"Lin-kun, you really have a good appetite,"
By the end, looking at the table piled high with stacked plates, Rui Tachibana couldn't help but sigh.
This much food was simply too much.
Just the food cost alone would be a small fortune.
"It's a buffet, so you should eat plenty. Can't let the owner think we're stingy eaters, right?"
His smiling reply only left Rui Tachibana torn between laughing and crying. She wasn't one for many expressions, but she did have them, and faced with Lin Ye's joke, she couldn't help but speak up.
"The owner will only resent us for eating too much. If he knew how much you just ate, he'd probably be in tears,"
If she were the owner of a buffet restaurant and knew someone could eat like Lin Ye did, she'd pay him money just to make him eat somewhere else.
This restaurant truly couldn't handle it. Absolutely couldn't handle it.
"What's there to cry about? Running a restaurant means serving customers,"
"But they definitely won't welcome you back a second time,"
Rui Tachibana said bluntly, "If I were the owner, I'd waive your bill on the spot, and then sincerely hope you'd go to a different buffet restaurant next time."
The next second, she saw Lin Ye give a thumbs up.
"Actually, quite a few buffet restaurant owners have done exactly that. Waived my bill, even paid me extra, hoping I'd never come back,"
Rui Tachibana: ...
So things like that really happened!
She had only imagined that would be the most sensible response, never expecting Lin Ye had already lived through exactly that.
"So... are you planning to do that again today?"
"Not really, but if the buffet owner wants to do that, I wouldn't mind accepting it. There are plenty of buffet restaurants in Chiba anyway."
Lin Ye said with a smile.
Rui Tachibana laughed, a bit awkwardly.
She couldn't eat another bite by this point.
But today's meal had still been quite satisfying.
It had been a long time since she'd enjoyed eating this much.
After Lin Ye's phone call had ended earlier, Rui Tachibana had wanted to ask him about something — what Iroha Isshiki had said — but just as she was about to open her mouth, Lin Ye stopped her.
Eat first, and enjoy the buffet.
That left the girl with no choice but to press down her curiosity and focus on the meal.
Splash.
Lin Ye poured water for Rui Tachibana.
The cup filled to the brim.
"Thanks,"
"No need to thank me,"
Rui Tachibana cradled the cup and gazed at the man sitting across from her.
Right now, she increasingly felt just how impressive the man before her was — right? He should be. She really was feeling it more and more.
Only...
"Let's go for a walk outside afterward,"
Lin Ye intended to make things clear with Rui Tachibana. Though he didn't think a girl of her personality would break down crying and making a scene after he proposed ending their relationship,
still,
he really did need to be careful ahead of time.
Lin Ye felt he needed to plan early, to avoid things turning ugly.
"Okay,"
Rui Tachibana agreed readily.
She wanted to walk with Lin Ye alone too, to talk with him alone.
Ten minutes later,
Lin Ye and Rui Tachibana left the restaurant.
This time too, the restaurant owner appeared before Lin Ye, expressing his gratitude for Lin Ye's patronage and trust in the buffet, while refunding the meal cost, and tactfully hoping Lin Ye wouldn't come again in the future.
Rui Tachibana witnessed this scene play out with her own eyes, her eyes swimming with astonishment, though she accepted it.
Lin Ye, for his part, was already used to it. It would be more accurate to ask which buffet restaurant still welcomed his second visit — he'd certainly given each one his full "attention."
The two of them came to the roadside.
The sun had already set in the west.
The streetlights on either side of the road lit up, casting an orange glow, while the neon signs of the shops on both sides shimmered, and the whole city radiated an air of bustling liveliness.
Rui Tachibana walked beside Lin Ye, watching his figure and profile from the corner of her eye, her thoughts turning.
She wasn't sure when it had started, but her feelings toward Lin Ye seemed to have changed.
"Won't Hina-sensei worry?"
Lin Ye knew dinner had always been prepared by Rui Tachibana; as both teacher and older sister, Hina Tachibana never had to lift a finger to make dinner.
"I already made a bento this morning. All Sister needs to do tonight is heat it up in the microwave."
She'd already planned ahead.
"So Hina-sensei's eating cold rice,"
"Still better than instant noodles,"
That was true enough.
Lin Ye looked at the girl beside him. "Was there something you wanted to talk about, asking me out today?"
"We're lovers. You're my boyfriend. We need dates to build our feelings and understand each other better,"
A perfectly reasonable excuse —
one even Lin Ye couldn't refute.
Even though this girlfriend had been arranged by Haruno, it was still something he had to deal with.
He needed to handle this relationship properly.
He'd decided he would resolve things tonight, once and for all.
"I already told Sister I might not be coming home tonight."
Lin Ye froze for a moment, but quickly caught on.
He wasn't some naive first-timer anymore — he had experience now. Even if his past life had lacked romantic experience, he still had plenty of theoretical knowledge of life, gathered from countless movies, novels, and anime, enough to understand exactly what a girl meant when she said something like that.
It meant: I'm not going home tonight. Where I spend the night is up to you. Whatever you say goes.
And taking that meaning a step further — wasn't that basically consent to... that?
Any man would be able to tell.
Lin Ye certainly could.
But he found it strange that Rui Tachibana would do this — why such an obvious hint? Had Haruno said something to her, done something to her?
Lin Ye wasn't certain, but he could only assume it had something to do with Haruno.
"It's not very safe for a girl to stay out overnight,"
"I have a boyfriend, so nothing will happen,"
She turned her head slightly, looking at Lin Ye as she spoke.
In truth, under normal circumstances, the most dangerous person would be the boyfriend himself.
Lin Ye thought to himself quietly.
Faced with a hint like this, the obvious response was to take the girl to a hotel that night and do all sorts of things.
Even as the thought flashed through Lin Ye's mind, it vanished just as quickly.
Having experienced it before, Lin Ye still wanted to experience it again — that was a response etched into his very biology.
He'd just have to find time to see Ryou.
That was Lin Ye's thought.
At this stage, Ryou was really the only one he could turn to.
As for the girl in front of him, Lin Ye couldn't bring himself to act.
Tonight, he still needed to make things clear with her — to end this romantic relationship.
Tap, tap, tap...
Footsteps echoed steadily.
Lin Ye and Rui Tachibana walked along the street, and the passersby around them grew fewer and fewer, the surroundings growing quieter and quieter.
At that moment,
Rui Tachibana suddenly pressed closer to Lin Ye, reaching out on her own to wrap her hand around his arm.
Softness and warmth suddenly transmitted through the fabric to his skin, and Lin Ye looked at the girl beside him.
He was surprised.
This gesture clearly signaled the girl's fondness for him.
Acting on one's own initiative felt completely different from passively receiving affection.
"The books say that's what lovers are supposed to do."
The whole way, she had been in inner turmoil, torn between whether she should do it or not, locked in a fierce internal struggle.
She had even imagined Lin Ye might take the initiative and hold her hand, but no matter how long she waited, that gesture never came. In the end, she had no choice but to reluctantly accept that grim reality.
So she could only consider taking the initiative herself.
If Lin Ye wouldn't make the first move, then she would have to.
Even if it didn't suit her personality, she felt she had to do it.
Only by doing this could her relationship with Lin Ye move forward.
And so, she found herself wrapping her arm around his.
Rui Tachibana's heart raced at the act. It was the first time in her life she'd ever done something like this — she'd never done anything of the sort with a member of the opposite sex before.
In fact, she'd never done anything remotely similar even with her own sister, whom she'd grown up with.
But now, she was doing it with Lin Ye.
Rui Tachibana had already begun reaching out to Lin Ye on her own initiative, growing used to him.
This was her attitude, her way of showing it.
Lin Ye understood what the gesture meant. He tried to pull his arm back with a little force, but the girl only held on tighter.
This made Lin Ye glance at her — he saw her gaze fixed straight ahead, but her arms remained tightly wrapped around his.
He let out a quiet sigh.
Now,
it was probably time to speak.
"Student Tachibana,"
"Call me Rui,"
Rui Tachibana spoke up — she was determined to start changing how Lin Ye perceived her, starting right now.
She wanted Lin Ye to treat her as his girlfriend.
"Student Tachibana,"
"Rui,"
She insisted firmly, looking as though she'd be genuinely upset if Lin Ye didn't correct himself.
"There's something I need to tell you first."
Lin Ye stopped walking at this point, which forced the girl to stop as well.
Rui Tachibana looked at him, tilting her head slightly as she asked, "What is it? We're lovers, you can just say it directly, no need to hold back."
To make sure Lin Ye had no reservations, Rui Tachibana said this outright,
which also showed just how much she now considered Lin Ye one of her own.
"I'm worried you won't agree with it,"
Lin Ye set the tone first.
That only deepened Rui Tachibana's confusion. "I'd normally agree to just about anything,"
"Really?"
Lin Ye asked back.
Rui Tachibana nodded firmly, "Really. I'm your girlfriend. As long as your request isn't too much... even if it's a little bit too much, I can still agree to it,"
As if she'd thought of something, Rui Tachibana's cheeks flushed slightly, her eyes flickering away, a trace of embarrassment showing.
Lin Ye guessed Rui Tachibana had definitely gotten the wrong idea.
But given all the hints today, he couldn't help but lean toward thinking along those lines himself.
"I'm taking that seriously,"
"Mm,"
Rui Tachibana nodded.
Lin Ye let out a slow breath, then spoke seriously, "Student Tachibana, let's end this relationship we currently have."
He looked at the girl, not a trace of joking in his eyes.
Three seconds later,
Rui Tachibana's stalled mind slowly began turning again, trying to process what she'd just heard, what it actually meant.
Had she heard wrong?
She could hardly believe it, yet she felt certain she hadn't misheard.
"Lin-kun, what relationship are you talking about?"
"Our relationship as lovers,"
Crack...
In that moment, Rui Tachibana knew she hadn't misheard. Something she'd secretly hoped for inside her shattered, turned to nothing.
"You... you want to break up with me?"
"Yes. You can think of it that way."
Lin Ye nodded to confirm it.
"Why?"
Rui Tachibana's voice came out slightly hoarse, her hands dropping limply to her sides in an unnatural way.
But the moment those words left his mouth, Rui Tachibana thought of one possibility.
Besides that one possibility, she couldn't think of any other explanation. "Is it because of Student Yukinoshita? Is it because Student Isshiki said Student Yukinoshita likes you, so you feel like you have a chance now, that you think you could be with Student Yukinoshita?
Only the girl Lin Ye had always liked could push him to do something like this.
"But do you really think what you did in the infirmary could actually make that girl like you? Get her to be with you?"
Rui Tachibana spoke, trying to reason with him.
She didn't want Lin Ye to remain fixated on that girl.
Some of the ideas her sister had planted in her had already taken root, had already become part of her own thoughts and consciousness.
"This has nothing to do with Yukinoshita,"
"Then who does it have to do with?"
"It has to do with you and me,"
Lin Ye looked at her, his eyes calm. "Student Tachibana, our relationship started as an accident, but since it exists, I think it's about time we end it properly, officially."
The hole Haruno had left behind — he needed to fill it in.
That was how Lin Ye saw it.
"I don't understand,"
"It's just—
"I don't want to understand,"
Faced with the girl's attitude, Lin Ye understood exactly what she meant.
She didn't want to break up.
"I'm not here to ask for your agreement — I'm here to inform you. If Student Tachibana has any complaints, you can voice them directly, and I'll compensate you,"
"I don't want compensation,"
Rui Tachibana wanted absolutely no compensation, none at all.
"I just want you to keep being my boyfriend,"
"
Lin Ye couldn't understand why Rui Tachibana was so fixated on this.
What was so great about him?
"I don't have romantic feelings for you,"
"Not now, but maybe in the future,"
"That won't happen,"
"You can't guarantee what happens in the future,"
Rui Tachibana gritted her teeth, fighting hard to hold back the sorrow welling up inside her.
She'd come out today with real resolve, never expecting it would end with Lin Ye breaking up with her.
How was she supposed to accept that?
"I won't agree to a breakup,"
"Breaking up only requires one person to decide it — it's not like dating, which requires both people to agree,"
"No, that's not right, this also requires both people to agree,"
Rui Tachibana pressed her lips together and spoke.
This was one of the few chances left for her to preserve her relationship with Lin Ye.
If she didn't hold firm to this position, she really would have to accept it as over with Lin Ye.
She'd finally managed to land a boyfriend, and now he was about to slip away.
Rui Tachibana simply couldn't accept that.
"It doesn't require that,"
"It does,"
"
Lin Ye felt there was no point in continuing this pointless argument with her.
So then,
how could he get the girl to agree?
"I can agree to one condition of yours, as compensation for accepting the end of our relationship,"
Lin Ye thought it over and proposed a solution.
To let this relationship end smoothly, to keep the girl from continuing to cling to it —
that was perhaps the best approach for now.
...
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