She remembered. The girl named Isshiki Iroha had remembered everything she'd forgotten.
She rubbed her temples, recalling and confirming over and over, until at last she was certain it hadn't been a hallucination but something that had truly happened.
"Lin Ye... Senpai," Isshiki Iroha gritted her teeth.
Senpai had actually forcibly used Hypnosis on her to make her forget what had happened that morning.
Memory—to Isshiki Iroha, it was something absolutely precious, an inviolable domain.
Even if that morning's events did indeed involve some bad aspects, and even if her leaking them would indeed cause Senpai a great deal of trouble—
But... that was no reason for Senpai to hypnotize her into forgetting everything.
"This is too much—actually hypnotizing me without my consent and robbing me of my precious memories."
Damn it, damn it.
Isshiki Iroha bit down hard on the end of her pen, venting the strong dissatisfaction in her heart.
As for that morning's events—Senpai and Ryou Fujibayashi had been intimate, fooling around all night long; the two of them had actually had a physical relationship, and the harrowing scene with the older sister, Kyou Fujibayashi, that morning had left an even deeper impression on Isshiki Iroha.
Something had definitely happened with that pair of sisters that night; even though she recalled the two sisters' explanation, she didn't believe it.
And the fact that Senpai had hypnotized her into losing her memory in order to keep it secret only deepened Isshiki Iroha's suspicions in this regard.
"Senpai, with all your scheming, you never imagined I'd recover my memories, did you!"
"Hahaha."
"Just you wait."
"Come noon, I'm going to give you a great big surprise."
She would make Senpai pay the price for what he'd done that day.
She would absolutely make Senpai honestly confess everything.
But just how should she go about threatening him in a reasonable way?
A simple threat would probably just earn her another round of Senpai's Hypnosis and yet another loss of memory; who knew, maybe this time Senpai's Hypnosis would be even harsher—what if he really turned her brain to mush like a cream puff?
Isshiki's heart trembled.
It wasn't that she was truly afraid—she really didn't think Senpai would do that—it was just that if such a situation really arose and she knew nothing about it, that would be far too miserable.
"Email," Isshiki Iroha thought of it.
"Senpai, even if you hypnotize me into losing my memory, no problem—I'll leave clues for myself."
As soon as she finished speaking, she immediately got to work, using her phone to compose an email and set a time.
It would automatically send to her phone a week later.
If she still remembered, she'd keep pushing the scheduled time back.
Besides that, she set up quite a few backup measures as well.
"Senpai, if you dare do anything funny to me again, don't blame me—I will expose you."
Isshiki Iroha snorted twice.
She was now looking forward to reuniting with Senpai at noon.
She wondered what expression Senpai would make when faced with the surprise of her recovered memories!
The infirmary.
Yukino Yukinoshita had already straightened her clothes.
In the end, Lin Ye hadn't just kissed her—his hands had also roamed about restlessly, messing up her school uniform.
"From now on, keep your distance from me at school, and no funny business."
The hardest action of all was breaking through from zero, but once you broke through zero, the one-two-three-four that followed came all too easily.
Yukino Yukinoshita worried that from this day on, Lin Ye would kiss her and take advantage of her whenever no one else was around, with or without reason.
And if such behavior happened too many times, it would inevitably be discovered.
Just like a moment ago, her business with Lin Ye had been discovered by the intruding Shizuka Hiratsuka.
Their very first kiss at school had already been discovered by a teacher; if they continued kissing intimately in the future, they were surely bound to be found out by other students.
Yukino Yukinoshita didn't want her business with Lin Ye to spread widely among the students and be treated as entertainment.
That feeling—she thoroughly detested it.
Under Yukinoshita's gaze, Lin Ye didn't answer right away.
"Did you hear me?"
"I'll try my best."
But that answer was about the same as a refusal.
Yukinoshita was clearly unsatisfied.
"Promise me."
"..."
She let out a helpless little sigh. "As a reward, after school when we get home, I can... allow you to go a little bit further."
There was no helping it.
She'd more or less figured out Lin Ye's way of doing things—this guy responded to a soft touch but not a hard one, and he preferred trades.
If she was willing to make it up to him, Lin Ye would basically agree.
"Higher than just now, and no lower?"
Lin Ye even had a glimmer of anticipation in his eyes.
"Lower, and no higher."
"Sigh."
"If you don't want to, then forget it."
But those words made Lin Ye state his position at once. "I'll try, really try my best; and if I occasionally can't hold back, Yukino, please be understanding—it's all because you're so cute."
In the end, he even pinned the blame on Yukino Yukinoshita.
This left Yukino Yukinoshita helpless. "So now it's my fault?"
"Yes."
"You really are thick-skinned."
Yukino Yukinoshita couldn't help but say, but Lin Ye didn't care in the slightest—rather, he couldn't care less about a few words like these.
"If I weren't thick-skinned, Yukino would have broken up with me long ago."
She rolled her eyes.
If this guy really weren't thick-skinned, she and Lin Ye really would have ended things.
Yukino Yukinoshita had thought Lin Ye was the type of man who wouldn't cling, who would part on good terms—that was precisely why she'd chosen to become Lin Ye's Quasi-fiancée and establish that relationship with him in the first place.
If it worked out, they'd keep in contact; if not, they'd part—but as it turned out, this guy got himself entangled with her.
Though she now remembered the reason Lin Ye had given.
As Quasi-fiancés, he could accept parting if it didn't work out—
But as a girlfriend, that wouldn't do.
And so, because of her misunderstanding at the time and her wish to make it up to Lin Ye, she'd taken the initiative to offer to be his girlfriend, which led to the whole series of events afterward, leaving her unable to break things off with Lin Ye even if she wanted to.
Looking back now, Yukino Yukinoshita felt she'd truly been far too irrational at the time; if she'd been a bit more rational and thought it through more, she wouldn't have fallen into that misunderstanding and volunteered to be Lin Ye's girlfriend.
Nor would there have been so many of the events that followed.
She'd even nearly handed over both her kiss and her body.
Yukinoshita sighed; all she could do was sigh.
She no longer dared to imagine what would happen next.
Next time, when Lin Ye stayed over at her apartment, they would probably really end up sleeping in the same bed.
Sigh.
Yukino Yukinoshita was rather astonished at how quickly this relationship was changing.
"Yukino."
"What is it?"
"I can't quite hold back."
Yukinoshita: ???
The next second, Lin Ye leaned in close.
This made Yukino Yukinoshita curse inwardly.
They'd only just finished kissing—was this really necessary?
Was she so beloved, so longed-for?
The girl grew happy at the thought.
Her biggest advantage over Mai Sakurajima was distance—she was closer to Lin Ye, with more opportunities for real-life contact and interaction with him, something Mai Sakurajima simply couldn't have.
As a big star, Mai Sakurajima was destined to be unable to compete with her when it came to time.
And merely keeping up daily voice chats with Lin Ye was, in Yukino Yukinoshita's view, completely insufficient.
Feeling the affection of the man beside her, Yukinoshita once again slowly closed her eyes and let Lin Ye do as he pleased.
Five minutes later,
the girl, having this time thoroughly straightened her clothes, bid Lin Ye farewell.
"I'm going back to class now. See you at the Service Club at noon."
Yukinoshita didn't force Lin Ye to follow her back to class; since Lin Ye didn't want to attend, then he wouldn't.
She wouldn't force him.
If Lin Ye fell behind in any subject, she'd be glad to tutor him; of course, fundamentally she still hoped Lin Ye would adopt a fairly good attitude toward studying.
It was just that Yukino Yukinoshita also understood that the path Lin Ye would walk in the future was different from hers, and different from that of most students.
'Click...'
Yukino Yukinoshita stepped out of the infirmary and saw Shizuka Hiratsuka about seven or eight meters away.
She was surprised.
"Hiratsuka-sensei."
She'd thought Shizuka Hiratsuka had already left, but never expected she'd been there the whole time.
"All settled?"
"Mm, all settled."
"Mind telling me about it?"
Shizuka Hiratsuka didn't bluntly insist on knowing the outcome.
"He and I are officially dating now."
That was all she could say.
"No regrets?"
"Any regrets would be a matter for the future."
"Can you tell me what made you reach this decision? I don't think what just happened alone would lead you to it."
Yukino Yukinoshita gave a faint smile. "That reason is enough."
Shizuka Hiratsuka realized Yukino Yukinoshita didn't want to explain the real reason, and since that was the case, she didn't press further.
"I'll get the answer from Lin Ye's side."
"Sensei, suit yourself."
She didn't try to stop her, which made Shizuka Hiratsuka realize it would be quite difficult to get the true reason from Lin Ye as well—Lin Ye probably wouldn't talk either.
"I'll head back to class now."
"All right, go on! From now on, mind your behavior at school—don't get caught."
Shizuka Hiratsuka warned her preemptively.
What young couples might do at school, Shizuka Hiratsuka could hardly imagine—who knew, in some secluded spot with few people around, they might do things even she couldn't picture.
Yukinoshita caught the subtext of Shizuka Hiratsuka's words; she could only endure her inner discomfort and leave, pretending not to understand.
It was all Lin Ye's fault, every bit of it; if only the teacher hadn't found out, how nice that would be!
In this moment,
Yukinoshita even thought of asking Lin Ye to hypnotize Shizuka Hiratsuka and make her lose this stretch of memory, but in the end she still didn't do it.
Asking Lin Ye to use Hypnosis on Hiratsuka-sensei would likewise be distorting Hiratsuka-sensei's consciousness and altering her memory—wasn't that the very thing she detested most?
She couldn't do that.
Yukinoshita left.
Shizuka Hiratsuka walked into the infirmary.
At this moment, Lin Ye was lying down in the infirmary.
"Drained already, after such a short while?"
The slightly mocking words rang out; Shizuka Hiratsuka seemed to be implying something.
How could Lin Ye fail to catch it—though Shizuka Hiratsuka had no boyfriend and wasn't married, her knowledge in certain areas was still rich.
"Sensei, if you bring Mai over for me, I could go three hundred rounds."
"Heh, you brag without even rehearsing."
Shizuka Hiratsuka jeered.
If Lin Ye had asked her to fetch Yukinoshita back, she'd actually dare to do it, but Mai Sakurajima—where would she get Mai Sakurajima's contact info, and even if she had it, how could she possibly bring that big star here?
"I'm serious, I'm not bragging."
"Heh."
Shizuka Hiratsuka quickly cleared her throat twice, set her attitude straight, and made the atmosphere a bit more serious. "Lin Ye, I'm asking you in all seriousness: are you and Yukinoshita dating now?"
"Yes."
"The reason?"
"Because I like her!"
"I'm asking why Yukinoshita agreed."
"She likes me too!"
"Be serious."
"I am being serious."
Shizuka Hiratsuka gritted her teeth, then calmed her emotions and spoke. "You didn't threaten Yukinoshita."
This was a rather extreme possibility she'd thought of.
Lin Ye using some leverage to threaten Yukinoshita into agreeing to be his girlfriend—for instance, photos, some private photos.
Before she'd arrived, Lin Ye had probably already taken many intimate photos of Yukinoshita,
and Yukinoshita, not wanting these photos exposed, had been forced to compromise and agree to be Lin Ye's girlfriend—her earlier submission to Lin Ye's kisses and intimate behavior could then be logically explained.
Otherwise, she truly couldn't understand why Yukinoshita would willingly become Lin Ye's girlfriend out of the blue.
"Sensei, talking like that really hurts me. How could I ever use such threatening tactics against Yukinoshita!"
"You really didn't?"
"I didn't."
"Hand over your phone for me to see."
Lin Ye tossed it over directly, without a shred of hesitation.
This made Shizuka Hiratsuka think she'd probably guessed wrong.
She placed the phone on the bed without opening it.
That just now had merely been a simple test.
"Good if there isn't. Yukinoshita is a good girl—don't let her down, don't go into this with a just-for-fun mindset. If you really do that, forget about me; even her sister Haruno would dare to kill you, and Haruno's far stronger than I am."
Shizuka Hiratsuka wanted to fill Lin Ye in about Haruno.
"Haruno is a textbook sister-con; provoke her and it's not a big deal, but if you provoke Yukinoshita and Haruno finds out, your fate really won't be anywhere near good."
A friendly reminder from Shizuka Hiratsuka.
But Lin Ye didn't take it seriously in the least.
"Sensei, don't worry, I can handle it. It's just Yukinoshita's sister, Haruno Yukinoshita."
Shizuka Hiratsuka shook her head—sure enough, this guy was a newborn calf that didn't fear tigers, with no idea how high the sky was.
"Fine! Once Haruno teaches you a lesson, you'll regret it."
She didn't try to persuade him further; letting Lin Ye suffer one setback would be enough to make him understand how formidable Haruno was.
Lin Ye shrugged and didn't bother explaining further.
He could hardly say that Haruno didn't even have the nerve to think about disciplining him! Day to day, it was at most all sorts of flirtation and seduction—she practically wanted to throw herself at him to sleep with her.
Lin Ye also knew that if he really wanted to sleep with her, Haruno would genuinely be willing.
But it was troublesome—this woman Haruno was truly troublesome; if he really slept with Haruno, what followed would be endless trouble.
That would be worse than Yukino!
At least Yukino wouldn't stir up trouble, and she was much easier to deal with.
"I really never imagined Yukinoshita would end up dating you; for a while there I thought she'd go through her entire high school life without falling in love or dating anyone."
Shizuka Hiratsuka sighed with feeling.
As a teacher, when did she ever not gossip about her students' love lives?
There's no one who doesn't enjoy gossip.
"That just shows how great my charm is."
"Don't flatter yourself; if your charm were so great, why didn't your confession succeed back then?"
"Back then I had only a little charm, but now it's different."
Lin Ye smiled.
He now radiated confidence from the inside out.
After all, his strength was different now; having gone through countless Strange Games, his mindset had completely changed.
"Fine!"
Shizuka Hiratsuka said no more. "Don't fall behind in your studies—you're a High School Student, studying is your main duty. Don't get so caught up in romance just because you have a girlfriend now."
"Rest assured, Sensei, I'll study hard."
She, Shizuka Hiratsuka, wasn't reassured in the slightest, but she'd said all she had to say, and in the end could only urge Lin Ye to work a bit harder.
Since Yukinoshita and Lin Ye were already dating, Lin Ye ought to know the difficulties he faced.
"Yukino Yukinoshita comes from a very good family; she's the daughter of the prestigious Yukinoshita family of Chiba."
She explained briefly. "Her father is a prefectural assemblyman, and although her Mother holds no official position, she's the one who actually controls the Yukinoshita family. Her sister Haruno is a student at Chiba University and has already taken over part of the family's businesses and connections."
"If you want to be with Yukinoshita and marry her in the future, the hurdle of her family and clan is one you won't be able to get past."
Shizuka Hiratsuka knew that telling Lin Ye this would put too much pressure on him.
But telling Lin Ye now was also for his own good—to give him a clear understanding, and to let him start striving and working hard from now on.
"Thank you, Sensei."
Lin Ye felt only gratitude; Shizuka Hiratsuka was truly thinking of his interests.
"Work hard, young man—for your own love."
"I will, Sensei."
Shizuka Hiratsuka left.
Lin Ye stayed on in the infirmary.
"This week's superpower is Body Swap."
"Who should I test it on?"
Yukinoshita would do.
Isshiki Iroha would work too.
This girl had already recovered her memory and knew about his superpower; Lin Ye guessed Isshiki Iroha was already preparing to come settle the score with him at noon.
And besides these few, there were Mai Sakurajima, the Fujibayashi sisters, and Ren Nanase.
There were quite a lot of subjects to test it on.
"What can this Body Swap do? Cheating on exams would be convenient—I could have Yukinoshita do the problems for me, or just copy her answers directly."
But the perspective skill could do that too.
This week's superpower didn't have especially many uses.
Lin Ye pondered how he could put this superpower to use to boost his own strength and abilities.
The noon bell rang.
Lunch break had arrived.
Lin Ye got up and headed for the Service Club.
And Isshiki Iroha, the instant class let out, grabbed her bento box and rushed out of the classroom, immediately heading for the second-year International Class where Lin Ye was.
She worried that Senpai might skip the Service Club again today, so she had to go intercept him at the door first.
In under two minutes, she arrived at the door of the second-year International Class.
She glanced inside, but saw only Yukino Yukinoshita.
"Senpai..."
This wasn't right!
"Senpai—did Senpai not come today?"
Yukino Yukinoshita looked at Isshiki Iroha, who had come to the classroom door for the first time, and a flicker of puzzlement crossed her face.
"He came; he was in the infirmary this morning and will go to the Service Club shortly."
"I see—and here I thought Senpai wasn't coming today, hahahaha."
She gave a hearty laugh.
If Lin Ye hadn't come today, she'd have been left in a real bind.
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