Tokyo: Starting with a fake boyfriend

Thinking of this, Yamabuki Minami pursed her lips, swallowed, and then raised her free right hand, gently placing it on the back of Shiratori Osamu's hand.

"..."

A state of flow doesn't mean completely ignoring everything happening around you. As she made this movement, Shiratori Osamu consciously glanced at her, but said nothing, continuing to plan his month-long fake boyfriend scheme.

"As expected, this level of physical contact is nothing to Shiratori-san."

When she realized that he had only glanced at her and said nothing, Yamabuki Minami, who had been nervous and uneasy, secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Once she was certain that Shiratori-san wouldn't mind handing her his hand, her mind suddenly became active.

Although her left hand was being held by him, her right hand was free.

In order to desensitize herself, she began to try more things, hoping to get used to shaking hands and holding hands as soon as possible.

Stroking the back of his hand... Shiratori-san's skin is quite nice, it feels great.

He raised his right hand... Shiratori-san's hand was heavy, quite heavy.

He opened his palm...and compared sizes again, and it was really big!

Finding that he didn't react at all and let her play with him, Yamabuki Minami's actions became increasingly bold with each test.

I teased his palm, lightly scratching it with my fingers. It made his arm tremble slightly, but it was just a primal reaction.

"Is this still not working?"

Upon realizing this, Minami Yamabuki felt somewhat resentful; she longed to see Shiratori-san react to her.

Driven by this emotion, she placed Shiratori Osamu's palm on the table, opened her left hand and reached in between his fingers, interlocking them.

"You're learning so fast?"

The comfortable and soft interlocking of their hands was hard for Shiratori Osamu, who was deep in thought, not to react. His heartstrings were touched, but he restrained himself from looking at her and instead turned his head away, not wanting to disrupt her desensitization practice.

Like those on-screen couples on TV, they held hands, and Yamabuki Minami looked up at him expectantly.

"Why is there still no response? It won't even look at me."

Minami Yamabuki, who had finally mustered up the courage, realized that he was turning his head away and not looking at her at all. She immediately deflated like a punctured balloon.

However, before she could feel discouraged for long, she suddenly caught a peculiar glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye.

"Wait... why are his ears so red?"

"Huh? Really? Is Shiratori-san shy?"

"Really? We were just holding hands, could I be seeing things?"

"With such stunning looks, she's so innocent and pure—it's just too unfair!"

After observing repeatedly, Minami Yamabuki confirmed that she had not seen wrong, her heartstrings trembled, and she felt overjoyed.

Chapter 40 Confession?

A delinquent's blush is more powerful than a long string of sweet words.

Yamabuki Minami was truly astonished to discover that the mature, handsome, and seemingly wicked Shiratori-san had blushed and even shyly turned his head away after being flirted with by her. A strong sense of accomplishment welled up inside her.

Holding hands is nothing compared to Seto-san clinging to Shiratori-san's arm and acting cute.

But precisely because of this, the fact that simply holding hands made Shiratori's ears turn red was even more of a surprise to her.

"It seems I'm not entirely without charm in Shiratori-san's eyes..."

Realizing this, Minami Yamabuki felt a surge of joy and a long sigh of relief.

The fact that she had invited Shiratori-san to sleep in her bed the night before last, only to be rejected repeatedly, was quite a blow to her.

Although she knew she was beautiful and had inherited her mother's good genes, she believed that being beautiful did not equate to being charming.

After all, everyone has different aesthetic standards. Some people like mature women, some like cute girls, some like sexy girls, and some like innocent girls.

She doesn't know how to dress up, wear colored contact lenses, do her eyelashes, or even get her nails done. Her school uniform has never been adjusted in length, and aside from her bangs, she's never styled her hair; it's all just naturally loose and unrefined, making her look very dowdy.

Moreover, her physical development was not good. Although her chest was full and quite large, she did not fully inherit her mother's physique genes.

Because of this, very few boys pursued her at school; only a dozen or so boys confessed their feelings to her.

Luckily, she wasn't nearsighted; otherwise, she probably wouldn't have more than a dozen glasses.

The hand-holding was a great success. Although Yamabuki Minami was very happy, she didn't dare to continue messing around and obediently held hands with him.

After all, Shiratori-san only allowed her to hold hands and shake hands; if she went too far, she might make him angry.

"Ah... my palms seem sweaty."

After holding hands for a while, Minami Yamabuki suddenly realized what was happening and pulled her hand away.

Although the internet cafe lobby was air-conditioned and cool even in the scorching summer, Shiratori Osamu's palms were a little hot.

After wiping the sweat from her hands in her skirt pockets with a handkerchief, she reached out again, wanting to hold hands again.

"Yamabuki Mulberry".

But just then, Shiratori Osamu spoke up.

"Yes!"

Yamabuki Minami, who had just extended her hand, was startled by what she said and quickly withdrew it, feeling very guilty.

Because Shiratori-san was seriously thinking about countermeasures, but she kept causing trouble beside him.

"Could you tell me about your parents?"

Shiratori Osamu had actually wanted to ask this question earlier, but Yamabuki Minami was having so much fun playing with his hand that he didn't want to discourage her desensitization practice, so he had to wait until she was done playing with it before asking.

"Okay... what aspects would you like to know?"

Feeling guilty, Yamabuki Minami didn't dare look at him at all.

"Tell me as much as you can about your parents' relationship, and your father's history of making his fortune... the more about your father, the better."

Knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to victory in every battle. Shiratori felt that the intelligence was still not comprehensive enough.

After learning about his needs, Minami Yamabuki pondered for a moment and then began to explain them to him.

Children in loving families are usually very happy, and she is no exception; she understands her parents' relationship very well.

My parents started dating in their second year of high school, but their relationship was strongly opposed by my maternal grandfather. After graduating from high school, they got married and eloped to Tokyo to work hard. Then my mother gave birth to me.

My parents have a wonderful relationship. They went through an incredibly difficult period when they were young, and it is through their mutual support and love over the years that they have made it to where they are today.

Unfortunately, my father cheated on me this year. He was seduced by a woman who was having an affair, and our relationship is no longer what it used to be.

"I see... I understand now, so that's how it is."

As he listened to her recount her past, and as he gathered more information, Shiratori waited until she finished speaking before a flash of inspiration struck him, and he found the key to breaking the deadlock.

"what? What?"

Seeing that he seemed to have just realized something, Minami Yamabuki felt very confused.

No, what exactly did he understand?

“I know what we should do to fool your dad.”

Faced with her curiosity, Shiratori Osamu did not rush to reveal the answer, but instead guided her thoughts.

"How to do it?"

Minami Yamabuki couldn't keep up with his train of thought, so she could only ask him questions out of curiosity.

"Class monitor, I need you to teach me how to study."

Faced with her curiosity, Shiratori Osamu made a request with a serious expression.

"Huh?"

"Your father worked hard for Mrs. Yamabuki for many years. This is proof of his love, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"If I start studying hard and striving for my goals because of you, and you teach me, and we support each other, do you think your dad will think I love you?"

"Huh? Eh—!"

The sudden "I love you" completely stunned Minami Yamabuki, leaving her utterly bewildered and at a loss for what to do.

"I love you?" What does this mean? Is Shiratori-san confessing his love to her?

In a state of flow, Shiratori abandons useless emotions, immersing himself in a burst of inspiration because he has found a solution to the problem.

"The truth is often cold, complex, and even painful, making it difficult to accept. That's why when a lie evokes strong emotions, rational judgment is weakened, making people more likely to accept the lie."

"Nine parts truth and one part falsehood, that's the highest level of lying."

"That's right, that's it."

"The answer was actually there from the beginning, but I didn't expect it. It's true what they say, 'You can't see the true face of Mount Lu because you are in the mountain yourself.'"

To help her keep up, Shiratori Osamu didn't just think about it in his mind, but said it all out loud.

The reason he took so long to think about it was partly because of a severe lack of information, and partly because this time the option only allowed her to continue playing the role, without providing the walkthrough for "spending the night at her house" like the first time.

However, after supplementing the information, he realized that he had unknowingly entered a blind spot in his thinking.

It's worth noting that the rewards for this convergence of world lines, besides the character design, also include Minami Yamabuki's private tutoring.

If his serious study and hard work are seen by Minami Yamabuki's scumbag father, the latter will definitely see his younger self reflected in him, and then he will have no choice but to believe it.

"oh oh……"

Minami Yamabuki, who almost misunderstood, listened to his string of words, and even heard a foreign language, feeling her head buzzing, unable to keep up with his train of thought at all.

Did you understand?

Having completely sorted out his thoughts, Shiratori Osamu saw her bewildered expression and confirmed...

"Yes, yes, I'm going to teach you how to study, and then you have to make my dad think you love me by studying hard and working hard... Nine parts truth and one part falsehood, that's the highest level of lying."

Although Minami Yamabuki couldn't fully follow his train of thought, she still managed to take in what he was saying.

"That's right, this is the core of our interaction: we learn together."

Finding that she had truly understood, Shiratori Osamu nodded in satisfaction and finalized the matter.

"But won't studying so hard make you work too hard?"

Minami Yamabuki was looking forward to it, but also had some concerns.

She knew all too well that studying hard was actually a very painful thing for people with poor grades. They would get sleepy and have headaches after reading for a while, and they couldn't concentrate on their books at all. They just wanted to play on their phones and read comics.

She loves reading, something she's never felt before, but the neighbor's child does. The neighbor even consulted her about how to study diligently, but she was at a loss.

She already felt bad that Shiratori Osamu had pretended to be her boyfriend for a month to help her deal with her father, but he only received 60 yen as payment. Now, she had to make him suffer the pain of studying hard... It was too much for him.

"No, because I originally wanted to study hard."

Shiratori Osamu didn't understand why she would ask such a question, and simply shook his head and waved his hand in denial.

"Hey, do you want to study seriously now?"

Minami Yamabuki was taken aback upon hearing this, and couldn't help but confirm it.

Actually, she noticed it yesterday: Shiratori-san started paying attention in class after returning to school.

However, she wasn't entirely sure about her observation, since the two of them were sitting quite far apart.

"Although my grades are very bad, I really want to go to university now."

Seeing that she didn't believe him, Shiratori thought for a moment, scratched his head, and then revealed his plan.

He didn't mention his goal of attending the University of Tokyo, because setting such an ambitious goal would only make him a laughingstock, someone who thought he was overly ambitious and didn't know his own limitations. He decided to wait until he improved his grades before making such a decision.

Chapter 41 Getting Better

"Are you really planning to go to university? Then I'll do my best to teach you."

Minami Yamabuki was pleasantly surprised to learn of his plans.

In the eyes of top students, the most important duty of a student is to study, and the best way out is to go to university.

That's why, when she realized that Shiratori-san wanted to go to university, she felt like she was seeing someone else trying to improve themselves.