Ryou Fujibayashi's heart was pounding violently, 'thump-thump,' without cease.
The speed of her heartbeat at this moment could be compared to the moment yesterday when Lin Ye had just climbed into bed, touching her skin, taking possession of her body.
There was even, somehow, a tiny bit of trepidation.
A maiden's pure love,
the first confession of her life, the first time she had ever taken the initiative,
if this were rejected, then she felt that this one act of initiative would buy her a lifetime of passivity.
'Phew...'
But she had already made her decision, and so she could not shrink back now.
She had already shared the most intimate relationship with Lin Ye,
so what was there left that could stop her.
"Lin-kun,"
"Is there still something worrying you?"
"It's not worry — it's to thank you,"
"What sort of relationship do we have, that you'd say thank you."
He had already slept with the girl; this relationship was already very intimate.
Ryou Fujibayashi's thank you, by contrast, came across as a little distant.
"Truly, thank you. Whether it was me or my elder sister, we were both saved because of Lin-kun — otherwise, we sisters,"
That time of yours, you really might have been dragged in because of me; saving you was only right.
Your elder sister's time, now that was just sheer good luck — being chosen by the Strange Game.
"Ryou, I've already received this gratitude of yours, and if you mean to speak of a thank-you gift, I... have already received it."
That single sentence made Ryou Fujibayashi blush and lower her head in bashful shyness, not daring to look at Lin Ye.
She really had meant to bring up a thank-you gift, only for Lin Ye to beat her to it.
"Not enough,"
she said softly, then raised her volume, "Not enough. One night isn't enough. Seven times — no, seventy times,"
If her elder sister could manage seven times,
then she, as the younger sister, could manage seventy.
Ten times her elder sister — to give herself to him, repaying Lin Ye's kindness,
"I'll include my elder sister's share too, all together, as the thank-you gift,"
Lin Ye swallowed.
Seventy times — wasn't that number a little much.
"Ryou, there's no need for this,"
"Lin-kun, do you not like it?"
Ryou Fujibayashi asked with a touch of shyness.
Don't all men like it? The degree of Lin Ye's craving last night was still fresh in her memory, hard to forget.
"I do like it, but I hope Ryou isn't with me just to repay a debt of gratitude."
Ryou Fujibayashi was startled, and at once understood Lin Ye's meaning.
"Mm, sorry, Lin-kun, it was thoughtless of me,"
But inwardly she was delighted; this showed that Lin Ye's desire for her was a liking for her, and not merely a liking for her body.
There was still a difference between the two,
She hoped Lin Ye was the former — though of course it included the latter as well.
"So don't say things like giving yourself to him to repay a debt — don't even think it,"
Lin Ye gave the girl's nose a little tweak, drawing a flush of embarrassment from her,
"Mm, I understand, I won't,"
"That's good, then,"
Ryou Fujibayashi now had a rough grasp of Lin Ye's attitude and thoughts toward her.
Toward her, Lin Ye did have a liking, did have feelings — there could be no mistake about that; it simply wasn't quite there yet!
And now, the two of them had, because of an accident, crossed the physical distance between them,
The physical distance had shortened — so what about the distance of their hearts! That too should have shortened somewhat, surely!
Ryou Fujibayashi mustered up her courage and bravely took that step,
"Lin-kun, I like you. I've liked you for a very long time,"
She had confessed — for the first time in her life confessing to a man.
The timing was right, but the setting really wasn't very appropriate.
The two of them were lying stark naked in bed, close enough that each could feel the other's breath.
"At that dangerous school back then, the sight of you stepping forward to protect me — I still can't forget it to this day,"
"It was in that very moment that I realized I had feelings for you."
"I... fell in love with you."
The more she spoke, the more worked up she became, the flush on her cheeks growing ever more pronounced.
That throb of the heart, that sense of security — unforgettable to this day.
Faced with Ryou Fujibayashi's confession,
for Lin Ye it was both within reason and beyond expectation.
He had thought the girl wouldn't be able to take this step, but it seemed Kyou Fujibayashi's actions, together with last night's events, had given the girl the courage to take it.
Accept it?
Generally speaking, he ought to accept!
"Ryou, thank you for your affection and these sincere feelings,"
In that instant,
a trace of nervousness surfaced in Ryou Fujibayashi's eyes.
She had a premonition that she was about to be rejected.
Just as she'd feared — compared to Mai Sakurajima, she was nothing. Even though they had just been intimate last night, to Lin Ye she still couldn't measure up to Mai Sakurajima.
Heartbreak, gloom, misery, and other such negative emotions kept welling up in her heart.
Ryou Fujibayashi had braced herself mentally for rejection, but when the moment of rejection actually came, her heart still bled with anguish.
She had been longing all this while for the moment when Lin Ye would respond to her affection and be with her.
Lin Ye reached out and cupped the girl's cheeks. "Don't overthink it just yet."
"Eh!"
He'd known the girl was overthinking.
"Actually, my situation right now is somewhat complicated. Ryou, are you really willing to get involved in it?"
"I like you — this feeling is real,"
She seemed to care only about Lin Ye's feelings for her, paying no attention to anything else.
"Then I'll tell you, Ryou. Afterward, whether you curse me as a scumbag or a bastard, I can accept it."
This sentence couldn't help but stir up worry in Ryou Fujibayashi's heart.
Could it be that Lin-kun was truly so amorous, keeping ambiguous relationships with many women.
"Mai Sakurajima — I think you must know of her, Ryou!"
Anyone who didn't know Mai Sakurajima — now that would be a problem.
Ryou Fujibayashi nodded. "I do. Is Mai your girlfriend now, Lin-kun?"
A questioning tone, yet carrying an element of certainty.
As though the girl had already thought of this matter long ago.
"Mm, yes. Ryou, did you also recognize that the male lead of last night's Akihabara incident was me?"
"I didn't recognize it yesterday. But today, when Lin-kun mentioned it to Isshiki-san, I subconsciously connected the two. If it was Lin-kun, then a disguise wouldn't be a very difficult thing,"
As expected, someone close could link the two together through the faintest of clues.
"Yesterday's confession to Mai was, more than anything, to free her from an anomaly."
Ryou Fujibayashi understood the reason. Just like her, Mai Sakurajima had also encountered a Strange, anomalous event, and Lin-kun had lent a helping hand.
"Lin-kun... is so gentle, lending a helping hand to every girl in need."
This was a good thing, but doing too much of this good thing — as a girl who liked Lin Ye, Ryou Fujibayashi would feel troubled by it too.
She worried that her future rivals would grow more and more numerous, to the point where she couldn't keep up.
"Not every single one, though."
"Was there one you didn't lend a hand to?"
Lin Ye immediately gave the example of that woman from Elite High School.
"That wasn't because Lin-kun didn't want to save her, but because Lin-kun didn't have the time to. If Lin-kun had been right beside her, he definitely wouldn't have watched her sink into a deadly crisis with his own eyes,"
Ryou Fujibayashi was quite certain of her own analysis and judgment, holding a strong sense of trust in Lin Ye.
Lin Ye explained himself, but Ryou Fujibayashi wouldn't accept it.
The topic returned to Mai Sakurajima,
Lin Ye continued, "After the confession, Mai successfully broke free of the anomaly's influence and returned to normal. And yesterday morning, we confirmed our relationship as boyfriend and girlfriend, as lovers,"
Ryou Fujibayashi thought it a pity,
Just one day short,
If only she'd been a little earlier, she might well have become Lin Ye's girlfriend first.
It was all her elder sister's fault. If her sister hadn't obstructed her before, how could it have taken until today for her to make a breakthrough with Lin Ye.
The resentment toward her sister in Ryou Fujibayashi's heart deepened by another notch.
Her greatest obstacle was her elder sister.
But now, this obstacle was as good as gone — though this obstacle, her sister, had very nearly knocked her flat to the ground, never to rise again.
Ryou Fujibayashi imagined that, had her sister succeeded yesterday, she would have chosen to stop at yesterday's relationship and never take another step closer to Lin Ye.
She would have deliberately kept her distance from Lin Ye, avoiding too much contact, and no matter how much she liked Lin Ye in her heart, she would have buried these feelings deep down and never shown them again, until everything was over.
The development her sister had envisioned — her sister fulfilling the pact, ending her relationship with Lin Ye, so that she herself could then formally be with Lin Ye — was almost impossible to come about.
Once or twice, her sister might still keep it hidden, but seven times — with a number like that, Ryou Fujibayashi really didn't believe her sister could sleep with Lin Ye seven times and still notice nothing at all.
If she really still didn't notice, that would be enough to show how low her level was.
"Were you the one who took the initiative, Lin-kun?"
Ryou Fujibayashi asked curiously.
In her view, it should have been Lin Ye who took the initiative! Otherwise, how would Mai Sakurajima have agreed to become Lin Ye's girlfriend.
"Ugh..."
In the next instant, Ryou Fujibayashi felt a flick land on her forehead.
"Do I look like the type to take the initiative?"
"Lin-kun confessed the night before last."
she muttered.
"That was to free her from the anomaly. It was Mai who took the initiative — she made her feelings clear, just like you, Ryou."
So that was how it was,
Faced with Lin Ye's help and companionship, no girl could resist him; falling for him was only a matter of time.
"Mm, is it just Mai, then?"
"There's also a Quasi-fiancée."
"What."
Ryou Fujibayashi was shocked. "Fi... fiancée,"
He even had someone he was engaged to,
What was she supposed to do?
She had genuinely intended to come to know Lin Ye, to meet him, to fall in love, and then to marry.
But now Lin Ye was telling her that he already had a fiancée,
This clearly exceeded what Ryou Fujibayashi could bear.
Every girl wants to marry the man she loves, to put on a wedding dress and become the most beautiful bride. But now, this dream of hers seemed unattainable — a failure from the very start.
It hurt,
She wanted to cry.
Why did it have to be like this!?
She'd thought Lin Ye merely had a couple more girlfriends, but one of them turned out to be a fiancée.
"A Quasi-fiancée — she doesn't quite count as a fiancée yet,"
Lin Ye gave an explanation,
but the explanation still left Ryou Fujibayashi's heart sunken.
With marriage and engagement as the goal, Lin Ye was getting to know and interacting with that girl; if it suited, she would go from Quasi-fiancée to fiancée.
Aah!?
Her chances were still so very slim.
At the same time, considering her own age, compared with the youth of Mai Sakurajima and that other girl, Ryou Fujibayashi found that her greatest disadvantage was one she could neither change nor reverse.
In another ten, fifteen years, she'd be old and faded, while the other girls would be young and beautiful — any man would know how to choose!!
She really couldn't find a reason for Lin Ye to choose her.
"This time, though, Yukinoshita knows about my confession to Mai Sakurajima. I think the two of us should end things here!"
Upon hearing this, Ryou Fujibayashi's mood improved.
If that was the case, then there'd be only one rival, Mai Sakurajima. For this girl tied to him by engagement to end her relationship with Lin Ye was, for her, about the best thing that could happen.
But at once, this gentle girl realized that this thought of hers was not good — very much not good.
She shouldn't be harboring such a thought.
"Lin-kun, do you like her?"
Ryou Fujibayashi looked at this beloved person who held her in his arms,
Asking, from within Lin Ye's embrace, whether Lin Ye liked another woman gave her a strange feeling.
"I don't want to lie to you — I definitely do like her,"
Ryou Fujibayashi's eyes dimmed,
"But I respect her wishes. My interaction with her is just to see whether the two of us suit each other. If she feels we don't suit, that she can end her contact with me and return to our original relationship, then I'll accept that too. I won't force or compel her to be with me."
So that was how it was!
"Mm."
Ryou Fujibayashi understood,
"Then what if I... weren't willing either!? Would Lin-kun not force me either? Not compel me?"
"Of course."
As the words fell, Ryou Fujibayashi pouted unhappily. "You're not allowed to be like that. Lin-kun should force me, compel me to stay by your side, do everything in your power, use every means to keep me at your side,"
So she actually liked that forceful approach?
"That way, whenever I run into anything that makes me want to give up, I'll have no choice but to stay by Lin-kun's side."
What she feared was that some future circumstance would once again raise in her the thought of parting from Lin Ye,
And so, to sever any notion of parting, she resolutely decided to press Lin Ye into forcing and compelling her.
"Promise me, Lin-kun."
Faced with the girl's plea, Lin Ye nodded and agreed.
"Of course — but you're not allowed to treat the other girls this way. If the other girls want to leave you, then let them leave, give them their freedom,"
As she spoke, Ryou Fujibayashi started laughing.
And Lin Ye laughed out loud along with her.
Give them their freedom — the things she said.
"And? Are there other girls who have an ambiguous relationship with Lin-kun?"
"There are no other girls with a settled relationship. Ren — you know about her. The two of us are at the stage of more than friends, but not quite lovers."
Toward Ren Nanase, Ryou Fujibayashi felt guilty too.
"Lin-kun, promise me one thing,"
"Go on — for now, keep our relationship a secret from Ren. I don't want Ren to know about us just yet,"
"Mm,"
Even if Ryou Fujibayashi hadn't said so, he wouldn't have gone out of his way to tell Ren Nanase.
To have slept with Ryou before things were settled with Ren — if Ren Nanase found out, she'd likely go wild with rage,
What might she do then?
Lin Ye felt only a chill run down his back, a slightly panicky feeling.
"Lin-kun,"
The fingers of her right hand traced circles on Lin Ye's chest. "So fickle — keeping things ambiguous with so many girls. Have you never thought about being faithful to just one?"
"I'm faithful to a whole group of girls."
"Hmph, only you would dare say such a thing — and say it to me, in a state like this, no less."
Ryou Fujibayashi was bashful, yet helpless.
This situation now was beyond her power to change.
As things stood, she was a latecomer,
"So, Lin-kun, will you be my boyfriend? Let's officially go out!"
Once again, Ryou Fujibayashi got to the heart of the matter.
She simply wanted to make her relationship with Lin Ye official.
"I can't give you an answer for now. There are two reasons,"
Ryou Fujibayashi waited for Lin Ye's answer,
"First, Mai and I only confirmed our relationship as lovers yesterday. If I now make things official with you too, it would feel far too fast. If Mai found out, she'd surely be hurt and heartbroken. I think I need some time to ease into it, and to find the right moment to tell her about this,"
"And the second!"
"I made a promise to your elder sister. I still have a pledge with your sister — before I complete the pact with her, I can't make an official relationship with you."
Ryou Fujibayashi was struck into silence.
The pact,
the pact again.
She'd already dumped her sister off in her own room, and yet that promise between Lin Ye and her sister was still affecting her.
"You don't have to keep it. My sister broke the agreement herself — she failed to fulfill her promise and chose to refuse the invitation,"
"That's different. I don't want to break it. So, Ryou, what you need to do is get your sister Kyou to rescind this pact. That way, I won't have to keep abiding by it anymore,"
"Mm, I'll talk to my sister. She'll agree."
Things having come to this, there was no way her sister could refuse.
She was already Lin Ye's woman; her sister had no reason to keep on 'not letting go.'
"Then we..."
As expected, deep down Ryou Fujibayashi still wanted an official relationship.
"Mm — good friends."
This earned Lin Ye a sidelong glare from the girl.
Good friends, sure — good friends who'd spent the night sleeping in the same bed.
Still, she accepted this relationship too.
At least the worst-case scenario hadn't come to pass.
Her outward relationship with Lin Ye stayed the same, while the actual relationship — well, once her body had recovered a bit, they could continue.
Ryou Fujibayashi touched her own body; she'd have to take a pill in a little while — it wouldn't do to get pregnant.
She didn't actually mind having a child — in fact she thought having one would be rather nice,
but Lin Ye was only seventeen, still a minor; wasn't becoming a father at such an age inappropriate?
She was thinking of Lin Ye.
Later — later on, they'd still need that.
Ryou Fujibayashi decided that afterward she'd buy some supplies to keep on hand.
If Lin-kun found it uncomfortable, then she'd be the one to take the medicine!
She thought about a great many things.
But the center of all her thoughts was Lin Ye; the whole time, she was thinking of Lin Ye.
The two of them lay nestled together beneath the covers.
Lin Ye felt that only now was he truly experiencing the feel of a maiden; last night, honestly, he hadn't retained much memory of it.
Much of it was a blur, without any concrete sensation.
Lin Ye held back, suppressing the impulse rising within him.
No rushing — take it slow; there was plenty of time.
For the next few days, he ought to let the girl rest well.
He himself needed to rest well too, to cultivate his body and temper his nature.
The body wasn't something to be squandered so freely.
Gradually, Lin Ye's heart settled.
And at this moment,
suddenly,
a piercing scream rang out, instantly startling both Lin Ye and Ryou Fujibayashi upright.
It was Isshiki Iroha's voice.
What had happened?
Lin Ye got out of bed at once and, heedless of his appearance, immediately ran over and opened the bedroom door.
What he saw was a maiden covering her mouth, her face stricken with terror.
...
...
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