Bonus Chapter.
Enjoy!
...
"Am I not enough?" She lifted her head and met his gaze, her misty eyes trembling with tears that could fall at any moment.
"You know that I love you so much, so why are you mingling with other women?" She gripped the swing tightly and asked, "Do you enjoy seeing me suffer?"
There was a dark and heavy atmosphere radiating from her, as if she were ready to snap at any moment.
The sun had already set, and the sky was growing dark; the children had already returned to their homes. Only the two of them remained in the playground.
Yusuke watched her in silence for a good moment before finally speaking, "Irina Shidou, I think you seem to have misunderstood something."
"...What is it?" Irina's vacant eyes gained a bit of light. There had to be some profound reason behind him mingling with other women. It had to be true; otherwise, how could he bear to break her heart just to be with other stupid women?!
"As far as I know, you and I are not in any relationship, we are not even a thing," Yusuke said as he glanced at her increasingly pale face and parted lips, which clearly showed the impact of his words. "These women you have been fussing about for so long have known me longer than you. We have been in love for a long while."
A buzzing sound rang in Irina's ear, as if she were hearing stupid ass white noise. Her vision blanked for a short moment, 'What is darling saying?! I must be hearing things! Yes! My ears are not working properly, I need to go to a doctor to check them!'
In Irina's Yandere mind, she and Yusuke were destined lovers. Just like she fell in love with him at first sight, he must have fallen for her as well. To her, this was an immutable truth that could not be changed. The only obstacle stopping them from getting together was these women, who were clearly tricking him.
She always believed that even if he was being deceived by other women, he should not have failed to realize his love for her. So when she heard his words, the shock hit her so hard that the illusions her Yandere mind had been conjuring began to shatter.
Yusuke watched her increasingly devastated look and delivered another blow, "If we were to talk about who is in the wrong here, it would be you. You suddenly came and started making a fuss, trying to steal their man. If it were not because these women are harmless and cute, they would have killed you long ago."
He had no issue with Irina or Xenovia. These two girls had not done anything bad to him or his women. On the contrary, they were quite harmless by Yandere standards, almost as harmless as Sona and Tsubaki.
Yusuke had no reason to torment them or use force to make them submit, like he first did with Murayama or with Raynare and Kalawarna.
The most they did was use clumsy manipulative tactics on him, all of which he saw through spectacularly. In fact, even if they had used more despicable methods, Yusuke would have forgiven them easily. Yandere are, in a sense, mentally ill women; it is completely normal for them to do extreme things. To Yusuke, as long as they did not commit something completely unforgivable, he could forgive them.
After all, he even forgave someone like Murayama.
"I don't know what made you think that way, but allow me to clarify. I am not in love with you," Yusuke delivered the finishing blow. "Sure, I think you are cute, I think you are quite likable, but there is no way I would fall in love with someone I have known for only a few days."
Usually, although this was the truth, Yusuke wouldn't have been so frank with a Yandere. That would only provoke her into stabby stabby mode and push her to the greatest extremes, the lesson from Kalawarna still fresh in his mind.
He did it this time because he had a good understanding of Irina and Xenovia's state of mind. These two, despite appearing completely fine, were actually very fragile, especially Irina. They had completely lost the meaning of their lives, and the only pillar of support they had right now was their love and obsession with Yusuke.
If even the slightest crack appeared in that pillar, they would immediately try to restore it by any means possible.
For that reason, Yusuke felt the fastest way to raise Irina's submission was to directly shatter her illusions. That would create cracks in her pillar, and she would subconsciously do anything to repair it.
After all, the one rule that had worked for him since he got this system was that submission rises when Yusuke lowers a Yandere's bottom line. The more their bottom line is lowered, the higher their submission value increases. It is basic math.
"This can't be!" Irina slid from the swing to her knees. With trembling hands, she clutched Yusuke's trousers, her lips quivering as she cried, "This is a lie! You are lying to me!"
Her eyes grew more frightening and desperate. "You love me! I know that! We are both destined for each other!"
"From the moment we saw each other, we were fated to be together! It must have been God's will before his death! He must have shown me who I should direct my love and faith to!" She crawled forward and hugged his legs tightly, crying with a tearful and bleak voice, "It was you, darling! You are my love, my man, my God!"
[Hahaha! Shit! This girl is delulu!] The system burst out laughing at the scene.
'Thankfully, no one is around,' Yusuke glanced around, feeling relieved that everyone had gone home. Who knew if some busybody called the cops, thinking he was abusing this girl? He patted her head, speaking this time in a gentle tone, "Irina, get up. These are just your assumptions. I am no God. Even if I were, it would be far in the future."
[It would be far in the future? Hahaha, let me note this down. In addition to abandonment issues, you also started having a God complex.] The system laughed even harder at him, [Puahahaha! I laughed so much! This is too funny! I can't! I can't! My side hurts even though I do not have a body!]
'Bullshit! What do you mean by God complex? Who do you think I am, Yun Wuji?' Yusuke snapped at her. Is this bitch doing it on purpose? Can't she see he is busy?
"No! That is not true! It is not true!" Irina shook her head violently while holding his leg even tighter. "I know that I love you! I love you so much! Much more than anyone could ever do!"
"Since I love you, it must be only natural that you love me back!" She clutched his trousers so tightly that Yusuke began to worry she might end up pulling them down. "Do you know how much pain and suffering I feel every day, every hour, every minute, every second when I think of you being away from me, surrounded by other despicable women?!"
"I love you so much! I can die for you! Why is everything I get, is this heart-ripping agony and soul-piercing pain?! Why can't I get even the slightest bit of joy and love from this?! This is a lie! It must be a lie!"
Pressing her body tightly against his legs while crying loudly, tears and snot covering her once cute and bright face, Irina poured out her feelings, "You are lying to me! You must be testing my feelings for you!"
There were two things that could easily break a Yandere's mind. One was denying the love she felt for the person she adored, which would devastate her completely. A clear example of this was what Yusuke did with Raynare and Kalawarna when he denied the purity of their love for him.
The other is when the person they love denies his feelings in return. This is especially effective for Yanderes who are completely convinced that the person they adore loves them back just as much as they love him.
Irina was suffering even more, since Yusuke was not only the person she loved. He had become her only escape, the only person she could devote herself to in order to keep going. Without him, she might have already started considering ending her own life.
"Irina, I hate to tell you this, but..." Yusuke bent down, scooped her up in his arms, and sat on the swing with her on his lap. "It seems you have some misunderstandings about love. Feeling love and getting what you want are not the same thing."
Now that he had given her a mental beating, it was time to soothe her with a gentle touch. He caressed her hair while holding her tightly, like a loving boyfriend cuddling his girlfriend. "These two things are diametrically opposed to each other. Love in itself is self-sacrifice, existing for the sake of the other."
"Love is self-sacrifice?" Irina felt the coldness that had gripped her entire body start to fade with Yusuke's warm voice and touch. Her colorless world began regaining some color as she listened to his words, absorbing them as if they were holy scripture.
"Yes, love is all about self-sacrifice," Yusuke answered in a very gentle voice, even using examples she could relate to. "This is why Jesus said, 'You could love your enemies.' Love has nothing to do with personal desires, satisfaction, or emotional experience."
He began feeding her the bullshit he had been cooking up over the past few days. "Love is about giving so that others may benefit."
"Self-sacrifice... 'You could love your enemies' is what Jesus said," Irina repeated slowly, clinging to every word Yusuke had given her. She was at her bleakest moment, maybe the lowest in her entire life. The cracks in the pillar that kept her going pushed her instincts into overdrive, making her desperately try to justify why Yusuke was not loving her, why he was with other women instead.
"Yes, love is all about giving," Yusuke continued to instill this bullshit into her mind. Well, he was not completely bullshitting her. Most of what he said was true, just taken wildly out of context, but who cares? His fingers ran across her face as he caressed her tear-streaked cheeks. "If someday you had to sacrifice yourself for the person you love, would you do it?"
"Yes! I would! If it is Yusuke, I will do it a million times, no, a billion times!" Irina answered immediately without a single hint of hesitation.
"See my point? This is what love is. It is all about sacrificing yourself for the person you love. Even if it is painful and full of anguish, you endure it for their sake." After wiping her face clean, Yusuke held her chin and added with a slight smile, "Only when the person you love is happy will you feel happiness too."
Honestly, he felt somewhat guilty for going this far with Irina, but he really had no choice. He had too many Yanderes to deal with, and he had a strong feeling that soon, an even crazier, stronger Yandere would appear. He couldn't afford to waste time using a gentler method.
He even began to regret not taking the opportunity to finish Rias's quest when he had the chance, back when he defeated Riser.
He didn't know the source of these feelings. Perhaps it was his Observation Haki Level 4 warning him, or some instinct he had developed after dealing with so many Yanderes.
[Dirty bastard, you really deserve someone like Murayama, who only cares about her own love!] The system snickered at him.
'Shut it, would you?' Yusuke snapped back.
"But, but you said that you don't love me!" With him lifting her chin, she now looked directly into his eyes. "What should I do?"
"You don't have to do anything, Irina." Yusuke lowered his head until their faces were only a few inches apart. "I may not be in love with you now, but I am sure that I like you and I am fond of you. Perhaps, if you try, I may fall in love with you."
"Make you fall for me?" Light started returning to Irina's eyes.
"Are you not confident?" Yusuke asked with a challenging smile.
"Hmph! Who said that?!" Irina snorted with a smug, confident smile. "Just you wait! I will absolutely make you fall for me!"
[Irina Shidou's submission + 1!]
[Irina Shidou's submission + 1!]
[Irina Shidou's submission + 1!]
[Irina Shidou's submission: 63 (Dependent)]
'Yes! I fucking did it!' Yusuke made an imaginary fist pump when he saw the system's prompts. He leaned in until his forehead pressed against hers. "I will be looking forward to that day."
"Hmm!" Irina was about to reply when she suddenly found her lips sealed by his. Her mind went blank for a moment. When she returned to her senses, she screamed loudly, 'Kiss! Yusuke is kissing meeeeee!'
'I am kissing Yusuke! I am kissing him! This is bad! My mind is going blank! I feel like my heart is going to burst!'
The simple, light kiss completely fried Irina's mind, overwhelming her so intensely that she climaxed on the spot. 'What is this feeling?! Something down there is about to burst! It's coming! I feel it coming!'
"Consider this your reward, alright?" Yusuke pulled back and said.
"Hmm! Reward... hehehe..." Irina clung to him, laughing with a stupid grin. With slightly unfocused eyes, she asked, "Can you give me one more reward, please?" The kiss had been short, and since she had blanked for a while, she hadn't had the chance to fully enjoy it.
"You are a really greedy girl, aren't you?" Yusuke chuckled before lowering his lips and kissing her once more.
While they were kissing, a magic circle suddenly appeared before them. From it stepped a silver-haired woman.
"Long time no see, Yusuke-sama."
...
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