A reversal of fortune and victory in a world hated by all girls!

Aoi Natsuki stepped forward and ruffled her bun. Just then, his phone rang with a text message alert.

Is it Sakurajima...?

His first instinct was to think of her, after all, she had just made that promise to him.

He took his phone out of his down jacket pocket, turned on the screen, and saw a text message from Takahashi.

He opened the text message.

It is a text message that is about one hundred characters long and covers an entire screen.

Aoi Natsuki sensed something was off from the very first sentence. As she read on, the words became increasingly cheesy, resembling a collection of online love quotes. The latter half of the text message was an unusually passionate confession! What was going on? Takahashi was actually confessing his feelings to her?!

Aoi Natsuki's mind hadn't quite processed it yet; this was all too sudden!

The shock on his face lingered, while Lina, standing beside him, seemed even more nervous than he was, trying to avoid being discovered. Her gaze drifted intentionally to the other side, her hands clasped behind her back, kneading her fingers.

After a while, Lina resumed writing on the writing board.

"Natsuki?"

Seeing that he didn't react, she reached out and pulled down the corner of his clothes.

Aoi Natsuki remained silent, her eyes filled with confusion as she turned her head. Her left index finger lightly tapped the screen, lost in thought.

No, I need to find out more.

After making his decision, Aoi Natsuki immediately started typing a reply. Seeing this, Rina remembered Mao's instructions to her and quickly grabbed his clothes with both hands.

"Rina, wait a moment, I have something important to do. You go wash up first." Aoi Natsuki was still thinking about what to ask, while Rina kept bothering her.

Aoi Natsuki couldn't think of anything suitable to say. He never expected that Takahashi would confess to him. He couldn't believe it was real, but it really did come from Takahashi's phone.

He hurriedly brought up the system panel and saw that Takahashi Mito's favorability value was 65 points, which was not even 70 points. How could the conditions for confession be triggered with such a value?

The more Aoi Natsuki thought about it, the more confused he became. His right hand instinctively soothed Rina's head, which was starting to get agitated for some unknown reason. This time, he fell into an even longer silence, and even walked to the dining room, pulled out a chair, sat down, and pondered the matter.

The drowsiness I felt just moments ago vanished instantly.

Lina stared intently at Natsuki's phone, afraid that he would reply now and give himself away.

At this moment, Natsuki Aoi wasn't thinking about the motivation behind Takahashi sending that text message. As time went on, he was thinking more about how to give Takahashi a proper response to his confession.

The answer will definitely be a refusal, but the refusal needs to be phrased appropriately.

Looking back on her first meeting with Mito Takahashi, the two had never gotten along. The fact that they can still be friends now is inseparable from the help of Hayakawa and Sakurajima. She herself seems to have realized this, and her temper has become much more restrained.

However, if it were about confessing to him and becoming boyfriend and girlfriend, Aoi Natsuki felt that it was far from reaching that stage. It's normal for every boy to have a crush on a beautiful girl, but if it were to rise to the level of dating, there would inevitably be more things to consider.

"Phew." Aoi Natsuki let out a long breath, then turned to look at Rina, who was lying obediently on his lap, looking up at him.

The moment Rina noticed Natsuki making eye contact with her, she immediately held up the writing board in her hand.

"Has something happened?"

Aoi Natsuki felt that an eight-year-old child couldn't help with this, but he himself didn't have any ideas at the moment!

After much thought, and with a try-it-out mentality, he asked, "If a girl confesses her feelings to me one day, and I want to reject her, but we're too familiar with each other, how can I politely refuse her?"

Upon hearing this, Lina, one of the instigators, immediately understood the meaning. Was Natsuki going to reject Takahashi-neechan like this... Just as she had guessed.

Natsuki still prefers Hayakawa-neechan.

Lina felt a little disappointed, but she had already vaguely guessed it beforehand, so she wasn't surprised by the result.

Lina entered into her first deep emotional reflection, resting her chin gently on Natsuki's thigh, her eyes gazing blankly ahead.

After a long while, she made a decision and immediately picked up a pen to write on the writing board.

The sudden action startled Aoi Natsuki, who leaned closer to see what Rina was writing.

After she finished writing, she presented it to him with a serious expression.

"If Natsuki really wants to refuse, she should refuse him directly and firmly! For a girl, your decisiveness is the best choice for her!"

The lengthy text conveyed an exceptionally resolute attitude.

The small exclamation mark at the end also shows Lina's attitude and determination towards this matter.

Aoi Natsuki stared blankly at these words for two seconds, then nodded heavily.

Lina's thoughts aligned with his own, or to put it bluntly, rejection would be the best course of action.

Mito Takahashi once said that she had never liked getting close to boys since she was a child. She was the first girl to go from disliking to liking someone. Compared to ordinary girls, she would find it much harder to like someone. To be able to make such a reversal, she must have gone through a lot of struggles in her heart.

That's why giving her straightforward feedback is the best way to end this confession.

Yes! That's it!

As Aoi Natsuki came to his senses, his mood relaxed in that instant, and a smile appeared on his face. Just as he was about to reply to Takahashi, Rina suddenly reached out and stopped him, pressed down on the phone screen, and quickly wrote on the writing pad with her other hand. This evening had kept Rina very busy.

"Let's find some time to talk to her in person and make things clear! A girl's resolve can't be dismissed so easily with just a text message!"

"Oh!" Aoi Natsuki exclaimed in surprise. She never expected Rina to see things so deeply. Was she really an eight-year-old child?

He finally nodded and agreed not to reply to the text messages tonight, and to meet Takahashi alone tomorrow.

"Okay! Let's not think about these things anymore. Let's get some rest early tonight." Aoi Natsuki slapped her thigh with a cheerful smile, stood up, and pushed Rina's back with both hands towards the door. She then turned off the lights and went upstairs to the second floor.

It was already 10 p.m., and Rina was still awake in bed, her phone ringing with text messages from Mao.

"It's all sorted out! Luckily, I made an excuse to stay at my aunt's house today. I just sneaked into her room and deleted that scheduled text message. I'm sure this confession will have a result soon!"

Looking at Mao's confident words, Rina didn't know how to reply. She had said long ago that it wasn't that simple, and that she should have made a more detailed plan in the first place.

Lina lay on her side on the pillow, holding her phone in both hands. The soft light shone on her face. Then she let out a long sigh. She wouldn't undermine Mao's confidence now; everything would be clear by tomorrow.

She echoed the answer twice, but she didn't dare to think about what would happen tomorrow!

……

the next day.

Aoi Natsuki yawned and slowly walked downstairs. He hadn't slept well last night, his mind constantly rehearsing his lines for rejecting Takahashi after their meeting, so as not to embarrass her too much and to gloss over the matter easily and pleasantly.

From now on, it will be enough for the two of them to be able to remain stable friends who can talk to each other.

When he walked into the dining room, his mother had already started making breakfast. Now that his parents were home, he basically didn't need to get up early to make breakfast anymore. As a son, he wanted to enjoy the happiness of being a stay-at-home guy for a few days now and then. After being so busy for so long, what's wrong with being lazy for a few days?

After breakfast, Aoi Natsuki felt a little nervous and started replying to yesterday's text messages. Takahashi hadn't sent any more messages since that one, so she was obviously waiting for her reply.

This inevitably made Aoi take this matter even more seriously.

He then extended an invitation to Takahashi to meet him today.

As for the location, choose a commercial street plaza with fewer people. It's close to both families' homes and has subway access. If she's too heartbroken, she can walk 200 meters to the subway entrance and go straight home.

He's so thoughtful!

A few minutes after sending the message, his phone rang. He became nervous and picked up the phone to see that the other party had accepted his request. Yes, that was normal, after all, it was such a big thing as confessing last night. He then arranged to meet Takahashi Mito in the square of the shopping street an hour later.

Things are progressing smoothly.

……

the other side.

Half a minute ago.

While having breakfast, Mitsu Takahashi received an invitation to meet Natsuki Aoi. Immediately, her hand holding a fried egg with her chopsticks froze in mid-air. She let go of the chopsticks, and the fried egg fell back onto the plate on the table.

It's a lie, a complete scam!

Aoi actually asked me out?

Eh?

Eh!

Mito Takahashi was incredulous, her gaze suddenly drifting to the floor in the lower right corner.

I tried to recall everything, but I couldn't remember anything at all!

Wait, could it be about the special visit I made to his house yesterday?

Because he's thanking me, he wants to meet me? No, no, no, it's just that I brought him a bento box, it's not like he has to make a special trip to meet me, is it?

She couldn't understand it at all. Five minutes had passed, and she couldn't hesitate any longer. Feeling depressed, she took a deep breath and, as if in a dream, accepted his invitation.

No way! If it's only an hour, I need to start preparing now.

Mito Takahashi's gaze froze for a moment. She touched her hair. Thank goodness, she had washed her hair before going to his house yesterday. Now all she had to do was wash her face, moisturize, and put on makeup... Ugh! So much to do!

Mito Takahashi quickly stood up, hurriedly left the living room, and rushed upstairs.

Sitting on the right, Ayano Takahashi noticed her sister's unusual behavior and looked puzzled: "What's she doing now? Why is she so emotional?"

Sitting across from her, Mao ate a fried egg with a big smile on her face: "Maybe it's something really good that happened."

After saying that, he continued to poke through the fried egg with his chopsticks, put it in his mouth, and ate it with great relish.

……

One hour later.

In the square of the commercial street.

During the holiday, there weren't many pedestrians on the streets. The chilly weather restricted many people's routes, and it was rare for anyone to travel a long way to stroll around the commercial street.

Natsuki Aoi was wearing a thick down jacket and a scarf around his neck. He had carefully planned to choose this place, as there wouldn't be many people there. If there was a verbal altercation later, neither side would lose too much face.

"Ha..." He breathed on his palm and looked around. Not long after, a figure slowly appeared on the escalator in the subway not far away. As soon as the person could see the outside world, they seemed to be looking for something until they met Aoi Natsuki's eyes.

My heart skipped a beat.

Today, Mito Takahashi was wearing a pair of brown high-top boots, paired with dark jeans, and a white puffer jacket over her upper body. Puffer jackets, which others might dislike, looked exceptionally good on her. With her exquisite makeup and meticulously styled hair, even Natsuki Aoi thought she looked particularly beautiful today.

I made special preparations before coming here.

Thinking about this, Natsuki Aoi felt that she needed to be more sincere in her refusal later.

Mito Takahashi exhaled warm breath from her mouth, her face slightly flushed, and walked step by step toward Aoi. Feeling a little embarrassed, she felt very awkward no matter where she put her hands.

Until it came into view.

"Yo... Aoi, you're here early."

I don't know if it was from the cold or from nervousness, but my voice was trembling.