Horikita Suzune's Change At Least Laugh

[PS: The image shows Shiratori Chihiro]

After school the next day, Mori Nene, who sat near the front door, had already left the classroom when she suddenly turned back and said in surprise, "Tenyo, someone's looking for you outside. She's an incredibly beautiful girl!"

"An incredibly beautiful girl? Just how beautiful?"

Ike Kanji reacted first, delightedly poking his head out through the back door. Yamauchi and Sudo looked outside as well.

The bishojo standing outside had waist-length pink hair and a faint smile on her delicate face. She possessed a natural warmth that made her seem poised and approachable.

Most importantly, there was the impressive fullness that seemed ready to burst through her red school uniform, along with her exceptionally slender waist and snow-white, straight legs.

"Isn't that Honami-chan from B Class? She really is so cute," Ike Kanji sighed, his gaze already deeply drawn to Ichinose.

Sudo looked surprised by his reaction. "What's going on? Since when did Kanji know such a pretty girl?"

"Idiot, that's Ichinose Honami. As far as I know, she's the most popular bishojo in the First Year."

Ike Kanji spoke rather smugly.

Though they were no good at studying, they always had ways of finding out whatever information they wanted.

Yamauchi also whispered, "That personality paired with that body is simply unbearable. Based on my assessment, the size of her chest should only be second to Hasebe in our class."

"Where did you get that information? Are you sure?" Sudo also leaned over and whispered.

Although they spoke very quietly, the girls in the class were already shooting them extremely disgusted looks.

Yuyuki walked out of the classroom.

Under everyone's envious gazes, he left the Teaching Building with Ichinose.

Watching the two leave together, Karuizawa Kei hurried over to Matsushita Chiaki and asked curiously, "Chiaki, isn't this bad? That guy called Ichinose Honami looks like she'll be hard to deal with. How can you still be so calm?"

Matsushita Chiaki rested her snow-white chin on her hand and smiled. "No Need to worry too much. Ichinose probably just has something she needs to discuss with Yuyuki."

"You can't let your guard down. Be careful, or Tenyo might get snatched away."

"Well, that won't happen. Kei just worries too much."

Matsushita Chiaki replied with a smile. She seemed completely unconcerned, not viewing Ichinose as an enemy at all.

In Sakurajima, girls rarely confessed outright. At most, they would drop hints.

But after getting to know him for so long, Matsushita Chiaki had discovered that Tenyo Yuyuki did not understand a girl's heart at all. He simply could not understand what her hints meant.

Still, that was proof that Tenyo Yuyuki had never had a Girlfriend, so it counted as a bonus point.

When a girl liked someone, every flaw became a bonus point. When she disliked someone, everything they did was wrong.

The pavilion closest to the water got the moonlight first. Matsushita was not worried that Ichinose could get ahead of her. Or rather, once Ichinose realized that Yuyuki was a straight-laced guy, she might even give up on her own.

"Well, As Long As Chiaki doesn't mind."

Karuizawa did not Say More. She knew how to treat different people differently. Matsushita rarely contradicted her, but she was clearly someone with very firm opinions.

One Side of the Teaching Building.

Since it was already After School, most students were either attending club activities or leaving campus, leaving this place completely empty.

"It's really rare for Ichinose to come to my class looking for me on her own."

Tenyo Yuyuki sighed, indirectly expressing his confusion over what she wanted.

Ever since the Start of School, Tenyo had occasionally run into Ichinose around campus. After exchanging phone numbers, they would sometimes chat by phone, but it was only trivial stuff meant to maintain their relationship.

Ichinose's face was flushed red. Her hands rubbed together in front of her, Completely Lacking her usual poised demeanor. Instead, she seemed somewhat bashful as she said, "Actually... I have something I want to ask Tenyo to help me with. Can I trouble you?"

"Honestly, Ichinose is a little strange today. Isn't it only natural for friends to help each other?" Yuyuki patted his chest in assurance. "Feel Free to ask. Though preferably, it should be something within my abilities."

"Phew."

Ichinose let out a breath of relief.

This answer was within her expectations.

After all, they had been friends since the Start of School, and Tenyo Yuyuki had promised her back then that she could ask him for help if anything came up.

That was why Tenyo Yuyuki had been the first person she thought of.

But when she thought of what she was about to say, Ichinose still felt rather embarrassed. Lowering her head, she softly said, "Actually, someone is about to confess to me here."

"Hm... ah... oh? Should I leave first, then?"

Yuyuki asked, completely bewildered.

Everything was going according to plan. He had known since the Start of School that, in the Original Work, someone would confess to Ichinose. That was why he had established the impression of friendship with Ichinose back then and continuously maintained that friendship in their daily lives.

"No." Ichinose waved her hands in panic, then tucked her Beautiful Hair behind her ear and said awkwardly, "Actually... I want to reject that person, but I don't want to hurt her feelings, so... I wanted to ask if Tenyo could pretend to be my Boyfriend."

"Oh, so that's what this is. Of course I'm fine with it. It's just that a lot of people might gossip. Doesn't Ichinose dislike that sort of thing?"

Yuyuki sighed in relief and smiled.

Just as planned.

Ichinose shook her head. Smiling somewhat awkwardly, she said, "It's just that I feel sorry for causing Tenyo trouble... As for me..."

"Honami-chan, who is this person?"

Before Ichinose could finish speaking, someone interrupted her. Yuyuki followed the voice and looked behind him.

A girl in a red uniform stood on the spot. Her red uniform was paired with white thigh-high socks, and a sakura hair clip adorned her short gray hair. With her small hands clasped together at her chest, she looked somewhat uneasy.

She was also exceptionally pretty. Combined with the worried look in her eyes, she gave Yuyuki the impression of being petite and fragile.

"Chihiro... this is..."

Before Ichinose could finish, Yuyuki walked up to the girl and held out his hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Honami's boyfriend, Tenyo Yuyuki from First Year D Class. You're Chihiro, right? Honami talks about you a lot in front of me. Please take care of me!"

"Eh..."

The girl named Chihiro took half a step back. She was clearly not good at talking to strangers, and tears slowly welled up in her eyes as she looked pitifully yet unwillingly at Ichinose beside her.

Feeling that gaze, Ichinose scratched her head awkwardly. "Sorry, Chihiro, but I already have a boyfriend... so..."

"No... I don't want to hear it... I finally met someone as kind as Honami-chan, and I like you so much."

Her unwilling cry echoed along one side of the Teaching Building. Upon hearing Ichinose's confirmation, the tears in the girl named Chihiro's eyes poured out like a burst dam.

Yet both Yuyuki and Ichinose could feel it.

Though it was love between two girls, the love that the bishojo before them, Shiratori Chihiro, held for Ichinose was truly moving.

"I will never approve of you."

After stubbornly glaring at Yuyuki, Shiratori Chihiro wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes as she fled this place that had broken her heart.

Perhaps she thought it was the most intimidating thing she could do, but Yuyuki only found her rather cute.

The two left behind on the spot fell silent for a moment. Yuyuki scratched his head and sighed. "I feel like I did something bad."

"I'm sorry, Tenyo. You had to go through something so awful because of me," Ichinose apologized.

"Don't apologize. I'm not blaming you, Ichinose. I agreed to help, after all. It's just that the girl named Chihiro doesn't seem like she'll give up easily. And she really seems to like you. What if she holds a grudge against me and does something strange to me (becd)?" Yuyuki said with considerable concern.

"This..."

Ichinose did not react at first, then she became somewhat dumbfounded.

This was indeed something she had not considered. She had originally thought that as long as Chihiro learned she had a boyfriend, she would give up.

But—

That did not seem to be the case.

More importantly, because of her, Chihiro had developed hostility toward Tenyo Yuyuki!

Though she did not think Chihiro's timid personality would lead her to do anything excessive, no matter what loss he suffered, it was not something Yuyuki should have to bear. Chihiro might even develop a bias against the entire D Class in the future.

The negative consequences of having Tenyo Yuyuki pretend to be her boyfriend were far more serious than Ichinose had imagined.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think things through." Ichinose bowed deeply to express her utmost apology. "I'll definitely persuade Chihiro. I won't let her cause trouble for Yuyuki."

"It's not really trouble. Ichinose, you don't need to take it so seriously."

"No." Ichinose straightened her slender waist and shook her head as she gazed firmly into Yuyuki's eyes. "I was the one who asked Tenyo to pretend to be my boyfriend, which led to this situation. Please give me some time. I'll definitely resolve this."

"Time?" Yuyuki scratched his cheek awkwardly. "Then what should we do about our relationship?"

"This..."

Ichinose scratched her head and gave an awkward smile, finding herself in a difficult position.

The two of them were currently pretending to be a couple. If they announced their breakup tomorrow and said she had dumped Yuyuki, it would somewhat damage his reputation. If they said Yuyuki had dumped her, Chihiro would still confess to her, and would become even more hostile toward Yuyuki. That would mean everything they had done today was for nothing—perhaps it had even been a mistake.

There were only downsides, with not any benefits!

"What should I do?"

After thinking for a long time, Ichinose scratched her head in distress and glanced at Yuyuki without drawing attention to it.

At this point, there was only one way: they would have to continue pretending to be a couple until Ichinose convinced Chihiro to give up and accept Yuyuki, then break up peacefully.

But—

That meant that during this time—

Yuyuki would be unable to pursue relationships with girls normally. Ichinose was filled only with guilt, without even considering her own situation.

That was the truly kind little angel, Ichinose.

Everything was going according to plan, and Yuyuki naturally understood that. He said awkwardly, "As expected, there's only one way."

"Yeah. I'm sorry, it's all because I didn't think things through. You really hate this, don't you, Yuyuki?" Ichinose said with an awkward smile as she apologized.

"How could I? Even if it's fake, being able to date a girl like Ichinose is something rare. I'm happy about it before I even have time to complain. If anything, Ichinose should be the one finding this difficult."

Yuyuki was quite puzzled.

No matter how he looked at it, Ichinose was the one who would suffer loss. Not only would her reputation take a hit, but her popularity at school would inevitably decline.

That would in turn affect B Class's credibility. A Class and C Class would start thinking and saying things like, 'Ichinose is indeed a nice guy who can be trusted, but what would she do when it comes to her boyfriend?'

People would suspect that B Class and D Class were one whole, but given how much the B Class students trusted Ichinose, they would instead never suspect that she would sell out B Class.

Of course, the same applied to him. Some of the girls who had set their sights on him would likely begin adjusting their attitudes and distancing themselves from him.

However, these were only a minority. After all, Yuyuki knew very well that most girls were actually only interested in him for his money.

After all, they had only met a few times, yet they loved him so wholeheartedly. Though he was handsome, Yuyuki didn't believe it.

"Yuyuki, you don't mind?" Ichinose could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. Somewhat awkwardly, she said, "I don't really mind, but then we..."

When she thought about how they would have to maintain a boyfriend-and-girlfriend relationship at school for quite some time, Ichinose found it even harder to speak.

Not making a girl feel awkward was what a gentleman ought to do. Yuyuki shrugged indifferently. "From today onward, Ichinose is my girlfriend, right?"

"Phew."

Seeing that Yuyuki truly did not seem to mind, Ichinose also sighed in relief, her poised smile returning. "Thank you, Tenyo. I'll make things clear to Chihiro as soon as possible."

"There's no need to rush. What Ichinose should do now is hurry and comfort Chihiro."

"You're right. Sorry, then I'll be leaving first. Yuyuki, it seems I owe you a favor. Thank you so much for today!"

Watching Ichinose Honami leave in a hurry, Yuyuki smiled and waved.

In the Original Work, Ayanokoji had turned down such a good opportunity. He taught Ichinose that it took great courage for someone to confess, and that the person being confessed to should be honest about their feelings; deception would only cause even greater harm, and so on.

But he was not the same person as Ayanokoji.

Tenyo Yuyuki had his own methods for controlling people's hearts.

Ayanokoji preferred to let the other person witness a deeper darkness, gain their trust, and give them the ability to become strong on their own. It benefited both sides.

But Yuyuki preferred to make the other person completely lose the ability to stand on their own, so that they could only submit beneath his feet forever. Such people were more loyal, because from that moment onward, they had no room left to choose.

Given Shiratori Chihiro's attachment to Ichinose, this relationship would not only serve as an effective shield—it would eventually become reality.

PS: The bonus update rules are in the announcement about the premium launch. Readers who think it's decent can take a look. That's all for tonight's update. I'll write the rest after getting up tomorrow.