Yuu was somewhat unsure about the system's evaluation standards.
It seemed he could gauge the target's mood based on the value of the rewards, but the difference between five hundred yen and fifty yen… and the "Throwing Ability" skill reward—what had he said or done to receive such feedback?
He stared at Haruno, who was cheerfully heading toward the fast-food restaurant, frowning slightly with a thoughtful expression.
But before she turned back to urge him to catch up, Yuu put on the same smile as before and followed her into the restaurant.
"Welcome~"
The afternoon crowd wasn't too heavy, and the two quickly reached the counter to order.
Since he'd already eaten lunch before heading out, Yuu only planned to order medium fries and a cola, trying to minimize extra expenses.
Before he could confirm his order and pay the cashier, Haruno suddenly patted his shoulder and leaned in.
"Then I'll have this, this, and this!"
Talking to herself, her other hand pointed at the menu, ordering large fries, chicken nuggets, an apple pie, and an ice cream grape soda in succession.
She smiled casually and said, "I just had lunch, so this is enough~"
(That's still quite a lot…)
Sighing inwardly, Yuu kindly reminded her, "You could order a value meal; it's cheaper."
This woman looked like a refined young lady, so she probably didn't know how to save money by ordering smart combinations at a fast-food restaurant. Of course, she likely didn't care about saving small change, ordering whatever suited her mood without a second thought.
Compared to her, Yuu truly had a poor person's mindset, even thinking about helping someone else save money, so he instinctively spoke up.
But the moment he finished, Haruno suddenly fell silent, giving him an extremely strange look.
"…"
"W-what's wrong?"
Yuu felt a bit uneasy, barely able to maintain the polite smile on his face.
The woman was too close—the warmth of her palm, her soft breath, and the scent of her hair came freely, as if she was used to keeping such a distance with others.
It wasn't overly intimate, but it was enough to make his heart race and his blood surge from this small tease.
(It's just a system mission; I need to be a ruthless money-making machine…) Repeating this to himself, Yuu tried to calm the stirrings of puberty within him.
At the same time, he realized the woman before him was the one he'd passed by yesterday.
The world was indeed small.
"…Hah, is that so?"
After staring at him for a while, Haruno sighed for no apparent reason, as if realizing a sad truth.
Before Yuu could ask, the older female cashier spoke up with an awkward expression:
"Um, sorry. Would you like to pay together or separately?"
Both turned their attention to her, and naturally said:
"Together."
"Separately."
"…"
A brief silence fell.
Then, realizing he'd spoken wrongly, Yuu casually pulled out his wallet.
"Sorry, together. Dine-in."
To be clear, it wasn't that he didn't understand social etiquette.
He just wasn't used to the "rent-a-boyfriend" role, so he'd instinctively answered that way. After all, aside from his sister, he always split the bill when eating out with others, male or female.
This wouldn't do.
To be a competent boyfriend and earn system rewards, he needed to quickly adapt to the boyfriend role.
Though he didn't know if the mission could fail or if there'd be penalties for failure—like if Haruno decided she didn't want him as her rent-a-boyfriend, would the system deduct his money or something?
Even if there were no penalties, since he'd come to keep the appointment, Yuu wouldn't give up on the mission so easily.
"So, the total after tax is 1,452 yen. Do you have a points card?"
"Yes, please."
Calmly pulling out cash and his points card from his wallet, Yuu could almost hear his heart bleeding.
Nearly fifteen hundred yen—enough for him and Sora to eat heartily at a ramen shop… Now it was just for "snacks," and for a woman he'd known for less than ten minutes.
Were people who dated this extravagant?
Thankfully, there was the system, or his mindset would've crumbled even more.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations, Host has received a reward: 250 yen]
Yuu still didn't understand how these numbers were calculated.
Including the earlier rewards, he'd earned 800 yen from Haruno. It was modest, but sooner or later, he'd break even—consider it an investment.
Taking the queue number from the cashier, Yuu stepped aside to wait for the order, still feeling a bit of regret.
He had to retract his earlier thoughts.
Being a quality boyfriend might be harder than he'd imagined.
Especially when it came to spending… The moment he thought of the money spent on another woman—money that could've let Sora eat better, have more fun, not worry about finding discounted ingredients, or sacrificed his time with his sister to work hard—
He suddenly realized he was utterly unsuited for having a girlfriend.
Because no other woman was as important as Sora.
"Hey."
A mature, cheerful female voice sounded beside him.
Yuu quickly cleared the chaotic thoughts from his mind, put on what he thought was his most perfect smile, and turned to Haruno.
"Sorry, what's up?"
"Tenkuji-kun, have you never dated at all?"
"…What?"
Her voice was so blunt that his thoughts froze for a moment, and he reflexively asked back.
In his shock, Haruno rubbed her smooth chin, her bright, captivating black eyes staring at him with keen interest.
"Or maybe you rarely interact with girls? The so-called 'straight-laced guy'?"
"…"
Yuu fell silent, his smile stiffening slightly.
As if seizing the moment to press her advantage or aiming to shatter his current facade, Haruno narrowed her eyes and said with a cheerful smile:
"Though it's my first time hiring a rent-a-boyfriend, your performance… clearly doesn't pass."
Her index finger pointed to her lips but didn't quite touch, then curved upward.
"An unprofessional fake smile."
Her fingertip lifted to his eyes. "A gaze forcing interest in something you don't care about." Then it shifted to his shoulder bag. "And when paying, the effort to hide your reluctance… Oh, and every time I touch you, you always try to keep your distance, don't you?"
"I can feel it, you know. You're showing it too obviously."
Standing in front of Yuu, Haruno crossed her arms, hiding nothing, her brightest smile pulling all these observations to the surface, forcing him to face his shortcomings.
"Tch, tch, less than ten minutes, and you're already making people want to give you a one-star review…"
"Tenkuji-kun, from the perspective of a customer paying for enjoyment, you're completely unsuited for this industry."
"No, more precisely, you don't want to be a 'rent-a-boyfriend' at all, do you?"
Her pinpoint question made the smile on Yuu's face vanish entirely. He frowned slightly, locking eyes with her.
In this stifling, tense atmosphere, Haruno still smiled brightly.
It wasn't an illusion.
In those smiling eyes, there was a cold, predatory gaze, like a hunter eyeing prey.
"It's really intriguing, your reason for doing this."
Her words landed.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations, Host has received a reward: 5,000 yen]
[Congratulations, Host has received a reward: Makeup Application Skill (Expert Level), one-time use]