For students, summer in Tokyo feels as leisurely as usual.
Yuu finishes freshening up, changes out of his pajamas, and descends the stairs bathed in golden sunlight, like piano keys.
As he heads to the kitchen, he recalls the 33-day love story that only he remembers.
Knowing he once loved someone, yet feeling no emotional stir when thinking back, is indeed strange.
It's hard to explain…
It's like rewatching a favorite childhood anime. After a few seconds of nostalgia, he changes the channel without interest.
"Hmph~"
Stretching his body vigorously, Yuu extends his arms and legs in the kitchen, smiling brightly.
"This time, I'll be a truly competent rental boyfriend."
He's decided that to free himself from that damn system while staying mentally sane, from now on, he'll play his role as a part-time worker—even if the next target is charming, he'll never give his true heart to her.
It's all just a system mission. He doesn't believe he's so charismatic that every target will genuinely fall for him.
"Oh, speaking of rental boyfriends…"
Thinking of this, Yuu pulls out his phone from his pocket and opens the agency's main page.
His profile information hasn't changed, and the number of orders and positive reviews remains just one.
However, the account that left the review, though also deactivated, no longer uses the name Anonymous Customer 9527.
Yuu strokes his chin, pondering, "Is this what they call fixing the timeline, only leaving the results?"
According to the system, it doesn't just erase memories but also all connections formed between them.
For example, the bracelet, the wooden comb—items he gave Haruno should have vanished; and the fact that he met Yukinoshita Yukino, Mrs. Yukinoshita, and the two burly bodyguards likely no longer exists.
After all, without Haruno, Yukino, who attends the same school as him, might still be someone he could know, but the elegant and mature Haruno would have no chance to meet Yuu, let alone witness his special abilities like Word Bullet and Acceleration.
Yet, his identity as a rental boyfriend remains unchanged, and his chat history with Mizuhara Chizuru is still intact.
As for Yuuki Kouichirou, all chat records related to Haruno have been altered into conversations that seem reasonable but are actually nonsense.
Seeing this, Yuu can't help but complain: "Damn system, could you make it any cruder?"
It's not that he's afraid of being caught for inconsistencies—he could just play dumb if asked. It's just that he always feels the system's sloppy approach is hiding something, like a bad premonition ready to cause trouble.
Ignoring the unprovable bad feeling, after observing for a bit, Yuu gets a rough idea of the altered world timeline.
What happened still happened, what changed still changed, but none of it is connected to Yukinoshita Haruno anymore.
Their life paths are now parallel again.
"Though crude, I must admit… It's worthy of being called the Great God System."
Yuu glances at Target: Yet to be determined in the bottom left corner of his vision. After closing the system panel, he calls someone.
There are a few things he wants to ask Kouichirou.
A lazy, sleepy male voice soon comes from the other end.
"Hello? This early, who…"
Yuu gets straight to the point: "Kou-nii, I have some questions. After this, you can go back to sleep."
"Huh? Oh, ask away," Kouichirou mumbles, clearly not fully awake, perhaps not even thinking.
"How did we meet?"
"At the Aomori sports center, right? You broke the punching machine in a rage, and I cleaned up your mess…"
"How did we get close?"
"Talking about anime and little sisters, right? Speaking of sisters, you really don't want to meet Asuna? She's been at an all-girls school since she was young, just like you with no dating experience, perfect match—"
"Not interested. Last question, have you ever seen me at Four Seasons Resort?"
"How could I? Didn't I keep complaining to you on LINE that the dinner with the Yukinoshita family was boring… Wait, why are you asking like that?"
At this point, Kouichirou finally seems a bit awake. The faint sound of him turning and getting out of bed comes through: "Your tone sounds like you're from a parallel world, testing this world's timeline on me… Yuu, we're brothers, right? I'll introduce my sister to you, and in return, tell me the truth about this world, how about it?"
"…Your chuunibyou is terminal. Don't bother treating it—just cremate it."
His cheek twitching, Yuu holds back his admiration for the man's instincts—or rather, imagination. Changing the topic, he asks with feigned curiosity:
"Speaking of the dinner, how's your arranged marriage with the Yukinoshita family going?"
Kouichirou says unenthusiastically: "Canceled. They suddenly changed their stance, saying they'll expand business overseas after graduation and have no plans to marry off their eldest daughter for now… It's all just an excuse for rejection. My mom didn't push either—after complaining a few times at home, she started looking for other candidates for me."
"I see…" Yuu sinks into thought, his brows slightly furrowed.
Even without his interference, would Haruno still have rejected the arranged marriage?
Given her extremely troublesome personality, that makes no sense…
Or, since rejecting the marriage was a predetermined outcome, even if Haruno didn't want to, the system gave a random excuse to steer the timeline back to this result?
Suddenly, Yuu is a bit curious about why the Yukinoshita family rejected the marriage, even though he no longer has feelings for Haruno.
But such a question is hard to ask Kouichirou, and he might not get an answer anyway.
"Yuu, you haven't answered my question."
Snapped out of his thoughts by Kouichirou's voice, Yuu clears his throat and says in a friendly tone:
"Sorry, that's forbidden knowledge."
"You're 1096?!" Kouichirou lets out an excited yet incredulous quip.
"Alright, that's it, go back to sleep," Yuu's voice returns to normal.
Done using his errand boy, Yuu can't be bothered to indulge him. As he's about to hang up and start making breakfast, he hears Kouichirou speak again:
"Wait, one important thing. Have you used the helmet yet?"
The helmet he's referring to is RECT's latest product, promised to Yuu by late July but only arriving at his house mid-August—a virtual reality helmet for gaming.
"My little sister's been using it, why?" Yuu answers, confused.
"Your sister? So you haven't played?" For some reason, Kouichirou's tone carries a hint of regret.
"Hm, so what?"
"Nothing, summer break still has a few days left, give it a try. Once you hit Level 10, let me know. I'll take you to an insider-only leveling spot."
"Later, thanks in advance."
After a perfunctory reply, Yuu ends the call and starts washing his hands.
It's not that he's uninterested in virtual games, but there's only one helmet; if Sora enjoys playing, he won't compete with her.
As for what to do with the remaining summer break days… Yuu hasn't thought about it and isn't in a rush to.
Though he no longer has flyer-distributing jobs or a rich woman sponsoring him, the four million-plus yen he earned over 33 days is enough for him and his sister for a long time.
Relaxing at home, enjoying the cool AC breeze, reading books, playing with the cat, teasing his little sister—isn't that a wonderful life?
With a faint smile on his lips, Yuu pulls out a kitchen knife and tosses it into the air. After a few spins, he catches it with a cool flourish.
"Right, no way I'm working part-time, never in this lifetime."
Part-time worker, part-time soul—part-time work won't make you better than anyone else.
The system? That's another story!
His phone suddenly vibrates with two incoming messages.
Angel Café – Store Manager: {Tenkuji-kun, sorry to bother you this early. But I have some sad news…}
Angel Café – Store Manager: {The shop has been rebuilt, but it seems you're the only staff left at our store.}
Yuu: "…"
Damn it!