Lin Ye spoke to the girl, "In your eyes, Sensei, pursuing you is really just a pointless waste of time, since the odds of success are so low."
That was the truth.
She was the untouchable Ice Beauty of Sobu High, and the second daughter of the prestigious Yukinoshita family of Chiba. Even if she never inherited the family fortune, the Yukinoshita name alone guaranteed a lifetime free of want.
The gap between them was too wide.
Unless Lin Ye had some extraordinary stroke of fortune, it would be nearly impossible for the Yukinoshita family to ever look favorably on him.
That was how things appeared to outsiders.
But only a select few knew the truth — Lin Ye wasn't merely worthy of her. The Yukinoshita family had practically thrown itself at him. The second daughter, Yukino Yukinoshita, had long since been delivered right into his arms.
Marriage?
Any time he wished.
In fact, if Lin Ye asked, even the elder daughter could be sent along with her.
Yukino Yukinoshita thought of her family's current situation.
The man in front of her held absolute, dominant control.
"What do you think?" she asked.
"What could I possibly think? A beauty's already lying in my arms — what else is there to think?"
Lin Ye lowered his voice, a faint smile still tugging at the corner of his mouth, which only left Yukino Yukinoshita more exasperated than ever.
It was true — the beauty had indeed fallen into his embrace. She'd already given herself over to him completely; it was only that Lin Ye currently had no interest in touching her.
The moment Lin Ye nodded and agreed to her terms, she could become his woman whenever she wished.
"Why don't I just tell Sensei about this?"
"You think Sensei would believe you?"
"She probably would."
"You said 'probably' yourself."
Yukino Yukinoshita shot Lin Ye a helpless glance.
She wasn't ready for her relationship with Lin Ye to be exposed in front of Sensei just yet.
If Tachibana-sensei found out, then Shizuka Hiratsuka would probably find out not long after, and then it would only be a matter of time before more and more teachers knew.
And then what?
It was probably an exaggerated worry on Yukino Yukinoshita's part, but it wasn't impossible either.
At least, for now, she didn't want to face that problem.
"Since Yukino doesn't want me to say anything, I won't."
"If you want me to, I won't say anything either way."
"But you clearly don't want me to."
Lin Ye had already guessed what the girl was thinking.
If she'd actually wanted him to tell, she wouldn't have reacted this way.
"Don't worry. Forget about Hina-sensei recommending her own sister — even if she offered herself, along with Student Tachibana, I'd flatly refuse both."
That showed just how firm Lin Ye's resolve was.
But what he got in return was a cold stare from the girl.
"So you've actually thought about a pair of sisters?"
That look was pure contempt, pure disdain.
For Lin Ye, though, it only made him want to laugh.
"If I really wanted a pair of sisters, if I really had a thing for them — a certain girl's own sister would already be caught in my clutches."
Yukino understood instantly what Lin Ye meant.
"Who knows, maybe just a few days ago, a certain girl's sister was already being thoroughly worked over."
As if she hadn't already been thoroughly wrecked.
Yukino Yukinoshita remembered clearly — the look on her sister's face when she'd collapsed, and how she'd reacted.
She'd never seen anything like that before, not once in her whole life.
She even thought she'd probably never see it again — unless her sister did something to anger Lin Ye badly enough, crossed some line she shouldn't cross.
Otherwise, there was no chance of it happening again.
"Why don't the two sisters try it together sometime? Yukino, you too, could..."
"Get lost," Yukino Yukinoshita cut him off without a shred of hesitation.
This guy talked a lot of nonsense, but if she actually dared to agree, Lin Ye would absolutely follow through — and she'd be the one who ended up on the losing end.
She knew exactly how far this man would push things if given an inch.
Yukino Yukinoshita understood that all too well.
Some things you could never call his bluff on — the moment you did, he'd find every way to torment you for it.
"Come to think of it, a pair of sisters doesn't sound bad, does it?" Lin Ye shot back instead.
She looked at him, a smile spreading across her face. "Miss Haruno would definitely be up for it. And if the three of us were together, Yukino, you'd never have to worry about your own sister again for the rest of your life..."
"Get lost," she said again.
If the first time she'd said it had mostly been out of irritation, without much real anger behind it, then this time, Yukino Yukinoshita put every ounce of her fury into it.
It was only when it came to her sister that Yukino Yukinoshita truly got angry — and not just a little angry, either.
She admired her sister, had always secretly held her up as a role model — but at the same time, she'd made it her goal to surpass and defeat her.
Her feelings toward her sister were, in truth, deeply complicated: she wanted to draw closer, yet couldn't help pulling away.
"So Yukino really is willing, after all."
"Lin Ye."
"I know, I know. I'll stop."
Lin Ye thought it over and decided not to push further.
He knew when to quit — he could feel the girl's fierce resistance, and if he kept pressing the issue with Yukino, whatever came next would probably be far worse.
Time passed, minute by minute.
The two of them finally arrived at their agreed meeting spot.
Ryou Fujibayashi had chosen the restaurant.
A Chinese restaurant.
For some reason, Ryou Fujibayashi had been craving this kind of food today, so she'd picked this place.
Neither Lin Ye nor Yukino Yukinoshita had any particular dietary restrictions or objections.
Yukino Yukinoshita followed behind Lin Ye, and as they made their way forward, she quickly spotted the purple-haired, chin-length-cut, adorable woman standing up and waving.
Ryou Fujibayashi was already a working adult, someone who'd been through the wringer of society.
And yet,
she still carried that particular innocence and simplicity unique to students.
If Yukino Yukinoshita hadn't known that Ryou Fujibayashi was a nurse at Chiba Central Hospital, she would have sworn she was still a university student — and if you dressed her in a sailor uniform, she could easily pass as a High School Student.
"Lin-kun," Ryou Fujibayashi called out.
The moment she spotted Lin Ye, Ryou Fujibayashi immediately raised her hand and waved. Then, catching sight of Yukino Yukinoshita herself, her eyes lit up with astonishment.
She'd already seen Yukino Yukinoshita's photo on Lin Ye's phone before, had already glimpsed her face.
But now, seeing her in person, seeing her with her own eyes, Ryou Fujibayashi was still stunned, still amazed.
How could there possibly be a girl this beautiful in the world?
Her skin was so fair, so smooth — not a single blemish in sight, as far as the eye could see!
In that moment, Ryou Fujibayashi felt an overwhelming wave of envy.
As a nurse, one who occasionally worked night shifts, her own skin really couldn't compare.
It wasn't as if she neglected her skincare, but her irregular lifestyle made it impossible for her to maintain skin that nice.
Because of that,
she envied Yukino Yukinoshita's complexion even more, thinking that it must be truly, naturally flawless.
Oh, how she wished for skin like that!
She really, really wanted it.
"Ryou," Lin Ye said.
That simple form of address made Ryou Fujibayashi very happy — being able to call her by name directly, right in front of his girlfriend Yukino Yukinoshita, showed just how Lin Ye truly felt about her.
Even though her relationship with Lin Ye couldn't be made public yet, she already felt that this was enough.
"Miss Fujibayashi, hello. I'm Yukino Yukinoshita."
Yukino Yukinoshita took the initiative to greet Ryou Fujibayashi first.
"Hello, hello. I'm Ryou Fujibayashi. I work at Chiba Central Hospital, as a nurse, and I'm also Lin-kun's... friend."
She very much wanted to say 'girlfriend,' but she truly wasn't Lin Ye's girlfriend right now — and besides, there was already one girlfriend of Lin Ye's out in the open.
The three of them were quickly seated.
The menu was placed in front of Yukino Yukinoshita.
The girl with long black hair didn't hold back, and went ahead and ordered right away.
She picked two fairly common dishes, Mapo Tofu and minced pork with eggplant, then handed the menu over to Ryou Fujibayashi.
"Lin-kun, why don't you..."
"You go ahead, whatever you pick is fine with me."
With that response, Ryou Fujibayashi began to order as well.
Before long, the ordering was finished, and the waiter took the order to the kitchen.
Lin Ye sat there, his eyes resting on the two girls seated across from him.
Yukino Yukinoshita kept up her usual cool, detached manner, while Ryou Fujibayashi smiled, a gentle, faint smile that never left her face — the kind of smile that stirred not the slightest bit of dislike in anyone.
Yukino Yukinoshita thought that this particular kind of gentleness really could make a man fall for her completely.
Lin Ye hadn't fallen for it, though — which just went to show how unusual Lin Ye was.
"How did you and Lin-kun meet, Miss Fujibayashi?"
Yukino Yukinoshita found a topic to bring up.
Lin Ye had briefly told her how they'd met, but she genuinely couldn't come up with any other useful topic, so she settled on this one after all.
"Ah, that..." Ryou Fujibayashi instinctively glanced toward Lin Ye.
Yukino Yukinoshita caught that glance and offered a gentle reminder, "Just tell it like it actually happened."
With that, and with Lin Ye showing no reaction to stop her, Ryou Fujibayashi finally spoke. "At the time, Lin-kun and Ren were eating together, and my sister and I happened to be eating at the same restaurant. That's... how we met."
Ren...
Another girl's name.
Yukino Yukinoshita's eyes flicked sideways toward Lin Ye.
This bastard really had been deliberately hiding a whole lot of things.
Unreasonable. Truly unreasonable.
This guy was way too much.
But the flare of annoyance in Yukino Yukinoshita's heart faded quickly.
She really had gotten used to this sort of thing by now.
Hiding something wasn't the same as lying about it — that much, Yukino Yukinoshita was willing to admit.
At the very least, Lin Ye had never once lied to her, not up to this point.
"Who is Ren..."
Through Ryou Fujibayashi's explanation, Yukino Yukinoshita learned of Ren Nanase's existence.
Lin Ye's own explanation was simple enough.
Ren Nanase had once been caught up in a dangerous bus incident.
He'd saved her, and that was how they'd come to know each other.
That much was easy enough to understand.
Yukino had gone through something similar herself, so she could understand how a girl saved by Lin Ye might naturally develop feelings for him without even meaning to.
Still,
on the whole, Yukino Yukinoshita couldn't help thinking that Lin Ye's hero-rescues-damsel routine was happening just a bit too often.
Every single one of them had been saved by Lin Ye personally.
Which meant this nurse, Ren Nanase's friend, probably had feelings for Lin Ye too.
Yukino Yukinoshita couldn't help thinking so.
She figured the odds were pretty high — extremely high, in fact.
"When did you and Lin-kun first meet, Student Yukinoshita?"
"The first day of school."
"Has Lin-kun helped you too, Yukino?"
As the conversation went on, Ryou Fujibayashi's attitude toward Yukino noticeably warmed, and even the way she addressed her had shifted, unconsciously, into something more familiar.
Yukino Yukinoshita didn't seem to mind, and simply accepted this new form of address without objection.
Building a normal, good relationship with Ryou Fujibayashi wasn't something she disliked.
For all her cold, distant reputation, deep down Yukino Yukinoshita genuinely hoped to build normal friendships with more people.
Among her classmates at school, there was little room left for change.
But this nurse, who clearly had feelings for Lin Ye — Yukino Yukinoshita felt that wasn't necessarily a bad thing either, especially since the other woman had already shown such open warmth and friendliness.
Lin Ye ate quietly, watching the two girls chat.
He couldn't help feeling like something of a third wheel.
With Ryou Fujibayashi actively carrying the conversation, the two women seemed like old friends who'd known each other for who knew how long.
Even when Ryou Fujibayashi reached over to put food on her plate as a friendly gesture, Yukino Yukinoshita showed not the slightest hint of resistance —
as if she'd simply accepted it all.
Dinner wrapped up quickly.
The three of them chatted a little longer, then got up and left the restaurant.
But they didn't head straight home — instead, they kept walking together.
Yukino Yukinoshita and Ryou Fujibayashi walked ahead, side by side, chatting.
For Yukino, this was actually the first time she'd ever had a normal conversation with a woman a few years older than her, aside from her own sister.
It felt a little novel to her.
She realized that older women weren't necessarily so difficult to get along with, after all.
Of course, Yukino Yukinoshita also knew this had a lot to do with personality — Ryou Fujibayashi was clearly the gentle, soft-spoken type at first glance.
"Miss Fujibayashi... may I ask you something?"
The question came out of nowhere.
It immediately caught Ryou Fujibayashi's attention, putting her on alert.
She had a feeling Yukino Yukinoshita was about to bring up something rather sensitive.
Several possible questions flashed through her mind.
She braced herself, just in case.
"Go ahead. We're friends now — anything I can answer, I definitely will. I'll do my best to clear up whatever's on your mind, Yukino."
"Do you love Lin-kun?"
Simple and direct.
Yukino Yukinoshita had chosen this straightforward approach to finally put her lingering doubts to rest.
Rather than endlessly speculate, it was better to just ask outright and get the answer she wanted.
Ryou Fujibayashi might not tell her the real reason, might hide the truth from her.
But she could still gauge, from Ryou's tone and reaction, whether what she said was true or not.
"That's... are you curious about that, Student Yukinoshita?"
"I want to know."
She hadn't answered directly, but she'd still made her feelings clear enough.
She was genuinely curious.
"Can I not answer?"
"You can."
And then, Yukino Yukinoshita spoke again, quietly. "But I already know how you feel about Lin-kun, Miss Fujibayashi."
In not flatly, decisively denying it, Ryou Fujibayashi had already revealed her true feelings.
Yukino Yukinoshita had gotten the answer she wanted, after all.
Except that answer wasn't exactly one she could easily accept with a calm heart.
Her rivals really did keep popping up, one after another.
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