Puff!!
"I... I'm beautiful?" Tsubaki's face turned bright red, steam practically rising from her head as she stuttered in a flustered panic.
"Of course, especially your eyes. I felt they were the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen in my life." Yusuke looked straight at her and spoke with complete sincerity. One of the reasons he always struck out in relationships in his past life was his brutal honesty.
But in this world, his honesty was like a lethal weapon. To these yanderes obsessed with him, it didn't matter how beautiful they were. What they craved most was hearing it from him.
Tsubaki's head was practically fried. She stood there like a statue, trying to process what had just happened with the grace of a second-generation Intel CPU running Windows Vista on two percent battery.
[Ding!]
[Tsubaki Shinra's submission +1]
'Noice!' Yusuke smiled inwardly. Being this smooth was downright exhilarating. Riding the wave of confidence, he reached out with both hands and took off her glasses, setting them on the table. Then, cupping her face gently, he looked at her with genuine amazement and said in a soft voice, "You are really beautiful, Tsubaki-senpai."
Boom!
It was as if a hydrogen bomb had gone off in her brain. Tsubaki's overloaded mind completely shut down. Her eyes turned blank, and her lips opened and closed like a fish, mumbling, "Beautiful... He said... I am beautiful... beautiful... beautiful... beautiful..."
"Hehehehe..." A creepy laugh escaped her lips as she slumped into her chair.
[Tsubaki Shinra's submission + 1]
[Tsubaki Shinra's submission + 1]
[Tsubaki Shinra's submission: 49]
'Easy,' Yusuke said, leaning back in his chair and calmly sipping his coffee as he watched her.
After discovering he could raise submission this way, Yusuke decided to try it with Tsubaki. First, because he was not confident he could overpower her. Second, because he actually disliked using violence, whether physical or emotional, toward women. He did that with Murayama and Aika because the former deserved it and the latter enjoyed it.
Tsubaki's brain finally returned to normal after more than five minutes, but even then, her hand trembled as she tried to put on her glasses.
"Yu-Yusuke-san, what do you think about my proposal?" she asked, trying her best to sound calm. Her bright red face and sparkling eyes shaped like hearts gave her away completely.
Her mind was completely occupied. 'He said I'm the most beautiful woman he's ever seen. That's a confession, right? Should we go to the civil registration office and get our marriage certificate? Maybe that's a bit too soon. Maybe we should book a hotel room first and consummate the marriage before having the wedding.'
'We can make love to each other all night, hehehe~' As she thought this, a grin split her face and she let out a foolish laugh. 'I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, Yusuke!'
Fortunately, Tsubaki was still the Queen of Sona Sitri. Before she completely lost it, she managed to regain some rationality. 'Wait! Tsubaki, you can't jump to conclusions so fast. First, confirm this before doing anything drastic that might scare him!'
Yusuke was still cautious around supernatural beings. If she acted forcefully, she might scare him into attacking, and that would only complicate things.
Yusuke looked around and noticed some customers in the coffee shop staring at them, or more specifically at Tsubaki, who was making an almost ahegao face. He then proposed, "Do you want to go somewhere else and continue our chat?"
As soon as his words fell, Tsubaki's face grew even redder. Her eyes flashed with a dangerous look as she quickly waved her hands and said, "Are we going to a hotel? That is too soon! But... but if Yusuke-san insists, then I... I don't mind!"
"Hotel? Yo, kids these days don't even chill!"
"First date hotel move? Bruh, this dude's got mad rizz!"
"Lowkey, he's smooth as hell. And that check is such a baddie."
Her loud shout got the crowd buzzing. The guys around threw Yusuke some serious side-eye admiration.
"Hotel? What are you talking about?" Yusuke couldn't understand how she jumped to that conclusion. He was just trying to pick a different place because he didn't want people overhearing them talk about devils and shit and thinking they were some weird chuunibyou.
"Ehh? We're not going to a hotel?" Tsubaki slumped back into her seat, deflated. Only then did she realize what she'd just said. Her eyes widened, her face went pale, and she wished the earth would swallow her whole to escape the embarrassment!
What the hell was she thinking to say something like that?!
"Tsubaki-senpai, you seem unwell. Are you okay?" Yusuke asked with fake concern, pretending he didn't understand what had just happened. He might be honest and he might be Japanese, but he wasn't a dense Japanese MC!
"No... nothing! Let's leave! Yes, let's go somewhere else," Tsubaki let out a sigh of relief at his reaction, or rather lack of one. She thanked God for his denseness, which almost gave her a splitting headache, before standing up hurriedly and pulling Yusuke out of the coffee shop.
"Yusuke-san, you still haven't answered my question," Tsubaki said as they walked side by side down the road. She had finally regained her composure, but felt something was off. It's as if Yusuke had been dodging her question. Every time she asked, he did something that threw her mind into chaos.
"Becoming a devil, gaining a long lifespan, and the backing of a powerful devil family is a very tempting offer," Yusuke said slowly as he stared ahead. Then he turned to his right and faced Tsubaki. "Daga Kotowaru!"
If he didn't have a system or his special trait, he would have accepted her offer without question. But right now, saying yes would mean his complete doom.
Tsubaki may have tried to glorify it, but in the end, he would become someone else's servant. Another thing was that Tsubaki kept emphasizing the benefits of becoming a reincarnated devil, but hadn't said a single word about the downsides. That alone made it hard for him to trust her.
Secondly, becoming Sona Sitri's servant meant he would be at the mercy of both Sona and Tsubaki. Knowing Tsubaki was a yandere, how could he resist her as the queen and second in command in her peerage? That did not even consider the possibility that Sona herself might turn out to be a yandere as well!
This might sound full of himself, but at this moment, Yusuke couldn't feel safe around any woman. He felt like every woman was coming after him. No one could blame him. It had only been four days, and already five yanderes were after him.
That's less than one yandere a day. At this rate, by the end of the year, he'd have over 365 yanderes chasing him. How the hell was he even going to survive?
The system's claim that yanderes are super rare was officially bullshit as far as he was concerned.
"Nani?!" Tsubaki's eyes widened. Without thinking, she grabbed his arms tightly and shook him. "Why? Why don't you want to?!"
Why was he refusing? This was an offer most humans would die for! After all the things he said to her, was he really going to abandon her? He told her she was beautiful. He confessed to her! Why was he abandoning her?
Confusion flooded her mind as dark and twisted thoughts bubbled up inside. She felt betrayed by him. They had been having a great time, feeling a connection between them. Why did he suddenly refuse?
"Tsubaki-senpai, you're hurting me," Yusuke said with a frown as he grabbed her palms and pulled his arms free.
"Ah! I am terribly sorry!" Tsubaki snapped back to reality. Seeing his displeasure, her face went completely pale.
She didn't want to be hated by him!
"It's alright, it's my fault for disappointing you, senpai," Yusuke said, reaching out and instinctively patting her head. "Don't make such a sad face. It doesn't suit you."
[Tsubaki Shinra's submission + 1]
[Tsubaki Shinra's submission + 1]
[Tsubaki Shinra's submission + 1]
[Tsubaki Shinra's submission + 1]
[Tsubaki Shinra's submission + 1]
[Tsubaki Shinra's submission: 54]
"...Brain 404!" Tsubaki's mind shut down once again.
'She's really cute when she's flustered,' Yusuke thought. By now, he was used to women freezing up because of his actions. Murayama and Aika also crashed every time he showed affection or flirted with them.
Yusuke waited until she rebooted before saying, "I feel really sorry for wasting your time, Tsubaki-senpai. You went through all this effort helping me, and I feel ungrateful for turning down your offer. How about I take you somewhere as compensation?"
'Yusuke-san wants to take me somewhere? Is it a love hotel? No! Snap out of it! Yusuke-san isn't a lewd pervert. He won't do that! The reason he fucked those sluts is because they threw themselves at him!' Tsubaki thought furiously. Her first instinct was that going to a love hotel with him meant giving him her precious virginity, but learning from experience, she quickly ditched that thought.
'Wait! Isn't this a date?!' The moment the thought cleared, a light bulb suddenly lit up in her mind, and she stared wide-eyed.
She hesitated before saying, "I happen to have free time today."
"Great! I know a good place where we can have fun. Let's go!" Yusuke smiled happily, grabbed her hand like it was the most natural thing, and started walking in a certain direction.
'Hands... holding hands?! We… we are holding hands! How lewd!'
...
Would you give up a third of your lifespan in exchange for never needing to sleep again?
...
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