I Checked! (Loudly) / What's the Fastest Way into a Woman's Heart? ...

"Just like snow, sometimes you have to learn to deceive yourself."

Kitagawa Ryo remained silent in response.

Back during Sakayanagi Arisu's first simulation, he had already noticed the various contradictions hidden within her. In fact, anyone could have noticed them, because Sakayanagi Arisu, who had been proclaiming herself an undisputed genius who had inherited excellent genes from her parents, was, without his help, just a sickly girl suffering from congenital heart disease who needed a cane to move around and couldn't even pick up her hat that had been blown away by the sea breeze by herself.

Everyone has something they lack most. Some crave it, some fear it, some deliberately forget it, and some deliberately emphasize it, because everyone knows that what hurts them the most in the end is the part they lack most.

"But..."

Kitagawa Ryo opened his mouth, trying to pull Sakayanagi Arisu into the lesson he had asked Hotaru to prepare for Yuki, but the next second the other girl pressed her slender index finger against his lips.

"Let's talk about the 'but' thing later today."

Sakayanagi Arisu tilted her head up at him, her hair seeming to have grown even longer, steadily moving from short hair to long hair. At this moment, under the morning sun, it seemed to be gilded with a soft golden edge, radiating a dreamlike glow. Combined with her deep purple pupils that seemed to contain endless tenderness and expectation, it was impossible for anyone to feel any reluctance.

"Ryo's task today is to accompany me on a date."

"Also, put this on."

As she spoke, Sakayanagi Arisu took out a beautifully packaged little box from her handbag. It was the same one that matched the ring she was already wearing on the middle finger of her left hand—the man's ring.

"... How did you end up here with Arisu?"

"When Liang went out to compete a couple of days ago, I went to your room to get this myself. Ever since I gave it to you on Valentine's Day, I've worn this one every single day. Liang hasn't worn it even once, which is so unfair."

"Okay—I'll wear it today, alright?"

"Okay, I'll put it on you."

After Sakayanagi Arisu put a ring on his left middle finger, Kitagawa Ryo asked again:

So where should we go first?

"Chairman's Office."

"?"

Chapter Thirty-Three: It's been checked! (A loud shout)

Since returning to his loyal Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School in April of this year, Sakayanagi Narimori has replaced Tsukishiro Tsunehiro in the Chairman's Office of ANHS.

This wasn't the first time Kitagawa Ryo had come to the Chairman's Office, but it was the first time he had come with Sakayanagi Arisu, especially the latter. Although most of the teachers and students at ANHS were aware of the father-daughter relationship between Sakayanagi Arisu and Sakayanagi Narimori, they didn't actively meet at school to avoid suspicion and usually communicated by phone.

"So, was it your idea to call me here today, Arisu, or Chairman Sakayanagi's?"

"We're not at work right now, so there's no need to address Liang by her title. Don't call her that when my dad comes over later. Besides, aren't you two quite close?"

"That's all in the past. I've only met your father a few times in real life. He doesn't remember everything like you do, Arisu."

Kitagawa Ryo could only shake his head helplessly. He and Sakayanagi Narimori did have a good relationship. After all, in Sakayanagi Arisu's two simulations, the other party had played a role similar to his guardian. The two had also had close exchanges about Arisu and her mother. But in the end, it was only in the simulation.

A short while later, Sakayanagi Shigemori, the chairman of the board of directors of Dongyu University, walked into the chairman's private reception room, looking refreshed after finishing his work. Just like when Kitagawa Ryo first met him in the simulation, Sakayanagi Shigemori intentionally bent down to speak at eye level with the then-child, upon seeing Kitagawa Ryo, he immediately bowed to him, expressing his heartfelt gratitude as a father.

"It's been a long time, Kitagawa-kun. Thank you so much for taking care of Arisu in the past."

After saying this, he formally sat down and said somewhat apologetically:

"Because of my busy work schedule, I feel like I haven't spent as much time with Arisu as I did when she was little over the past few years. I've inevitably neglected many things about her and her thoughts. Personally, I'm really grateful to Kitagawa-kun for appearing in my life, which has allowed me to finally relax."

"Sakayanagi ... Uncle, there's no need to be so formal. In all the years I've spent with Arisu, I've received a lot of care from her, and I've learned a lot from her as well."

Faced with Sakayanagi Narimori's immediate gesture, Kitagawa Ryo quickly responded politely. However, their conversation could not be considered mere polite small talk, as both Sakayanagi Arisu and he had indeed experienced positive changes and benefits from their relationship so far.

"But..."

Then, Sakayanagi Narimori changed the subject again, turning his gaze to his daughter who was sitting quietly to the side, not having joined the conversation so far:

"I know that Arisu has always been a very independent and excellent child, but due to some issues with her family, upbringing, and my personal educational approach, there may be some shortcomings in her personality or thinking. I hope Kitagawa-kun can be understanding of this."

Sakayanagi Arisu didn't seem bothered by her father so bluntly pointing out her flaws to the person she liked, and even nodded and accepted it with a smile. This surprised Sakayanagi Narimori, who had been prepared to say a few words to his daughter.

After all, this was his daughter who, at six or seven years old, already spoke and acted like a little adult, her behavior and self-perception entirely based on the standards of a genius. He never expected her to be so well-behaved today; had she suddenly changed her personality?

However, recalling the changes in Sakayanagi Arisu over the past year, Sakayanagi Narimori felt relieved again and turned his attention back to Kitagawa Ryo. He knew very well that whether it was his daughter's rapid progress in physical fitness, recovering from a sub-healthy state after being cured of her congenital heart disease to now being above the average level of high school students and able to win championships in Sports Festival events, or her declaration to him that she had truly fallen in love with someone, it was all closely related to the other person.

What are Kitagawa-kun's thoughts on this?

Although Kitagawa Ryo wanted to be a little more tactful with Sakayanagi Narimori, since the other party had already shown great determination to bring up the matter, he couldn't just casually brush it off with words. Therefore, he also carefully organized his thoughts before answering:

"There may indeed be some issues in Arisu's personality, as you mentioned, but I want to say that it's not just related to the reasons you mentioned. A significant portion of the direct and indirect causes are also due to me. Therefore, I've never felt that this is Arisu's problem alone. So, if it's to be resolved, it should be a joint effort between Arisu and me."

It must be said that Kitagawa Ryo's words, coupled with the ring that was currently flashing on his left middle finger, were quite persuasive. Sakayanagi Narimori almost blurted out, "Then I'll formally hand Arisu over to you today," but in the end, he maintained his last bit of reserve and simply nodded in affirmation:

"It's good that you think that way."

Then, he turned his gaze back to his daughter.

As someone who has experienced an Unforgettable marriage and given birth to Sakayanagi Arisu, Sakayanagi Narimori very well that building and sustaining a relationship is never a one-person job, but requires the mutual understanding and effort of both parties.

It is precisely for this reason that, even though Kitagawa Ryo has already expressed his Sakayanagi Arisu, he still chose to temporarily detach himself from that identity and the position it brings, and instead analyze this small family that will be born in the next few years from a more objective perspective, wanting to hear the thoughts and opinions of the other party involved.

"And Arisu you, Arisu?"

Contrary to what Kitagawa Ryo had imagined, this meeting was entirely based on Sakayanagi Narimori's personal idea and was not part of any plan organized by Sakayanagi Arisu. The direct reason for this meeting was also very simple: the Valentine's Day incident two months ago.

As a parent, Sakayanagi Narimori was naturally unaware of the many intricacies involved. All he could see was the ring that was given at that time and was now worn on the middle finger of both of them, almost signifying an engagement.

However, unlike the usual scenario of meeting the parents, Sakayanagi Narimori's target for this assessment was never just Kitagawa Ryo. Rather, as Sakayanagi Arisu's biological father, even though he hadn't interfered too much with her life in the past ten years, he was still one of the people in the world who understood Sakayanagi Arisu the most, including the incredibly awkward part of her personality.

Faced with her father's direct questioning, Sakayanagi Arisu could no longer remain silent. However, just as Kitagawa Ryo had pointed out before she arrived, her current state was merely an act of avoidance. Therefore, when this question was directly posed to her, Sakayanagi Arisu herself was momentarily speechless.

The most suitable person to ask this question would be Horikita Suzune in Karuizawa Kei's first simulation, since she had considered every detail in this regard and could put on a flawless act in front of outsiders and even her own brother, making it impossible for anyone to see her true thoughts.

However, if Sakayanagi Arisu could have achieved what Horikita Suzune did back then, Kitagawa Ryo would probably be sweating profusely by now.

"I... I don't know."

For the first time in his life, Sakayanagi Narimori saw an utterly bewildered expression on his daughter's face. Even though she had confidently made countless decisions when she was just a few years old, ten years later, she once again showed the blankness of an ignorant child.

"I just want to know Arisu's truest thoughts right now."

As Sakayanagi Narimori uttered those words, Sakayanagi Arisu completely lost her former composure. Her hands, hanging limply in front of her, unconsciously clenched together, her fingertips turning slightly white. Her lips pressed tightly together, as if she wanted to say something but couldn't utter a word. She could only let the blush spread from her cheeks to her ears, and finally uttered words that, at first glance, seemed somewhat ambiguous:

"I already had a full check-up in February, right?"

Chapter 34: What's the fastest way to win a woman's heart?

At first, Sakayanagi Narimori didn't expect his beloved daughter to suddenly say something so cryptic. However, he immediately recalled that in February, Sakayanagi Arisu had asked him to help with several tests in her class, and he quickly understood what she meant.

It has to be said that, from the father's perspective, this sentence is somewhat similar to "Old Deng, will the will-o'-the-wisp go missing downstairs?" except that it wasn't Kitagawa Ryo who said it, but Sakayanagi Arisu, who was like a fresh and beautiful cabbage that came to his door.

Sakayanagi Narimori felt he should say something, but after thinking it over, he realized he didn't really have anything particularly good to say on this topic. After all, judging from Sakayanagi Arisu's persistent efforts over the past six months and the urgent check-up in February, this was his daughter's obsession and long-cherished wish from last year to now.

Moreover, as Sakayanagi Arisu's biological father, he knew her strong-willed and decisive personality all too well, so there was no need to stop or persuade her. Besides, Sakayanagi Narimori was quite satisfied with the man his daughter had chosen, as he was a top choice in terms of both family background and ability.

That is why, although he didn't get the answer he initially wanted from Sakayanagi Arisu, Sakayanagi Narimori still nodded calmly.

"Alright, if this is Arisu's true thought right now, then I've asked all my questions for today, and I won't take up any more of your precious vacation."

"Goodbye, Dad."

Sakayanagi Arisu, somewhat belatedly realizing what she had said to her father, couldn't help but feel embarrassed. She quickly accepted the excuse offered by the other party, took Kitagawa Ryo's hand, and walked towards the door.

Goodbye, Sakayanagi.

After a hasty Sakayanagi Narimori, Kitagawa Ryo was half-dragged and half-pulled out of the Chairman's reception room by Sakayanagi Arisu. He didn't want to stay in the corridor for long, and they finally stopped when they were led downstairs to the campus outside the administration building.

It can only be said that Sakayanagi Arisu's physical fitness is truly among the best of her peers. Given her previous physical condition, such a forced march would probably have left her battered and bruised. Yet now, she's completely unfazed, not even out of breath, and immediately starts talking to Kitagawa Ryo.

"... Now even my dad will probably notice that I'm not feeling well. He'll probably send a message to Liang's phone in a little while, you believe me?"

Is it really that exaggerated?

"It's no exaggeration to say that Liang should be well aware of my father's personality, and as a seasoned educator, he probably feels particularly distressed about my situation."

Just as the survey found that children from families where their parents are teachers often experience greater psychological pressure, many experienced educators sometimes lack in their own family education. There may be many underlying reasons for this, and the situation of Sakayanagi Arisu is even more complex.

Although neither the person involved, Sakayanagi Arisu, nor the Bystander, Kitagawa Ryo, felt that Sakayanagi Narimori had really done anything wrong, it would be more accurate to say that all the emotions and values he had passed on to his daughter over the past ten years were undoubtedly correct, and he himself had never had the idea of remarrying. It's just that sometimes Fate is like that, Sakayanagi Arisu grew up to be the Sakayanagi Arisu today.

"So, he's probably pinning his hopes on Ryo now."

Sakayanagi Arisu let out a sigh of relief, then looked at Kitagawa Ryo at the same time, and asked somewhat abruptly:

"What about me? Can I also entrust all my thoughts to Ryo?"

This is probably a question that Sakayanagi Arisu would never have asked in the past. After all, for a long time, her relationship with Kitagawa Ryo was like the setting in a manga where whoever Confessions first loses. Whether it was in terms of personal matters, class matters, or romantic relationships, Sakayanagi Arisu would never back down and was always seeking to take control.

Faced with this question, which was essentially asking, "Can you carry my life?", Kitagawa Ryo simply shook his head noncommittally.

"No one can entrust all their thoughts to anyone other than themselves. If Arisu wants to ask me if I can carry your entire life, I've always felt that we've already carried each other's lives."

"... Sigh, Ryo really knows how to give such cunning answers. Can't you just let me escape into your little world peacefully?"

"Because I always felt that if we let Arisu in now, it would be difficult to get you out again."

"Does Liang still think I'm using a strategy of retreating to advance?"

"No."

Kitagawa Ryo shook his head decisively in denial. Unlike Karuizawa Kei, whom he had met before who clearly still had energy but was just pretending to be clever to parasitize others, and Yuki, who had shown a little bit of this tendency, the Sakayanagi Arisu standing in front of him now seemed to be exhausted, both physically and mentally. She was completely tired of many things she used to be passionate about and was in a state of giving up and lying down. It was not a tactic of retreating to advance, but rather she really seemed to be going from one extreme to another.

Anyway, Kitagawa Ryo himself found it hard to understand why most of the girls around him had a diode-like mindset, as if they never had a middle ground in their minds and only knew how to get stuck in one dead end and then into another.

All I can say is that this is probably his best little sister selection, a kind of intense showdown for her brother.

Looking at it now, it seems that Amasawa Ichika's therapy was more suitable for Sakayanagi Arisu than for Yuki. This is because Alice's ability to daydream is no less than Yuki's, and because she has more reference material and her own personality, the jumps in topics and metaphors often make Kitagawa Ryo feel a bit tired.

In a sense, their relationship felt like a game of Chess, with Kitagawa Ryo still habitually playing what he considered the optimal moves even now that Sakayanagi Arisu up.

Perhaps this is indeed a battle of wits with thin air, but as someone who was tricked by Sakayanagi Arisu just three months ago, not only facing the biggest crisis of the Special Exam, but also losing a pair of rings and almost becoming a victim of the other party's false claim, Kitagawa Ryo also felt that it was always good to be more careful.

Because the matter between Sakayanagi Arisu and him will inevitably involve Yuki, and Yuki is not as easy to talk to as Shiina Hiyori, who suffered unscathed in that incident. On the contrary, she is much more terrifying. It is not entirely impossible that the Ichinose Honami night will be repeated.

So how can we restore the relationship between the two of them to normal?

Kitagawa Ryo had considered this question before, and even tried to find some inspiration from the relationships between girls such as Karuizawa Kei and Ichinose Honami Shiina Hiyori, and Shiina Hiyori. But in the end, he found that the key to their ability to forgive and forget was either that there was an information gap between them, or that before the past grievances were recalled, they had already rebuilt new bonds in reality on a yearly basis.

However, these conditions clearly do not apply to Sakayanagi Arisu and Yuki. If one had to choose, the former might be more plausible, because after all, the last simulation was only one of the three lives she had experienced. Therefore, facing the aggressive Yuki, Sakayanagi Arisu did not show excessive concern. This was undoubtedly a good opportunity, but Kitagawa Ryo could not determine whether Arisu genuinely did not care or was simply slacking off recently.

"That's good. Anyway, I'm not in the mood for it now. I do feel much clearer after not letting myself think about so many things lately."

If Kitagawa Ryo hadn't been caught by Tsubaki Sakurako during his night raid on the First Year Girls' Dormitory a few days ago, he probably would have believed Sakayanagi Arisu's story. However, he didn't call her out on it now, since this level of jealousy was better than him directly condoning Shiina Hiyori's ring being stolen.

"Alright, if Father hadn't suddenly called us over and asked these strange questions, I wouldn't have wanted to talk to Ryo about this today. Did Ryo bring up these kinds of things when she went on dates with Honami and Hui before?"

"If it's an unusual situation like Arisu's, then we will definitely still talk, and we will have a proper talk."

If Yuki is deceiving herself to the point of almost not believing she has any problems, then Sakayanagi Arisu is the kind of person who roughly knows where the problem is but just wants to do whatever she wants right now. It's as if this makes it seem like she can logically change the problem from "I can't solve it" to "Of course I can solve it, I just don't want to solve it right now." That's why Kitagawa Ryo said that she is essentially running away, rather than truly wanting to face herself.

Having said all that, Sakayanagi Arisu couldn't just brush it off with "I've already checked." Rather, what she needed at this point wasn't a physical examination, but a psychological one.

"... Then let's go back to my room."

Just half an hour after they went out, the two of them returned to Sakayanagi Arisu's dormitory room, ending what was supposed to be a date that was only a sudden event from the beginning.

But then again, doesn't the final destination for a couple's date necessarily have to be a private room for two, where they end up together on the same bed?

Sakayanagi Arisu felt it would be better to take this as the first step.

Chapter Thirty-Five: Now It's Fantasy Time

During the two days that Kitagawa Ryo was away from Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School to compete, thanks to the perfect success of the experiment with Hotaru, the satisfied little cat finally remembered the original intention of his older brother in entrusting him with this task, which was to help Yuki, who had found it difficult to make progress through normal means, to solve her psychological problems.

From the perspective of Kitagawa Ryo and Hotaru, both Yuki and Sakayanagi Arisu were actually caught in a paradox that was impossible to disprove in reality: both of them firmly believed that if things had changed at a certain point in the past, things would not have turned out the way they did today, but would have gone to a different ending as they envisioned.

Frankly speaking, this kind of "what if" is a rather unsolvable topic, because it can only exist in their minds and imaginations forever. As time goes by, it will only become more and more indestructible, and even so deeply rooted that it will turn from a hypothetical situation into another unrealized reality.

Xue's psychological tendency is undoubtedly more pronounced.

Just like the sentence Kitagawa Ryo always wanted to say to Yuki but never managed to, the other party's greatest skill was to portray something 'never possessed' as if it had been 'lost a thousand times'.

If that's the case, then let the other person experience it for themselves again.

Of course, if Hotaru knew that Kitagawa Ryo was about to do something with Sakayanagi Arisu, she definitely wouldn't have chosen this moment to make her move. It can only be said that the cat didn't expect that the two of you would be back in the dormitory ready to start a game after only 30 minutes of going out on a date. Rather than letting the snow that might appear on campus cause any complications, it's better to let her have a good night's sleep and sweet dreams.

"If you really can't figure out the essence of that feeling, and you really think that pure white must be pure white, then how about going back to that white room one more time?"

With this in mind, Hotaru, having practiced a few times before, lay on the bed in Kitagawa Ryo's dormitory room number 408 and transmitted the power of dreams and simulations to him.

To deal with the Chronicle of Time, you have to use the Chronicle of Time themselves.

And it has to be even wilder.

In the pure white room, another day of classes came to an end. As the AI-controlled teacher automatically left, only two teenagers remained in the classroom with just two desks.

"Liang, have you ever heard the story of Adam and Eve?"