Tetsuya's words instantly left Uika dumbfounded.
At this point, the nature of the matter had completely changed.
What should have been just a simple test had, due to her own mistakes and negligence, developed into an exchange of feelings, forcing him to make the decision to lay his cards on the table with Ai and Sakiko...
...
"No, no, I should be the one to tell them after all!"
Feeling sowhat shaken, Uika grabbed Tetsuya's sleeve and asked in a rather panicked tone.
"What if they really get angry or even disappointed in you because of this?"
She indeed hoped there would be a place for her by his side, but that didn't an she wanted to ruin his relationships with the others. Rather, even if the possibility between her and Tetsuya were to be completely severed, she absolutely did not want him to lose Ai and Sakiko's trust because of it!
"...Even so, I don't want to hide anything from them."
Tetsuya shook his head.
"Besides, even if we don't explain this now, there will eventually co a day when we have to explain everything. Just like today... according to you, they actually already know I'm staying over here. If I really pretend nothing happened, it will equally arouse their worry and suspicion."
"That's why I said I should take all the responsibility! As long as I shoulder all the bla alone, you won't lose their trust, Tetsuya-san!"
Uika continued to persuade him:
"And in reality, you didn't do anything at all, right, Tetsuya-san? Not only that, you even resisted temptation and properly helped put the dress back on... There's absolutely no need for you to take any responsibility for that, is there!"
"It's not just when you actually commit a mistake that you need to take responsibility. In reality... if my affection for you hadn't reached the level where I trusted you unconditionally, none of this would have happened in the first place. I don't want to deny that I was swayed by you, nor do I want to hide a truth that could be discovered at any ti in the future."
Faced with Uika's persuasion, Tetsuya's attitude didn't waver in the slightest.
"Furthermore, to make myself an accomplice, I did properly force a kiss on you just now. This way, I also have a reason to be judged."
This sophistry made Uika widen her eyes:
"Hah?! Can that kindergarten-level kiss even be called a forced kiss?!"
"Kissing soone without their permission is a forced kiss, isn't it?"
"Leaving aside the fact that it was so light I didn't feel like I was kissed at all... who said I didn't permit it? Although I indeed wasn't ntally prepared to go all the way to the final step, I can at least handle a re kiss!"
Desperate to convince Tetsuya, Uika's tone and speaking speed had lost their usual composure.
"Anyway, I absolutely do not acknowledge that kiss from just now!"
"Eh, is that so..."
Tetsuya first nodded blankly. Then, after hesitating for a mont, he asked:
"Then... kiss again? A little longer this ti?"
"...In that case, it wouldn't be a forced kiss, but a normal, willing kiss agreed upon by both people."
"There's not much difference, is there? Anyway, as long as the fact that we kissed remains, it proves that I've committed a mistake."
"Seriously, why do you insist on sharing this responsibility with ..."
Faced with the immovable wall that was Tetsuya, Uika, powerless to deflect him any further, said in a slightly exhausted voice:
"You're already so happy with them. Wouldn't it be fine to just leave to reap what I've sown alone?"
"I've said it before. If possible, I want everyone around to beco happy. Besides, Ai and Sakiko are very important people to you too, right?"
Tetsuya shook his head.
"Just as you are unwilling to ruin the relationship between us, I also don't want you to lose this hard-won connection you have with them."
"Sigh..."
Faced with Tetsuya's unyielding stubbornness without the slightest intention of backing down, Uika finally could only sigh deeply.
"I understand... Tomorrow... I'll go back with you..."
"Mhm, that's right."
Seeing Uika finally agree, Tetsuya first nodded, then took out his phone—
"...Mhm, okay, sent."
"? What did you send?"
"Oh, I just told Sakiko that tomorrow morning, you and I have sothing very important to confess to everyone, and I asked them to set aside ti for ... Ah, Sakiko replied."
"..."
Having completely lost the energy to retort, Uika directly lay backwards on the bed.
"What did she say?"
"She just said, 'Understood'."
"Sigh..."
Uika let out another deep sigh.
An image of Sakiko urgently calling everyone together and harshly criticizing her and Tetsuya for tonight's events had already surfaced in her mind.
"Why... why did Sakiko have to co up with this detestable 'harem' plan... If she had just let you normally choose one person to date, I definitely would have decisively given up on you..."
If there were no such plan, she would have definitely just hidden these feelings that hadn't yet fully ford in her heart and silently supported Sakiko or Ai from the sidelines.
However, Sakiko's plan had achieved unprecedented success. Not only did it connect these four girls who had deep relationships with her, but it also jointly left behind an established fact that made it impossible for Tetsuya to turn back.
It was precisely because of this that a hard-to-abandon hope had always remained in Uika's heart, ultimately prompting her to commit this series of actions today.
"Actually... if Sakiko hadn't co up with this plan, it's very likely I wouldn't have chosen anyone in the end."
Hearing Uika's soliloquy, Tetsuya said:
"If choosing one side would end up hurting everyone else, then I'd rather not choose anyone..."
"Mhm, that's what Sakiko said back then, too."
Uika nodded.
"With your personality, you definitely wouldn't easily make a choice. But based on that, you would also definitely take responsibility and unconditionally take care of all the girls who were still willing to stay by your side..."
"As expected of Sakiko. That was indeed what I planned to do before."
Tetsuya scratched his head, looking slightly embarrassed.
"If everyone was still willing to stay by my side, then I definitely would have taken proper responsibility. But if everyone really lost patience and feelings for , I would have also properly respected their choices..."
"You think too simply of everyone's feelings for you."
Uika rolled her eyes.
"Ai goes without saying. Sakiko has already bet her entire life on you. Anon is your younger sister. Soyo is the important companion who enabled you to found [Starry Sky]... No matter how you look at it, it's impossible for these four to give up on you, isn't it?"
"Mhm, I've already felt that through their actual actions... What about you, Uika?"
Tetsuya turned his head to look at Uika.
"To you... am I also that important?"
Hearing this, Uika fell silent for a brief mont before saying:
"...Do you really want to say it out loud?"
"Mhm."
"To , you are the sa as Sakiko and Ai."
Uika said:
"I yearn for you, I admire you, and I hope to forever enjoy this atmosphere of mutual trust between us... Can you understand if I put it like that?"
"...Mhm, of course."
Tetsuya shifted his gaze back in front of him and murmured.
"It seems my self-awareness is indeed critically lacking."
"Exactly! You'd better take a good, hard look at yourself starting today!"
Hearing this, Uika instantly spoke in a rather unkind tone:
"Aside from us, just how many other girls' hearts have you unintentionally stirred? How many other girls have you supported? I advise you to sort it out quickly before things develop to a point of no return. Otherwise... in the future, there will definitely be more people like who co to 'test' you!"
"..."
Tetsuya froze slightly at this, then nodded with utmost seriousness and said:
"Mhm, I will think about this carefully."
"Also, since you already have so many lovers, please make absolutely sure you stop maintaining this unguarded and unreserved attitude towards everyone! Do you know how terrifying that posture is for girls? That reliability and coolness that occasionally leaves people speechless, that unconditional gentleness and consideration towards everyone, and that vulnerability that makes it seem like you could be eaten up whole at any ti... Tsk, just thinking about it makes 'angry'! How do you think I ended up falling for you in the first place? It was precisely because of those things!"
Perhaps because she had already confessed all the secrets in her heart and completely lacked any lingering worries, Uika directly aired the grievances she had accumulated all this ti:
"Even if you truly don't have those kinds of thoughts at all, how can you guarantee what the other party is thinking? Just like when you went to Paris this ti. What everyone was actually suspicious of wasn't that you'd cheat, but rather they were worried about whether more people would be attracted to you, and just like everyone else, unknowingly develop an inseparable intimate relationship with you."
"I-I understand!"
Seeing Uika's tone beco increasingly displeased, Tetsuya hurriedly nodded in agreent:
"...I will definitely pay attention to how I interact with other girls from now on!"
"Mhm! You should have done that ages ago!"
Uika first nodded solemnly, then closed her eyes again and let out a long breath.
Although the impending judgnt tomorrow did make her a bit uneasy, being able to tell Tetsuya all her worries and her past like this... indeed gave her heart an unprecedented sense of relief.
At least starting today, she would never again have to hide her affection for him in front of Tetsuya, nor would she have to worry about him misunderstanding as she straightforwardly retorted to and lectured him...
...
"If a rift really forms in your relationship because of today's events... I will never forgive myself for the rest of my life."
Uika murmured softly:
"Tomorrow, I'm going to be the first one to admit fault... You're not allowed to fight for it."
"...Mhm."
Tetsuya first nodded to agree to this request, then asked softly:
"Do you think... they'll forgive us?"
"I don't know about Sakiko... but Ai will probably be quite angry. After all, her possessiveness over you has always been very strong."
Recalling the ti before the two had reconciled, when Ai acted like a protective animal guarding its food, Uika couldn't help but shake her head.
"But no matter what, she definitely won't leave you. At most, she'll just squeeze you even harder, leaving you with absolutely no room to make a move on other girls ever again... And this ti, there won't be anyone else who can provide you with refuge."
"...I understand."
Tetsuya responded with a heavy tone.
"This ti, no matter what kind of punishnt it is, I will accept it properly."
Even if he was punished to the point where he couldn't get out of bed anymore, he absolutely wouldn't run away!
And so, carrying their respective resolves, Uika and Tetsuya together spent this sleepless night.
...
The next morning, when Tetsuya and Uika returned to the ground floor of the apartnt building, their expressions were both extrely anxious.
Even after a night of calming down and settling their thoughts, they were still very worried about what was going to happen next.
For Uika, she was very worried that Sakiko and Ai would co to hate her because of this incident.
And Tetsuya was worried about whether he would lose everyone's trust over this.
And so, with incredibly heavy hearts and solemn expressions, the two stepped into the apartnt building and returned to the Chihaya residence.
However, the mont Tetsuya opened the front door, the scene before them completely exceeded their expectations—
In their original conception, the four girls in the house should have already been sitting primly on the living room sofa, just waiting for the two to enter the door to imdiately start an interrogation. Yet the reality was that while the four girls were indeed gathered in the living room, the atmosphere and their states... could be said to be entirely different from what the two had pictured—
"Ah, welco back, you two!"
Soyo, who was arranging snacks on the coffee table, turned back to the two who had just entered and said:
"You got ho much earlier than we expected... Eh? Looking closely, your complexions are terrible!"
Seeing the two's slightly pale faces caused by insomnia, Soyo said with a worried expression.
On the other side, Sakiko, who was sitting on the sofa, also stood up with a surprised look—
"I can sowhat understand Tetsuya-kun looking a bit worn out, but I originally thought Uika would be a bit more energetic... Eh? Could it be that Uika is also the 'lacking stamina' type, just like Ai?"
"I've told you, I'm not like how I was at the very beginning anymore! But... it might really be exactly as you said regarding Uika."
Ai first retorted like this, then stepped forward to greet the two alongside them. Using an interrogative tone, she asked a question that completely mismatched her attitude:
"Fess up. How late did you two go at it last night? And how many tis?"
"???"
An unusually harmonious atmosphere, an unpressured attitude, and a baffling question.
As for why everyone in the Chihaya household was showing such a "bizarre" attitude towards the two of them, it all had to start from last night—
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