After deciding to give up, I became popular

But before that, he definitely had to appease her, which is why he said that—can this level of "punishment" make you feel better?

That's what he meant to express.

But in Eriri's eyes, this sentence even had a hint of mockery.

"Is that it?" == "Is it just this much?"

In other words, the other party has already experienced more intimate behaviors with who knows which guy, perhaps just like she initially expected, a real KISS, mouth to mouth, or even more intimate, like the kind that appears in her doujinshi...

So, in reality, the action she mustered her courage and painstakingly took the initiative to do was just like children playing around in his eyes, and couldn't even shake his heart at all!

"..."

She's really going to make a scene!

Eriri is very angry! Eriri wants to curse! Eriri is taking action!

"Then, then what can I do? I can't do anything else..."

Eriri is very aggrieved.

Anyway, she's just a coward, so cowardly that she had already made up her mind and was even just a step away, but ended up considering "As expected, this kind of thing should be done when both parties are aware, a surprise attack doesn't count as pure love!" for some inexplicable reason, and finally chose to kiss Kanade on the forehead.

In the end, she was mocked for it... How annoying!

Although she knew in her heart that this might just be an unintentional remark from him, she was just aggrieved and angry.

If it were in the past, she would definitely be so angry that no matter how he coaxed her, it wouldn't work, because this was the first time she had taken the initiative to do something like this, and he didn't appreciate it?

Guilty! Commit seppuku!

However, the past is the past, and now is now.

Without even thinking much, her grievance at this moment completely turned into guilt, because in the past, Kanade had done so many more proactive things, but her attitude had not been very friendly all along, and the key was that she had always chosen that way, not out of unintentional actions.

And now it was just a complete reversal of the two people's situations.

"Then what can I do? Anyway, that's just how I am... I'm just timid, okay!" Eriri gave up struggling and chose to give up.

As a result, the other person involved fell into confusion.

"...Ah?"

171. Can't go back... Wait?

"Then what can I do? Anyway, I'm just this kind of timid person, okay!" Eriri completely turned into a pufferfish.

She really didn't expect it, she had mustered up the courage to do this kind of thing, and not only did she not get the feedback she wanted, but she was even told "Is it just this much?"

What do you mean "this much"? Does she have to push him to the ground and give him a few fierce muas to arouse his heart?

Her threshold is too high, she can't do it!!!

But even though her mind was going crazy, she still had a hint of wanting to hear his explanation in her heart.

After all, after so long of getting along, she certainly knew something about him, knowing that he was definitely not the kind of guy who would trample on a girl's feelings, and no matter what, he couldn't possibly say such frivolous things, so she turned her head again and looked at him seriously, hoping he could say something.

"..."

"..."

The result was a long silence.

Then Eriri became even more angry and aggrieved, thinking in her heart that he really didn't like her anymore, and didn't even bother to explain to her, so she suppressed the urge to shed tears and said sarcastically: "Then what are you doing lying here? Go find someone who is willing to give you kisses and hugs! Don't bother with my affairs anymore!"

She really guessed right! He obviously had more intimate actions with other girls, and it wasn't just once or twice, otherwise he would never be desensitized to the point of being able to blurt out such words.

As a result, now that she found out, he didn't even want to find a reason to coax her!

Really, she really hoped that he could lie to her, so that it would show that she also had a place in his heart, not just treating her as an ordinary friend.

But now she finally realized that they could no longer go back to the past...

"Wait, Eriri, calm down and listen to me..."

"..." Eriri didn't want to listen, and even wanted to block her ears.

Because she already understood what the other party wanted to say—he wanted to make everything clear, tell her everything, tell her that they were over, that he had fallen in love with another girl, and that the other party also liked him, so they were now living a life of affection every day.

So she couldn't intervene.

That's why she didn't want to listen, because she felt that as long as she didn't hear it, they wouldn't be over, and wouldn't forever become friends...

"I think there's some misunderstanding between us," he said seriously.

"..." Eriri pursed her lips slightly and silently looked at the bad guy who was still lying on her lap.

He was clearly about to tell her the cruel truth, but he was still using such euphemistic words... What do you mean misunderstanding? Are you referring to the fact that she shouldn't have misunderstood his intentions in the past, taking his politeness as a signal that he was willing to be close to her?

But she didn't understand, because if that was really the case, why would he agree to her various capricious requests again and again? Could it be that he was just pitying her, wanting to give her, this fool who was destined not to get what she wanted... that bubble-like warmth?

But she was clearly already addicted, and it was simply impossible to extract herself from it.

But she absolutely couldn't blame him for this, because she herself had rejected the other party with the reason of "Let's just be friends," which was why he had become like this today...

Yes, she couldn't blame him, it was her own lack of courage to admit it in the past, and it was her own lack of courage to make things clear now, which was why everything had become unchangeable...

Then let it all end today, Eriri thought.

She was already prepared to accept being "dumped."

"I'm listening... Say it..." Eriri looked at him with a tense face and a blank expression.

She didn't dare to move too much, for fear that she would cry if she wasn't careful.

"Well... then I'll make a long story short," Xia Chuanzou paused, and then said, "Actually, what I just said... what I meant by 'Is that it?' was—is it okay to just put a stamp on my forehead? Do you want to do some other pranks?"

"...Prank?"

"Yes, because I was afraid that you would be embarrassed if I said it directly, or even... cough cough—fly into a rage out of humiliation, so I used more euphemistic words, but it seems like I made you misunderstand something?" Xia Chuanzou carefully recalled the scene just now.

Originally, everything was fine, and he was still enjoying the relaxing feeling brought by the lap pillow, but suddenly he heard Eriri's exasperated voice, saying something like "She's just timid!"

At first, he was very puzzled, but after thinking about it a little, he understood that Eriri probably misunderstood that he was mocking her, so he was just about to explain, but then he heard her say something like "Then go kiss and hug someone else"?

At this time, he immediately understood that this little tsundere was obviously misunderstanding something again, probably like that day before, she was thinking wildly there, and then immediately said something terrible after thinking about something.

But it was also thanks to her for saying it, otherwise he would have really been kept in the dark.

"Anyway, that's the way things are, I really didn't mean to mock you for being timid, I just thought you could do some other pranks..." Xia Chuanzou said, while looking at Eriri's expression.

Although looking up from below, and even an upside-down face, it was indeed a bit difficult to distinguish the expression, he could still keenly notice that Eriri's face twitched slightly a few times, so he quickly changed his words:

"I mean—punishment, because I was late, so you can 'punish' me with something else, don't care about my feelings..." Xia Chuanzou made a well-behaved appearance.

"By the way, I didn't open my eyes at all during the period, I just guessed that you 'punished' me based on feeling..." Xia Chuanzou added.

In fact, he was a little guilty. When Eriri said the last sentence, he once thought that Eriri knew that he had gone to meet Si Gong Huiye first, which led the girl to throw a tantrum.

As a result, now he found out that it was not the case at all, it was just that the doujinshi artist with a brain full of erotic things had enriched her imagination.

Of course, it was impossible for him to actively bring up relevant things again, after all, if he accidentally let something slip during the period, then it would be really terrible.

And after hearing the other party say the above words, Eriri was completely unable to hold back, and her mind was full of thoughts—who am I? What am I doing?

But after recovering, she immediately transitioned from a dazed state to a state of exploding shame.

Oh my god! How can there be someone with so many inner dramas?!!!

Help!!!

She even wished she could give herself a punch and fall asleep, so she wouldn't have to endure this shame that was about to make her head explode!

172. Eriri → Kashiwagi Eri → Tsundere

Xia Chuanzou's current feeling is like sitting on pins and needles.

Although he had tried his best to explain things clearly, looking at Eriri's appearance, she didn't seem to be relieved, it wasn't like she was silently expressionless, but on the contrary, the expression on Eriri's face seemed too rich—

Sometimes her eyes widened with disbelief, and then she suddenly put on a tangled face, and during the period, a look of seeming frantic and annoyed flashed past... He thought this was the end, but after she finally calmed down, she still performed a superb facial local micro-operation technique for him—

The corners of her mouth twitched slightly, and then she spit out a few sounds from her mouth word by word—"Is, is that so... Ahahaha..."

"..."

Oops! Eriri is broken!

Xia Chuanzou secretly said that it was not good.

Not to mention the highlights in her eyes, after all, it was indeed very dark, but with his meticulous observation without blinking his eyes, he could still detect that Eriri was on the verge of emotional explosion at this moment.

So Xia Chuanzou silently got up and stood up, and then pretended to be fine, changing the subject and said: "It's really much easier to rest for a while, thank you for your massage, Eriri."

He didn't even dare to mention the lap pillow.

After all, in his opinion, the reason why Eriri suddenly performed the art of face-changing in front of him must be because her doujinshi artist status played a role, causing her brain to be filled with that kind of strange erotic plot, and after he revealed that this was not the case, her shallow skin began to dance because she couldn't bear the huge impact of shame...

Therefore, mentioning "lap pillow" now may give her another layer of BUFF, and maybe she will explode with him at that time...

So he didn't think in vain, and he even roughly figured out the situation, nothing more than—Eriri was looked down upon for "only this level" → Kashiwagi Eri-sensei began to brainwash → Tsundere complained of grievance.

Maybe there are other catalysts at work, but those are not important so he is too lazy to care, anyway, now is the time to return to the "topic".

"Can you stand up? Let me help you?" Xia Chuanzou said considerately.

A mere support, it should not be more intimate than a lap pillow.

Especially after experiencing the way of getting along with Zhenzhou and Huiye for a long time, he has become less and less concerned about the subtle contact and interaction between ordinary times, and he will subconsciously think in his heart "Isn't this very sparse and ordinary? As long as you don't have love between men and women..."

Although because of age, both the body and the mind will occasionally have some of their own ideas, he can still control himself well, and he has not let his brain retreat to the second position.

Anyway, that's the way things are, he is no longer the innocent boy who would be excited to touch a small hand and ask people if he could.

Without waiting for the other party to answer, he grabbed the other party's arm and started!

"Ah, thank you..." After being actively helped up, Eriri subconsciously responded to him.

In fact, at this moment, her emotions were still in a very complicated state, but the next second, when she found that Xia Chuanzou's hand was holding hers tightly and there was no sign of letting go, her cheeks quietly began to heat up.

Gu oh...

The tsundere subconsciously turned her head away, only feeling her heart beating faster unnaturally.

Of course, this may also be because she suspected that she was going to be "dumped" just now, and her heart was so sad that her heartbeat slowed down, and now it has just returned to normal...

Oh! Anyway, that's how it is! She is not the kind of guy who can be easily dealt with by holding hands, at least... at least she has to interlock her fingers, right?

Zhai Li quietly glanced at the place where the two were connected, and secretly looked at the other party, and found that he seemed to be seriously looking for the direction, so she moved her fingers slightly, and while the other party was not paying attention, she grabbed it.

Cough cough... Interlocking fingers is definitely impossible, after all, Zou is holding it so tightly... What if he misunderstands that she doesn't want to hold hands if she moves randomly? Ah! Of course, this does not mean that she must hold hands! Don't misunderstand! She just thinks... she just thinks that since Zou is so proactive, she must give a little response, right? After all, holding hands is also a matter for two people, if only one side holds it tightly, it will loosen sooner or later...

Heh heh heh...

The little blonde, once again lost in strange emotions, had completely forgotten that Natsukawa Kanade had already taken her hand proactively when they first met.

Of course, he wasn't trying to express his feelings or take advantage of her at that time, but simply hadn't forgotten the rule—the pair in the test of courage had to hold hands throughout.

——————

Having no time to pay attention to Eriri's mental state, Natsukawa Kanade, after confirming that she had initially calmed down, focused his attention on planning the rest of their activities, hoping to help the little blonde completely calm down during the outing.

The reason he was rushing so much was because there wasn't much time left in the test of courage. Previously, in order to fulfill Kaguya's wish to participate in all the games, he had carried the injured girl through the entire event, which took up nearly half of their time. Now, he not only had to play through it again with Eriri, but also had to keep his appointment with the angel. Time was naturally very tight.

The key is—even though he really thought Mahiru was like an angel who was always willing to tolerate him, showing up to their date near the end of the event... no matter how he thought about it, she wouldn't be happy, right? So, of course, he wanted to save some time, saving time while ensuring Eriri's experience, so that Mahiru could wait for him as early as possible.