"A girl you met through shared interests… does Yukino know her too?"
With a warm smile on her lips, Yukinoshita Haruno laid down the kind of trap that made one's heart skip a beat.
Narumi Tōru's countermeasure was, as always—
"If you're that worried about me, senpai, why do you bring up Yukinoshita-buchō every single time?"
He responded head-on with a genuinely puzzled, innocent look—as if he were pointing straight at the trap Haruno had set and asking, "Who exactly are you trying to hurt by putting spikes in there?"
"Oh my, it's just that as an older sister, I can't help but be a little concerned about my dear little sister and the people around her. And besides, you're an opposite-sex junior whose background I don't know at all… or is it that you really don't like being asked about anything related to romance, Tōru-kun?"
Yukinoshita Haruno kept talking smoothly. After briefly justifying herself, she blinked her lively eyes and tossed the question back at him, smoothly reclaiming the initiative and starting a new round of probing.
Against someone who calculated and measured you every second of every minute, Narumi actually already had a fully revised strategy. After all, he hadn't dated Haruno for several years for nothing.
But that method belonged to the novelist Narumi Tōru, someone capable of standing on equal footing with Yukinoshita Haruno.
As a mere club member under Yukinoshita Yukino—someone who still looked like a low-risk junior in Haruno's eyes—his current self couldn't afford to use a strategy that would deal a thousand damage to the enemy at the cost of eight hundred to himself.
So he needed to open up a brand-new route, one that belonged solely to him.
"It's not that. I just really hate how, as long as you get along decently with someone of the opposite sex, people immediately start imagining things or making noise about you two having something going on."
The curly-haired boy frowned, openly showing displeasure and irritation on his face—something rarely seen from him.
Yukinoshita Haruno froze for a moment, clearly not expecting that kind of response.
"I know it's human nature, but still—just walking side by side with someone of the opposite sex, or chatting alone for a bit, and suddenly everyone around starts jumping to conclusions. Sometimes it's honestly annoying."
"Ah, that's not what I meant—"
"I thought a senior with more life experience would understand that better than I do. After all, in my eyes, Yukinoshita-senpai is smart and very considerate of other people's feelings. I didn't expect even you to fall into that kind of sex-brained way of thinking. Even in modern society, even elites raised in this environment can't help but be curious about the most primitive kind of gossip… Looks like I selfishly put an unreasonable filter on you. I'm very sorry."
"Um… how about I treat you to a coffee at the book café, Tōru-kun!"
Just before the smile on her face completely collapsed, Yukinoshita Haruno awkwardly shifted the topic. She had to admit that sometimes she really couldn't handle this junior who was younger than her.
Since Haruno loved smiling while hiding knives, Narumi's approach was simple:
rip off the disguise and express emotions frankly.
And clearly—it worked pretty well.
Plus, he successfully freeloaded a coffee from Yukinoshita Haruno. Profit.
The curly-haired boy raised an eyebrow, his steps noticeably lighter as he followed her into the bookstore.
"What would you like, Tōru-kun? I'll order for you at the café counter."
"A latte, please. Thanks, senpai."
"No problem~"
Waving her wallet as she headed to the counter, Haruno gestured that she'd be right back. Narumi decided to wander around the bookstore while waiting.
He was the kind of loyal reader who regularly checked bookstores during breaks to see if his favorite authors had released anything new. If not for his daily life being completely turned upside down by that simulation lately, he would've even worked part-time at a bookstore during his free time.
As Narumi moved between the shelves, planning to pick out one or two light novels he hadn't read yet—a graceful silhouette caught in the corner of his eye made him stop.
It was a girl standing in front of the light novel section. She wore a simple casual skirt that subtly hinted at her curves, tall and well-proportioned, with a figure that stood out. Her jet-black, glossy long hair draped over her shoulders, and the side of her face—focused on the book in her hands—looked refined and elegant.
A moment later, as if noticing his gaze, her deep wine-red eyes shifted slightly and met Narumi's.
"Sorry."
Thinking she might be blocking his way in the narrow aisle, she politely bowed her head. She neatly returned the book to its place and then turned to leave.
"It's fine."
Narumi responded reflexively, watching her walk away before finally pulling his gaze back.
He stepped up to the light novel shelf and took out the book she had been reading—
Love Beatmeter.
It was a novel Narumi had already read. A story about a male protagonist tangled between two heroines, unable to decide which one to choose.
He really liked the delicate way it portrayed emotions, but he wasn't very interested in plots that revolved around "having to choose one between two."
Either take everything, or take nothing at all—that was how he thought. He didn't like wasting mental energy on that kind of thing.
People and situations that caused him trouble could simply be discarded. Forcing them to stay wouldn't make either side feel any better.
In that sense, his view of the Yukinoshita sisters was the same. If they continued to cause him trouble, he'd pull himself out of that endless whirlpool without hesitation.
Yukino aside, Haruno was currently the one creating unnecessary crises for him—
and on top of that, she carried the delicate title of ex-girlfriend.
"Coffee's here~ Let's sit by the window."
After a short wait, Haruno led Narumi to a corner of the book café.
Still brimming with curiosity and a thirst for information, she tried to pry something out of him, but the boy skillfully brushed everything aside with lukewarm responses.
An ex was a very special existence—someone who used to be incredibly close, yet had become a stranger. Narumi knew exactly how to shut Haruno down at the right moments.
Ex-lovers knew each other's likes and dislikes inside out. Without thinking, they could immediately bring up what the other hated or loved. No deep interaction was needed to reach that level of understanding—it was simply the result of years spent together. The feelings that once maintained the relationship, however, were long gone.
But the relationship between Yukinoshita Haruno and Narumi Tōru was a little different.
A one-sided "ex" relationship wasn't something that could be defined so simply.
Even so, every time Narumi met Haruno's gaze, that sense of familiarity, closeness—and the relief that came with something firmly placed in the past—would well up from deep inside him.
It came from the subconscious of another version of himself.
Even though Yukinoshita Haruno had no memories related to him, if the two of them had once become lovers in a certain future, then it wasn't impossible in this reality either.
Whether that would happen or not depended solely on whether Narumi was willing to step into the same river twice.
But—
"Only an idiot would do that."
Narumi raised an eyebrow. His expression made it clear he wasn't interested. Of course, Haruno—unaware of his inner thoughts—simply interpreted it as him losing interest in the topic and smoothly switched to something else.
While she did, the curly-haired boy glanced down at his watch.
There was still some time left before his appointment with Yamada Ryō to go pick out a bass together.