Sister Qiu Might Be Human

Honami Ichinose was still anxiously waiting. For one thing, this was her first time dealing with a confession, and she wasn't interested in dating right now, so the whole situation was giving her a headache.

She was trying to figure out how to handle it, which was why she'd sought out Beihai. But she didn't want more people finding out, either.

After all, whether the confession was rejected or something else happened, it wouldn't look good for either of them if word got out.

So here was the question: if she turned the person down, they'd have taken the brave first step. What was she supposed to do?

Ichinose fell into deep thought for a long time, nearly pondering the origins and evolution of the universe.

Just as her brain was running at full speed, Beihai arrived. He'd moved quickly after receiving her message, immediately leaving his group and coming straight to her.

As soon as he arrived, Beihai glanced around. Seeing no one else nearby, he anxiously grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Don't do anything rash, Ichinose! You're still young. You're only in high school, so you should focus on your studies.

"If you do well in school, you'll have a decent youth ahead of you. And with a decent youth, you'll be able to find a higher-quality match."

Ichinose's head spun from all the shaking. Beihai had moved so fast that she hadn't even had time to react. She couldn't get a word in.

The shaking wiped out both her nerves and her train of thought. The origins of the universe didn't matter anymore. What mattered was getting him to stop—she was getting dizzy.

"Stop, stop, Beihai. Please stop for a second."

Hearing Ichinose plead, Beihai finally let go. He also realized that what he'd done was pretty unreasonable.

He quickly took his hands off her shoulders, feeling a little awkward.

Beihai realized he'd gotten carried away, but he couldn't help it. He'd worked hard for so many years, and things had finally started looking up. He really didn't want to mess it all up.

"Ahem. Let's take this seriously. How do you feel about it?"

Ichinose saw that they were finally getting to the point and breathed a sigh of relief. She still didn't know why Beihai was so worked up when she was the one being confessed to.

But there wasn't time to dwell on that. Otherwise, her thoughts could easily veer off in a dangerous direction. She'd come to ask him for help, not to add another headache to the pile.

"It's a love letter, and I'm feeling really conflicted. To be honest, I'm not ready for this at all.

"If I say yes without thinking it through, I might hurt both of us. But if I say no..."

The farther Ichinose got into it, the more worried she sounded, and her voice grew quieter.

After listening, Beihai understood how she felt and immediately offered a solution: use the classic formula.

"It's fine. We can say, 'Thank you, but you're a good person, and I think we should stay friends.' Something like that."

It was a standard, tried-and-true rejection. It turned someone down without being too harsh. It wasn't as if he could force her into it. How could a relationship work if one person wasn't interested?

If the person being rejected had some sense, they could say, "I won't give up," then spend the next few days doing things like bringing her breakfast. After that, it was up to fate. Maybe she'd make her boundaries clearer, or maybe she'd agree to date them after all. It wasn't impossible.

Especially when the person in question was a gentle girl like Ichinose. It was hard to tell whether someone like that was difficult to win over. You never knew if her kindness toward you came from not wanting to hurt you, or because she liked you.

Ichinose gave a small nod. The answer didn't surprise her. It was such a standard, simple response that she'd already known about it.

The situation had shifted. Before, she hadn't known what to do. Now that there was a third person involved, the psychological pressure was much lighter.

After all that talking and thinking, the person who'd confessed finally arrived.

The moment she appeared, Beihai was stunned. He realized he'd been relying on a stereotype. Who said love letters could only be given by a boy to a girl, or a girl to a boy? Yuri was the best!

Suddenly, he felt that there was nothing wrong with Ichinose dating a girl.

The newcomer was an adorable girl who was also very close to Ichinose. Her name was Shiranami Chihiro.

Chihiro was already nervous, but when she arrived and saw not only the person she liked but also an outsider, she immediately got a bad feeling.

Ichinose took a deep breath and stepped forward, ready to face her fate.

"I think this could work. Why not just say yes?"

Ichinose froze, her thoughts thrown into disarray again. She couldn't believe it. Had that been what she'd asked Beihai to come over for?

Chihiro had been hanging her head, convinced she had no chance and that it was all over. But when she heard those words, she suddenly felt that there might still be hope. Maybe Beihai had come to cheer her on!

Ichinose could see that the atmosphere was going wrong. Beihai had managed to leave both of them speechless with one sentence, and Chihiro was clearly getting excited.

If things dragged on like this, something bad might happen. She had to stitch the wound shut before it split open completely, so she hurriedly spoke up.

"No, no, Chihiro. I'm not interested in dating right now."

The flame of hope Chihiro had just kindled went out completely. The person herself had spoken, so there was no suspense left. Still, she didn't want Ichinose to hold this against her.

"Can we still be friends?"

Afraid Chihiro would be hurt, Ichinose quickly nodded. Then she turned to Beihai, feeling a little annoyed. She'd spent points on him, and he'd still gone and made things worse. Not the best use of her points.

Even after Ichinose promised they could still be friends, Chihiro's face was still red. The delayed reaction finally hit her, and she felt too embarrassed to stay. She hurriedly ran off.

Ichinose was left frozen in place, but there was nothing she could do. If she chased after Chihiro to comfort her, people might get the wrong idea and think she was making fun of her. She could only sigh in frustration.

"How could you do that? Things almost got out of hand."

At least the problem was solved, even if not in the way she'd imagined.

Beihai felt a little regretful. One of the yuri fans he knew was a formidable woman called Sister Qiu. Although Sister Qiu was human, the odds that she was actually human were pretty low.

"Beihai, why did you change your mind halfway through? This isn't what we agreed on."

"Call it an unexpected turn of events. As long as it's settled, that's what matters. I have something to do, so I'm leaving."

Beihai didn't want to argue any further. It would only waste time.