A guide to survival in a heavy girl's world

Although the development of the matter was completely beyond her control, there was no annoyance of being contradicted in Mori Minami's expression.

Her rejection of Xiangzi's choice was essentially a denial of her judgment at her age, ultimately seeking to prevent her from making irresponsible choices about her own life. But given the current situation, if she continued to obstruct her, not only would she be unable to bring Xiangzi back on the right path, she might even force her toward the worst possible outcome...

This is putting the cart before the horse. Even the most rigid and authoritarian parents only want their children to obey them, not to completely destroy them.

"..."

On the other side, Ruo Yemu was staring blankly at the door, his eyes filled with indescribable emotions.

"...It seems that I really made a mess of things this time."

After seeing her daughter's expression, Mori Minami sighed slightly.

"Chihaya Tetsuya... I'm afraid I'll hear this name again even if I try to avoid it."

As expected, it’s better not to tell the Toyokawa family for now.

Whether it's for Xiangzi or for...

"Ugh……"

Realizing that she might have accidentally opened a "Pandora's Box", Mori Minami couldn't help but shook her head heavily.

……

"Come to think of it, why did you suddenly start calling me Xiangzi?"

"Because...if I continue to call her Toyokawa, it's very likely that Ms. Morinami will look down on our relationship..."

"In other words, it's to appear closer to me, right?"

"……kindness."

"That's it..."

The smile on Toyokawa Shoko's face became even brighter.

"Then, it should be okay if I call you Tetsuya-kun?"

"no problem……"

Compared to the lively Shoko Toyokawa, Chihaya Tetsuya's reaction seemed very slow.

It was obvious that he had not yet recovered from the series of declarations made by Toyokawa Shoko.

But no matter what, there is only one thing he can clearly realize -

"Xiangzi."

"kindness?"

"When did you start to like me..."

Although Toyokawa Shoko did not say this word explicitly, Chihaya Tetsu could not be so stupid as to not recognize those words which were far more sincere than a confession.

Toyokawa Shoko, who had her feelings confessed directly, did not feel shy at all, but admitted it very frankly:

"From the first time we met."

"……Eh?"

Chihaya Tetsuya couldn't help but be taken aback, and then he quickly asked hesitantly:

"Wait, wait, the first meeting is about to begin? But...eh?"

Chihaya Tetsu, whose only concept in his mind was "love grows over time", fell into incomprehensible confusion.

Facing Chihaya Tetsuya's completely stunned look, Toyokawa Shoko couldn't help but smile and explained:

"Lending a hand to a desperate girl is more deadly than you imagine, Tetsuya-kun. Even if you think it's just a simple apprenticeship of a relatively bright mind, to me it was a night far more dreamy than a fairy tale. Of course, you don't have to try to understand my feelings, just know that I fell in love with you at first sight."

"Even if you say so..."

Chihaya Tetsuya felt very embarrassed.

Having already had two girls confess their love to him, he was already at a loss as to how to deal with his future relationship. Now, Toyokawa Shoko's strong intrusion and her life-gambling remarks made this problem, which he had no idea how to deal with, become a complete mess.

Before she said that, Toyokawa Shoko had already thought that Chihaya Tetsu, who was very late in maturing in relationships, would also be confused by this. So before she returned to Chihaya Aine and Nagasaki Motoyo, she said:

"It's okay, Tetsuya-kun. You don't need to think about how to respond to me now. Or rather, I don't want you to respond now. We both have things we must do now. You still have to continue working hard for [StarrySky], and I have a new goal."

Her tone was quite carefree, not at all like that of a girl falling in love for the first time.

"It won't be too late to talk about this after we both realize the future we each desire."

"..."

Xiangzi's feelings for him are completely different from the passionate love and the light and soft love sound.

Her goal is not to get herself, nor is she looking forward to becoming closer to him, but a vision based solely on her personal opinions and looking to the future.

As she herself said, her purpose was to change his way of life and give him a completely different future.

As for what she would gain in the process and after she achieved this goal, Chihaya Tetsu had no idea. At this moment, Chihaya Tetsu only understood one thing, that is, this self-respecting and proud girl was unwilling to share even the slightest burden and pressure with herself.

Ah, right.

"...Um, Xiangzi, although you just said that I wanted to share the responsibility with you in order to maintain my own reason for survival. But...even putting that aside, I really need you."

Chihaya Tetsuya decided to unravel this fallacy a little.

"Whether it was the help you provided when I first designed clothes for Ai, or the design you drew for Su Shi, it was enough to prove your talent and value. So, even if you don't intend to let me get involved in your affairs, I will still regard you as my number one employee. This will never change."

He didn't want Toyokawa Shoko to misunderstand his motives as purely emotional. At the same time, he also hoped that his explanation could give this girl who was determined to bear everything on her own some encouragement.

The honest and straightforward Chihaya Tetsu will not tolerate even the slightest misunderstanding between himself and the people he cares about.

But... for Shoko Toyokawa, who had just made a confession that was even more heartbreaking than a marriage proposal, the timing of this explanation was really inappropriate.

"Zheya-kun, I've actually been wanting to tell you this for a long time... Don't suddenly say something that will make someone's heart flutter when they're finally trying to distance themselves from you."

She replied very seriously:

"It's already very difficult for us to stay within the bounds of morality and not take action against a fool like you who lacks common sense. I hope you can be more considerate of our feelings in the future."

"Eh? No, I just want to clear up the misunderstanding between us..."

"And then? This explanation has absolutely no effect other than making me more obsessed with you. After all, I never thought of you as that kind of person in the first place."

"This, this is it..."

Faced with Toyokawa Shoko who was a little "unhappy", Chihaya Tetsuya became more determined to review the whole day's events with Sankaku Hatsuka after returning home tonight.

(Girls' affairs...are still too difficult to understand.)

Looking at that deliberately straight profile, Chihayatetsu couldn't help but think so.

11

Chapter 11: The first step in understanding love.

[…As expected of you, you've managed to cause so many unexpected incidents in just a few days.]

The next day, after receiving the contact from Chihaya Tetsuya, Sankaku Hatsuka heard the whole story and gave her thoughts truthfully.

[But, I see, Xiaoxiang has finally made up her mind...]

"finally?"

Chihaya Tetsuya opened his mouth slightly when he heard this:

"You mean you already knew Xiangzi's feelings for me?"

【if not? 】

Hearing Chihaya Tetsuya's slightly surprised tone, Sankaku Hatsuka felt a little powerless.

"You're obviously so good at thinking of others, but think about this: if you were Xiangzi, and when you needed help the most, a reliable and handsome boy suddenly offered you a helping hand without expecting anything in return...it would be hard not to be moved in that situation, right?"

"So... before this, I always thought Xiangzi's feelings for me were just simple gratitude."

Chihaya Tetsuya said:

“As for her being of the opposite sex… because when we first met, the impression of ‘being the same age and attending the same school as Aine’ was so profound, I didn’t even consider that…”

【The three-year age difference is basically the same as that of peers. 】

Sankaku Hatsuka said this truth that she had always wanted to tell Chihaya Tetsuya.

[While it sounds like a huge gap between "high school students" and "college students" now, if you increase the number a bit to 20 and 23, or 30 and 33, there's basically no difference between people of the same age.]

"Indeed."

Chihaya Tetsuya sighed.

Now that I think about it, a big part of the reason for the current troublesome situation is that he was too careless.

If only I had realized earlier that the age difference between me and them wasn't an obstacle at all, if only I had realized sooner that my words and actions were causing all sorts of misunderstandings...

……

It seems... the result won't change at all, right?

Aiyin and Aiben fell in love with him because of their long-term interactions, and Xiangzi even fell in love with him at first sight when they first met. And if you think about it carefully, he was actually quite polite and restrained when interacting with everyone...

Unless he completely abandons his gentle and considerate side and faces them with a cold and ruthless attitude like a robot!

“…Chuhua.”

【What's wrong? 】

"Tell me, if I become a little more cold-blooded from now on, can I suppress their affection for me a little?"

【Snapped! 】

A very clear sound of someone slapping their forehead came from the microphone.

[Let's not even talk about whether you have the acting skills to do this since you can't even lie... Every girl you've come into contact with should already have a good understanding of your personality and character. If you suddenly become cold and aloof at this point, everyone will just think you're unwell or trying to act out some special tricks.]

"..."

After hearing this, Chihaya Tetsuya immediately gave up this unrealistic fantasy.

Indeed, these girls already deeply understood his way of dealing with people, and were fully aware of his personality and the logic of his actions. It was unrealistic to force them to change their impression of him now.

[In short, what has happened so far cannot be undone, but at least you can prepare for the future. Remember what I asked you before? Stop complimenting others so casually. Now I want to add one more thing: don't make any promises that could cause misunderstandings.]

Sanjiao Chuhua suggested very seriously:

"You're being too serious and too honest. If there's a miscommunication between the two of you, it'll become a messy situation of half truth and half misunderstanding. Just like this time... uh, no, Xiangzi probably didn't misunderstand me... but it's hard to say for others, so you still have to be careful!"

"Well..."

Chihaya Tetsu also took note of it very carefully.

"Is there anything else you want to change?"

[Also...how should I put it, I should improve my self-awareness.]

Sanjiao Chuhua made a brief analysis:

I don't know how you see yourself, but from my perspective, your looks, brains, personality, voice, and the added bonus of being a designer already make you a pretty ideal guy. Of course, I'm not saying this to deliberately lower your score, but you should at least recognize that you're a pretty... well... pretty attractive person.

Sanjiao Chuhua, who had never praised a boy like this before, had an unconcealable shyness in her tone.

[For example, after becoming idols, Ai and I have seen many male models and idols in the entertainment industry, but at least in our opinion...there is no one who can compare to you.]

"Hey, huh, is that so..."

Chihaya Tetsu also felt a little embarrassed after hearing this.

Because Chihaya Tetsuya never took himself too seriously, he had never really considered his own charm. Rather than relying on "attributes" like appearance and personality, he defined his own value more by his achievements as a designer.

However, since Sanjiao Chuhua has already reminded him of this, from now on he will try to include these things in his self-evaluation criteria.

"By the way, speaking of which, how are the rehearsals for your two Lives going?"

[The initial rehearsals and other preparations have been completed, and only the final rehearsal remains before the live performance next week.]

Sanjiao Chuhua replied:

"We both returned from Yokohama yesterday. Oh, and by the way, Ai might come directly to your new studio to find you."

"Eh? But my studio isn't finished decorating yet..."

Chihaya Tetsuya blinked: