Chapter 575

"Let's go there!"

Rui Tachibana raised her hand and pointed.

Lin Ye looked in the direction the girl was pointing and was stunned for a moment.

That was a hotel.

Holy crap.

This forced him to connect the girl’s purpose with a certain thing.

This... is too exciting!

"This... isn't appropriate."

"Hm?"

"That place isn't appropriate. If a lone man and woman go there, and if Hina-sensei finds out, I’ll definitely be dragged off and beaten."

Lin Ye imagined the scene of Hina Tachibana-sensei getting angry and then urging him to date her younger sister, Rui.

As for being beaten or scolded, he really didn't believe Hina-sensei would use violence against him.

"My sister wouldn't."

You have so much confidence.

Lin Ye looked at the girl.

"If my sister scolds you, I will persuade and explain."

"It's still not appropriate."

"Why? Is a KTV not okay? We aren't going to a hotel, my sister really won't mind."

The moment the words fell, Lin Ye realized he had misunderstood.

The girl wasn't pointing at the hotel, but at the KTV next to the hotel.

It was just that the hotel sign was too big and caught his attention immediately.

"Fine!"

Seeing Lin Ye agree, Rui Tachibana walked for a while and saw the hotel sign, only then realizing why Lin Ye had declined earlier.

He thought she was taking him to a hotel!

How could it be that fast!

She blushed.

After arriving at the KTV, she booked it for half an hour, and then went into the KTV with Lin Ye.

The whole process felt somewhat unfamiliar.

Lin Ye judged that the girl didn't come to places like KTV often, and this might even be her first time.

KTV private room,

bright white lights shone, and the whole room was illuminated.

The shadow remaining in Rui Tachibana’s heart also disappeared quite a bit.

People always tend toward the light.

Lin Ye took out a cup for the girl and poured some water.

"Thank you."

She picked up the cup and sipped, moistening her parched throat.

After leaving the restaurant, she had been waiting there nervously, then encountered hooligans, and her cries for help had made her already dry throat even more uncomfortable.

This water finally relieved the discomfort.

Lin Ye sat beside the girl, half a body’s width apart, maintaining a certain distance.

A while later,

Lin Ye asked, "Tachibana-san, can you say it now?"

"I want to ask you for a favor."

"Hm? What favor?"

The blue-haired girl didn't say it immediately, but recalled it, first briefly explaining the reason, "Because of the matter between you and my sister, I kept asking my sister but didn't get a response."

"Cough, cough, Tachibana-san, please note that Hina-sensei and I don't have any abnormal relationship."

"Then why can't you say?"

Lin Ye shook his head; even though the girl had already experienced the supernatural, Lin Ye still didn't intend to tell her.

Raising more curiosity and desire for knowledge about the supernatural would likely increase the possibility of attracting it.

Furthermore, the girl had already agreed not to continue questioning him; if he explained now, wouldn't that waste her promise?

"Continue."

"And my sister used a frequent excuse to put me off."

"What excuse?"

"I'm still young."

Rui Tachibana’s tone was calm, but her expression was a bit lonely, "I'm not mature enough."

This seemed to be the same as the original work.

"Hina-sensei treats you like a younger sister; even if Tachibana-san gets married and has children in the future, Hina-sensei will treat you with the same attitude."

"It's different."

Rui Tachibana shook her head, "My sister simply treats me like a child, but I think as long as I grow up a bit, become more mature, and experience more, my sister won't treat me like a child anymore, and won't keep saying I'm 'still young'."

"So you want to..."

Vaguely, Lin Ye had a guess.

"Help me grow up, help me mature, help me become a woman."

Lin Ye: "..."

Still doing this from the original work?

Directly offering yourself up?

"My sister told me you wanted to find a girlfriend, Lin-san. I can help you achieve that, and you help me achieve my goal. We help each other, satisfy each other."

What did Hina-sensei say to make Rui Tachibana have this misunderstanding?

His urge to find a girlfriend really wasn't that strong; if it were, he wouldn't have failed to take that step when facing so many girls.

His current girlfriend was also due to an unexpected event.

"Tachibana-san, sorry, I can't help you."

"Why?"

"I have a girlfriend."

Rui Tachibana: ???

She quickly thought of a reason, "If you want to reject me, you don't need to use this reason."

She didn't believe it.

The fact that Lin Ye had a girlfriend was too sudden.

It completely sounded like a reason made up on the spot.

"Really."

"Who is it?"

Mai? Yukino?

But Lin Ye felt it wasn't appropriate to say either.

"We are keeping this relationship secret for now."

This made Rui Tachibana believe it even less.

"I..."

She thought for a moment, her face slightly flushed, "If you date me and help me grow and become more of a woman, I allow you to... do things... that a boyfriend... can do."

By the end,

her words were trembling.

That shyness permeated every word.

This girl.

She’s serious.

This seems to be not much different from the first act of the original work!

Lin Ye thought helplessly.

...

Is it really necessary to go to this extent?

Lin Ye couldn't understand.

And the behavior of this girl in the original work also made him, who was watching at the time, very confused.

The reason could only be said to be explainable, but it was barely so, very far-fetched.

How could a perfectly fine girl give herself to a stranger she met once?

The world is so big, there are so many people, and this is 2D, so it seems not entirely unacceptable.

Lin Ye stopped thinking about it; thinking more wouldn't yield a reason.

"Tachibana-san, a girl's growth and maturity have no necessary connection to whether she is dating."

He decided to guest-star as a life master, coaching the girl to return to the right path in life.

"If you want to grow and mature, it lies in experiencing more social life, interacting with more people, and understanding more relevant knowledge."

Lin Ye looked at the girl and continued, "Instead of thinking that dating a man will make you grow and mature. I don't know where you heard this, but this method doesn't work."

"..."

Rui Tachibana thought for a while, "Isn't dating also one of the interactions? Can't one also gain more social-related experience?"

"Yes."

Lin Ye’s lack of a negative reaction stunned the girl; she had prepared how to refute Lin Ye, and suddenly lost her chance to use it.

"But this dating should be a real relationship from the bottom of one's heart."

Rui Tachibana understood what Lin Ye meant.

The dating request she proposed wasn't a relationship she longed for from the heart, not a simple dating between a man and a woman, but a relationship mixed with a purpose, no longer simple and pure.

Is such a relationship still real dating?

At this moment, Rui Tachibana felt self-doubt.

"I... am willing."

She said again.

"But I am not willing."

Lin Ye answered with a smile, "Dating is a man-woman interpersonal behavior conducted voluntarily by both parties. Tachibana-san is willing, but I am not, which also means this relationship is not real dating."

"Am I... not good enough?"

She pursed her lips, her expression unwilling.

Regardless, for her as a girl to take the initiative to make such a request, and even once indicate that she allowed him to do things a boyfriend could do, this was already a full hint, showing she had made sufficient mental preparation and taken that step from within.

But even so,

Lin Ye still refused, and she couldn't help but doubt herself.

Is she really not charming at all?

Rui Tachibana recalled her experiences from childhood to now; it seemed that no boy had ever expressed love or confessed to her. Although her sister always said she was cute, what did that count for if no boy took the initiative to approach and confess?

Lin Ye, hearing the girl’s answer and seeing her reaction, realized she had fallen into self-denial and doubt; this is a side many women have.

No girl would not care about her own attractiveness to the opposite sex, even Yukino Yukinoshita couldn't avoid it; for example, if he said Yukinoshita was very flat, she would definitely curse him with a sharp tongue without a moment's hesitation.

"Tachibana-san, as a girl, you are charming. Your appearance is cute, your figure is slender, your skin is soft and smooth, your personality seems cold but is actually very gentle, and you can cook well. You are a quite charming girl."

The sudden praise made Rui Tachibana stunned for a moment, and then a faint blush appeared on her cheeks.

Being praised by a peer of the opposite sex for the first time,

simple words of praise made a warm current of joy that warmed her whole body constantly emerge in her heart.

"So, you don't need to doubt your charm, and you don't need to feel uncomfortable or inferior because of my refusal. I can tell you for sure, you are definitely a good girl. At Sobu High, there must be many boys who have a good impression of you."

Rui Tachibana listened and recalled,

But she truly could not imagine who at Sobu High would harbor good feelings for her.

In the days since she transferred to Sobu High, she hadn't met any boy who took the initiative to talk to her.

Among the boys, she actually talked to Lin Ye the most.

"Thank you."

Facing the boy in front of her, Rui Tachibana realized this was comfort, this was to make her not feel inferior and depressed, to let her be more confident.

"I'm telling the truth. If I didn't have a girl I liked, didn't have a girlfriend, I would be quite happy to accept Hina-sensei’s suggestion and try dating you."

In the end, Lin Ye made a joke.

The atmosphere eased quite a bit.

Rui Tachibana somewhat believed that Lin Ye had a girlfriend.

She was also curious about who Lin Ye’s girlfriend was.

At least her sister definitely didn't know; this secrecy work was done very well, or they had just started dating recently, so her sister didn't know yet.

"I can..."

"Hahaha."

Lin Ye laughed, "I'm afraid of being hacked to death by my girlfriend with a kitchen knife. I still want to live a few more years and enjoy the beauty of the world."

Rui Tachibana couldn't help but smile helplessly.

Since Lin Ye had said it to this extent, she naturally didn't need to continue pestering him.

It was just, somewhat regrettable.

She had already made sufficient mental preparation and was even willing to accept some excessive requests Lin Ye might make.

If he were her boyfriend, it would be inevitable for him to make this or that request, and she would be willing to agree.

But Lin Ye didn't want it.

She was definitely feeling some discomfort and contrast-induced loss in her heart.

"Lin-san,"

"You say."

"Thank you for tonight, thank you for your help, thank you for your comfort."

"You're welcome. After all, I have received quite a bit of care from Tachibana-san and Tachibana-sensei."

"I didn't take care of you."

She shook her head; her care for Lin Ye was almost zero.

"That night I was unconscious at home, wasn't it Tachibana-san who took care of me?"

Rui Tachibana remembered, and she remembered even more what happened during the day.

Immediately, a blush appeared on her fair cheeks.

"Compared to taking care of you, I even threatened you, didn't I?"

"That's in the past."

"But I remember."

She seemed to have made a decision and slowly exhaled, "As compensation for my behavior that day, Lin-san, why don't you punch me?"

"Haha, I thought you would say 'I'll accept any request you make'!"

"That's also possible."

Lin Ye reached out and tapped Rui Tachibana’s little head with his finger.

Not heavy, but not light either.

A crisp *thud* sound rang out.

Rui Tachibana held her head with both hands and made a *woo* whimpering sound. She looked at Lin Ye with a bit of water in her eyes, seemingly blaming Lin Ye for using such force in the tap.

"As a man, a friendly reminder to Tachibana-san,"

She watched.

"Don't make promises like 'any request is fine'."

Lin Ye said earnestly, "Not every man can control and restrain himself like I can. A promise like yours easily makes men have wild thoughts and make excessive requests."

She knew, and she had made mental preparations.

*Thud...*

"Woo..."