahama blushed and walked cautiously and tentatively to Lynn's right, Sora only glanced at her but did not show any rejection.

Lynn looked at the two girls on his left and right. In his [Emotional Perception], the two distinct emotional spectra that could have clashed at any moment were now connected by a faint golden thread representing "shared memories".

Although it is still very fragile, it does exist.

He thought to himself, "The trouble level has been downgraded from 'explosive at any moment' to 'slightly unstable.' Looks like tonight's dinner wasn't a waste of money."

Chapter 74: The School Festival Problem Three: Ruthless Capital Manipulation

Soubu High School, Service Department Activity Room.

There are five days left until the official opening of the school festival.

A wonderful atmosphere filled the air, one that felt both comforting and irresistibly intriguing.

Yui Yuigahama hugged the adorable Shiba Inu plush toy, a silly, genuinely happy smile on her face.

Every now and then, she would steal a glance at Qiong beside her, her eyes looking as if she were admiring a lost treasure that had been found again.

Then, as if remembering something, she took out a small bag of limited-edition cookies with the same animal pattern from her schoolbag and presented it to the silver-haired girl like a treasure.

"Xiao Qiong, this is for you!"

Kasugano Sora's gaze lingered on the doll in her arms for half a second, then looked at the bag of cookies, before finally meeting Yuihama's expectant eyes.

That icy aura that kept people at a distance miraculously melted away.

She reached out her little hand, took it, and softly said, "...Thank you."

Hachiman Hikigaya, holding a cup of MAX coffee, silently observed the scene before him, which could be described as "the most incredible of the seven mysteries of Soubu High School in this century," with his rotten, dead fish eyes.

Yui Yuigahama and Kasugano Sora, who were at odds yesterday, are now... sitting side by side intimately.

He felt that his proud knowledge of observation and sociology of human beings seemed so pale in the face of this scene.

Is the relationship between girls some kind of quantum entanglement?

Yesterday it was in a collapsed state of "war", and today it has jumped to a superposition state of "peace".

What exactly happened that was enough to overturn our worldview?

He would rather solve a complex math problem than analyze the illogical changes in the relationships between the girls.

On the other side, Yukino Yukinoshita was holding a cup of black tea, her posture elegant, her cool eyes scanning back and forth between Yuihama and Sora, her gaze sparkling with a probing light.

Inside her mind, a vast database was operating at breakneck speed.

[Sample A: Yui Yuigahama's emotional state changed from 'guilt' and 'loss' to 'joy' and 'satisfaction'.]

[Sample B: Kasugano Sora, the exclusionary barrier has loosened, and her tolerance for Sample A has significantly increased.]

[Conclusion: Within the past 24 hours, there must have been a highly effective external intervention that, in an unknown but extremely gentle way, reshaped their relationship model.]

[Most likely: Teacher Lynn.]

When she thought of that man, Yukino Yukinoshita no longer thought of conspiracy theories, but rather a pure curiosity akin to solving a mystery.

How on earth did he do it?

This deadlock cannot be resolved by preaching or coercion.