Ch.220Episode 41. Things That Need to Be Made Clear (2)

Now, Yuari naturally walks out of the bathroom after showering in my room, drying her hair with a towel.

“Are you going to eat right away?”

“Yeah. I should.”

I answered while taking off my dress shirt and putting on a jersey.

“After eating, patrol… are you going out?”

“Yeah. Ha Yuri said she wanted to skip today.”

I owed Ha Yuri quite a bit, and she had always stepped up without hesitation whenever I asked for a favor, so I could certainly do this much for her.

“Is it okay for the number 2 hero to do that?”

“It’s possible because I’m number 2.”

“Hmm…”

I shrugged my shoulders. Yuari sat on my bed and took out a hair dryer from the drawer.

Unlike the other girls, Yuari spent many nights in my room, so she knew exactly where everything was.

“Want me to dry your hair?”

“…Would that be okay?”

“Of course.”

I had already dried her hair and managed it with a comb several times before, so I dried her hair with familiar hands.

“When we first met, your hair was really dry and brittle. It seems much better now.”

“You’re right. Back then, I didn’t even think about taking care of my hair…”

Yuari’s voice dropped slightly. She seemed to be recalling those times. Or perhaps something from even further in the past.

“Whenever I see how much I’ve changed, I always think that meeting you might be the greatest luck in my life.”

“I’m grateful you think that way.”

After removing the moisture from her hair, I turned off the hair dryer and picked up a comb. I gently brushed through her hair.

Yuari silently felt my combing without saying a word.

“…But I suppose it’s the same for the other girls too.”

“Huh?”

I tilted my head at Yuari’s words that came after a long pause.

“Including me, you’ve paid excessive attention to the problems of each student you’re in charge of.”

“Oh, that’s…”

Was she complaining about receiving the same treatment as others?

Come to think of it, Yuari was more possessive compared to the other girls.

This yandere type would only be satisfied if I looked at her alone.

Even if she wasn’t a yandere, it was perfectly natural to want the person you like to look only at you.

However, since I had set my sights on a harem, it would be difficult for her to be satisfied. I couldn’t just push away the women I’d already approached as if I was using and discarding them.

“I’m not trying to say anything in particular. Just… I was curious about something.”

“Curious about what?”

“I can understand that you take excessive care of the other girls because you have a strong sense of responsibility. I’ve been able to live with motivation thanks to that strong sense of responsibility of yours.”

I didn’t particularly think I had a strong sense of responsibility, but I listened to her words without responding.

“But… you’re not going to keep caring for them like that after graduation, are you?”

Will I continue to care for them?

In other words, she was asking me to look only at her. Don’t pay attention to the other girls.

“Well…”

The only response I could give to such a question was an ambiguous answer.

“If you’re going to keep caring for them in the future… please convince me.”

“Convince you…”

“I don’t want to hear what Jung Iyeon said. And I wasn’t convinced by what she said either.”

Probably, no matter what I said, I wouldn’t be able to convince Yuari.

The intimate bond that should exist between lovers had already been thoroughly tainted.

Therefore, all I could do was express her true feelings.

“…No matter what I say, you have no intention of being convinced, do you?”

Yuari’s shoulders jerked noticeably at my words. Eventually, she slowly turned her upper body to look at me.

“Am I wrong?”

“…It’s like you can read all my inner thoughts.”

When I spoke with a smile, Yuari pouted and muttered with a sulky face.

“I’m sorry. You probably won’t be convinced no matter what I say.”

A harem relationship was not a structure that could be rationalized no matter what. That’s why in old novels, the protagonist always ended up with just one heroine, while the others were left behind.

I could say that I’ve managed to get this far precariously because I had Yujin’s appearance and abilities.

“Then you should just give your love to me alone. It’s enough to embrace only me. I can… do everything you want. Are you saying you can’t be satisfied with just me?”

As I listened to her complaints, I placed my hand on the back of her head. Yuari closed her eyes, seemingly aware that I was going to kiss her.

Smooch.

After briefly pressing my lips against hers and pulling away, I spoke softly.

“Yeah. Because I’ve come to love all of you.”

“…”

As she slowly opened her eyes, she looked at me with displeasure. The word Yuari wanted to hear probably wasn’t “all of you.”

But this was something I couldn’t help.

I was willing to compromise on other things, but on this, I absolutely could not back down.

“Well then, I need to go on patrol soon, so shall we eat?”

That’s why I could only cowardly change the subject.

I got off the bed after seeing that her hair was well-combed. Yuari showed some lingering regret but didn’t say anything more.

* * *

“Can I come along on patrol too?”

Yuari, who had finished washing the dishes, asked as I was putting on my sneakers.

“You just showered, didn’t you?”

“I can shower again when we get back. I was going to take another one before getting close to you anyway.”

She’s now saying such things so casually.

Well, it’s natural since we’ve been intimate several times since returning from the MT.

“Alright. But I’m going to move quickly, so you’ll have to keep up at full speed.”

“Got it.”

Yuari took off her apron, pulled a hair tie from her pocket, and tied her hair in a ponytail.

In terms of pure speed, she was the fastest in the special class, and I had rigorously built up her stamina for over a year, so she wouldn’t fall behind.

“Let’s go.”

“Yeah.”

In front of the dormitory, I explained the route while doing some light stretching. Since there was no need to cover all of Seoul in one day, I planned to focus on districts where villains frequently appeared.

“We have a lot of ground to cover, so keep up well.”

“Yes.”

After finishing the stretching, I took my stance.

“Lightning Release.”

Sparks flew over my skin, and I felt power seeping into my entire body.

“Here we go.”

Tap!

She followed me precisely as I started running. I grinned while looking at Yuari’s face.

Good. She’s keeping up well.

We quickly left the academy and entered the bustling downtown area. I scanned the surroundings while jumping between buildings. I also kept an eye on deserted, secluded places.

Additionally, I maximized all my senses to focus on the energy and sounds around me.

Since there were too many buildings in the city to visually monitor everything, it was important to utilize all senses to the fullest.

After running like that for about 10 minutes, I looked back.

Her face, which had been fresh and dry earlier, was now covered with beads of sweat, and her cheeks were flushed red.

“Tired?”

“I’m… fine…!”

Though I wasn’t going at full speed, I was impressed that Yuari was keeping up well.

But judging by how she was only looking at me without any room to observe her surroundings, she seemed to have long forgotten the purpose of the patrol.

“Alright. Let’s continue.”

* * *

“This is it.”

“Huff…! Huff…!”

Landing on the ground a beat later, Yuari staggered as if about to collapse. Her clothes were already soaked with sweat.

Her face was disheveled with wisps of hair sticking to it from the long run, looking quite messy.

Yet she still looked pretty, which confirmed she was indeed beautiful.

“How…! How…!”

Whether from the long run or being out of breath, she couldn’t speak. I chuckled as I watched her gasping for air with her hands on her thighs.

I got a bottle of water from a nearby vending machine and handed it to her.

“Drink.”

“Th-Thank you…”

Yuari took the water and gulped it down. Her Adam’s apple moved continuously until the bottle was empty.

“Puah! Haa… Haa…”

After wiping the moisture from her lips with the back of her hand, Yuari said:

“How can you… run at that speed… without your breathing being disturbed at all? And you don’t even seem to be sweating…”

Has she already forgotten?

I barely broke a sweat even after draining the entire special class to the point of unconsciousness. There was no way I would sweat from just running around.

“Maybe if you train diligently on a regular basis?”

“Can you even train not to sweat?”

I couldn’t help but laugh at Yuari’s absurd question.

“Of course not. Heheh. But you kept up well, didn’t you? You reacted immediately without panicking even when I changed direction.”

“That’s because I predicted your direction with my foresight. Do you know how flustered I was when you first changed direction?”

“Does it still take quite some time even at this speed?”

“But is just running around really considered patrolling?”

“It’s more than enough.”

Because I’m using all my senses to patrol.

She looked at me curiously before throwing the empty bottle into a nearby trash can.

“Do you do this every day?”

“Not every day. Occasionally?”

“That must be tough.”

“Still, I think it’s worth it to go around like this. Want to come over here?”

There was a reason I brought Yuari to this place. This was an observation point I had discovered while patrolling Seoul.

“What is this place…?”

Yuari’s eyes gradually widened as she followed my gesture and walked to the railing.

“The night view is killer, isn’t it?”

“…Yes.”

This was a mountainous area where you could take in the Seoul night view at a glance. Moreover, it was quiet, making it perfect for couples to comfortably enjoy the night scenery.

“It’s beautiful.”

“Isn’t it?”

I grinned as I watched Yuari staring at the clusters of light emanating from the city in a daze.

And so, for a while, Yuari and I silently gazed at the night view, feeling the cool breeze at the tail end of summer.