I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

As he sat down, the blonde, double-helix drill-like queen walked into the classroom and casually said, "Oh, good morning," as she passed by him.

Tenkuji Yu raised an eyebrow. This was the first time she had greeted him with a good morning, so he couldn't afford not to respond properly.

Good morning, Miura-kun.

"What? That's too much politeness, isn't it? Hah—" Miura Yumiko yawned, covering her mouth with her hand, and lazily walked to her seat after saying that.

The conversation ended there, after all, they were only familiar with each other to this extent at best.

Although they didn't become good friends as Yui Yuigahama had hoped during this autumn outing, their relationship had improved somewhat, and the tense atmosphere of confrontation that had characterized their previous meetings was gone.

However, Yuu Tenkuji probably still sees him as the scumbag who "had a girlfriend but still flirted with Yui," right? He just didn't openly show his contempt for Yui's sake; their hearts are probably as far apart as Hokkaido and Okinawa.

"Good morning, Yu."

As I pondered this, a close friend, someone I felt only a few meters away from, appeared in my life.

Looking at Totsuka Saika's still fair and delicate face, Tenkuji Yu naturally smiled: "Good morning, Totsuka. No morning exercise today?"

"Yes!" Wearing a uniform and carrying a backpack, he smiled and nodded, then added as if to clarify, "It's not that I'm being lazy, it's just that the county conference is coming up soon, and every club is vying for the right to use the playground. The tennis courts are also under renovation, so we're just temporarily suspending morning exercises for one day."

"You'll have to practice every day at noon and after school, right? That must be tough." Yuu Tenkuji was once again thankful that she wasn't the kind of club member who was both tired and required to adhere to group rules.

“That’s how it is with most sports clubs.” Totsuka Ayaka smiled wryly, her eyes showing helplessness but no resentment or aversion. “We have to go to a training camp next week, right? And the timing clashes with the cultural festival, so we’re really busy.”

“A training camp…” Tenkuji Yu was taken aback, then fell into deep thought.

Does the Service Club have any training camps or similar activities?

This strange club, whose main purpose is "to serve others and give them the opportunity to grow," would probably organize a retreat activity like volunteering at a nursing home or orphanage.

However, this overlaps with the activities of the volunteer department. Ms. Yukinoshita would definitely not want to follow the same path as others. In her words, "Everyone has their own role, and we should do what only we can do."

So, does that mean I'm going to have a one-day experience at a maid café?

"That's great!" Yuu Tenkuji's eyes lit up.

This refers, of course, to the part where he is the guest and they serve him as maids.

The images that flashed through my mind were of how much trouble Natsukawa Masuzu would cause if she knew.

"By the way, Yu." Totsuka's voice pulled him back to reality from his reverie, "Have any other clubs asked you to come and help them?"

"Help? Help with what?"

"Aren't there all sorts of competitions starting soon? Everyone wants to get good results, not only for the prize money but also to improve the club's status. So while increasing the amount of training, they also want to find other ways to improve their winning rate."

Tenkuji Yu suddenly realized: "You mean, someone will come looking for me to be a coach or reinforcement?"

“Yes, to be honest, I’ve thought about doing that too… After all, this tournament is very important for us, who haven’t had any results for several years.” Totsuka scratched his slightly flushed cheek, his gentle, light blue eyes sparkling with stubbornness and confidence. “But no matter what, I’m the captain of the tennis club. If I don’t fight to the very end myself, how can I let the members endure the grueling training? In the end, we have to become strong on our own!”

As he finished speaking, seeing the admiring expression on Tenkuji Yu's face, he shrugged his shoulders shyly and smiled with narrowed eyes: "So, besides us, there must be other sports clubs that want to recruit Yu to help, whether as a coach or a temporary member... After all, Yu did such an exaggerated thing during the Autumn Showcase, and everyone seems to believe that you are omnipotent in sports."

Tenkuji Yu shrugged, somewhat dismissively: "I've never heard of such a thing, and no one has come to me for help. The Service Department hasn't received any related requests either."

"Eh? I see..." Totsuka was quite surprised.

"Well, I don't mind since you're my friend, but for those who don't know me well, even if they know I have that kind of ability, they're just 'outsiders' at best. It would be more painful for me to give them pointers than to lose the game, right?"

With a slightly different perspective, Yuu Tenkuji understood the reason: "After all, it's a competition that we've been preparing for for a long time and are willing to give it our all to win. If a stranger interferes, makes irresponsible remarks, or even takes away a member's starting position, it's going to be quite unpleasant, even if we end up winning the tournament, right?"

“Hmm, that’s true.” After his explanation, Totsuka Ayaka nodded in deep agreement, and then smiled happily for some reason. “If the object of my affections wasn’t Yu, I probably wouldn’t even have had that kind of thought, right? We’re both the same kind of competitive person.”

Yuu Tenkuji said nonchalantly, "As for me, I'm fine with giving you a few pointers, but I'd rather not help with the competition. I don't have the time or the interest to do that."

Totsuka's smile turned to helplessness, her fair cheeks puffing out slightly: "Seriously, you should never say things like that in front of other people, okay? Even Yu would be disliked."

"Don't worry, there are plenty of people who hate me. Having too many lice doesn't make you itch."

Speaking of which, the second semester isn't just about the autumn outing and various competitions; the cultural festival and the student council election are also being held together, right? The activities are certainly plentiful…”

After chatting with Totsuka until almost class meeting time, and watching him return to his seat, Tenkuji Yu took out "Selected Poems of Tagore," intending to pass the time with extracurricular reading.

As the top student in the grade, a learning expert who can learn anything he reads, he naturally cannot continue to waste his energy on rigid coursework. As long as he maintains his top position in the grade and is not overtaken by the students below him, the rest is to read more books and expand the scope of his learning. Whether it is literary classics or financial reports, they can all become materials for his hunting.

For specific examples, you can refer to his ex-girlfriend—who was the top student in her grade but not his girlfriend—Yukino Yukinoshita.

She was never seen touching textbooks in the Service Department; she always held a famous book in her hands, mostly in the original language. In this respect alone, she surpassed many top students.

Although he doesn't intend to imitate her, it doesn't stop Tenkuji Yu from looking up to her as a good role model in his studies... After all, if he didn't have some special advantages, he would still be struggling in the middle of his grade.

"Phew...phew...um, I finally made it!"

Just as Yuu Tenkuji was about to open his book, the girl with the bun hairstyle rushed into the classroom as the bell rang, a piece of bread dangling from her mouth.

Finding that the teacher had not yet appeared on the podium, she patted her ample chest and mumbled a sound of relief.

At first glance, this scene really does have a classic shoujo manga feel to it.

...as long as she doesn't have a French baguette in her mouth.

"Yui, why are you carrying a French baguette to school?" Miura Yumiko immediately questioned, and she and her classmates stared at her in astonishment.

Seemingly realizing that she was indeed acting a bit strange, Yui Yuigahama took the bread, poked her flushed cheek with the uneaten end, and laughed awkwardly.

"Hehehe... because we only had French baguettes left at home, so my mom told me to bring some over to eat, otherwise they'd go bad..."

Yumiko Miura rolled her eyes: "Even so, it's better to carry it than to bite it, right? Didn't you notice anything wrong the whole way here?"

Of course there were. On the way from home, she encountered passersby who looked at her with the same strange gazes that her classmates now had.

"I... I had just woken up not long ago, so I didn't pay much attention to it..."

As she whispered her explanation, everyone burst into laughter, and the classroom was instantly filled with a joyful atmosphere.

Yui Yuigahama subconsciously touched the dumpling on the side of her head, looked around at the uproar with a slightly troubled expression, but couldn't help but twitch the corners of her mouth and chuckle a few times along with the atmosphere, then took small steps toward her seat.

"Yui, can you finish this?"

As she passed Tenkuji Yu's seat, a calm voice, out of place with the cheerful atmosphere around her, reached her ears.

Yui Yuigahama stopped in her tracks, glanced at the French baguette in her hand, then at him who was propping his head up and looking at her. Suddenly realizing what was happening, a natural and happy smile bloomed on her face.

"If I say I can't finish it, will Xiaoyou help me?"

"You don't even care about yourself, why should I be so kind as to help you?" Tenkuji Yu scoffed, stretching out his hand towards him as if demanding a debt. "You didn't eat enough breakfast, give me a third of it."

"……oh!"

Yui Yuigahama almost couldn't hold back her laughter, her pretty face flushed red as she looked at his nonchalant demeanor with tender eyes.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Yuu Tenkuji took the third of the baguette and began to tear small bites while turning the pages of her book.

And so, it was as if time itself had slowly entered the café where music was flowing.

Bathed in sunlight and surrounded by tranquility, the boy rested his right cheek on his hand, enjoying his meal with elegant and languid movements amidst the occasional soft rustling of turning pages, savoring the French baguette with the refinement of an English dessert.

Unconsciously, the students in Class 2-F stopped laughing and making noise, and focused their attention on him, as if they did not want to disturb the unique quiet atmosphere, and even subconsciously softened their breathing.

Naturally, no one paid any attention to Yui Yuigahama, who had returned to her seat.

"The combination of 'subtle presence adjustment' and 'spotlight'... actually works quite well."

Yuu Tenkuji observed his surroundings out of the corner of his eye and thought to himself with a sense of pride.

At the autumn performance, he only used a "spotlight" to accompany his performance and received thunderous applause; if he combines the two now and performs another piece, the response will probably be even more enthusiastic and attract even more attention.

However, unless there is a compelling reason to do it or it is a sudden whim, Yuu Tenkuji would not do something that brings no benefit—after all, he is already popular enough.

"Good morning, everyone. Class meeting is starting now... uh, what's going on?"

The yawning expression froze on her face. The white-clad female teacher stared wide-eyed at the unusually quiet classroom, her face blank. She quickly found the source of the unusually strong presence.

Then he instantly understood, slammed his hand on the table twice, and shouted, "Sky Temple, are you here to shoot a photobook or to act in a music video? It's class meeting time now, hurry up and finish your breakfast!"

"..."

Chapter 76 Natsukawa Masaki, Resurrected

During lunch break, in the small woods on the campus of Zongwu High School.

"Natsukawa Masaki, revive—!"

In the pavilion, a beautiful girl with silver hair reaching her waist seemed to be showing off her high spirits, shouting out the above sentence with exaggerated facial expressions and body movements.

She placed one foot on a stone bench, tilted her head slightly upward, and began narrating in a deep yet alluring voice: "After a day of rest, and with the strength given by the 'love porridge' her boyfriend personally cooked, she finally crawled out of hell after suffering from illness... The current Natsukawa Masaki is no longer the same as before. No matter how many rivals she faces, she can crush them all with her beauty, right?"

"There are too many flaws, I don't want to complain anymore."

Ignoring her monologue, Tenkuji Yu sat down across the stone table and calmly took out a bento box: "Whether you want to use JOJO references or Baki references, just don't use reduplicated words. I still want to eat."

"What did my beloved porridge ever do to you? Isn't porridge good enough?" Xia Chuanzhen frowned in dissatisfaction, then clutched her chest in a blissful pose. "Looking back now, it was truly the most delicious food I've ever eaten... The taste was absolutely divine, but most importantly, it contained my boyfriend's overflowing love and affection! Every sip of porridge felt like he was inside my stomach, melting into juice with the stomach acid, and staying with me forever..."

"Stop, this is disgusting enough." Yuu Tenkuji tapped the table impatiently. "Sit down and eat, or I'll go eat in the service club."

"To actually threaten me with another woman, as expected of Sato Yu, known as the King of Perverts, he's particularly good at exploiting women's weaknesses." With a helpless shrug, Natsukawa Masuzu tucked her long hair behind her ear and sat back down on the stone chair.

However, she wasn't directly opposite him, but sat down next to him, her soft arms pressed against his, and the girl's unique fragrance gradually seeped over her.

Just as she was about to open the bento box, she stopped in mid-air and glanced at her sideways: "Don't change my surname so casually, okay? I didn't mean to use this to threaten you... Also, aren't you standing a little too close?"

"Really?" Natsukawa Masaki said dismissively.

Even though there were empty seats all around, she insisted on sticking close to him like magnets, even naturally wrapping her arms around his: "I think it's just right. The weather's gotten cooler lately, hasn't it? If we don't get closer together and generate some heat, we might get sick again in a short time."

"That's just sophistry..." Yuu Tenkuji sighed, too lazy to argue with his girlfriend who was having another episode, and just let her gently rub her cheek against his shoulder.

"Anyway, if you don't want to eat, just stay here. I'm hungry."

Natsukawa Masuzu opened her eyes, which had been squinting comfortably, and said decisively without room for doubt, "I want to eat your bento. I want to eat anything you make yourself."

Startled, Tenkuji Yu lowered his head and looked at her with considerable surprise.

"you sure?"

Natsukawa Masaki remained unfazed and said matter-of-factly, "What's there to doubt? Compared to your homemade dish, Wade's jelly is nothing more than something as vulgar and filthy as frog pee. Isn't it obvious which one to choose? I really hope you don't question my intelligence."

He smirked slightly: "I found a whole box of this stuff that looks like 'frog pee' in your house yesterday..."

"Yes, that's why you know..."

Natsukawa Masaki suddenly laughed.

As if she had found a treasure she didn't want to let go of, she hugged his arm even tighter, buried her face in his chest, took a deep breath, and whispered:

"Before I met you, how miserable was Natsukawa Masuzu?"