Chapter 104: The Hatred of Seizing a Wife, Cannot Coexist Under Heaven!
"Hobbies that even my friends don't know about? Including you seniors?"
Hearing Ren's question, Renako felt somewhat troubled because she did indeed have such hobbies. However, these interests were quite rare among girls, making her hesitant to share them.
"Of course. Since we're pretending to be lovers, wouldn't it seem fake if we didn't even know each other's personal hobbies?"
Ren nodded, eagerly anticipating what Renako's private interests might be. No matter how ordinary, everyone has things they enjoy.
"Please don't laugh at me, but I actually really love playing games, especially FPS games. I even spend all my allowance on games, and my fashion sense is still taught by my younger sister."
After speaking, Renako scratched her head with burning cheeks. Her hobbies made her too embarrassed to share with others.
"Oh? Surprisingly normal, though indeed quite rare for a girl. But what a coincidence—I happen to love FPS games too."
He never expected Renako would be that rare breed of gaming girl. He remembered how Hitori and others had tried getting into games to play with him, but they just weren't good at it.
Take Hitori for example—despite having nimble fingers for guitar playing, frequently editing videos, and playing extroverted characters online, her fingers would cramp up when gaming, unable to even navigate properly.
So until now, Ren's only regular gaming partner remained that Japanese girl he met online.
Now encountering Renako felt like an unexpected delight.
"I know about that. After all, you're also known as Teacher Fragrant-and-Soft."
As Ren's fan, Renako naturally knew about this. But she previously didn't dare mention her own love for FPS games, fearing it would sound like she was deliberately trying to get close to him.
"Doesn't that make our pretend relationship even more reasonable? We share common interests."
Even if just as gaming buddies, such compatibility was extremely rare. Ren felt quite pleasantly surprised that Renako's hobbies overlapped with his.
"Hehe~"
Renako could only giggle foolishly.
"Later—no, tonight we can play games together. I just need teammates. What about you, Renako?"
After learning about her hobbies, this became the natural approach. Just as he bonded with Hitori by accompanying her guitar playing or listening to her performances, with Renako it would be through gaming together.
For true gaming enthusiasts, playing together beats any conventional date. If both are gaming addicts, their dates would probably end up in internet cafes.
"It would be my honor! But my skills aren't as good as yours—wouldn't I hold you back?"
While thrilled at the prospect of gaming with Ren, Renako's excitement quickly turned to insecurity. Though she loved gaming and maintained above-average skills, she couldn't match Ren's top-tier level. Such a large skill gap would likely make her dead weight.
"Isn't the most important thing playing together? Since I'm already the strongest, I've lost my obsession with ranking. Having friends to play with is the best thing ever."
Ren smiled reassuringly. Even if Renako could only praise him with exclamations like "Wow, amazing!" or "Incredible!" and provide emotional support, that was enough. What mattered was companionship, not the game itself.
"Mhm~"
Renako nodded happily. This day felt equally dreamlike to her—not only had she found a proper way to turn down her friend's confession, but she'd also made plans to play games with her idol that evening.
"What did she say?"
After understanding the situation and confirming their plans, Ren asked about Mai's response.
"Mai-san agreed to meet. Where do you think would be a suitable place, senpai?"
Renako checked her phone briefly before confirming the meeting location with Ren. She had already subconsciously come to rely on him.
"Let's do it on the rooftop. There are fewer people there."
Ren casually suggested a spot. After Renako sent the reply, they started discussing games and discovered their gaming preferences overlapped significantly—from Apex Legends to Fate/Grand Order, the gaming enthusiast Renako played them all.
After school ended in the afternoon, Hitori and the others went home first. In situations like this, they never disturbed Ren. Before Renako came along, they hadn't even specified who Ren's lover was.
So Renako had never even considered whether Ren might have a lover. After all, there were so many girls with pink hair playing games with him—they couldn't all be his lovers, right?
On the school rooftop, when Ren arrived, Mai and Renako were already there. Mai had cornered Renako against the wall, interrogating her about something that made Renako wear an extremely troubled expression.
Spotting Ren's arrival, Renako ducked under Mai's arm and rushed to Ren's side, anxiously clutching his sleeve.
"?"
Mai froze momentarily upon seeing Ren, then showed a mix of shock and confusion.
"Senpai~"
Renako called out to Ren in a pitiful, delicate voice tinged with unease, making Ren's heart soften instantly.
"You're Oozuka Mai, right? We met briefly during the opening ceremony."
Ren patted Renako's hand and offered Mai a faint smile.
"Yes, hello Watanabe-senpai. What's your relationship with Renako?"
Mai composed herself and responded politely, then looked puzzled at where Renako was clinging to Ren's arm—if she moved any closer, she'd practically be trapping his hand.
"You haven't told her yet?"
Hearing this, Ren first glanced at Renako beside him.
"No, I was waiting for you to explain, senpai."
Renako shook her head. She was afraid she might slip up if she tried to explain, since she wasn't good at these situations. Besides, Mai's aggressive demeanor—having just confessed her feelings persistently—felt overwhelmingly awkward.
"I understand, Oozuka-san. I actually already knew about your confession to Renako. Since she's quite shy and timid, she didn't know how to properly explain it to you without affecting your future relationship."
"So she asked me to tell you. You've noticed Renako often comes to hang out with me during lunch breaks lately, right?"
"Do you know why? Because Renako and I are actually dating, so she can't possibly accept your confession. You understand, right?"
"....?"
"How could that be?!"
"Why couldn't it be? Since even someone like you was attracted to Renako, is it really that strange that I would like her too? She's cute, isn't she?"
Seeing Mai's shocked and doubtful expression, Ren took the opportunity to compliment Renako, making her blush crimson.
For a moment, Renako even wondered if she possessed some kind of charm that appealed to everyone.
To think both the most popular students from first and second year would like her.
No, no!
Renako, don't get carried away! You and Senpai are just pretending to be lovers...
Thinking this, Renako suddenly felt an emptiness in her heart, and her breathing became somewhat difficult. But she didn't dare hope for too much—she was already happy enough that Ren was willing to pretend to be her boyfriend to help solve her problems.
"No, it shouldn't be like this..."
After hearing this, Mai paled and stepped back several paces. She didn't doubt Ren's words—in her eyes, Renako was undoubtedly the best woman in the world, so she thought it was normal that Ren shared her taste.
But why had Ren beaten her to it? She had already connected so deeply with Renako, so why had Renako become someone else's lover?!
No, maybe this was fake?
Though her heart felt like dying embers, Mai still clung to a sliver of fantasy. Grasping that faint hope, she mustered her last bit of strength to challenge Ren:
"Just because you say it, Senpai, doesn't make it true! Maybe you and Renako are lying to me together?"
"I won't believe it's true unless... you prove it to me!"
"?!"
Hearing this, Renako's heart leaped into her throat. How were they supposed to prove it? She and Ren were fake lovers.
Should she mention the information they exchanged during lunch today? She hoped that would work.
While Renako was wondering how Ren would handle Mai's challenge, Ren nodded, then stepped back and turned to face Renako. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he slowly lowered his head.
"Huh?"
"!"
Amid Renako's stunned confusion and Mai's cry of despair, Ren pressed his lips against Renako's.