'Splash, splash...'
'Splash, splash...'
The warm water flowed without stopping.
Lin Ye showered, feeling the warm water soaking every inch of his body. With his spirit now relaxed, the fatigue accumulated over the past days began to take the upper hand.
The Devour superpower had indeed absorbed the stimulating ingredients from mint, coffee, tea leaves, and so on, keeping him awake for two whole days.
But during that time, drowsiness had crept up on him more than once or twice.
And now, Mai Sakurajima had successfully recovered from the 'vanishing presence' anomaly, so naturally there was no need for him to keep torturing himself by staying awake.
There was no longer any reason to hold on.
His consciousness had let go,
waves of sleepiness kept surging up.
What Lin Ye had to do now was exactly what Mai Sakurajima had said — finish his shower and have a good, long sleep.
He was sleepy. He was tired. He just wanted to sleep well.
'Splash, splash...'
Lin Ye closed his eyes and scrubbed himself, savoring the comfort of the warm water pattering against his skin.
Meanwhile, in the room,
Mai Sakurajima looked at the ringing phone and at the name displayed on the caller ID. For a moment she had no idea what to do.
Pick it up, or not — or tell Lin Ye that Yukinoshita had called.
Going by a woman's sixth sense,
Mai Sakurajima was eighty percent sure that this call from Yukinoshita was because of the 'confession incident.'
Otherwise, how could it come, so coincidentally, at this exact moment?
She had to remember that during the few days she and Lin Ye had been living together and going out together, the phone calls from Yukinoshita could be counted on one hand, and even when calls did come, they never rang this persistently.
'Click...'
The phone stopped vibrating.
The waiting time was up, and the call automatically disconnected.
Mai Sakurajima suddenly let out a breath of relief.
Right now, she truly had no idea what kind of emotional reaction Yukino Yukinoshita would have upon finding out.
Although Mai Sakurajima still harbored a faint fantasy that Yukino Yukinoshita might not have recognized the male lead of the incident as Lin Ye, while other people might have failed to make that connection, Yukino Yukinoshita absolutely could not have.
After all, Yukino Yukinoshita had herself been a participant — caught up in Lin Ye's act of helping her. For her to fail to link the male lead of the incident to Lin Ye would have been the strange thing.
She was certain Yukino Yukinoshita's emotional intelligence wasn't that low.
Mai Sakurajima stared at the phone, the screen now dark, waiting for it to ring a second time.
Only,
the second call she had anticipated didn't come for the longest time, and this instead plunged Mai Sakurajima into self-doubt.
"Could it be that I guessed wrong?"
Maybe Yukino Yukinoshita had just happened to call?
Mai Sakurajima couldn't help but think so.
'Click...'
The bathroom door opened.
Lin Ye stepped out wrapped in a bathrobe, both hands using a towel to dry his soaking hair.
"Senpai, you can go take your shower now."
"I'll go take mine later."
"Mm."
Lin Ye found the hair dryer and started drying his hair.
"Whirr, whirr, whirr..."
The hair dryer kept blowing.
Within less than five seconds, Lin Ye noticed Mai Sakurajima had walked over to his side. "Let me help you."
As she said this, Mai Sakurajima took the hair dryer from Lin Ye's hand on her own initiative.
Lin Ye knew this was Senpai's way of repaying him — paying him back like this.
"Senpai,"
"If you've got something to say, just say it. Don't bring up anything lewd — that's a waste of time."
"Tch."
"Hehe."
Their eyes met, both of them wearing a faint smile.
This could be counted as their everyday teasing fun.
"Senpai, with you taking care of me like this, if I can't live without Senpai in the future, Senpai has to take responsibility!"
At that very instant, Mai Sakurajima's hand trembled.
This guy was saying that on purpose, wasn't he!?
"There's no chance for me to take responsibility — someone already has a pretty fiancée."
Mai Sakurajima was, more than anything, hoping to confirm Lin Ye's attitude toward Yukino Yukinoshita.
She wanted to know what kind of stance Lin Ye currently held toward Yukino Yukinoshita.
"Quasi-fiancée. Of course, her becoming my fiancée in the future isn't impossible either — it all depends on how Yukino and I interact and get along from now on."
This relationship had been defined that way from the very beginning.
If their interactions didn't suit each other, the two of them would go back to their original, normal relationship.
Although, in Lin Ye's view, once a man and a woman had had a romantic relationship, restoring it back to a normal friendship was almost impossible.
Their distance from each other from that point on would only grow ever wider, ever more estranged.
Lin Ye thought of that scene and felt some regret, but if it really did come to that, he could accept it.
After all, he couldn't force a girl to keep interacting with him!?
Forcing it would be useless — it would only further provoke Yukino Yukinoshita's rebellious streak.
At least on this aspect of Yukinoshita's psychology, Lin Ye was quite confident.
Mai Sakurajima picked up the subtext in Lin Ye's words.
Their relationship wasn't as intimate or solid as she had imagined, and Lin Ye didn't have any absolute, burning intention to end up with Yukino Yukinoshita.
True enough,
after all, this guy Lin Ye was on close terms with Ai Hoshino — they had even been to a love hotel together.
If things with Yukino Yukinoshita didn't work out, Lin Ye would naturally accept it without obsessing or clinging.
This kind of thinking made Mai Sakurajima feel somewhat uncomfortable. On one hand, she wanted Lin Ye to persevere, to have an unwavering will — if he could give up so easily now, then next time he could just as easily give up another girl.
But if Lin Ye refused to give up, where would other girls get their chance?
She was conflicted — she didn't know what she really hoped Lin Ye would do.
"Does Senpai want Yukino and me to end up together?"
"That's your own business."
"I thought Senpai would want me and Yukino to split up, so Senpai could have an opening to take advantage of."
Lin Ye's eyes sparkled with light as he raised a smile, teasing the girl with long black hair before him.
"An opening to take advantage of? Hehe."
Mai Sakurajima laughed softly.
"I seem to recall someone confessed to me tonight, said he wanted to be with me, to care for me and look after me for a lifetime. Now who was it that said all that, I wonder?"
Hearing this, Lin Ye instantly felt a 'lump' rise inside him.
"Senpai, you also know that was because of 'the need to help Senpai escape the anomaly.'"
"All I know is that it was someone's heartfelt confession, and that I, Mai Sakurajima, responded to and accepted that confession. Student Lin,"
Mai Sakurajima, who had been bested too many times before, had finally found her counterattack. "Let me think... given the current state of our relationship, the title 'Student Lin' no longer suits you. I should call you Boyfriend-kun, shouldn't I? Right, my Boyfriend-kun?"
As she said this,
Mai Sakurajima turned passive into active. She took a step forward, stretching out both hands to wrap them around Lin Ye's neck. Her bright eyes gazed at him, while a certain softness was pressing and brushing against him.
Lin Ye could palpably feel that wonderful sensation.
"So, my Boyfriend-kun, as a sign of loyalty to our love, you should take the initiative to cut off ties with Yukinoshita and Ai Hoshino."
Lin Ye: "..."
"As repayment, I'll properly fulfill my duties as a girlfriend."
Oi, oi, oi,
Senpai,
are you serious or just joking?
Are you counterattacking and teasing me, or are you actually planning to turn this fake performance into reality and claim this man you can't quite get?
Lin Ye's thoughts ran wild, several speculations surfacing in his mind. Only, he couldn't possibly confirm Mai Sakurajima's true intentions.
A woman's heart, a needle in the ocean's depths.
Far too hard to understand.
"So, what's your answer? Boyfriend-kun."
Mai Sakurajima's hand caressed Lin Ye's cheek, her breath like a hidden orchid, that sweet aroma stimulating Lin Ye's sensitive nerves.
"Senpai,"
Lin Ye reached out and rested his hands on Mai Sakurajima's shoulders.
This drew a faint smile from within Mai Sakurajima's heart.
Hmph, men — in the end they still can't escape the desires of their lower halves.
Not even Lin Ye could avoid it.
But in Mai Sakurajima's view, this was a good thing. If Lin Ye truly held himself back, then what was she supposed to do?
"What kind of person do you take me for?"
The forceful, rhetorical question made Mai Sakurajima's eyes widen slightly in shock, her slender lashes trembling with bewildered breath.
"How could I, Lin Ye, give up a vast forest for the sake of a single tree?"
The words were astonishing,
and Mai Sakurajima was stunned.
It wasn't that she didn't know every man's heart held a fickle, philandering streak, but this really was the first time she had ever seen a man utter such earth-shattering words right to her face.
She had to remember — a line like that could entirely shatter her affection for him.
Was Lin Ye really not the least bit worried she would get angry and leave?
"Senpai is a vigorously growing sapling, with much promise for the future. But however bright that future may be, compared to an entire forest, it's still too small. Senpai can't compete with all of them."
Mai Sakurajima was speechless.
This guy really had no inhibitions — he dared to say anything.
"So, Senpai, don't even think about making me cut ties with the other girls. If that's really what you're asking, my answer to you is only one thing — refusal."
His words coming one after another sent Mai Sakurajima's mind briefly blank.
Only,
one thing she seemed to have confirmed.
This guy Lin Ye really did want it all — to have, to hold, and to have even more.
"You think Yukinoshita and Ai Hoshino would agree to that?"
"Ai-chan probably would."
"Which means Yukinoshita couldn't possibly agree."
"Not necessarily."
"If Yukinoshita doesn't agree, can't accept it — what do you plan to do?"
"Very simple."
There was a simple method for this?
"How is it simple?"
"Just kick Yukino out, and that'll do it."
"..."
If you can't solve the problem, solve the woman raising the problem.
You really do you, huh.
"What if it were me?"
"Kick you out."
Mai Sakurajima wanted nothing more than to take a bite out of Lin Ye, this bastard man. Right now she was genuinely infuriated — what kind of man had this little tact?
A man like this having a girlfriend was a downright affront to natural justice.
'Slap...'
Mai Sakurajima let go of her grip, smacked Lin Ye's hand, pushed him back, and put distance between herself and Lin Ye. "Student Lin, you should get some rest."
At this time, she was in pretty good shape, but Lin Ye really was already getting drowsy. The conversation just now had been him forcing himself to push through. Once a person relaxed, it became all the easier to fall into fatigue and sleepiness.
"It's only because Senpai roped me into chatting. Otherwise I'd have been asleep already. Senpai, compensation."
"When you cut ties with the other girls, I'll compensate you — any way you like."
"Aah, how heartbreaking. Senpai's promise has zero chance of ever being fulfilled, not a shred of sincerity. After all, I've been giving my all for Senpai these past days — and by now I've gone over two days without sleep."
As he said this, Lin Ye let out a yawn and climbed onto the bed.
He had no intention of continuing the conversation.
Right now he just wanted a good, long sleep.
The look of exhaustion on him turned all of Mai Sakurajima's words into deep guilt and worry.
She knew that no matter how unbridled Lin Ye's personal feelings might be, toward her at least he was wholeheartedly caring, devoting himself to her, and in the end had even fulfilled his promise, successfully freeing her from the anomaly.
"I won't forget our promise — the Bunny Girl outfit with black stockings — I'll make sure it satisfies you."
A flicker of anticipation flashed in Lin Ye's exhausted eyes.
This sight, taken in by Mai Sakurajima, left her inwardly sighing helplessly, wanting to say, 'Men are so lecherous.'
"Then I'll be looking forward to it."
As he said this, Lin Ye burrowed under the covers. "Goodnight, Senpai."
"Goodnight."
Mai Sakurajima watched as Lin Ye closed his eyes. His body quickly relaxed, and his breathing settled into a steady rhythm.
In less than ten seconds, Lin Ye was asleep.
The girl with long black hair gazed at the man sleeping with eyes shut and knew that he really was tired, really was sleepy.
She carefully walked over to the bedside, extended her slender hands, took hold of the covers, and pulled the slightly disheveled blanket properly over Lin Ye.
"Thank you..."
Mai Sakurajima crouched down and whispered softly to Lin Ye, who was right before her eyes.
She was sincerely grateful to Lin Ye.
Continuing this already-existing romantic relationship with Lin Ye was also her true wish — as long as Lin Ye was willing, she would not refuse.
From the very moment she had accepted his confession, she could have become Lin Ye's girlfriend.
Only,
it seemed that Lin Ye's willingness toward this relationship wasn't that strong. Otherwise, why would he have refused her condition — to cut ties with the other women and keep his distance?
"Philandering man."
Mai Sakurajima pressed her lips together, stared at him for a good while, then gently placed a soft kiss on Lin Ye's forehead.
She wasn't quite sure of her relationship with Lin Ye anymore.
Friends, lovers?
And what kind of relationship was she herself yearning for?
Mai Sakurajima's head ached — she was lost.
She got up, preparing to go wash her face and freshen up. As for a shower, she'd hold off for now — she was afraid of disturbing Lin Ye.
But just then, she noticed Lin Ye's phone screen light up.
It was a message notification.
She picked up Lin Ye's phone and saw a message — junk promotional spam, meaningless. Only, the name shown on that missed call entered Mai Sakurajima's field of vision again.
Yukino Yukinoshita.
What to do?
Mai Sakurajima thought it over and decided she would ask her.
Taking Lin Ye's phone with her, she returned Yukino Yukinoshita's call.
The call connected very quickly.
From the other end came Yukino Yukinoshita's cool, clear voice.
"Lin Ye, good evening!"
The moment Yukino Yukinoshita picked up, she initiated the greeting herself.
But the lack of any response from the other end of the line made Mai Sakurajima grow more and more puzzled.
"Lin Ye? What's wrong? Why aren't you saying anything?"
Could it be that the phone was in his pocket and had been pressed by accident?
But even so, Yukino Yukinoshita hadn't heard any of the usual telltale background noise.
This left her even more puzzled.
Why was Lin Ye not speaking, unless...
"Miss Mai Sakurajima."
Yukinoshita switched the form of address, her tone now somewhat certain.
"It's you, isn't it? Miss Mai Sakurajima."
Three seconds later,
Mai Sakurajima gently parted her crimson lips and spoke. "It's me, Student Yukinoshita. This should be the first time we've had a proper conversation."
They had spoken before, but that had been on the premise of Lin Ye relaying messages — Yukinoshita had never heard her voice.
"Yes,"
but Yukinoshita was more concerned about Lin Ye. "What about him?"
"He's tired. He just went to sleep."
Those few words made Yukino Yukinoshita tremble.
"Where?"
"A hotel. A love hotel."
The girl with long black hair's face turned pale.
The location plus the state — together they made it clear to her what Lin Ye's current situation was.
He hadn't picked up the phone earlier, no doubt because he had been busy with the great matter of his life!?
Now Mai Sakurajima was actively calling using Lin Ye's phone — she must be calling to announce ownership and the official status of their relationship, hoping that she would consciously and willingly step aside.
"Student Yukinoshita, Lin Ye and I are now officially together."
Sure enough, she was here to claim sovereignty. Sure enough, she wanted her to voluntarily give up.
"You may not know yet, but in Akihabara just now—"
"I saw the video."
Yukino Yukinoshita cut her off.
It was a fact. A fact that could not be shifted by her own will.
Rather than running from it, it was better to accept it.
"Since you've seen the video, then I don't need to explain any further. He confessed to me, I accepted his confession, and we even kissed in public to declare our relationship. And tonight, we'll be spending the night at the hotel together."
What she said was true.
Mai Sakurajima pressed her lips together.
She knew she was deliberately deceiving and leading on Yukinoshita.
But on this battlefield of love, she couldn't help but use a small ploy.
Mai Sakurajima found herself marveling that she too had finally stepped into this whirlpool of love.
She had never imagined it before, but now she had suddenly stepped into it.
"I know,"
"Mm. Student Yukinoshita, I won't meddle in any normal friend-to-friend interaction between you and my Boyfriend-kun, but I do hope you can keep your distance from him."
Mai Sakurajima was nervous, her heartbeat slightly quickening.
If Yukino Yukinoshita directly indicated her acceptance, then it would be her victory. If she couldn't accept it, then she might have to find another way.
"I..."
"Please, go ahead. But no matter what you want to say, it won't affect my relationship with Boyfriend-kun."
"..."
Yukino Yukinoshita fell silent.
Even a physical relationship had taken place — what more could she do?
Could she really continue to keep up the same kind of interaction with Lin Ye as before?
He already had a lover.
End it. Just let it end here.
This thought grew more and more powerful, gradually taking over body and mind.
She realized that she no longer had the impulse to continue.
"I understand."
Those simple words made Mai Sakurajima raise a smile of victory, but that smile carried some bitterness and guilt.
She was a despicable woman. No matter how you sliced it, Yukinoshita had once gone out of her way to help her, and yet she was treating Yukinoshita this way.
"Miss Mai Sakurajima, do you like Lin Ye?"
But that sudden question pulled Mai Sakurajima right back to reality.
"Is your liking of him born from your own romantic feelings, or from gratitude for him having saved you?"
The words Mai Sakurajima had been about to say were cut off.
This liking of hers... it was probably more out of gratitude.
Without Lin Ye's actions on her behalf, it would have been impossible for her to hold feelings of liking toward him.
"I'm grateful to him, and I like him — that's my answer, Student Yukinoshita."
Mai Sakurajima refused to keep agonizing over how to distinguish such complex feelings.
She felt there was absolutely no need to sort them out clearly. It was enough to simply accept all of these emotions for what they were.
"Mm."
Yukino Yukinoshita made a small sound of acknowledgment.
With things having come to this, it seemed the only thing left was acceptance. Only, she still felt unwilling to leave it like this. "There's something I need to trouble you with."
"Please, go ahead."
"Tell him — have him come to me in person and say it himself: this relationship of ours ends right here. I will end the Quasi-fiancés relationship with him, and we will return to our original status of classmates and club members."
Mai Sakurajima: ???
She slowly typed out a few question marks in her mind.
Her objective had succeeded, and yet she was also about to meet with defeat.
Her original plan had been to make Yukino Yukinoshita voluntarily withdraw. Now Yukinoshita was indeed prepared to withdraw on her own, but the request she had made was about to expose the very lie that Mai Sakurajima had woven.
And once the lie was exposed, her objective would meet with failure. Even this entire act of hers tonight would meet with failure, and her own image would suffer a major blow.
What was she to do?
How was she to resolve this?
"What's wrong?"
"Actually, wouldn't it be better to part ways with some dignity intact?"
"No need. I, Yukino Yukinoshita, have no need at all for this kind of 'dignity.' Since he's decided to be with you, doesn't he even dare to face me and tell me, to my face, that our relationship is over? Does he not even have that much courage?"
Yukino Yukinoshita recalled some of Lin Ye's astonishing past declarations. "After all, I distinctly remember him openly and proudly proclaiming his grand ambition of having an entire forest."
Hearing this, Mai Sakurajima was openly astonished.
So Lin Ye had actually said those earth-shattering kinds of words right in front of Yukinoshita too!?
Did that guy really not know the limits? Was he really not worried that his strange, frightening declarations would scare the girls away?
"What, now he doesn't even have the courage and the guts? Now that he's gone and done something to wrong me, his Quasi-fiancée, he even needs you, Miss Mai Sakurajima, a third party, to relay the message for him?"
The corners of Mai Sakurajima's mouth twitched.
Don't put it so harshly.
Third party my foot.
But thinking about it carefully, in their current three-person relationship, no matter how you looked at it, she counted as the latecomer.
In order of ranking, she was behind both Ai Hoshino and Yukinoshita.
And in terms of relationship status, compared to Yukinoshita's Quasi-fiancée, her own status as a girlfriend seemed to fall slightly short.
Yukino Yukinoshita waited and waited for a reply from the other end, but it didn't come. The look in her eyes grew ever more piercing and bright.
Sure enough.
Just as she had guessed.
There was absolutely something off about all this.
"Miss Mai Sakurajima, I am his Quasi-fiancée. Our relationship has been acknowledged by our parents and elders, and we are currently in contact and getting to know each other. Unless he gives up, I will not be giving up on my end."
Mai Sakurajima silently cried out that things had gotten complicated.
"A woman who has fallen for a man — it really is hard to imagine what she might do."
The deeply suggestive words struck right at Mai Sakurajima's heart.
Sure enough, she had been seen through.
Mai Sakurajima inwardly sighed.
Sure enough, things weren't going to end so simply.
...
...
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