Yuu frowned slightly and instinctively refused.
"Sensei, I don't need to go, do I?"
"Why? Shy?" Hiratsuka teased with a playful tone.
Yuu shook his head and stated his reasons flatly.
"First, visiting a sick classmate and delivering assignments and notes doesn't require a crowd. We're not going to her place for a party."
"Second, I'm a guy and not particularly close with Natsukawa-san. If I show up out of the blue, it'll just make her uncomfortable."
"Hmm, you've got a point." Hiratsuka crossed her arms in the pockets of her white coat, nodding thoughtfully. "If she's just sick, it would indeed be awkward for a guy to visit."
"So, just leave it to Yui…" Yuu shrugged, acting as if it wasn't his concern. "And Yukinoshita. I'm sure they can take care of Natsukawa-san just fine."
"What's with that weird pause?"
Yukino gave him a cold stare. Her pouting face somehow looked sweeter than her usual calm and composed expression.
But Yuu didn't notice. Yuigahama was tugging at his sleeve.
"Yuu-kun, are you really not going?"
Her soft lips pursed slightly. Her round eyes blinked, as if trying to melt his resolve, with a gentle shimmer in her gaze.
"After all, during the autumn field trip, we were in the same group as Natsukawa-san. We hung out all day… Even if you two barely talked, there's no harm in just visiting her, right?"
Yuu hid his thoughtful eyes and pulled his hand away. "So, it's not necessary…"
"Ugh, come on, let's go together! …Ah, I'm not saying I don't want to go with Yukinon, okay?" Turning to explain to Yukinoshita, Yuigahama still stared at him stubbornly.
"Sensei said it's a Service Club activity. It's the last one before the club's suspended! None of us three should skip, right?"
"…"
As if caught off guard by her question, Yuu fell silent.
He shifted his gaze. First, he looked at Hiratsuka.
Hiratsuka casually pulled up a chair and sat down, sucking on her lollipop. She swung her long, black-stockinged legs, waiting for them to finish talking.
Then Yuu looked at Yukino. Their eyes met.
Yukino pursed her thin, soft lips. She seemed still upset from earlier, glaring at him coldly but with no intention of contradicting Yuigahama.
Finally, Yuu turned back to Yuigahama's serious face. He let out a long sigh, as if giving in.
"Fine, I'll go… But if I get kicked out, I'm heading straight home."
"Yay!"
Yuigahama immediately brightened, as if a tail were wagging behind her.
"Don't worry. We're just delivering documents and checking if Natsukawa-san's okay. We won't go inside her place… After we're done, we can stop by the shopping street, right?"
"Oh, so that's your plan."
Yuu couldn't help but laugh. He ruffled her hair.
"No more issues then. Let's decide on it happily!"
After observing her students interacting amicably, Hiratsuka clapped her hands firmly. She stood up from the chair and looked at the boy and girls.
"Do whatever you want—finish your tasks and go, or go now. Either way, call me afterward to report the situation. And no rewards—that's it, dismissed!"
With that, she casually flicked her white coat and strode out of the clubroom.
The three of them exchanged glances and sighed simultaneously.
Rationally, Yuu could always find the right approach.
For example, after completing a task, he'd keep his distance from an ex-girlfriend, leveraging the fact that they'd forgotten past feelings and starting the next girlfriend game without save data.
Yuu did the same with Yukinoshita Haruno and Yuuki Asuna—naturally, since they didn't remember him either.
They all lost something important after the tasks. Why could they start fresh and act carefree, while he had to keep chasing and couldn't let go?
So, this was the most correct way, no doubt.
But emotionally, Yuu couldn't ignore the ex-girlfriends he'd once been close to.
It was like unearthing a time capsule buried as a child. Even if he couldn't recall the earnest feelings from back then, he'd still hold it in his palm and keep it with those memories.
So, after waking from the previous two tasks, he'd immediately call Yuuki Kouichirou to check on Yukinoshita Haruno and Yuuki Asuna. Only after confirming they were fine would he truly feel at ease.
As for Natsukawa Masuzu, it was purely because he couldn't find a way to get information about her. That's why he didn't take action until the next day.
Yuu was softer-hearted than he thought and cared more about them.
That's why, when he heard Masuzu was absent from school without reason, he was caught in a dilemma between rationality and emotion—he didn't want to reconnect with an ex-girlfriend, but he was also worried something had happened to her due to a timeline change.
If not for Yuigahama's persistence, Yuu might have convinced himself with some excuse that they'd go anyway, so he could ask later.
And now, rationality had lost. Emotion took over. He couldn't help but wonder why Masuzu was absent and had cut off contact.
(System, do you have even a bit of a brain?)
After asking inwardly, Yuu suddenly remembered—hadn't the system finished updating?
What was updated?
He opened the system panel. He didn't find anything different from before, but he also didn't see the small text System updating: Progress XXX.
(System?)
Yuu called out a few times in his mind. The voice that usually responded when summoned, often annoyingly, didn't appear. It was as if he'd accidentally turned off notifications and sound. It was so quiet it made him uneasy.
He frowned slightly and temporarily closed the system panel.
(Did you break yourself during the update? Hello, we fixed some bugs this time?)
The system shouldn't be that stupid… The likelihood of it preparing something bad and causing trouble was higher.
Though he couldn't stop what the system wanted to do, Yuu stayed vigilant, mentally preparing for a sudden attack.
Even so, he couldn't help but complain—first the Bad Luck Charm, then a failed system update. Why were there so many problems even before this task started…
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
Finally, as evening approached, streetlights began to glow in the dim corners of the streets.
The three Service Club members had just finished their tasks and walked out of the school gate. They headed to the luxury apartment where Yukino and Masuzu lived.