The next day. Friday.
Unlike Lin Ye, Yukino Yukinoshita still intended to go to school and attend her classes.
So she got up early, which meant Lin Ye and Haruno ended up getting up one after the other as well.
"You two can sleep in a while longer."
"I'll go rest at Yukino's place."
Haruno had recovered a little of her energy and Stamina by now, but there was still a faint ache running through her whole body. Compared to yesterday, though, it was much better.
Of course, the real problem was the marks left on her skin.
If anyone at home saw those, especially her parents, Haruno was certain she'd be in for a long round of questioning.
She didn't feel like wasting her breath explaining just yet. Her parents knew this was Lin Ye's punishment, so they wouldn't make an issue of it, much less think about retaliating or demanding justice. But if they learned the reason behind it, she'd never escape a thorough scolding.
They might even make her go to Lin Ye and grovel for forgiveness.
If apologizing worked, she'd have done it gladly. But at this stage that clearly wasn't going to do anything.
All she could do was quietly accept Lin Ye's punishment, until he'd finally worked all the anger out of his system.
Yukino didn't object. She looked at Lin Ye, seeking his approval.
Lin Ye nodded.
That made Haruno laugh. "You're not even married yet and Yukino's already asking Lin-kun for permission. Yukino really does treat Lin-kun like her own husband. You don't care about my feelings as your older sister at all."
A flicker of displeasure crossed Yukino's face and vanished, but considering her sister's purpose, she held her tongue.
"You're the target of Lin-kun's punishment right now. The punishment isn't over yet."
The words landed.
Haruno's expression froze. The corner of her mouth twitched.
She truly hadn't seen this coming.
The punishment wasn't over?
No way!
Haruno's gaze drifted slowly over to Lin Ye, and the faint, barely-there smile hanging at the corner of his lips struck her like a hammer blow.
It really wasn't finished.
The punishment was going to continue.
"Lin-kun, this... let me off! Last night, you... wasn't that enough? I... I definitely... satisfied you, didn't I?"
She really did not want to live through yesterday's hellish punishment again.
She didn't dare face another round.
"That depends on how Miss Haruno behaves today."
Haruno answered instantly. "I'll behave beautifully, I won't disappoint you, I promise. Today I'll definitely... attend to Lin-kun properly."
And there at the end, her words drifted into territory that invited all sorts of imaginings.
"Miss Haruno really is begging for punishment. I'll satisfy you shortly."
"Ugh..."
Haruno immediately backpedaled. "Forgive me, Lin-kun... please let me off!"
In that moment, Haruno knew for certain that Lin Ye's anger hadn't cooled. The punishment really wasn't over.
Otherwise, if it had already ended, he wouldn't have pulled it back out over one faintly suggestive line from her.
Of course, it was also possible Lin Ye was bluffing. But she couldn't afford the cost of guessing wrong.
So Haruno decided to fold.
Having experienced it once already, she folded without hesitation.
When it was time to back down, you backed down. Dig your heels in instead, and in the end you were the one who paid the price.
And Haruno knew the crux of it: this punishment had gone far beyond anything she'd imagined.
"Acting cute and pitiful won't work."
"But I'm serious!" Haruno said, all wide-eyed misery.
Lin Ye didn't respond.
As though letting it slide by default.
Relief loosened Haruno's chest. She knew that at his core Lin Ye was a soft-hearted boy. Once he'd punished her and vented his frustration, there was no way he could keep up that hard line forever.
That was the Lin Ye she knew. Naturally, Haruno stopped provoking him. In such a sensitive period, all she had to do was get through this dangerous stretch quietly and safely.
The three of them got up to leave the love hotel.
But Haruno took two steps and staggered.
Every step meant enduring a considerable ache.
Last night's punishment had left her whole body sore even now, almost more than she could bear.
At that point, Haruno spoke up. "Yukino, help me walk."
What she really wanted was for Lin Ye to support her, or even carry her. But she felt that was a request she couldn't voice herself. She'd have to wait for Lin Ye to offer.
"Mm."
Yukino didn't know whether her sister was faking or not, but last night's punishment had made it clear enough that Haruno wasn't in good shape.
After all that, her sister being unable to walk properly wasn't strange in the least.
So Yukino didn't argue and simply agreed.
The three of them walked down the corridor to the elevator and rode it down.
Because of the pace, the two Yukinoshita sisters fell behind.
Lin Ye thought about it and decided to carry Haruno on his back.
"Get on."
"But..."
"Get on. Since when are you shy?"
Lin Ye did not believe for a second that Haruno was capable of embarrassment. Not for a second.
"I'm a girl too, you know!" Haruno protested out loud.
As far as she was concerned, even if she wasn't embarrassed, she had to put on a show of it. A little modesty was required.
"..."
But she came around behind him obediently enough, leaning forward, letting her body settle against his.
Lin Ye's hands hooked beneath her, and he carried the girl toward the hotel exit.
Yukino watched the whole thing from the side without a word. It didn't sit comfortably with her, but it wasn't something she couldn't accept anymore either. She'd grown used to it.
After walking a hundred meters or so, the three of them finally reached the main road.
Yukino bought rice balls at a nearby convenience store for breakfast.
A taxi soon carried the three of them back to the apartment.
The moment Yukino arrived, she went straight to the kitchen to heat the rice balls in the microwave.
Lin Ye and Haruno sat down in the restaurant to rest.
Before long, breakfast was ready.
"Let's eat."
Yukino finished quickly and went back to her room for a clean uniform.
Before leaving, she glanced at the two of them. "Sister, mind your behavior."
"Why me?" Haruno made a noise of complaint. "Shouldn't it be Lin Ye, the male one here, who needs to mind himself? I'm a beautiful woman, you know. What if Lin-kun can't hold back and makes a move?"
Yukino had absolutely no confidence on that front.
"Then Lin-kun would become your brother-in-law. Could you accept that?"
"I'm leaving now. As for the punishment afterward, don't factor me into it."
The instant the words were out, Haruno's face changed, going visibly pale.
She'd never imagined her little sister would pull something like this.
Yukino left soon after.
She was leaving the time and the space to Lin Ye and Haruno.
"Lin-kun... the punishment..."
"Relax."
Haruno's chest loosened. So the punishment really was over.
"I'll give you one hour to rest. In one hour, you'll come take your punishment."
In an instant, Haruno's face turned awful.
Yesterday's hellish sensation surged back up in a heartbeat, the residue of it still lingering in her body.
Haruno was genuinely afraid.
She wanted to run, but the odds of that working seemed slim.
This punishment, it seemed, really couldn't be avoided.
"Lin-kun..."
Haruno wanted to plead further, but Lin Ye had no intention whatsoever of accepting it.
No matter how sweetly she pitched her voice, he didn't budge.
Soon Lin Ye finished his breakfast too. "I'm going to rest for a while."
He hadn't slept well either. He needed to catch up.
"All right."
But Haruno watched him head into Yukino's room. "Lin-kun, that's not the guest room."
"I'm sleeping in my fiancee's room. Any problem with that?"
"But I want to sleep in Yukino's bed too. Oh, oh, Lin-kun could sleep with me. How did I forget about that possibility?"
Thunk.
The bedroom door shut, followed by the unmistakable, pointed click of the lock.
The corner of Haruno's mouth twitched. She wanted to curse.
In the end, the words wouldn't come out.
A little while later, Haruno finished eating too. She tidied up the scraps on the table and dumped them in the trash.
She tried Yukino's door and found it still shut, so she had no choice but to go to the guest room.
"Guest room it is, then."
"I wonder what Lin Ye's doing in Yukino's room."
Any other man would probably be staring at Yukino's clothes and letting his mind wander.
As for Lin Ye, Haruno figured not. He wouldn't react at all.
After all, with the way things stood between Lin Ye and Yukino, only one final step remained. Everything else, the proper and the improper alike, had likely already been done.
So Lin Ye had no need to do anything.
Meanwhile, Yukino Yukinoshita headed for Sobu High.
She arrived at the usual time.
But she hadn't been in the classroom long before a girl from another class came over to her.
Yukino recognized her. It was Rui Tachibana.
Lin Ye's new girlfriend, as she well knew.
Though Lin Ye had already said he'd find time to explain things to Rui Tachibana and end the relationship.
"Student Yukinoshita, could we talk in private?"
"We can."
There were still students in the International Class at this hour.
The two of them soon found an empty spot off to the side.
Rui Tachibana spoke. "Student Yukinoshita, what did your sister do to Lin-kun last night? I want the details."
"..."
"I'm his girlfriend. I have a right to know."
She was already exercising her rights as Lin Ye's girlfriend.
As someone who knew about that relationship, Yukino Yukinoshita ought to have conceded, generally speaking.
In practice, though, that claim filled her with a considerable amount of gloom.
"You can ask him directly."
"I sent him a message, but he didn't answer me."
"Then that means Student Lin doesn't want it known. So... my apologies." Yukino Yukinoshita said.
She didn't want to say. She had no intention of telling her anything.
"Then is Lin-kun all right? Was he hurt?"
Rui Tachibana at least wanted to know whether he was safe.
She'd even wondered whether Haruno had come yesterday to get payback on behalf of her sister, Student Yukinoshita, though the timing seemed too tight for that, so probably not.
Either way, an older sister showing up to find Lin Ye and drag him off always pushed Rui Tachibana's thoughts in a certain direction.
"No. He's fine." Yukino Yukinoshita answered calmly.
"Really?"
"I have no reason to lie to you."
Yukino Yukinoshita's earnestness convinced Rui Tachibana.
Then something else occurred to the girl with long black hair, and she spoke again. "Student Tachibana, there's something I want to ask you."
"What is it?"
"If Student Lin were to break up with you later on, what would you do?"
"..."
It was a genuinely sensitive topic.
It wasn't that Rui Tachibana had never considered it, but hearing Yukinoshita raise it made the possibility feel suddenly, sharply likely.
So... if Lin Ye wanted to break up, what would she do?
She didn't know.
She felt lost.
But she was against breaking up.
"I wouldn't agree to it."
Rui Tachibana said, "I wouldn't agree to a breakup."
It was simple for her. "What's between him and me isn't going to end that easily. He already agreed to be with me, to be my boyfriend. There's no way it ends that simply. Absolutely not."
At one point she'd even suspected Lin Ye had asked Student Yukinoshita to test the waters for him, laying the groundwork for saying it himself later.
If that was the case, all the more reason to be firm, to give Lin Ye no opening at all.
And when the day came that he actually said it, she could hold that same firm line.
"You and he have no emotional foundation together."
"He's my first boyfriend. There's no reason for it to end before we've even properly started dating."
Rui Tachibana was still making her position clear.
"And if I told you Lin Ye already has a girlfriend?"
"I know that."
Rui Tachibana knew?
Had Lin Ye already told Rui Tachibana that she was his girlfriend? The thought rose in Yukino's mind unbidden.
"I know Student Miura is Lin-kun's girlfriend," Rui Tachibana said. "I don't care. I don't mind. As long as they don't flaunt it in front of me from now on, I can ignore it."
Rui Tachibana's plain words left Yukino blank for a moment.
Ignore it.
This girl with the shoulder-length Blue hair had a far, far better attitude than she did.
A man would definitely want a girlfriend with a mindset like that.
If she herself were a man, she'd want one too.
After all, men were unfaithful by nature. They always wanted more, the more the better.
"And if he has other girlfriends besides?"
Rui Tachibana fell silent.
After a while she said, "That's all hypothetical. Now isn't the time to worry about that."
Rui Tachibana didn't want to think about it any further.
"Since Lin-kun is unharmed, I can stop worrying. About what he did to you yesterday, I apologize on his behalf once again. And thank you for helping out yesterday."
By now Rui Tachibana had fully stepped into the role of the girlfriend.
That consideration made Yukino see her in a somewhat new light.
This girl was sincere about Lin Ye.
Her feelings might not run deep yet, but she understood her position and what it required of her.
If Lin Ye and this girl, Rui Tachibana, ended up together in the future, that future would be a happy one.
Yukino had that sense.
After all, girls of a certain temperament and character were destined to bring a man happiness.
Rui Tachibana clearly fell within that category.
...
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