After deciding to give up, I became popular

There's no need to trust him so much!

“Junior, you don't need to hide it so much! You can show how ‘happy’ you are a little more! It's okay, I won't think ‘less’ of you because of it.”

“Don't put emphasis on meaningless words!” Tomokane Natsukawa retorted, then rebutted her, “Also, I'm not happy at all. Just standing there, listening to your back-and-forth voice instructions, I'm already burned out.”

He wasn't lying. After discovering that there was no so-called 'criminal,' all that was left in his heart was worry for his senior's condition. That was also the reason why he was so obedient to her just now, because how could he possibly have any ulterior motives towards a sick person? But now it seems that she has recovered very well and shows no signs of being sick at all.

In this state, she should be the one thinking about whether she will be attacked.

“Is your body feeling better now?” After washing the towel and starting to pick up the clothes scattered on the ground, Tomokane Natsukawa asked Kasumigaoka, “What about your mom and dad? Did you tell them?”

“No, I don't want them to worry.” Kasumigaoka shook her head.

“Then you could have told me. Being alone...” Tomokane Natsukawa was about to reprimand her, but remembered the pair of leather shoes at the entrance, so he paused, finding it difficult to speak.

“Y-you can also tell your...boyfriend, and have him take care of you...”

“Don't go too far, lowly junior! How could I possibly go out with the kind of guy who is always horny, pig-like, has an underdeveloped brain but likes to dream unrealistic dreams, and fantasizes that he can win a beautiful girl's favor just by confessing!” Kasumigaoka Utaha was very angry.

Her junior was really lacking in perception. If she liked someone, how could she let any male creature other than that person touch even a tiny bit of her? Not to mention this kind of very intimate behavior, did she look like that kind of frivolous girl?

“There's no need to go that far...” Tomokane Natsukawa weakly replied.

If the object of her statement wasn't so clear, he would have thought that Kasumigaoka was taking the opportunity to criticize him. After all, he...well, he was also one of those whose confessions had been rejected.

“Then the men's shoes at the entrance...”

“Shoes?” Kasumigaoka Utaha frowned, and after a long while, she realized what he was talking about. “Junior, don't tell me you don't even know this basic common sense?”

“Uh...”

“The so-called men's shoes are of course placed at the entrance to show others, and I also have some men's shirts and underwear drying on the balcony. This can effectively prevent certain perverts, making them think that there is a male owner in this house...” Kasumigaoka Utaha explained to him in a methodical manner.

“This...” Tomokane Natsukawa was a little dumbfounded. He didn't expect there to be such a thing, and he really didn't know anything about it.

“So that's why the junior mistakenly thought I had a boyfriend...” Kasumigaoka Utaha put on a teasing expression, propped her hands on the bed board, slowly crawled to Tomokane Natsukawa's ear, pushed his chest with her finger, and teased him.

“First you were worried that I was in danger, and then you were worried that I had a boyfriend...Junior, do you care about me that much?”

Finally feeling the genuine care from her junior, a small flower bloomed in her heart, and warm, tender feelings filled her entire chest. Her mood also became more cheerful, and even the small resentment left over from his rough treatment last time disappeared.

Her junior still cared about her after all, how could he just leave her alone? Just like now, although he didn't say it, he was still preparing to clean her room and do all sorts of things for her...

“I love…”

“Okay, okay, stop being silly, I was just curious.” Tomokane Natsukawa, with a straight face and expressionless, pushed Kasumigaoka's forehead away with his hand. “I was just curious about what kind of person could win the favor of the noble Kasumigaoka-senpai. It's not what you think, so please don't overthink it.”

“……”

104. I Will Never Let You Go

Tomokane Natsukawa lied.

When Kasumigaoka Utaha was pressing him closer and closer, when she was questioning him, when she was speaking her heart.

“You care about me, right?”

Isn't that obvious? How could he not care? You are the person he “liked”!

Perhaps it was more admiration and longing, but it was undeniable that he had indeed pursued Kasumigaoka Utaha madly.

Therefore, it was impossible not to care about her situation, even if his confession was rejected, even if she really got a boyfriend…

Of course, that was allowed. The pursuit of happiness was everyone's right, but please don't tell him. He didn't like hearing that kind of news, hearing that the person he once “liked” had fallen in love with someone else after rejecting his confession.

He wouldn't like hearing that kind of news no matter what.

“The room is so messy… Don't tell me you haven't cleaned it since you moved here?” Tomokane Natsukawa said as he picked up the clothes scattered everywhere, scolding Kasumigaoka Utaha, who was standing to the side with her arms crossed, looking sulky.

It was clearly her own fault, but she was showing this angry expression. How arrogant, Senpai!

However, it wasn't what he thought. Kasumigaoka Utaha never got angry over such trivial matters. On the contrary, she was more willing to regard Tomokane Natsukawa's painless scolding as a small, warm moment between lovers.

The reason why she looked so sulky was because her impromptu “attack” had been interrupted just now.

The atmosphere was so perfect, her posture was so charming, and she was even prepared to not be able to get out of bed today, but she was kicked out of bed in the next moment, just because he said he was going to wash the sheets for her?

That kind of thing was fine however it was!

Rather, shouldn't a healthy high school boy who comes to his beautiful and cute Senpai's house only think about doing housework for her?

There's a big problem!

“Junior-kun, could it be that… you're no good?” Kasumigaoka Utaha was a little worried, but modern medicine was also very advanced. Junior-kun was so young, he could definitely be cured.

“What nonsense are you talking about?” Tomokane Natsukawa said without looking up as he continued to mop the floor.

His Senpai was like this, occasionally blurting out a dirty joke or two. Don't let her quiet, literary girl look on the outside fool you, she was actually very black-bellied. Although he didn't hear it much now, her inner drama was as abundant as ever. To say that he was indeed very familiar with her, but sometimes he couldn't keep up with her bizarre brain circuits.

“Senpai should also pay attention to her image. Don't always be so nonchalant. Even if you're good friends, you should pay attention to the distance between you…”

Not having any friends was probably one of Senpai's weaknesses. Because she wasn't good at interpersonal relationships, she always had very extreme ways of dealing with others, either treating him and Eriri like she was trying to tease and ridicule them with all her heart, or treating them like irrelevant passersby, not giving them even a trace of a response.

This wasn't a good thing, so Tomokane Natsukawa educated her in such a rebellious manner, while also reminding her to lift her feet up so that he could clean the ground under her feet.

“Hmph, you don't need to be so talkative, Junior-kun.” Kasumigaoka Utaha snorted lightly, then simply took off her slippers, raised her legs and stepped on the edge of the sofa, and hugged her knees.

“Anyway, I'm the kind of black-bellied, troublesome, and heavy person, so Junior-kun might as well not care about me and let me fend for myself…”

“Where did you get this childish elementary school student act? And right now, the high school Senpai character who throws tantrums isn't popular anymore.” Tomokane Natsukawa retorted, but still took out a piece of candy from his pocket and handed it over, as if he was coaxing her.

“Come, try your luck. It's a random flavor fruit candy.”

“Meaningless stuff…” Kasumigaoka Utaha looked very disgusted, but still tore open the candy wrapper and put it in her mouth.

“Ugh! What kind of candy is this? It's actually bitter!”

Kasumigaoka Utaha stuck out her tongue, feeling like she had been tricked, so she looked at Tomokane Natsukawa with an angry expression.

“Junior-kun, are you deliberately teasing me?”

“Of course not, I already said it's a random flavor.” Tomokane Natsukawa shook his head and sighed. “It's just that Senpai is unlucky. But it's also a pity, I actually quite like that flavor. I didn't expect it to be taken away by Senpai.”

“Is that so…” Kasumigaoka Utaha looked disbelieving, then her beautiful eyes narrowed slightly, and an interesting idea suddenly arose in her heart. “In that case, why don't you let Junior-kun enjoy this candy? Take it from my mouth.”

Thinking that when Junior-kun reached out, she would tease him, “You're so impatient, you actually want to kiss me indirectly, right?”, but she heard him say.

“No way, it's dirty.” Tomokane Natsukawa waved his hand in disgust. It was fine if a few sips were taken from a drink or something, but candy was too much.

You should know that the oral cavity ranks very high in the ranking of the dirtiest areas in the human body.

“……” Kasumigaoka Utaha's pretty face immediately turned as cold as frost. That lowly Junior-kun actually dared to think she was dirty?!

It was infuriating!!!

Even the small resentment from having her spellcasting interrupted just now surged back into her heart, and she thought that she must not let him off easily.

That's good, you don't like the things she's eaten because they're dirty? Today, she's going to make you eat it no matter what!

So Kasumigaoka Utaha jumped up from the sofa, grabbed Tomokane Natsukawa's arms with both hands, and pressed him down on the sofa, her cheeks constantly approaching, looking like she was going to kiss him forcefully.

“Kasumigaoka Utaha, what are you doing? Are you delirious?” Tomokane Natsukawa began to struggle, but he didn't dare to use too much force, for fear of hurting this patient in front of him.

“Quickly take your hands away, Junior-kun. I just want to see if you really like to eat this kind of candy, could it be that you've been lying to me all along?” A strange flush appeared on Senpai's face, and her eyes became strange, looking like she wasn't a normal person.

“Get a grip…” Tomokane Natsukawa said in a muffled voice.

Senpai's face was getting closer and closer, and if this continued, things would really go wrong.

“It's okay, Junior-kun, just let me observe your reaction to see if you're telling the truth…”

“Ugh…”

Just as Tomokane Natsukawa was thinking about whether he should take coercive action, the phone on the side suddenly rang.

In an instant, Kasumigaoka Utaha seemed to have come back to her senses, no longer forcing herself closer to him. Instead, she looked at the phone and clicked her tongue, saying, “Tsk, what a pity…”

“What a pity!” Tomokane Natsukawa took the opportunity to break free from her restraints, then picked up the phone and answered it, saying with lingering fear, “You've helped me a lot, Katou.”

“Is that so? I'm glad I could help~” A light and breezy voice came from the other side.

“……”

105. Annoying Senpai

“Is Senpai feeling better?” Katou's tone was as calm as ever.

“Yeah, it seems like there's nothing seriously wrong…” Tomokane Natsukawa glanced at Kasumigaoka, thinking that it was more than just nothing seriously wrong, she was even full of energy, the kind that could hold him down.

“Do you want to talk to Senpai on the phone?” Tomokane Natsukawa asked.

Katou was indeed a good kid. Even though she was going back to her hometown, she didn't forget to worry about her friend's health. Although it was strange that she was calling his phone, it was probably because she couldn't get through to Senpai's phone.

“Eh… okay.”

Receiving such an answer, Tomokane Natsukawa handed the phone to Kasumigaoka, while he continued to clean, then went to the kitchen to see if he could cook something.

It was best for a newly recovered patient to eat something light, but with Senpai's personality, she probably wouldn't cook, so he could only hold on to the fluke and open the refrigerator to see if there were any ingredients left.

“……”

The refrigerator was as empty as a wallet at the end of the month, without even a single vegetable leaf, making Tomokane Natsukawa wonder about the meaning of its existence. Could it be just for decoration?

Fortunately, there was rice, a whole bag, the kind that had never been opened, but that wasn't enough, so he called out to Kasumigaoka, who was sitting on the sofa in the living room, and went out to buy some ingredients.

By the time Tomokane Natsukawa came back after buying the ingredients, Senpai's call had already ended, but she was clutching his phone and wouldn't let go, as if she was holding some treasure.

“What about your own phone? Go play with your own.” Tomokane Natsukawa complained.

“It's out of battery!” Kasumigaoka Utaha said with righteous confidence.

“Then go charge it.”

“Junior-kun, help me. I'm so tired now that I can't even move a finger.” After saying that, Kasumigaoka Utaha lay down on the sofa, looking like she had burned out.

“Don't go too far, Senpai…” Perhaps because the experience of being trained in the past was hard to erase, although he was still scolding her on the mouth, his body honestly moved.

“Senpai is going to go to college, right? But in this state, what are you going to do when you go to college?”

“Then find a university that's closer to Junior-kun's house, or just live in Junior-kun's house.”

“In your eyes, do you not even have the slightest thought of 'learning to manage your own life'?”

“I do, look, aren't I living well?” Kasumigaoka Utaha retorted, looking quite proud.

"Besides, I don't need to learn that. If I just move into Junior's house, you can see a cute girl every day. Wouldn't that make you happy? It's a win-win!"

"If that cute girl can take care of all the housework, I might consider waiving her rent," Natsukawa Kanade replied expressionlessly.

This girl is thinking too highly of herself. She actually wants to live in his house and freeload? He's not Miss Angel; there's no way someone would be willing to do housework for a good-for-nothing every day.

"Speaking of which, the neighbor's wife next door gave me some plum wine. I couldn't refuse, so I accepted it…" Natsukawa Kanade said to Kasumigaoka Utaha while preparing the ingredients in his hands.

"How antisocial are you, Senpai? You haven't even greeted the neighbors since moving in. They already think of me as the new owner of this place!"

"Isn't that perfect? Junior might as well move in too," Kasumigaoka Utaha said, lying on the sofa, poking at his phone incessantly, looking like she was playing some game.

"Absolutely not!" Natsukawa Kanade refused decisively.

On one side is a virtuous angel who takes care of him, allows him to be spoiled, and spoils him in return; on the other side is a black-bellied devil who only thinks about teasing him and exploiting his labor. There's no need to think twice about which to choose, right?

"Senpai, go use your own phone. Don't mess around with mine," Natsukawa Kanade reminded her. Although there's nothing scandalous or private inside, he still feels uneasy when someone else is holding his phone.

"Okay, okay, I'll be done soon!" Kasumigaoka Utaha responded, speeding up her actions.

Of course, she knew the principle of moderation, so she didn't do anything that would make him angry. She just modified her contact name on LINE and added a few selfies to his photo gallery…

Her cheeks flushed red, and she wondered what kind of expression Junior would make when he found out. It would be best if there were other vixens trying to steal him at that time, so she could show off properly.