"Are you going upstairs to say hello to Sora?"
At the entrance, Kanade shook her head. She put her thin, elegantly styled jacket back on and straightened the hat on her small head.
"I only came because I wanted to share good news with you. I still have matters to attend to later, so I have to return soon."
Not even time to greet Sora? Though Yuu wondered, he didn't ask further.
"I appreciate your effort in coming all this way." He chuckled lightly and pressed the straw hat down. "In that case, I won't see you out. Be careful on your way."
"Yes, Yuu-senpai too."
With a calm and serious voice, her pristine white skirt fluttered. Kanade turned, walked into the bright spring sunlight, and her feather-light figure disappeared at the end of the road.
Watching her leave, Yuu closed the door, leaned his head against the door panel, and stared at the ceiling in a daze.
Although he received good news today about Kanade's improving condition, it also gave him new doubts and various conjectures arising from it.
"A girlfriend, huh..."
He subconsciously avoided the thought that once this test ended, any good news would be utterly meaningless.
Unbeknownst to him, Yuu had already begun to treat the people and things within this test as reality, and cherished them.
Until now, in his third year of high school, the only women close to him were his two underclassmen. As a healthy eighteen-year-old virgin, he had, of course, thought about romantic relationships with them, given the frequent time spent together and the feelings that grew over time...
However, if he had to choose, Iroha gave him more of a girlfriend-like feeling. When she occasionally teased him, he often had the urge to pin her against the wall and tease her hard.
Kanade was different. She was more like a mascot or a younger sister. She was so pure and kind-hearted that Yuu didn't want to do anything that would tarnish that innocence, and he was content to just watch over her from afar forever...
Of course, handing her over to another man was a different matter.
Ignoring this selfish mentality for now, Yuu thought. If the system truly wanted him to date someone to unlock the next step's clue, then he would probably date Iroha, not Kanade, who specifically came today to report good news.
Although it was merely high self-confidence, he had no doubt that neither of them would reject his confession—precisely because of that, he had to choose carefully.
Compared to Kanade, Iroha might appreciate dating more. That little devil underclassman always teased him in various ways, and it was about time she learned that not every man could stand firm and unyielding like a light novel protagonist when faced with such temptations.
Thinking of such a scene, Yuu, whose expression was a little heavy, couldn't help but laugh.
He suddenly realized that he didn't hate the idea of being Iroha's lover, and even vaguely looked forward to such a future—did this mean he truly liked her?
Perhaps. There wasn't a stronger love, just a certain level of liking.
And even if he dated her, the relationship between the three shouldn't change.
With Kanade's innocent and pure nature, she would probably just offer them sincere congratulations and continue interacting with them as close friends.
So relaxed and so casual, was this the romantic achievement the system wanted him to experience in this final test?
"Whether this is true or not..."
Returning to his room, seeing the unchanged contents of the notebook, Yuu lay on his bed with a sad face, dropping himself heavily onto the bed, like a high jumper.
*BUG!*
A familiar elastic impact hit his body, and then he was enveloped by the softness of the bed. The sunlight coming through the window felt just warm enough, like a poison slowly dissolving his skin, causing his consciousness to gradually drift into a faint drowsiness.
Yuu closed his eyes, cleared his mind, and reconsidered the decision.
(Should I try it? Confess to Iroha, ask her to be my girlfriend...)
If he truly liked her, would it be too unfair to her to date her for such a reason?
This was no longer a hired boyfriend he played to complete previous achievements. Those feelings couldn't be fake—after all, Iroha, like Kanade, was an important figure he wanted to protect well even in this test.
In that case, Yuu should be open with her, or find a type of attraction and liking that would make him unable to resist dating her.
Regarding his feelings, for whatever purpose, Yuu didn't want to be controlled by the system. He wouldn't torment himself to be with someone he didn't like.
(...If only I were not a serious man, everything would probably be much easier.)
At least within a year, trying to get one of his underclassmen pregnant and leave school to marry her might still be doable...
Just to test the system's hints, he would create a huge mess in this test world. Anything broken he would ask for the next cycle to be reset to zero. He would do whatever it took to complete this final mission.
This might be the optimal theoretical solution, but it was the least likely option for him.
"Although I've done many outrageous things, I still have moral boundaries, huh..."
Yuu pulled at the corner of his lips, self-deprecatingly. If he could be a scumbag, would he need to struggle so long here just because of a small emotional problem?
He firmly patted the bed, shaking off all his drowsiness, and left the bed.
He felt thirsty and wanted to go downstairs for a drink of water.
As he walked towards his room door, Yuu continued to ponder the girlfriend issue. However, he suddenly felt a tightness in his chest, and a strange, unexplainable feeling arose in his heart, as if he had missed something important and just brushed past the truth.
It was a strange feeling, quick and fleeting. As soon as his hand touched the doorknob, the feeling receded completely like a tide, leaving no trace.
"Come to think of it, have I really never had a girlfriend..."
Yuu mumbled softly.
Excluding the first achievement, there was indeed none in his memory.
But why was there a familiar feeling that indicated he had struggled and been confused for a long time with issues related to girlfriends before?
As if the same problem was laid before him, but he forgot the answer that was used to solve it back then.
With a slight frown, Yuu opened the door. As he prepared to go downstairs with a slight headache.
The door to the room next to his also opened quietly, and a silver-haired girl who had long been a hikikomori emerged.
She was still petite and beautiful, with a slender figure, delicate hands and feet, a doll-like face that was flawless, clear gray eyes that gave a sense of transparency, and an ethereal aura that shouldn't exist in this world.
However, compared to his memory, she was so flat, cold, distant, and... unconsciously, much more mature.
"Kanade went home?"
As if she had deliberately come out to talk to him, Sora immediately asked.
Yuu saw her long hair naturally flowing behind her, not braided into twintails, and the thin-framed glasses she wore on her nose. He nodded and replied: "She went home. She said she had things to do, so she didn't greet you."
"Things to do?" For some reason, Sora sneered, moving her cheek slightly and tilting her head, muttering with a complicated expression, "She just didn't dare meet me..."
"What do you mean? Did you two fight?" Yuu was surprised and asked with concern.
"No, our relationship is fine." Sora rolled her eyes, casually denying it. "Don't ask too many questions about girls' affairs. Anyway, what's with your appearance? Trying to change your image? Even though you're a hikikomori?"
Sora pushed up her glasses and said irritably: "Idiot Yuu, can't I really be nearsighted?"
Yuu was slightly amused: "You're nearsighted? What the heck. Even though I already gave you that drink..."
Eh?
His vision suddenly blurred for a moment. He opened his mouth in confusion, but couldn't utter the next words.
Gave her what to drink?
Why did he think that his sister, who just stayed at home every day and played on the computer, naturally wouldn't be nearsighted...
Although Sora's eyes had been fine for years, if she didn't change her habits now of looking at the computer and playing on her phone, it wouldn't be strange if her eyesight worsened at any time. As for glasses, she could just buy a pair online; she didn't need to specially order them at an optical store.
But even so, he had no reason to subconsciously say those words, right?
Many conjectures flashed through Yuu's mind, but they were like a swarm of headless flies hitting an insect trap, burning many brain cells but yielding no credible answer.
Unconsciously holding his breath, Yuu stood frozen, continuing to think. His sister's figure was already out of sight. Instead, black and white snowflakes began to spread from the corner of his vision. Static waves flickered, as if he caught a glimpse of unfamiliar yet familiar fragments.
[Sora, I will protect you!]
As this fragmented sentence appeared in his mind—
"Giving me many nutritious medicinal dishes? Indeed, Yuu."
Sora's soft voice reached his ears.
As if the snow accumulated in his brain was immediately cleared, Yuu snapped back to reality. He looked at his calm-faced sister in front of him with a slight surprise, and for a moment didn't know what to say: "Sora..."
"Even though I don't know what you're thinking, I was lying, idiot." Sora raised her hand and flicked his forehead.
Only now, a mischievous, playful smile appeared on her calm face that seemed too lazy to show any expression.
The gray eyes behind the lenses twinkled, showing reassuring warmth.
"These glasses are just for fun. Thanks to you, my eyes won't be damaged even with long use."
"R-really?" Yuu was still a little uncertain. "Are my medicinal dishes that good? They're not life elixirs that can make people live a hundred years and be immune to all diseases."
The corner of Sora's lips twitched slightly. She shook her head: "It's not that perfect, but can't I use a slightly exaggerated expression? If you're too fussy, your hair will go bald quickly, you know~"
Saying this, she looked up at the top of his head. Her eyes showed various complicated emotions like nostalgia, regret, and sadness, whispering with a feeling as if recalling the loss of something:
"Yuu, actually I came from the future... Back then, you were only thirty-five years old, but you were already a bald uncle with a Mediterranean style..."
"Don't predict that horrible future!"
Yuu clutched his head in horror: "Then I'd rather kill myself now! And going bald at a young age, I'm not a web novel writer. Even if I think a lot, it can't be that bad?!"
"You can't be sure, you know~"
Sora shrugged. Although she showed a playful attitude, the lingering sigh behind the lenses made one wary: "If you don't want to actually go bald, don't worry too much... Everything must be done first to know if it's possible, right?"
Yuu was slightly surprised. His hand slowly dropped from his still thick hair. "Sora... You can say something like that without knowing what I'm worried about. When did you become so mature?"
"Don't underestimate your sister!" Sora kicked his calf and turned back into her room.
Yuu instinctively wanted to follow her, but was stopped by her displeased look when she turned her head.
"Why are you following me?"
"...Nothing." Yuu looked innocent, not at all expecting his sister, who was usually close to him, to react like this.
However, thinking about it, this was normal—precisely because this contradicted the Sora in reality, he could confirm that this was just a test world created by the system.
"Don't peek into a girl's room so casually! Otherwise, I'll enter your room when you're not there and do things you usually wouldn't allow."
Sora grinned and took out a key as a threat: "See? Your room key. I've made ten backup copies."
Yuu was speechless: "You're forcing me to change the lock."
"Just change it. Anyway, there are plenty of opportunities to duplicate it again!" Sora snorted with puffed cheeks, as if she really didn't want him to see what was in the room. She opened a small gap in the door, slipped in, and quickly closed it.
"Anyway, without my permission, Yuu is forbidden to enter my room from now on. We must learn to respect each other, understand?"
"Understood, understood." Yuu shrugged, replying indifferently.
It wasn't strange for the Sora in this test to act abnormally, and Yuu was too lazy to care. He just assumed she was watching BL inside and didn't want him to find out. Anyway, he wasn't interested in his sister's room either.
"Good." Sora seemed to lean against the door panel. Her voice sounded soft and muffled after a brief pause: "Also, even though it's been almost two months, I just remembered now, I have to tell you this..."
"Indeed, I'm just a foolish little sister who can't do anything without you, Yuu."