Morning.
Yukino Yukinoshita washed up and finished her breakfast as usual, then set off for school.
Walking along the streets toward Sobu High, she carried an air of cold aloofness. Faced with her coldness and pride, many students gave her a wide berth, yet there were still plenty of boys drawn in by her charm, casting glances her way one after another.
Yukino Yukinoshita was long since accustomed to such gazes—she had grown used to them. In fact, if no boy were sneaking glances at her, she would feel that something was off.
From childhood to now, she had always been adorable, always drawing the eyes of the opposite sex. The ages of those males ranged from elementary school boys to the elderly—even old men would look at her that way.
Yukino Yukinoshita faced all of it with composure. Even if it caused her a certain amount of trouble and psychological pressure, by now she had grown used to it.
Only—
today—
as she walked along the road, she was not in a very good mood.
Thinking back on last weekend—
her boyfriend-and-fiancé had not spent much time accompanying her.
Even their voice calls had felt somewhat distant, as though the other party couldn't fully keep his mind on her.
By her own consistent way of doing things, since the other party was acting that way, she normally wouldn't dwell on it. She'd simply carry on with her own affairs—studying and reading—steadily and in good order doing what she needed to do.
But—
this time, to her surprise, she couldn't settle her heart, and her mood and state of mind were affected.
If Lin Ye wasn't with her, then he was very likely with another woman.
And who was that other woman?
Apart from Mai Sakurajima, she couldn't think of any other possibility.
When this thought surfaced in her mind, Yukino Yukinoshita felt even worse all over.
The thing most to be feared in anything is comparison. Lin Ye was more willing to spend time with Mai Sakurajima while leaving her out in the cold—didn't that mean Mai Sakurajima held a higher place in Lin Ye's heart?
Yukino Yukinoshita knew she shouldn't overthink it, but she couldn't help that her consciousness was no longer entirely under the control of reason.
Whenever she quieted her heart, she would unconsciously be swept up in wandering thoughts.
And so—
she decided that, once she reached school today, she absolutely had to question Lin Ye properly, and at the same time reach some kind of agreement with him.
It was just that she hadn't expected to see, first thing in the morning, this fiancé of hers being lovey-dovey and intimate the whole way with her underclassman, Isshiki Iroha.
That intimate look of them walking arm in arm nearly made her unable to hold back from stepping forward to give a warning.
As she walked along, she unexpectedly came to walk together with Miura Yumiko by coincidence.
At the same time, she also noticed that Miura Yumiko's gaze, too, was fixed on Lin Ye and Isshiki Iroha.
"Aren't you going to go stop them?"
This could be said to be the first time Yukino Yukinoshita had ever spoken to Miura Yumiko of her own initiative.
"He's your boyfriend in name, after all. All of Sobu High knows it."
"You know that's not true,"
Miura Yumiko shot a glance at the girl with long black hair beside her.
From the very first moment she'd laid eyes on this woman, Yukino Yukinoshita, on her first day of enrollment, she had known that she and this cold beauty Yukino Yukinoshita were absolutely not the same kind of people, and could never possibly become friends.
The year and more that followed had only proven the correctness of her judgment.
"The other students at Sobu High don't know. All they know is that Lin Ye is your boyfriend, and right now a little first-year underclassman is walking arm in arm intimately with Lin Ye—while you, his girlfriend, are right here on the scene, yet utterly unmoved, silently watching and doing nothing."
Miura Yumiko could already feel the odd looks being cast their way by the surrounding students.
Yes—many of the students had already begun to harbor doubts on this matter.
She wanted to do something, but if she stepped forward now to stop it, and Isshiki Iroha were to say in front of everyone, 'She isn't Lin Ye's girlfriend,' exposing this lie—then how would she, the Blond Queen of Sobu High, ever be able to hold her ground at Sobu High again? She'd probably become the laughingstock of the whole school.
Miura Yumiko couldn't accept that.
That was one reason why, even now, she would rather endure the students' strange looks and whispered murmurs than take a step forward to stop it.
"Miura Yumiko, this hesitant look of yours doesn't suit your title as the Blond Queen of Sobu High at all."
Yukino Yukinoshita had heard of that title too.
High school students, after all, were always coming up with nicknames for the school's notable figures. She, Yukino Yukinoshita, had titles at Sobu High as well—Snow Beauty, Ice Beauty, and plenty more—but she didn't care about them in the slightest.
"..."
Miura Yumiko looked at the intimate way the two ahead of her walked, arm in arm, and a nameless rage flared up in her heart. But every time she wanted to charge up and stop them, the impulse within her would immediately subside.
She had no standing to do so,
and there was also her fear of being exposed.
If it were Yukino Yukinoshita, she could feel at ease—she knew Yukino Yukinoshita wouldn't expose her, no matter what she did to Yukinoshita. But that playful underclassman, Isshiki Iroha—with her, she had no confidence at all, not the slightest bit.
"Hmph, useless."
Several attempts at provoking her had failed to goad Miura Yumiko. Inwardly, Yukino Yukinoshita felt a great pity.
She'd thought it a near-certain bet, yet it had actually failed—she was rather astonished.
From what she understood of Miura Yumiko's personality, Miura Yumiko should not have been the kind of girl who could endure this.
"It seems you're afraid of Isshiki Iroha. Otherwise, you wouldn't be too scared to step forward. As for your Queen title at Sobu High—I think after today it's going to be passed to someone else."
Faced with the unceasing mockery from the Ice Beauty beside her, Miura Yumiko pressed her lips together and gritted her teeth, suppressing the intense emotions within her.
On one hand, she understood that if she erupted, she'd be falling right into Yukinoshita's trap; on the other, any retort of hers would only make Yukino Yukinoshita all the more certain she'd hit the mark.
And the last point—even if she didn't want to admit it, she had to admit that in a quarrel with Yukinoshita she'd be no match. Such behavior would be little more than inviting her own humiliation, so she'd be better off enduring it.
No, no, no—it should be 'ignoring it' instead.
"Heh heh."
The final round of mockery from the woman beside her still failed to provoke Miura Yumiko.
Only—at this moment, Miura Yumiko suddenly felt that something was very strange.
What was it?
Watching the emotions revealed by the girl with long black hair beside her as she gazed at the retreating figures of the man and woman ahead, she vaguely thought of something.
"Yukinoshita, you wouldn't actually have thought about going to stop them yourself, would you!?"
Otherwise, why would she, time and time again, do things that ran counter to and didn't fit the character of a girl like Yukino Yukinoshita?
Apart from hoping to stop them, was there any other possibility?
"What?"
But in the very instant Miura Yumiko had just spoken up, she caught that fleeting, unnatural reaction of startled shock on Yukino Yukinoshita's face.
She'd most likely hit the mark.
A conjecture surfaced in Miura Yumiko's mind—Yukino Yukinoshita liked Lin Ye, or at least had feelings for him.
Otherwise, how could she be like this!?
"So that's how it is."
Miura Yumiko smiled.
Having been mocked in every way by Yukino Yukinoshita all this while, Miura Yumiko felt utterly refreshed in this moment.
So this woman had been pushing her so hard for the sake of her own feelings.
If she herself hadn't been so quick-witted, she'd never have known that this woman, too, had a man she liked!
She, Miura Yumiko, had genuinely always thought Yukino Yukinoshita was an Ice Fairy who lived above the mortal world.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Yukino Yukinoshita kept as calm as she could, to prevent it from being confirmed any further.
"You know what I mean."
Miura Yumiko spoke just as vaguely.
"Hmph,"
Yukinoshita let out a soft snort and didn't press any further. She was quite certain that the more she said, the more she'd let slip, so it was better to say less and stay silent.
Miura Yumiko was indeed a bit unsure now,
but the conjecture had already taken root in her heart.
And right up until Lin Ye and Isshiki Iroha entered Sobu High, she still hadn't made any overly drastic move.
But both she and Yukinoshita had overlooked one thing—that the two of them walking together would also draw the attention of many teachers and students at Sobu High.
Once she entered the school and heard the reminders from a friendly classmate at her side, she finally learned just how far the talk about her this morning had already spread throughout Sobu High.
"Damn it."
Meanwhile, Yukino Yukinoshita came to the classroom and ignored Lin Ye, expressing her inner dissatisfaction.
As for his text messages, in the end she didn't even reply.
Just like Miura Yumiko, she had guessed at what was on his mind.
But she wouldn't admit it.
Within a few minutes, class officially began.
Yukino Yukinoshita threw herself into the new week of school life.
Until the very moment the clock struck nine.
Her brain was suddenly seized by a wave of pain, and memories that had been hidden and forgotten surged toward her mind like floodwaters bursting through a dam.
She, Yukino Yukinoshita, remembered.
She remembered what had happened that night.
She had been hypnotized by Lin Ye and lost the related memories, and had even been forced to accept Mai Sakurajima's existence.
That bastard—
he'd used Hypnosis to rob her of her memories and rewrite her will.
Anger climbed without cease.
Yukino Yukinoshita's fury kept rising.
The moment she heard that Lin Ye felt unwell and wanted to go to the infirmary, she realized this guy was about to run away—he knew about her recovering her memories.
'Knock knock...'
The two of them walked the whole way and finally arrived at the infirmary.
But neither of them went in first.
"Student Yukinoshita, you go in first,"
After saying that,
Lin Ye stepped aside by half a body's width. He'd already used his perspective skill to see the situation inside the infirmary.
There was no one there—the infirmary teacher was nowhere to be seen.
If he were to go in together with Yukinoshita, he'd absolutely have to face the girl's fury.
Right now, just standing beside the girl, Lin Ye could already sense that faint, barely-there fury, like a volcano about to erupt.
He felt that Yukinoshita probably even had the heart to kill him!
"No, Student Lin, you go in first."
Yukino Yukinoshita shifted half a step, blocking the way behind Lin Ye. It seemed she was trying to prevent Lin Ye's possible attempt to flee.
"Really, no need—you go in first. Ladies first."
"No, Student Lin, you go in first,"
From Yukinoshita's reaction, Lin Ye too judged the girl's intent—she was dead set on not letting him leave.
He pondered whether to just use a skill and bolt. As long as he wanted to run, Yukino Yukinoshita definitely couldn't stop him.
The next second,
Yukino Yukinoshita unexpectedly took a step and walked into the infirmary. At the doorway, she halted her steps, her eyes glancing sidelong at Lin Ye behind her.
"You can go, but I'll wait for you here, and keep waiting until you come back."
This was her attitude. This was her will.
Yukino Yukinoshita realized that she actually couldn't stop Lin Ye from fleeing.
Whether it was Invisibility or some other Strange skill, she had no ability to obstruct it.
Rather than that, it was better not to obstruct him at all—to let her own will force Lin Ye to make a choice.
If he left,
then she felt she too would have to reexamine this twisted relationship between herself and Lin Ye.
A few seconds later, Yukino had already walked into the infirmary.
And Lin Ye, after standing outside for a moment, shook his head and walked in.
He couldn't run; he could only face it.
The instant Lin Ye walked in, the girl's voice came again, "Close the door."
She even wanted the door closed?
Lin Ye closed the door.
With a 'thud,' the infirmary held only Lin Ye and Yukino Yukinoshita.
A faint smell of disinfectant lingered in the air.
Gazing at the girl with long black hair sitting on the edge of the bed, Lin Ye felt inexplicably nervous.
Ever since he'd gained the Time Stop superpower, ever since he'd become a Strange Player, he had always been calm and unhurried when facing others, never nervous.
But in this moment, facing Yukino Yukinoshita, he was nervous, he was worried.
He analyzed it and quickly reached a conclusion.
On one hand, he had indeed done something wrong, something that wronged Yukinoshita; on the other, he liked this girl, and toward a girl who was his girlfriend and fiancée, he had a greater capacity for tolerance.
"Yukino,"
But Yukino Yukinoshita didn't speak right away. She only stared at Lin Ye with her navy-blue eyes for a good while.
Then she raised her hand and pointed.
Lin Ye sat down on the edge of the bed opposite her.
The two faced each other, no more than half a meter apart.
"Nothing you want to say?"
Of course there was,
and Lin Ye was quite certain Yukino Yukinoshita wasn't bluffing him.
"There is,"
"Say it,"
"If I say it, will you forgive me?"
"..."
Yukino Yukinoshita could be certain that Lin Ye already knew—sure enough, this guy knew some information she didn't.
"No,"
"Then I won't say it. Whatever you want to say or do, go ahead—I'll accept it all,"
At this point, Lin Ye displayed an utterly lie-flat attitude, like a dead pig that doesn't fear scalding water.
The corner of Yukino Yukinoshita's eye twitched. For a moment it even made her feel as though she were the one in the wrong.
"I can consider it."
She took a step back,
because she knew that if Lin Ye put on that posture, she and Lin Ye would have no way to communicate at all—they'd only end up at a standstill here.
"All right,"
Lin Ye immediately stood up straight, his attitude shifting back somewhat. He looked at the girl before him, moved his lips slightly, and said, "I used my ability to affect your memories, to make you accept certain ideas you wouldn't have accepted,"
This guy really did say it.
Yukino Yukinoshita slowly let out a breath.
"I said it—if you really did this, I would hate you for the rest of my life, and never forgive you for the rest of my life."
"And who was it that mocked me time and time again, making me use Hypnosis to hypnotize you?"
It was she who had said it, and she admitted it—but that had been her expressing her own intense will.
She could absolutely never accept sharing her boyfriend and fiancé with Mai Sakurajima.
"You know it—I'm unwilling to share with Mai Sakurajima,"
"But you said that. I originally didn't want to use this power on you, much less affect your memories. But in that situation, Yukino, tell me—what was I supposed to do?"
He tossed the question back to the girl.
Yukino Yukinoshita answered very calmly, "Respect my will. Choose one of two. Choose me, and I'll continue to be your girlfriend and fiancée—we'll keep this relationship going, and you end things with Mai Sakurajima. Choose Mai Sakurajima, and you end things with me—from now on we'll be nothing more than ordinary friends,"
This was Yukinoshita's idea.
She wanted Lin Ye to make a choice—it was both forcing Lin Ye and making a decision for herself, denying herself any chance to run away.
But this guy had used the power of Hypnosis to twist her consciousness, affect her memories, and make her accept the fact that Lin Ye and Mai Sakurajima were together.
"I want them all."
Lin Ye made his stance clear in this moment—shamelessly, outright.
But Yukino Yukinoshita ignored these words of Lin Ye's. Her red lips moved slightly, and she said, "I'll give you one more chance to choose. Choose one of two—Mai Sakurajima, or me,"
She stretched out her right hand, opened her palm, all five fingers clearly displayed.
"Five seconds. A five-second countdown. If you don't make a choice, I'll make it for you,"
She pressed Lin Ye.
"Five..."
"Yukino, don't force me,"
"Four,"
"I can still hypnotize you, make you accept it once again,"
It was just that Hypnosis, now that it had become a skill, probably couldn't reach that degree anymore.
"Three,"
Yukino Yukinoshita paid Lin Ye no heed and continued the countdown.
"Two,"
Only two seconds remained until the end.
Lin Ye spoke once more, "I won't let go—absolutely not. My stance is still that I want them all,"
He gripped the girl's hand tightly, and Yukino Yukinoshita let Lin Ye hold it, let him grasp it as he pleased.
"One..."
The countdown continued,
until it became zero.
"Zero."
Her gaze was calm. "I'll make the decision for you,"
In this moment she instead raised a smile. "I respect your feelings of liking Mai Sakurajima. The contact between us isn't appropriate. You and I..."
Just before she was about to speak those final words,
Lin Ye's hand moved, pulling the girl into his embrace,
and amid the girl's startled reaction, he aimed at her red lips and kissed down hard.
"Mmh..."
Her red lips coming under assault,
Yukino Yukinoshita instinctively began to struggle, her hands pushing forcefully, trying to shove Lin Ye away. But Lin Ye, holding the girl tightly, gave her no such chance at all.
He held and embraced her, kissing the girl, until at last the girl gave up struggling and let Lin Ye go on kissing her.
Five seconds later,
Lin Ye let go and ended the kiss.
Yukino Yukinoshita's face was flushed red, her breathing rapid as she gasped in great gulps of air.
Those five minutes just now—she'd nearly suffocated.
But more than that, she realized that her first kiss had just been stolen away like this.
"Lin Ye, you bastard,"
"Mm, I am a bastard,"
Lin Ye admitted it outright,
"You and I..."
The next second, before she could get the words out, Lin Ye unceremoniously pulled the girl into his embrace again, and once more aimed at her red lips for a round of kissing.
The girl struggled once again, and in the end could only give up unwillingly.
At last, she closed her eyes and let Lin Ye kiss her.
...
...
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