"Don't joke..."
Instinctively, Yukino used this phrase once again to cover her feelings of not knowing what to do.
Seeing his narrowed eyes while smiling, Yukino suddenly fell into confusion, with an inexplicable anxiety encircling her chest.
How serious Yuu's words, smile, and gaze were—at this moment, she truly couldn't distinguish them.
In the past, whether he was lying or joking, based on her understanding of Yuu and some indescribable familiarity, she could always discern the various hidden emotions in his words and actions...
But why, now she couldn't do it?
...The only possibility was that since the sentence "I love you" was spoken, every word from him was sincere, honest, and consistent, as if he truly believed it from the bottom of his heart.
Because it was too real, Yukino, who had already assumed Yuu was joking, ended up like searching for the impossible, unable to find what she thought would appear.
(...But, this is impossible.)
Yukino kept asking herself in her heart.
Rather than saying it's impossible, it was more accurate to say she didn't want to admit it.
She didn't want to admit that after realizing something, she felt extremely shocked, and unconsciously felt happy—such emotions were clearly not ones Yukino should have.
Unconsciously, she lowered her gaze, gently bit her lip, and no longer dared to meet Yuu's eyes.
If in this world there really was a girl whose best friend's boyfriend confessed his love to her, not only feeling not the slightest bit disturbed, but even so happy that she wanted to accept it on the spot...
Then there must be a certain part of her heart that was already broken.
"I'm not joking."
Nevertheless, Yuu by the door still hadn't empathized with her inner turmoil, and continued speaking to himself: "Besides, there's no one around, so I'll be frank—Yukino, about a month ago, I fell in love with you."
"..."
Yukino's expression showed no waves. She remained silent.
(Then why are you dating Yuigahama-san?)
(Why are you betraying her, betraying my trust in you, and doing such jerk-like things?)
"I also know you love me, though it's a bit weird for me to say this myself, as if I'm becoming as narcissistic as you..." Yuu let out a small, desperate laugh, and said in a sincere and gentle tone, "But no matter how you deny it, I can tell when you're lying. So let's be honest with each other, sit down and talk properly? Besides, there are some things I want to explain to you as soon as possible."
"..."
Emotions more unpleasant than annoyance surged in her heart.
Yukino didn't look at his expression, because she feared that if she looked up, her fragile composure would shatter completely.
(Yeah, you say you know I love you.)
(Then how could you not know why I'm saying lies that I don't even believe myself?)
(Where does your confidence and thick skin come from, that you can stand in front of a girl you suddenly hugged, suddenly confessed to, suddenly exposed her feelings to, and now she has no idea what to do, while smiling and saying those words?)
A barrage of questions and taunts directed at Yuu rushed to her throat. Yukino furrowed her brows tightly, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath, only then able to suppress everything along with the nausea.
Incomprehensible—this was the first time she felt such emotions toward Yuu... The Yuu she knew shouldn't be like this.
There must be something wrong with this world, right?
His change was too sudden, making Yukino suddenly feel like she was still in a nightmare and hadn't woken up.
Right, a nightmare.
Being confessed to by the person she liked was, for Yukino who didn't want to betray her best friend, nothing less than a nightmare.
"I'll say it again, I have nothing to talk about with you."
Yukino packed the books on the table into her bag, picked up her things, and hid her expression behind her dangling strands of hair.
She lowered her head, walked toward the door as if fleeing, her voice cold, restrained, and suppressed: "Whether you're joking or not, whether I really love you or not... For the sake of the three of us, for Yuigahama-san's sake, just pretend nothing happened."
"If not, I'll start hating you."
A familiar scent lifted a fragrant breeze, passing by him, and without stopping, she opened the iron door and quickly stepped out of the club room.
As for Yuu by the door, he just sat stunned in his chair, watching her footsteps that seemed a bit hurried as they moved away. His half-raised hand ultimately failed to grab her arm.
It wasn't because he didn't want to stop her, or deliberately not explaining for the sake of plot conflict, insisting on waiting until something else happened before speaking like a normal person.
As they passed each other, Yukino briefly made eye contact with him.
Her slightly parted pink lips wanted to say something, but she quickly closed them again.
Her moist eyes, filled with complex emotions, stared deeply at him, as if they could speak, silently revealing her current thoughts:
Give me time to calm down alone. If you dare to stop me, prepare to end our friendship.
That gaze was too firm, leaving no room at all.
Only after Yukino stepped away from the Service Club did Yuu snap out of his daze, and slowly realize what had actually happened.
He couldn't help but slap his forehead hard, letting out a painful groan of regret:
"Am I an idiot! Why was I in such a hurry..."
In a hurry for Yukino to recover her memories, in a hurry to prove that he still loved her, in a hurry for the two of them to return to yesterday's intimate togetherness, in a hurry to fulfill the vows and promises that had been made—this was the unconscious thought that filled Yuu's mind after seeing her figure on the news broadcast.
He had only thought about himself, completely failing to consider how confused and panicked Yukino, whose memories had been reset, would be facing this situation.
It was true, he loved her, even if the world had changed, that remained the same.
Perhaps before the two of them dated, these feelings had already quietly sprouted in his heart—but then what?
For Yukino right now, Yuu was a jerk trying to two-time and exploit these feelings, while dating her best friend.
That's why she called him a jerk, and that's why she was so angry.
This fondness wasn't a get-out-of-jail-free card. Her sense of justice and morality also wouldn't allow her to steal someone else's lover and engage in secret affairs—coincidentally, Yuu came straight with a hug and confession, which made Yukino unable to calm down and think clearly at all, let alone hold back to listen to Yuu's further explanations.
Because even though she loved Yuu deeply, she absolutely couldn't accept a confession from her best friend's boyfriend.
At this moment, Yukino's action of leaving alone to calm her mind actually proved that in this regard, she was far more mature than Yuu, and didn't act on impulse.
Like a boxer who had been punched multiple times in the ring, Yuu held his head and thought for a long time, only then did his breathing gradually calm down.
"First, I need to figure out how far the system has twisted what happened in the past... Then, I need to talk to Yui about the mission and the boyfriend thing. I don't know how much she remembers..."
Lifting his head, confidence and calmness returned to his face.
Making perfect and efficient plans from the start should be the thing he was most skilled at and most accustomed to.
After completely clearing his mind, Yuu already knew what he had to do next.
Only after sorting things out with Yuigahama could he start approaching Yukino, his ex-girlfriend, with the help of his current girlfriend—otherwise, Yukino would always be burdened by guilt toward her best friend, and would only unconsciously reject everything related to him.
Next, he also needed to quickly find time to meet with the other three girlfriends.
If they still remembered things from the last mission, or if Haruno's recovered memories were no longer erased by the system, then convincing Yukino to accept the current situation would be much easier than him desperately begging for trust alone.
After that, there would surely be many difficulties blocking Yuu, preventing him from easily reconciling with all his girlfriends and living a happy life enjoying the bliss of multiple women, right?
Not to mention the still-unknown fifth mission, and the damn system, the source of all evil, that could cause trouble at any time...
This was a difficult and long road, with the end still not in sight, and many thorns blocking the way in the middle.
Thinking about it, giving up on the past like the three times before would there was no need to create problems for himself like this—
"Too bad, I've already promised her."
Yuu clapped his hands casually, stood up, placed the chair back beside the long table, looked at the morning sun shining from outside the window, and smiled apologetically toward her seat.
"Restoring the problem called girlfriend—that's my goal right now... No matter how difficult, I up."
Like one day, the cloudy sky would finally clear.
Like one day, the Snowy City Would Finally Welcome Clear Skies.
A spring where no one leaves, and everyone can bloom with satisfied smiles.
Yuu turned and stepped forward, as if walking toward such a future.
The lights dimmed, and the footsteps in the corridor grew farther away.
This winter, the Service Club was empty once more.