Hina Tachibana had even believed that her sister Rui and Lin Ye were about to get together and officially start dating.
But then, right away, came the matter of Miura Yumiko confessing to Lin Ye, and Lin Ye accepting.
For a moment she wondered whether she'd misheard, whether someone was deliberately targeting her.
"Wait a moment,"
"Miura Yumiko—I remember this girl was quite close with Hayama Hayato, wasn't she?"
...
...
After the detailed account of the confession scene reached her, Hina Tachibana grew even more bewildered.
She utterly couldn't understand what was going on.
Miura Yumiko confessing to Lin Ye right in front of Hayama—
wasn't that a rather big shock for Hayama too?
Young boys and girls—given how close Hayama and Miura Yumiko were, she really didn't think Hayama could be unaware of Miura Yumiko's feelings for him.
"Forget it, forget it,"
Hina Tachibana shook her head. "Young people's affairs aren't something I can meddle in,"
"I can't manage it anyway. This sort of thing—I just can't wrap my head around it. We're not of the same generation; there's a generation gap."
A solid generation gap, indeed.
Even though she was still young—only five or six years older than these students—the two sides' ways of thinking already felt completely different.
Right now, what Hina Tachibana cared about most was the future of Lin Ye and her sister Rui.
What would happen next?
She felt it was necessary to do something.
"How unexpected. Could it really be that he was so short of a girlfriend that he accepted Miura Yumiko's confession?"
"If that were the case, he shouldn't have rejected my proposal—he should have ended his contact with my sister Rui instead."
So Hina Tachibana thought.
Then she thought of one possibility behind Miura Yumiko's behavior.
"To provoke Hayama?"
"But wasn't the price too high?"
"Once it failed, Miura would have no possibility left with Hayama at all."
Confessing to Lin Ye in front of everyone—once the provocation failed, how could Hayama ever have a future with Miura Yumiko!
If Miura Yumiko's aim was to provoke, then this move on the board could only be called a mistake.
"Sigh!"
What a pity.
Amid her lamenting, Hina Tachibana let out a soft sigh.
After coming to Sobu High and hearing about Miura Yumiko and Hayama, her first impression had been that the two were a decent match, but now it was over—her instincts really weren't very accurate after all.
Just as she'd thought Lin Ye and her sister actually made a good pair, yet Lin Ye hadn't accepted.
And when another teacher, Shizuka Hiratsuka, received the news, she was shocked beyond belief.
As the student-life guidance teacher, she understood the relationship between Miura Yumiko and Hayama all the more clearly, and knew all the better about Miura Yumiko's feelings for Hayama.
But now Miura Yumiko had confessed to Lin Ye right in front of Hayama—was this something a person could actually do?
Her brain must be broken!
No matter what, she shouldn't have confessed; even if she truly meant to confess, she shouldn't have done it in front of Hayama.
Miura Yumiko must absolutely be possessed by a ghost, her mind having been influenced!
The Strange was too terrifying,
that it could make even something like this happen.
Shizuka Hiratsuka also knew this was just her own nonsensical guess.
"Ah, youth!"
"Truly, anything can happen,"
Shizuka Hiratsuka walked to the window, gazing out at the scenery beyond.
The cool evening breeze carried a faint warmth,
and her heart brimmed with a peculiar emotion.
Meanwhile, on the other side,
Lin Ye pulled Miura Yumiko back to the Service Club classroom in the club building.
Other than here, Lin Ye couldn't think of any other place.
'Clang...'
The Service Club classroom door closed,
Lin Ye didn't let go, and in the Service Club classroom where no one else was present, Miura Yumiko didn't immediately let go either. She stared blankly ahead, dispirited and lost, as though she'd stopped responding to everything in the outside world.
"Miura,"
Lin Ye spoke, but Miura Yumiko gave no reaction at all.
He stretched out his left hand and waved it before the girl's eyes; the golden-haired young girl still gave no reaction whatsoever.
The next moment,
Lin Ye's left-hand fingers went to Miura Yumiko's cheek and, with a burst of force, gave it a hard pinch.
"Ow—what are you doing!"
Under the pain, Miura Yumiko came to her senses, and immediately raised a hand to swat Lin Ye's away.
"I'm helping you wake up,"
Lin Ye knew Miura Yumiko was still immersed in the grief of the change in her relationship with Hayama.
This girl had not the slightest interest in him, and her feelings for Hayama ran deep, but why...
Lin Ye now very much wanted to figure out the reason.
"If you want to take advantage of me, just say so,"
Miura Yumiko snorted.
"Touching the cheek of a girl who likes me—is there a problem? Say it out loud, and no one would think there's anything wrong with it!"
Miura Yumiko's lips twitched. "Who likes you,"
"First, I didn't say anyone likes me,"
"Second, who was it that confessed to me earlier? You know that best,"
...
That unpleasant memory began to surface, ceaselessly stimulating Miura Yumiko's sensitive nerves.
The agonizing emotion crashed against her mind once again like a tide; Miura Yumiko wished she could erase this stretch of memory.
But Miura Yumiko knew the matter had already happened, had become fact, and there was no possibility for her to escape it.
"Who knows!"
"Heh heh, Miura-san truly is a person of importance—so easily forgetful."
"Anyway, I won't let you take advantage of me."
"Oh!"
Lin Ye raised his right hand, which caused the girl's left hand—held by Lin Ye all this while—to rise as well.
Only then did Miura Yumiko realize she'd been holding hands with Lin Ye for who knew how long.
This was the first time in her life a boy had held her hand for so long.
"Let go,"
As she said this, Miura Yumiko immediately flung her hand,
but Lin Ye didn't let go along with it—instead he gripped tighter. "If I let go just because you tell me to, wouldn't I lose all my face?"
That rhetorical question left Miura Yumiko dumbstruck.
She'd never met such a shameless man.
"Let go. If you still don't let go, don't blame me for getting rough."
"Oh! Let me see just how rough you can get?"
As he spoke, Lin Ye pulled the girl over with one hand; his powerful strength left Miura Yumiko utterly unable to dodge as she was drawn close, their bodies pressing together.
At this distance,
Miura Yumiko could fully smell the faint masculine scent radiating from Lin Ye's body; a strange emotion stimulated her sensitive nerves, and facing Lin Ye's gaze, she grew all the more flustered.
"Let go."
She struggled, but never broke free,
Seeing this, Miura Yumiko gritted her teeth and raised her other hand, making as if to strike down.
Lin Ye turned sideways and gave a light, forceful push with his right leg; the girl's body, as if out of control, staggered and was shoved by Lin Ye against the classroom door.
"Mm..."
It didn't hurt, but the pressure from being squeezed made her breathing somewhat uncomfortable, and the treasures she took such pride in were pressed flat. She gritted her teeth and tried to push Lin Ye away, but failed.
This man—why was he so strong!
"Miura-san, tell me—what other way of getting rough do you have?"
The words came from behind, bland yet laced with unconcealable mockery.
Oh, how furious Miura Yumiko was!
Any other man at Sobu High wouldn't dare treat her this way, but this fellow Lin Ye hadn't the slightest thought of tenderness toward a delicate beauty—he wasn't gentle with her at all.
"Let me go,"
"First tell me how you'll get rough."
"I'll beat you to death, I'll definitely beat you to death,"
"Those words carry no threat at all."
Lin Ye shook his head, showing not the slightest reaction to the golden-haired young girl's threat.
"I'll shout that you're harassing me, assaulting me. I'll ruin your reputation and have the police haul you off."
"Ah! I'm so scared!"
In a mocking tone, Lin Ye looked at the girl he'd pinned against the door. "Right now, who at Sobu High doesn't know you confessed to me? If you shout like that, no one will believe you—they'll only think we had a falling-out and you're deliberately retaliating out of anger,"
"Gulp..."
Miura Yumiko also knew Lin Ye was telling the truth,
but she actually knew it was just her venting—she could hit Lin Ye, kick Lin Ye, but to shout that he was harassing and assaulting her would be going too far.
That much, Miura Yumiko did understand.
"Let me go,"
"Tell me, why did you confess to me,"
"The agreement with you,"
"You answered so readily—I don't believe it,"
"It's the truth,"
"Fine, I believe you. In that case, tonight I'll take you to a hotel and book a room—we'll go in right in front of Hayama."
"Impossible."
Just imagining that scene, Miura Yumiko found it utterly unacceptable, a strong negative resistance welling up inside her.
"Helping you sever your relationship with him, your last lingering attachment—wouldn't that be better?"
"No,"
The golden-haired young girl shouted and struggled, her taut arms straining several times to push Lin Ye away, but failing all the same.
"Since you don't want to sever your relationship with him, then why confess to me?"
Miura Yumiko pressed her lips together and fell silent.
This woman didn't intend to speak.
Lin Ye looked at the stubborn Miura, wondering whether to use Hypnosis to get the answer he wanted.
'Swish!'
At this moment, the Service Club classroom door was slid open.
In an instant,
Miura Yumiko, following the direction of the pressure, toppled entirely over,
Her body's sudden loss of balance and fall made the girl instinctively let out a whimper in that instant, shutting her eyes to brace for the impending tumble to the floor.
But,
she found she hadn't fallen—instead her body had been caught by a pair of hands, her Sobu High uniform pulled taut against her.
Miura Yumiko looked up and saw the girl with long black hair before her—Yukino Yukinoshita.
At this moment, Yukino Yukinoshita's navy-blue eyes were piercing, holding a coldness like deep winter, her slender figure seeming to conceal an endless, terrifying aura.
In that instant,
even Miura Yumiko shivered involuntarily, as if she'd done something wrong, her guilty heart racing, not even daring to meet the other's gaze.
Panic!
Why had Yukinoshita come? That gaze—she could barely bear it.
"The Service Club is not a place for romancing and committing shameless acts,"
Her red lips moved lightly as she spoke slowly.
As her words fell,
Miura Yumiko flushed red. "We weren't doing anything shameless,"
"Oh? You weren't? You were embracing, all lovey-dovey—if I hadn't come along, next you'd be doing some baby-making act, right! Go to a hotel, not at school,"
As she spoke, Yukino Yukinoshita's expression never left Miura Yumiko, while out of the corner of her eye she glanced at Lin Ye, releasing the anger within her.
The two of them had run back to the Service Club to be lovey-dovey, which displeased her; but what truly left her dissatisfied, even furious, was that Lin Ye had actually accepted this woman's confession right there on the spot.
What was this supposed to be?
What did that make her, his girlfriend and fiancée?
How could Yukino Yukinoshita not be angry.
And this blondie was infuriating too—confessing to her fiancé, what kind of joke was that, NTR right to her face? You dare, with what right?
"Yukinoshita, don't talk nonsense, I'll get you for slander,"
"Heh heh,"
Yukino Yukinoshita snorted. "Take a look at your own state first,"
Miura Yumiko's gaze dropped, and she saw clearly her own disheveled clothes, her northern hemisphere exposed in snowy white.
"Mm..."
As open and bold as Miura Yumiko could be, she couldn't withstand this,
Fortunately there weren't many people here; if other students, especially boys, had seen this, she wouldn't know how to keep going at Sobu High in the future.
Isshiki Iroha and Yui Yuigahama stayed quiet at the back, neither making a sound.
The opposing momentum between Yukinoshita and Miura left them utterly unwilling to dare intervene, deeply afraid of drawing a massive blow upon themselves.
"It's all your club member's fault,"
"Heh, but this is the man you confessed to. Miura Yumiko, even shifting blame isn't done the way you're doing it,"
Yukino Yukinoshita was full of cold intent; her aura alone dropped the temperature of the scene by several degrees.
"Confessing in front of everyone, and in front of Hayama no less—you really know how to play,"
"Shut up,"
"I wonder what Hayama was thinking at the time,"
"Shut up, just shut up!"
In the end,
Miura Yumiko roared out loud, bellowing, her eyes bloodshot. If she could, she'd even have lashed out, but her last shred of reason held back and stopped her from turning to violence.
Yukino Yukinoshita watched on; in that moment just now, she'd already braced herself—if Miura Yumiko had struck, she wouldn't have hesitated to use Aikido to teach her that violence was useless.
But seeing the glistening tears welling at the corners of Miura Yumiko's eyes, she felt some sympathy too.
Although she couldn't be sure of the exact reason for Miura Yumiko's behavior at the sports field, she did have her guesses.
This woman must have changed her mind at the last minute, switching the target of her confession to Lin Ye.
In fact, the best method would have been not to confess—do nothing, and nothing would go wrong.
But,
this woman went and did it anyway.
Yukinoshita secretly regretted it, thinking that if she hadn't gone along with Isshiki in egging on and mocking Miura Yumiko, perhaps this situation wouldn't have come about.
"Yumiko..."
Yui Yuigahama finally couldn't hold back; seeing her good friend in tears, she stepped forward to support the girl and began carefully comforting her.
"Yumiko, Yukinon didn't mean it,"
"A joke, it was just a joke, you don't have to take it seriously. We don't think you and Student Lin did anything between a man and a woman!"
"Really, we won't misunderstand,"
...
But the more Yui Yuigahama comforted her, the more Miura Yumiko's tears poured down unstoppably, making Yui Yuigahama all the more anxious.
"Senpai,"
Isshiki came through the Service Club classroom door to Lin Ye's side. "You left holding Miura-senpai's hand—that means you accepted Senpai's confession. Congratulations, Senpai, you've got a girlfriend now. I, Isshiki Iroha, your cute junior, have helped you fulfill your little wish of finding a girlfriend."
"Heh heh heh, I'm such a good junior to you, aren't I!"
She raised a smug, praise-seeking smile.
'Bonk!'
Lin Ye raised his hand and rapped down with a finger.
"Mm..."
Isshiki Iroha let out a whimper.
She held her head, looking at Lin Ye with a face full of grievance. "Senpai, why did you hit me! Aren't I good to you?"
"Always causing trouble,"
"Boo hoo hoo, Senpai is too cruel. I'll never find Senpai a girlfriend again. I'll never introduce you to a girlfriend ever again."
"I don't need you to introduce anyone,"
He was a man with a girlfriend now.
His girlfriend was right beside him.
Lin Ye glanced sideways at Yukinoshita, and Yukinoshita, as if by telepathy, looked toward Lin Ye. Their four eyes met, consciousness passing between them.
She quickly glanced away,
This was an expression of displeasure.
Lin Ye knew Yukinoshita would be unhappy.
So now it was time for him to make the girl happy—wasn't making one's girlfriend happy a matter of course?
As for Miura Yumiko, giving her face by not rejecting her at the sports field was the greatest help he could offer,
"Miura-san, I don't know the reason behind your confession at the sports field earlier; you're unwilling to say, and I don't care to press. Now, I can give you my answer,"
At this moment,
the several girls all understood what Lin Ye meant to say—this was a rejection.
Isshiki Iroha was shocked! This girl with such a good face and figure, and Senpai didn't even want her? You've got to be kidding!
Yui Yuigahama was stunned, equally unable to understand. Ever since Yumiko enrolled, who knew how many men had confessed to Yumiko, but all without exception had been rejected,
and now, facing Yumiko's confession, Lin Ye actually meant to reject it. Yui Yuigahama even wondered if Lin Ye's brain was broken—a girlfriend! A beautiful girlfriend, what man wouldn't want that!
A faint smile surfaced on Yukino Yukinoshita's face, and even her gaze softened considerably.
This man, not bad,
His earlier behavior had been improper, but she could also guess Lin Ye's reason for not rejecting outright—it was to give Miura Yumiko a bit more face. Now, in a private setting, with only the few Service Club members present,
Lin Ye giving his actual answer could be considered putting the final period on this matter.
Miura Yumiko slowly raised her eyes,
she too knew Lin Ye's answer,
her feelings equally complicated,
Things were over with Hayama, and now she was about to be rejected by Lin Ye too—even though this was something she'd considered. She'd even been thinking that if Lin Ye accepted, he'd then use the boyfriend-girlfriend relationship to keep making excessive, improper demands of her,
and how she should refuse them.
But now that Lin Ye was about to reject her, she instead grew angry, a rebellious mentality rising up.
By what right,
how could you, Lin Ye, reject the confession of me, Miura Yumiko? Didn't you want a girlfriend? You even confessed to Yukinoshita—now that I'm confessing to you, shouldn't you be accepting it with delight?
In the instant Lin Ye was about to speak,
Miura Yumiko spoke up first. "Once we're dating, I'll properly fulfill my duties as a… girlfriend."
That one sentence
instantly pressed the pause switch on the Service Club's atmosphere.
What a blatant, naked temptation!
Yukino Yukinoshita caught the meaning,
One seductive, shameless woman after another, finding new ways to tempt her fiancé—and now saying it right to her face, point-blank. She was livid, nearly unable to hold back from cursing out loud.
Yui Yuigahama was dumbfounded,
Isshiki Iroha, after a brief moment of astonishment, immediately began frantically hinting to Lin Ye,
This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—Miura-senpai had already said as much. Hurry and accept; tonight he could take her to a hotel and do some happy, pleasurable things.
How could a man possibly not like that!
So...
All eyes converged on Lin Ye; Lin Ye became the center of focus.
Facing Miura Yumiko's hint, Lin Ye of course understood her meaning, but he felt all the more that this was a stalling tactic Miura Yumiko had made to avoid losing face,
Miura Yumiko surely didn't want to lose face in front of Yukinoshita, which was why she'd spoken up to give this promise.
Once today's events had passed, the chance of her going back on it was extremely high.
Of course, that wasn't the point—Lin Ye wasn't the sort to covet a girl's body. Miura Yumiko was indeed pretty, but not as pretty as Yukinoshita and Mai Sakurajima.
He hadn't even been willing to touch his own girlfriend; this blond girl pressing forward to tempt him—he wasn't buying it.
But,
Lin Ye didn't intend to reject her right away either.
The moment he thought of his girlfriend Yukino Yukinoshita being present, he immediately had an idea,
He had to give Yukinoshita a good provoking, to make Yukinoshita anxious.
"Miura-san, is what you're saying… the meaning I understand it to be?"
Lin Ye asked, feigning hesitation in his words.
The golden-haired high school girl Miura Yumiko slowly turned her head, glancing at Lin Ye out of the corner of her eye, and finally nodded. "Mm."
She'd given an affirmative answer.
Wow!
Inside, Isshiki Iroha was thrilled beyond measure,
This Miura-senpai was making quite a sacrifice—or did she really like Senpai? Otherwise, how could she be throwing in even herself?
As for Yui Yuigahama, needless to say—as a good friend, she'd always known clearly that the one Miura Yumiko liked was Hayama, that she'd always wanted to date Hayama. How had this scene of wanting to be with Lin Ye, of forming a romantic relationship, come about now?
Only Yukino Yukinoshita stared at Lin Ye, her red lips tightly shut, her eyes releasing an indescribable light.
Lin Ye's every move was subjected to the attention of the four girls present; as Lin Ye prepared to speak his answer, the four girls focused their minds all the more, faces full of anticipation, awaiting Lin Ye's reply.
"I already have a girl I like. Sorry, but please forgive me for very politely declining your request to date."
As his words fell,
a period was drawn on it all.
Rejection it was; even facing Miura Yumiko's most direct hint, Lin Ye still chose to reject her.
A great beauty willing to fulfill the duties of a girlfriend—pretty, with a good figure—and Lin Ye actually chose to reject her. The shock of this was most intense for Isshiki Iroha and Miura Yumiko.
For a moment it plunged the two of them into self-doubt, even wondering whether the one Lin Ye liked was a man—otherwise, how could he reject her!
Yukino Yukinoshita's heart eased; the tension within her turned into joy and happiness. She was in a very good mood now,
At least Lin Ye knew what he was doing—rejecting when he should reject, not tempted by this blondie.
The silence lasted three seconds,
Miura Yumiko was so angry her body trembled; compared to her earlier experience, this made her even more furious.
But in the end, faced with this reality, she had no choice but to accept,
This fellow had meant to reject her from the start; holding her hand and bringing her back here was out of consideration to save her face, so she could hold her head up before the other students at Sobu High.
The kind of rumor that 'Miura Yumiko confessed to Lin Ye and failed, grief-stricken' would soon spread throughout Sobu High, and might even be embellished, with fabricated things that never happened added in.
And she would be in such an environment for quite some time afterward.
Miura Yumiko instinctively resisted it.
Realizing this, she also understood that Lin Ye's handling had been out of consideration for her future life.
How gentle!
Miura Yumiko made this appraisal.
"Are you sure? I can give you one more chance,"
"No need. I already have a girl I like,"
Miura Yumiko shot a glance at Yukino Yukinoshita.
It was this woman, wasn't it!
She remembered Lin Ye had confessed to Yukinoshita, but had failed,
and now, facing her confession to him, Lin Ye's rejection must surely be because of Yukino Yukinoshita being present!
"A certain woman won't accept your confession; the chance of her becoming your girlfriend is close to zero."
"That's no trouble for Miura-san to worry about,"
Faced with Lin Ye's attitude, Miura Yumiko felt there was no need to say anything more.
"I understand."
She accepted it.
In any case, it wasn't she who suffered the loss, and the one who might regret it in the future wouldn't be her either.
Miura Yumiko accepted it calmly.
The group returned to their seats; Miura Yumiko sat on a chair Yui Yuigahama pulled out.
After a good while, Yui Yuigahama took the initiative to ask Miura Yumiko the reason for confessing to Lin Ye.
The several people present were actually all curious about the answer to this question.
"Fulfilling an agreement,"
"A bet,"
she said slowly, "Rather than confess to Hayama, better to confess to Lin Ye—wasn't that said from the very start?"
But the people present really didn't believe this reason.
If she'd confessed merely to fulfill an agreement, Miura Yumiko had no need at all to choose a time when Hayama was present.
The Miura Yumiko of that moment absolutely had other thoughts.
"What, Yui doesn't believe me?"
Of course she didn't believe it, but Yui Yuigahama's answer wasn't that. "Of course I believe you, of course I believe what Yumiko says, hahahaha..."
In the end she laughed loudly to ease the atmosphere.
This matter came to a temporary end.
Miura Yumiko rested in the Service Club for a while, and after steadying her mood, stood up. "The commission I submitted to the Service Club has already been completed. Thank you all."
The Service Club had already completed her commission,
Miura Yumiko gave her thanks, even if this wasn't the result she'd wanted.
"And my bet with Lin Ye is also complete, isn't it!"
Lin Ye didn't bother to argue that he'd never agreed to that bet; the matter ending was for the best—that was Lin Ye's current thinking. His original intention had simply been to watch the good show between Miura Yumiko and Hayama,
That earlier scene had been a good thing too; he'd enjoyed it for a while—only, in the end, he'd become a participant himself, which left him somewhat depressed.
"Mm, you've already fulfilled the bet,"
"Alright then, I'll take my leave first,"
But upon reaching the doorway, Miura Yumiko looked toward Lin Ye again and spoke up to extend an invitation.
She still had something she wanted to talk over with Lin Ye alone.
...
...
____
Gift for Everyone: Once we hit 30 Powerstones, I'll release +1 bonus chapter
________________________________________
If you want more chapters, please consider supporting my page on (P). with 50 advanced chapters available on (P)
👻 Join the crew by searching Leanzin on (P). You know the spot! 😉