Regardless of how bad his image was in Masuzu's eyes, Yuu genuinely intended to find an opportunity to tell her everything that had just happened.
He had a habit—once he had a girlfriend, he would share every big and small event in his life with her, so she could understand his world well and transparency could be maintained.
Though he wouldn't remember every single thing to report, and there might be some things he truly didn't want to reveal, at the very least, by frequently sharing experiences, he could reduce his girlfriend's anxiety and prevent misunderstandings or arguments.
I may have missed your past, but I'll accompany you into the future until the end—perhaps because Yuu liked this sentiment, he unconsciously lived by it.
Even when not physically together, they could share all joys and sorrows. Yuu believed he enjoyed this kind of relationship.
"So that's what happened..."
At the entrance of the luxurious suite, Yuu recounted the afternoon's events in detail.
Masuzu, her expression calm once more, folded her arms across her chest while supporting her chin, nodding slowly as she thought.
"A first-year silver-haired angel... A national kendo club tournament... And your siscon tendencies, Yuu... Hmm, I see."
"See what? I like older women with big chests—I'm completely uninterested in little girls like that."
"Oh?" As if hearing shocking news, Masuzu raised an eyebrow and asked teasingly, "Really? Lately I've been wondering if you're actually a pedophile or gay."
Not the slightest bit angry, Yuu merely shrugged. "Guess? I won't leak my XP to you."
Masuzu suddenly looked enlightened. "Or maybe you secretly like tentacle-type girls but are too embarrassed to admit it? Like a girl whose real body is a jelly monster, or an octopus girl from another world?"
"What weird options are these..." Yuu rolled his eyes, too lazy to argue further. He pressed the door handle, preparing to leave. "Anyway, if you don't have anything else to do, you can come watch. It shouldn't take long—we can still go home together as usual."
"Of course. Wherever you are, I am too, until death do us part... We are two souls in one body, Tobio." Masuzu smiled, then suddenly touched her chin with her fingertip, gazing softly. "Your honesty pleases me greatly. What reward would you like? Candy? How about two pieces? Or three? No, I'll give you five."
"JO-fans who mix up Tobio and Secco are trash." Yuu remained unaffected, even commenting flatly.
For reference, both were villains from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 5, known for their personality disorders.
"I didn't mix them up. True JO-fans are Stand users who freely play around. Don't question my professionalism." Huffing, seeing Yuu completely unprovoked, Masuzu prepared to let go.
But unexpectedly, Yuu suddenly grabbed her wrist, pulled her against his chest, and wrapped his arms around her slender, beautiful waist.
This sudden action made Masuzu widen her eyes. Her soft cheeks quickly flushed red, like two blooming red plum blossoms atop snow.
"W-what are you doing..."
She squirmed slightly, yet gently sank into his chest. Her cool silver hair brushed softly back and forth.
"A farewell kiss or something—that's what couples do. We're different from them..."
Her voice came out incredibly soft, from deep within, sighing weakly—like a little girl lazily whining in bed, hinting at strange hope and joy.
The air around them began heating up, and the skin touching felt like burning.
"If I did nothing, you'd be disappointed."
Helplessly, Yuu lifted her chin, gazed into her moist, beautiful blue eyes, and gave a faint smile. "This has nothing to do with being a couple. We're just doing what we want... If you can't believe in love, then believe in the things you can trust, Masuzu."
"..."
Her confused gaze instantly cleared. Seeing his serious eyes, Masuzu opened her mouth, wanting to say something—but no words came out. She could only silently look away.
She knew what he said was true, but somehow, when held in his arms, she couldn't easily agree as she usually did.
It was as if a thorn was lodged in her heart—no matter whether she advanced or retreated, a layer of pretense would tear, revealing her most honest self.
"Don't think too much. I'll be by your side." As if seeing through everything, Yuu spoke gently, his tone tender yet cruel.
(Why is he saying something like this now?)
Masuzu didn't understand. She always failed to guess what was on his mind, and sometimes it made her anxious.
(Is he just saying this casually, or implying something? Wouldn't it be better to keep deceiving each other like this? Why point it out specifically?)
The arm circling her waist felt warm and firm. His strong embrace seemed ready to pull her into another abyss.
In silence, their lips met again, tasting each other.
And for the first time, during a kiss with Yuu, Masuzu remained conscious—unable to sink into dreamy happiness as before.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
Outside the luxury apartment.
Yuu turned toward the brightly lit high-rise windows, his face expressionless. He only asked himself:
"Do you love me?"
He would certainly answer: "Of course, I even love you."
Yet that clearly wasn't a sincere answer.
No matter how close they became, Yuu would never hear her truthful reply.
Because the very thing he avoided himself could never be given to someone else.
Distrust and fear toward love were deeply rooted in Masuzu's heart, leading her to treat everything as lies and excuses—so she could enjoy things she'd long avoided.
Wanting to get closer, yet afraid of getting hurt. This contradictory attitude created their twisted relationship.
And this was something Yuu accepted—he once thought this was exactly what Masuzu needed. She could be filled with fake love like this, and he only needed to keep giving her the warmth she required.
"But apparently, it doesn't work."
Yuu sighed, turned around, and gazed at the city night illuminated by streetlights. Someone's figure appeared in his mind.
In the end, he and that woman both desired something authentic and undeniable.
Wrong direction, wrong result... Because they were too intelligent, they understood this better than anyone.
And they could never accept such a wrong outcome from the depths of their hearts. They could only keep deceiving themselves, fooling themselves, unwilling to wake up, continuing endless self-comfort.
Now, he was making Masuzu sink deeper into lies, accompanying her in gaining fleeting happiness from this self-deceiving relationship.
If there were no system, Yuu might not care too much—after all, if they stayed together, ten or twenty years down the line, her warped worldview could surely be corrected.
But this was already Task Three. After two more tasks, his life manipulated by the system would end. Though he claimed not to rush, Yuu still didn't want to delay too long.
What if his mission ended after they had a child?
Once the timeline changed, would the newborn baby return to its origin?
Don't joke! No matter how strong his mentality, facing something like that would break him.
Precisely to prevent this, Yuu tested Masuzu.
As for the results... They couldn't be called good or bad—only that the road ahead was still long.
"Why is it so hard to have a normal relationship, where we can enjoy sweet moments, end with regret, and welcome a new life..."
Amid the cold October night wind, the boyfriend's sigh drifted away with the chilly air.
Leaves fell, and winter, trying to change, would soon arrive.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
After returning home and having dinner with Sora, Yuu went back to his room.
After finishing all pre-sleep routines, he opened the locked drawer, inside which lay several odd items.
A broken phone, a pencil snapped in half, strangely colored water in a crystal jar, and a T-shirt labeled "Grand Strategy"...
All were objects he'd exchanged using the Miraculous Exchange ability. Like pulling the lowest-tier prize from ten gacha rolls, none of them were useful at all.
He traded an old phone for a Samsung Note 7 That Explodes, a regular pencil for a Pencil Broken by a Genius Student, plain water for Princess Charlotte's Holy Water, and clothing for the Garment Worn by a Conquering King.
The first was useless as a weapon, the second irrelevant since he himself was already a genius, the third—though seemingly capable of curing all diseases—he didn't even want to touch it, and the fourth...
Holy relic?
He had no plans to participate in the Holy Grail War—why would he need such an item?!
He hadn't thrown them away simply because Yuu wanted to collect these trinkets, later checking whether his luck was good or bad, as souvenirs.
He tried exchanging once daily; when the drawer filled up, he'd discard a few utterly useless items.
"Today, let's try this..."
He took out a talisman labeled Academic Success and held it in his palm.
It was a charm he bought at a shrine back in middle school third year—for himself and Yuigahama. Not particularly important, so suitable to trade with the system.
Since it involved supernatural matters, perhaps he'd receive an unexpected surprise?
Thinking this, Yuu closed his eyes and skillfully activated Miraculous Exchange.
After confirming the exchange, there was no countdown. A familiar drowsiness enveloped his head, and the feeling of drained energy arose—stronger than ever before.
"Oh, seems like this is a good item..."
This final thought surfaced in his mind. Yuu gathered his remaining strength to turn off the light, cover himself with a blanket, and fully sink into deep darkness.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
The next morning.
Staring at the charm in his hand, transformed from red to green, Yuu, briefly startled, opened the window without expression.
"Luck-Curse Talisman."
"Get as far away as possible!"
Damn it, of course he'd get a DEBUFF! This was absurd to the core!
Watching the charm turn into a green comet and fly away, Yuu wiped non-existent sweat from his forehead and sighed in relief.
"You said you wouldn't harm me, you damn system—you tricked my innocent heart..."
System: "Exchanged items are entirely random and beyond system control. Please use this ability carefully."
"Why didn't you say that from the start—"
His complaint choked in his throat.
Yuu saw the charm, somehow already back on his bed. His cheek twitched slightly, his expression oddly strained.
On the dark green cloth, the large word "CURSE" seemed carved in blackened blood, radiating a chilling aura that sent shivers down the spine.
"This plot... I feel like I've seen it somewhere before."
"...System, explain."
Yuu pressed his temple, feeling slightly dizzy.
As if analyzing data from the talisman, after several seconds of silence, the system finally spoke in his mind.
System: "Talisman created by the God of Misfortune during boredom. Once touched, it binds automatically—cannot be destroyed or discarded. It absorbs surrounding misfortune. When saturation reaches a threshold, a misfortune incident will strike the host. The talisman will vanish automatically, regardless of success or failure."
"...So it's not purely a cursed object?"
Taking the charm, Yuu calmly examined it for a moment, then abandoned his intention to burn it.
Against supernatural forces, struggles like this were just a waste of time. Figuring out how to deal with it was the necessary task now.
...But, it seemed there was nothing he could do.
After trying to rinse it with Princess Charlotte's Holy Water and finding it only emitted a strange smell with zero exorcism effect, Yuu reached a helpless conclusion.
"Can't discard, can't destroy—so I just have to wait for the misfortune incident to happen?"
He sighed resignedly, sitting on the bed and scratching his head. "Turns out I can't casually eat gifts falling from the sky. I need to be more careful with exchanges... By the way, system, if I fail to survive the misfortune incident, will I die immediately?"
System: "Host need not worry. With the system present, the host will not face mortal danger."
"And what about losing limbs?"
System: "As long as it does not interfere with task completion."
Yuu gritted his teeth angrily. "System, I'm sick of you! Just leave all your treasures—let's break up!"
System: "..."
How low can a man go to say something like that?
Jokes aside, Yuu had to face this sudden stroke of bad luck.
Fortunately, the system could warn him when misfortune accumulated, so he could prepare at that time instead of living in constant anxiety from now on.
He tossed the cursed talisman onto the bed, then showered, changed into his uniform, packed his school bag, and went downstairs to make breakfast.
"Morning~ so sleepy..." Soon after, Sora shuffled into the living room, grabbed a glass of barley tea from the kitchen, and lazily walked out again.
Her eyes barely open, leaving only narrow slits, her steps wobbly.
Carrying two freshly made salad plates, Yuu followed behind her—and happened to see Sora's tiny big toe nearly collide with the leg of the table.
The reason it was "nearly" was because, just before impact, Sora's body suddenly swayed and tilted sideways. Her clean, cute toes narrowly passed beside the table leg.
Then, unaware, she climbed onto the chair and continued sleeping while hugging her plushie.
"...Coincidence?"
With a strange expression, Yuu set down the plates and reached into his pocket.
The green charm, which should've been on the bed, he quietly pulled out.
The thick black letters "CURSE" seemed to emit a mysterious glow.