This is not the date I wanted.

"I see... Then at least let me take you to the lounge."

After hearing what Tohka said, Mengyue was somewhat hesitant.

She originally planned to say that she didn't need to worry, but seeing Tohka's firm attitude of not giving in, Meng Yue sighed and honestly accepted the other party's kindness.

"It's just past ten o'clock... Yeah, I'll trouble you then, Tohka. To be honest, my legs are still a little weak right now."

"Hmm!"

Slowly helping Mengyue to a nearby lounge, Tohka placed Mengyue on the bench and walked to the vending machine.

"Mengyue, would you like something to drink?"

"Ah...then I'll have hot coffee. Please don't choose something too bitter."

Meng Yue hugged her shoulders with both hands and answered with a slight tremor. She didn't feel it at first, but now her soaked clothes seemed to absorb the surrounding heat, making her feel a little cold.

"I see. I'll choose juice then. Um... coffee, coffee——"

After putting the pocket money that Kotori had given her into the coin slot, Tohka looked at the menu on the screen with some confusion. After pressing the button, two cans of drinks fell out with a "clang".

"Sorry Mengyue, I haven't had much coffee, so I don't know which one is not bitter."

"It's okay, I don't need to worry about it."

Meng Yue took the black can of coffee labeled "Espresso" from Tohka and looked at her guilty expression. She knew that she didn't mean it and was not very angry.

She opened the can, and the bitter hot coffee rolled down her throat into her stomach. The warmth gradually filled her whole body, making Mengyue feel a lot more relaxed.

"Ah... I'm finally alive."

Her shoulders slowly relaxed, and Meng Yue felt speechless as she thought back to the stupid thing she had just done.

In fact, what Lingyin said was nothing big. As long as Shidou succeeded in falling in love with her, it would be a good thing for her no matter when. The worst case scenario would be if Shidou never fell in love with her from beginning to end.

However, just now he tried to excuse himself by saying "I can't help it because I want to save Shidou", but the next moment he was slapped hard by Reine's reply. His head instantly became hotter than ever before and froze. He was confused for a moment and...

(Ah… my lifelong reputation, I really want to forget it…)

When Meng Yue recalled the tragic scene at that time, she couldn't help but cover her head in annoyance.

"Um, that... Meng Yue."

Suddenly, Tohka's voice brought Mengyue back to her senses. She realized that the innocent and cheerful girl in her impression was now a little depressed, looking at her with an expression that seemed to want to say something but was hesitant.

"What's wrong, Tohka? Are you in trouble?"

Could it be that she was at a loss as to how to make Shidao's heart beat? Meng Yue guessed.

This is not surprising. As the last person, you will inevitably feel that the key to success or failure falls on yourself. It is common to feel uneasy and stressed about whether you have done well.

After taking a sip of coffee, he patiently waited for Tohka to finish organizing her words while thinking of words of guidance and encouragement.

“Ah, that—”

After a long time, Tohka seemed to have finally made up her mind. She raised her head and looked at Mengyue and spoke.

"Did Mengyue and Shidao kiss just now?"

"puff----------------------------!"

The coffee that she was about to drink sprayed out instantly. Fortunately, Mengyue turned her head away in an instant, otherwise Tohka's dress would have been completely dirty.

"Cough-cough-"

"Mengyue, are you okay?!"

Tohka asked in shock, and hurriedly patted Mengyue's shoulder to help her calm down.

"No, it's okay..."

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I bumped into you accidentally when I was looking for you guys. I didn't mean to peek. I just wanted to apologize to you. If you're angry, Mengyue..."

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!"

Suddenly straightening up, Mengyue shook her head desperately, interrupting Tohka's words.

"Tohka, listen to me first."

Taking a deep breath, Mengyue looked directly into Tohka's eyes. Seeing those eyes, as crystal clear as amethyst, were now filled with confusion and uneasiness, Mengyue felt a deep sense of guilt.

"This is just a misunderstanding! Although Shidou and I looked like we were kissing just now, we weren't actually kissing!"

"Eh? Um—it looks like they're kissing? But they're not actually kissing? So what's going on?"

Seeing that Shixiang was confused, Mengyue quickly tore off a piece of transparent tape from the hem of her skirt and explained to Shixiang,

"That's it. I hid the transparent tape inside the folds of my skirt and used it to block the kiss. So it wasn't a kiss, it was just a fake kiss I deliberately put on to make Shidou's heart flutter. It wasn't real!!"

"This, this is it."

After Mengyue's desperate explanation, Shixiang finally understood the whole story.

"I'm sorry, Mengyue, I didn't understand anything and misunderstood you..."

Tohka lowered her head guiltily.

"No, it's my fault. I did something so confusing. It's really nice of you to listen to my explanation."

Slowly letting out a sigh of relief, Meng Yue replied with a wry smile.

To be honest, I was almost in a cold sweat. It's great that Tohka is such a considerate girl.

"..."

Tohka didn't say anything, but pursed her lips in silence, lowered her head and looked quietly at the can on her knees.

"Um... Meng Yue... When I saw you and Shidou kissing, I don't know why... my chest... hurt..."

"Well--!"

"I know that helping Shidou is the most important thing. Meng Yue did that just to help Shidou, but I was... so scared that I couldn't even make a sound... It seemed that somewhere in my mind kept saying, this is not real, why wasn't I the one standing in front of Shidou?"

"Forehead--"

"Just now, when I heard Mengyue say that it wasn't a real kiss, I was very happy for a moment, thinking from the bottom of my heart... It's really great that we didn't kiss..."

"what……"

"Whether it's Shidou or Mengyue, they are both my favorite people. But, but - even though it's like this, I still can't help but have such terrible feelings. I hate this, I hate myself like this. On earth... why did it turn out like this? Mengyue... Eh? Mengyue, Mengyue, what's wrong with you?!"

Seeing him kneel down on the ground without knowing when, Tohka asked in panic.

"Ah...my stomach, my stomach hurts so much..."

Meng Yue's face turned pale as she covered her stomach and groaned.

"S-Sorry... It's all because of what I said..."

"No...it's okay...it's not Tohka's fault..."

Seeing Tohka who was so anxious that she was about to cry, Mengyue smiled dryly and waved her hand to indicate that it was okay.

To be honest, if the other party was just playing a joke, Mengyue would not feel much. Rather, it was because Tohka, who did not know the world, said such words that Mengyue was really hurt.

Especially, hearing Tohka say this after confessing to Shidou... ah, this is not good, my stomach...

"Huh...huh..."

After taking a few deep breaths, Meng Yue finally recovered.

To be honest, although she could still vaguely feel a little pain in her stomach, Meng Yue knew that she had other things to do than to deal with her stomachache.

"Tohka..."

Meng Yue opened her mouth several times wanting to comfort the other person, but every time the words came to her lips, she couldn't help but hold them back.

——What's wrong? This doesn't look like Tohka.

——Tohka’s smile is still the most suitable.

——Shidou certainly wouldn't want to see Tohka crying.

These words are fucking bullshit!

These are more like restraints than comforts.

Indeed, Tohka is a cheerful, well-behaved, and cute girl. But that doesn't mean she won't worry, be distressed, or cry.

I just don’t want to make other people worry, I don’t want to be a burden to other people, and I don’t want to make people who are already exhausted worry about me. That’s why I keep all these in my heart and greet everyone with the sunniest smile.

Yatogami Tohka is not a fierce and cruel elf. No one is like that. She is just an ordinary girl in adolescence.

Liangyi Mengyue had always thought that she knew this very well, but now it seems that it was just her own arrogance.

Humans are emotional creatures. So even if reason tells us what is right and what is wrong, the emotions accumulated in our hearts will continue to be suppressed and accumulated, and will eventually burst out like a geyser.

This is the same for both Tohka and Shidou.

(What on earth are you going to say?)

Mengyue couldn't help but think in distress.

It would be very simple to just fool around, but I couldn't bear to let Tohka continue to be confused and distressed over such a simple matter.

(In fact, if you don’t have a correct understanding of this kind of thing, you will become a yandere if you are not careful.)

Trying to imagine the scene of Tohka turning evil, Mengyue couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat on his forehead.

Mengyue sighed, stood up and touched Shixiang's head.

"It's okay. You don't have to hate yourself."

"...Meng Yue?"

Tohka looked at Mengyue in confusion.

"You just like Shidou too much. You like him so much that you want to be with him. It's as simple as that."

"Do you like her? But I also like Mengyue and everyone. Hmm - I dislike Tobiichi Origami, but if I have to say, I still like her. But this seems to be a little different from Shidou's liking..."

Unable to comprehend the difference, Tohka scratched her head in annoyance.

"really like?"

"Yeah! This is it, I really like it!"

Tohka nodded quickly.

"That's right. No matter who you are, there is always a unique person in your heart. That's called special love. It's better to say that there is a universal lover who can love everyone equally. That's really wrong with the brain."

Meng Yue replied with a somewhat teasing tone.

"So... Meng Yue, do you also like Shidao particularly?"

Tohka couldn't help but ask curiously.

"...Yeah. Maybe my likes are the same as yours, Tohka."

After a moment's silence, Meng Yue did not deny it and nodded slightly.

"So, I can tell you with certainty that this is not a bad thing. It is a very precious token of your heart. Tohka, try to look at it squarely and ask it, what do you really want?"

"What do I want..."

Following Yugetsu's advice, Tohka closed her eyes, placed her hands on her chest, and silently chanted in her mind.

"I... want to be with Shidou, I want Shidou to always be by my side..."

Slowly opening her eyes, Tohka answered solemnly,

"Besides, I also want Shidou to be happy."

In an instant, Tohka felt something suddenly clear. This feeling was closely connected to the desire to help Shidou, and she understood it strangely in her heart.

Looking at Tohka like this, Mengyue gently pushed her back as if to feel relieved.

"Then, Shidou will be left to you from now on. Okay, Tohka?"

"Mmm! Leave it to me! Thank you Meng Yue!"

After replying with full of energy, Tohka set off with full enthusiasm.

"call--------------------------"

After watching Tohka leave, Mengyue felt as if her whole body had fallen apart and she breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Well, let's change out of this wet dress... and then go to the infirmary to find some stomach medicine..."