Is it a problem to have a harem in a stranger heroine?

The two fell silent for a moment, until Kasumigaoka Utaha retracted her slender fingers that were teasing the cat. When she turned around, the plastic bag containing the novel accidentally hit the window with a "bang" sound, which scared the little orange cat.

"Xiao Jun, thank you for today."

"Thank me for what? Mochi or a 8% discount coupon?"

Kasumigaoka Utaha was stunned for a moment. She knew that Bai Ye understood what she was talking about when she said "thank you", but Bai Ye tried to fool her by saying something else.

"Do you want to explain this yourself?"

"It turns out Xiao Jun is good at playing crazy and stupid."

"I just want to hear Kasumigaoka-san's thanks in person. Do you know how many people are looking forward to this moment?"

Utaha Kasumigaoka knows that her appearance attracts many boys, but she also knows how bad her personality is.

After saying this, she deliberately revealed a hint of disgust, frowned slightly, and let her bangs cover half of her crystal red eyes, making it impossible to see her true thoughts.

"What if I say no?"

"It's a blessing to see Kasumigaoka-san being so willful again."

Kasumigaoka Utaha snorted softly, and when she opened her eyes again, the disgust disappeared and a faint smile played on the corner of her mouth.

"I don't think my gratitude is valuable, just necessary or not."

She bent down slightly and habitually tucked her long hair that hung down from her face behind her ears, revealing half of her jade-like neck that was as bright as the moon.

"Thank you for allowing me to be willful today. At least at that moment, I felt at ease."

"I received another round of thanks and kindness from Kasumigaoka-san. I feel like I've earned a lot of money."

"Should I add the words scoundrel and shameless to my description of Xiao Jun?"

"I obviously did nothing wrong, how can I protest?"

"Do you think I will consider your feelings?"

After saying that, Kasumigaoka Utaha didn't laugh out loud like she did in the afternoon, but looked up at the sky and felt her nose sore.

She understood that the black-hearted Aki Tomoya was also a kind of willfulness. She had always turned her inner distress into willfulness and vented it to Aki Tomoya without his consent, and then used the guilt of her willfulness as a reason to stay with him. She naturally believed that Aki Tomoya could also understand her thoughts, and the cycle continued.

Unfortunately, Tomoya Aki couldn't understand her and even ran away because of the third volume of "Love Metronome".

So Kasumigaoka Utaha was scared, and her current "willfulness" seemed more like a compromise in order to stay with Ethics-kun.

This is not what she wants. She hopes someone can understand her true self hidden behind this willfulness.

Today, for the first time, she shared her willfulness towards Tomoya Aki with other boys.

"I'm being willful again."

"Yeah, Kasumigaoka-san, you're being willful again."

"Yes, you are right."

"Perhaps I shouldn't have been so willful from the beginning? If I hadn't been so willful as to let Etude-kun read the third volume of "Love Metronome", perhaps things wouldn't have turned out like this."

"But why did I smile so happily today when I was being willful to Xiao Jun?"

Bai Ye pretended not to notice her collapse and said to himself:

"As a token of your willfulness, can you allow me to be willful for once, Teacher Kasumi Shiko?"

Chapter 24: You can’t empathize with the pain you haven’t experienced yourself

Kasumigaoka Utaha is very rational.

Yes, she is very rational.

When she heard Bai Ye call out "Teacher Xia Shizi", and then looked down at the poster in the pet shop window, rationality washed away the moisture in the corners of her eyes.

"Xiao Jun, you don't give me any room to maneuver."

Bai Ye looked directly into her eyes and expressed his true thoughts without any hesitation.

"Yes, I tolerate Kasumigaoka-san's willfulness because I want to express my own willfulness with peace of mind."

"Don't you think that's too direct, Xiao Jun?"

"Because if you don't say something, the other person may never understand, or even pretend to be asleep. So I prefer to speak directly and clearly when necessary."

Kasumigaoka Utaha didn't say anything, her eyes stayed on the poster for a moment, and she realized that it took tremendous courage to open her mouth.

"Love Metronome Volume 3 has been shelved."

"What's the reason?" Bai Ye asked.

reason?

Several thoughts flashed through Kasumigaoka Utaha's mind at once, and she also spent countless sleepless nights.

Was it after being rejected by Ethics-kun for providing suggestions for the third volume of "Love Metronome"?

Or is it the sobs when writing in the face of readers' expectations?

Or maybe because...

When the last thought appeared, Kasumigaoka Utaha's heart trembled, and she quickly wiped it out, not even having the courage to dig deeper.

"The reasons are very complicated, and there's no point in delving into them."

"Is it because of Aki-san?"

Kasumigaoka Utaha trembled all over, and her clenched fists squeezed the plastic bag, making crackling sounds. The thought that she had tried to erase a second ago resurfaced like a nightmare, as if mocking her cowardice.

Why should others so easily blurt out the reasons that I don't even have the courage to dig deeper into?!

You are just an outsider, do you understand what is happening here? !

Do you understand my pain?!

"resemble......!"

"I also participated in the debate on the blog a year ago."

The harsh words on Kasumigaoka Utaha's lips turned into astonishment, and the plastic bag in her hand fell to the ground, splashing countless dust.

"What did you say......"

"I said, I also participated in the debate on the blog a year ago."

The lost sanity gradually returned, and the struggle between rationality and emotion brought Kasumigaoka Utaha back to that night a year ago.

"TAKI", an avid fan and popular blogger of "Love Metronome", debated with many people on his blog to promote "Love Metronome".

The war lasted for several days and nights. When she arrived, all she saw was devastation, corpses everywhere, and TAKI-kun who was deified as the victor.

As a result, the sales of "Love Metronome" increased by 30%, and she met TAKI-kun, who was also Tomoya Aki, whom she regarded as her first fan at the first book signing event.

Not only Aki Tomoya, but also Kasumigaoka Utaha is very grateful to every fan who spoke out for "Love Metronome" during that debate. She even made a promise in her heart to design a special chapter for that debate in the future to express her gratitude to the fans.

She still remembers that the second most vocal fan at the time was named...

What is it called?

What’s it called?!

"Are you a loser, Kasumigaoka Utaha? Are you even more heartless than Sawamura-kun?!"

"Why can't I remember something so important?"

Kasumigaoka Utaha's eyes fluctuated violently, like a spring that had been dry for thousands of years but suddenly erupted at this moment. Her fists were clenched even tighter than when Bai Ye mentioned "Aki Tomoya" just now.

"Xiao Jun, you said you experienced that war?"

Bai Ye was surprised at how much Kasumigaoka Utaha had changed, and even more surprised at the weight that argument held in her heart.

He smiled slightly, as indifferent as the evening breeze in late spring.

"Yes, I've been involved since the beginning, but I'm not saying this to get Kasumi Shiko-sensei's thanks, I'm just saying this as a fan..."

Kasumigaoka Utaha took a step forward, her crystal red eyes, soaked with tears, looked directly at Bai Ye with determination, excitement, and even a hint of pleading, interrupting him.

"What happened during those days?"

Bai Ye looked at the pair of crystal red eyes that were so close to him and told everything.

"At first I thought it was just an ordinary argument, so I only supported it for a few sentences and then let it go."

"I didn't expect the subsequent developments to be even more intense, so I joined the battle again."

"But Amaki and I were no match for the other two. Seeing that Amaki was about to collapse, I had to resort to some tricks."

Kasumigaoka Utaha moved closer, and even Bai Ye could clearly feel the hot breath she exhaled.

She had a strange feeling. The closer she got to Bai Ye, the clearer the fan's name became in her mind.

"What little trick?"

Bai Ye raised his index finger and thumb between himself and Kasumigaoka Utaha, creating a small gap and keeping the other person in suspense.

"Kasumigaoka-san was right in calling me a scoundrel and shameless."

"I hacked into their computers and set up some tricks. They probably caused a sudden freeze when they clicked send, and then the page automatically refreshed, and the text they'd painstakingly edited disappeared. Anyway, with so many people posting on the blog at the time, a freeze or two was normal."

"With fewer people speaking out on the other side, and with the addition of fans of 'Love Metronome', the battle became clear."

"But my contribution is not as great as Aki-san's. He was a real man when he charged into battle."

Kasumigaoka Utaha smiled, with tears still glistening in the corners of her eyes.

It was because Bai Ye mocked himself as a "rogue + shameless", and also because after Bai Ye repeated it, she vaguely remembered the memories that she had forgotten because of her self-indulgence.

She grabbed Bai Ye's arms, the desire in her eyes intensified.

"Xiao Jun, what's your name?"

"My name?" Bai Ye also smiled. "My real name or my online name?"

"real name!"

To Bai Ye's surprise, Kasumigaoka Utaha actually wanted to reveal her real name.

The evening breeze blew her hair by her ears, and a hint of girlish fragrance drifted across Bai Ye's face and into his nose.

For a moment, Bai Ye had an urge to lift up her cascading black hair and gently stroke her attractive face which was flushed with excitement.

But it's not the time yet.

Bai Ye stretched out his hand and scratched his chin, then said:

"I think I introduced myself on the first day I joined the club. My last name is Xiao and my given name is Bai Ye."

"White Night's Eyes..."

Kasumigaoka Utaha murmured the name that suddenly popped up in her mind, and when she looked up, she met Bai Ye's deep eyes with a smile and concern.

"Xiao Jun, are you the White Night Eye?"

"Hmm, Kasumigaoka-san, do you remember?

"sorry......"

Kasumigaoka Utaha didn't know why she blurted out "I'm sorry" after knowing Bai Ye's identity.

But Bai Ye didn't intend to let her go.

"Why are you apologizing to me?"

After the initial excitement, Kasumigaoka Utaha's head was now a mess.

"Does Xiao Jun really like to dig into things?"

"Kasumigaoka-san, I've said it from the beginning. I prefer to speak directly and clearly when necessary."

Regardless of the other party's reaction, Bai Ye continued:

"So, I also need to make clear what I want to say."

Chapter 25: Beyond Guilt, What's More Important is the Cause of Guilt

"Kasumigaoka-san, I brought this up today not to make you feel guilty, nor to get your thanks. Even when I first participated in that argument, I didn't know you were Teacher Kasumi Shiko."

Bai Ye expressed his true feelings in detail, because he knew that these things could not be hidden from Kasumigaoka Utaha, who was good at seeing through people's hearts. Even if she lost her direction because of excitement now, she would think it through later.

It is not impossible to gain sincerity by deceiving others. There is no absolute truth in the world. The cleverness lies in moderation.

If used properly, it is medicine; if used improperly, it is poison.