"Yuri! Yuri!"
In the dorm, Ichiko jumped out of bed early in the morning, rushed over to Yuri, and showed her the content on her phone. "Why would Haruko ask me this kind of question?"
—If Sento and I fell into the water, who would you save?
Isn't this the classic question of your mother and your girlfriend falling into the water!
Compared to Ichiko's panic and confusion, Yuri just glanced at it indifferently and continued to rub her face mask.
Her tone was calm. "What other reason could there be? Haruko is having an episode."
"This..." Ichiko's voice was conflicted. For her, one wave hadn't settled before another rose.
She had just come out of the dark room yesterday.
Today, Haruko came with a new problem.
Wave after wave of pressure made her feel a suffocating sensation, like being wrapped by a python.
She couldn't make up her mind. "Then, Yuri, what do you think I should answer?"
"Do you like Sento?" Yuri glanced at Ichiko.
Ichiko pursed her lips, first shaking her head, but then paused halfway through the shake.
She had a little good feeling, but it couldn't be called liking.
Yuri inwardly let out a dissatisfied "tsk", but didn't show it. Following Haruko's previous instructions, she said as usual, "You're also silly. What's the point of caring so much about Sento?"
Ichiko looked at her in confusion.
Yuri turned around, gently peeled off the mask from her face, and said very sincerely, "Logically, I shouldn't interfere with your choice, but as your best friend, I really can't stand seeing you like this. I just don't understand what's so good about Sento."
Yuri counted on her fingers. "Look, he bosses you around."
"He's never given you a good look."
"Every time, I hear you say Sento is looking for you, so you grab your phone and take a taxi to find him."
"Why doesn't he come over personally when he's looking for you? Inari even drives his sports car to the dorm building downstairs when he's looking for you. What about his attitude?"
"He doesn't even reimburse you for the taxi fare!"
"Oh, he says he likes you, says he'll give you whatever you want, but where's the action?"
"What kind of damn cold and aloof CEO is he? What else does he have besides being a bit handsome?"
"I really don't know what you like about Sento."
As she spoke, a roommate who was still sleeping reached out and chimed in, "Mimi, Sento really isn't worth your attention. You're so perfect, you can pick any wealthy family you want, okay?"
Yuri glanced at that roommate, feeling that she herself was starting to become strange.
She couldn't help but fall into thought.
Speaking of which, why did she used to like Sento so much, to the point of going against Ichiko?
After experiencing the power of Haruko's blackhead removal pill last time, Yuri had completely sided with Haruko and become the "Cheng Faction."
Letting go of her entanglement with Sento, she slowly started to feel something was off.
In high school, she had also always showered his Sento with enthusiasm only to receive cold indifference. There was no earth-shattering encounter, so why did she like him so madly, as if she had been cursed?
As soon as she saw Ichiko, she would become possessed, wanting to confront her.
Something was not right.
However, after thinking about it, she didn't dwell on it too much. Now, seeing Ichiko stumble and struggle with Haruko, she was happy.
Reaching out to pat her good friend's shoulder, Yuri said earnestly, "Sister, face reality. You say Haruko is scary with her yandere tendencies, but at least she really loves you, right? She's so cute, she's a hit with both sexes. I can't even imagine how great it would feel to hold that small body while sleeping."
As soon as these words came out, Ichiko looked at Yuri faintly. "Are you serious?"
Yuri smiled. "Just making a joke from your perspective."
Ichiko felt a little uncomfortable inside.
Haruko had treated her like that, she should stay away from her.
But hearing Yuri say she wanted to hold her while sleeping, she felt some inexplicable displeasure.
It was as if something of hers had been stolen.
Ichiko didn't want to delve deeper into this topic and shifted the conversation back to her phone. "So, how should I reply to Haruko?"
"Isn't this a death trap question?"
Except it seemed to be Sento's life being trapped.
Yuri said, "Haruko is a yandere. If you want to accommodate her emotions, you have no choice but to say you'll save her. However, what you can choose is the depth of it."
"What do you mean?"
Yuri: "The standard answer is to save her and not save Sento, but you can also reply like this: you choose to save Sento, so that only the two of you will be in the river of love."
As she spoke, Yuri snapped her fingers. "This way, Haruko will like you even more."
Ichiko was dumbfounded. "Yuri, you've never been in a relationship, how do you know so much?"
"Thanks, I've been hit by a car." Yuri chuckled. "I read a lot of novels usually, and these answers are copied from the comment sections."
Ichiko: "This..."
She hesitated.
Yuri reminded her, "The point is the sentence above, right? Haruko and Sento had a small spat. If they both like you and need to settle who wins, the question below is for you to choose."
Ichiko swallowed a mouthful of saliva. "But she only said it was a small... small spat, right?"
"In front of a yandere, even the smallest spat will be magnified."
Yuri sighed. "Do you remember what my uncle told you last time?"
"Dr. Kaito?"
"Yes." Yuri nodded. "Either send Haruko to a mental hospital for treatment, or try to accept and appease her."
The sleeping roommate poked her head out again. "Mental hospitals aren't good. Wasn't there news last time about a child sent to an internet addiction school who was beaten to death, and the parents earned 1.4 million with tears? Mental hospitals are probably the same nature, right?"
It seemed like two choices were given.
In reality, there was no choice at all.
Seeing Ichiko lower her head in painful struggle, Yuri gave that roommate a thumbs-up.
The roommate hooked her lips into a smile, everything unspoken.
And just at this moment, Ichiko's phone suddenly vibrated again.
Yuri took it and glanced at it, making a "tsk tsk" sound. "Look, Mimi, Sento is looking for you."
It was a message from Sento: Ichiko, what happened last time was my fault. I have something I want to tell you. I'm at the company, come here for a bit.
Yuri shrugged and sighed. "Again, he's making you run to him. The apology is just one line 'my fault'. Ah~ ah, truly worthy of being a CEO."
Ichiko bit her lower lip, her hand gripping the phone seemed to tighten a little.
Yuri added fuel to the fire. "Alright, stop struggling. Sento is a Young Master, there are plenty of beautiful women around him. Maybe he's just playing with you and doesn't care about you at all."
For any girl, the words "he doesn't care about you" have immense destructive power.
Long-term verbal manipulation, pressure from the external environment, and the common topics among people around her, every point was stimulating Ichiko's nerves.
When all the built-up tension converged and was pointed out.
Memories blew in like the wind.
The good ones were subconsciously blocked out.
The topics discussed around her gradually emerged.
Yeah, maybe Sento really doesn't care about her.
He bosses her around, has never shown concern, and when she was locked in the dark room by Haruko for three days, he didn't do anything, instead, he scolded her as soon as they met.
If he cared about me, why didn't he come looking for me then?
Not to mention now, his apology is so light, and he's making me go to his company like a servant!
How did Haruko apologize when she did something wrong?
With teary eyes, clutching her sleeve tightly, always blaming herself, and humbly begging her not to abandon her.
The tall shadow that had vaguely occupied a corner of her heart was completely severed.
Ichiko heavily typed two words in reply to Sento: "Not going!"
Yuri and that roommate just watched her quietly beside Ichiko, a hint of cold smile playing on their lips.
Behind them, there seemed to be a small figure with tea-colored hair.
Like a shadowy ghost, lingering nearby.
------------------------
I've posted 70+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right now but who knows what the future holds?
[email protected]/SolyuraMT
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"