After deciding to give up, I became popular

"No way, I need to hurry home and play games." Ishigami Yu refused directly. What's with the dinner party? Could anything stop him from appreciating art? Absolutely not!

So, Fujiwara Chika glared at him very angrily and shouted, "It's because you're always like this that no girls want to go out or hang out with you!"

"Hmph, women..." Ishigami Yu curled his lip dismissively. "Just mere works by at most two people, how could they compare to the great works created by huge teams working day and night, exhausting their efforts?! Don't underestimate art, you jerk!"

"..." Fujiwara Chika stared blankly at him for a while, then she turned her head and said to Iino Miko next to her with a very serious expression, "Did you see that, Miko-chan? Let me tell you, if you're looking for a boyfriend in the future, this type is absolutely not allowed!"

"Yes, I understand." Iino Miko nodded, replying to her just as seriously.

Seeing her junior's well-behaved appearance, Fujiwara Chika finally nodded in satisfaction. Then, she turned her attention to Shirogane Miyuki, asking for his opinion.

"I'll pass, I have a part-time job later." Shirogane Miyuki shook his head and refused quite naturally, but in reality, even if he didn't have work, he would probably refuse, as he had always adhered to the principle of "not eating out."

As for Xia Chuanzou... no one even bothered to ask his opinion.

Even Fujiwara Chika understood that suddenly inviting someone to go out to eat after visiting them at home was strange no matter how you looked at it, so she naturally passed him over. Fortunately, Xia Chuanzou himself didn't have that intention, and even felt relieved when he saw the others discussing their upcoming plans.

Great, they're finally leaving...

On one hand, he was finally relieved, but on the other hand, he also felt a little regretful. It was rare for friends to visit his home, and he should have been more enthusiastic, even simply inviting them to eat at home and proactively making a table of dishes for them to directly experience his cooking skills. But because of the angel, he naturally couldn't do that today, so he had to consider the next opportunity.

The following developments were smooth and without twists. After seeing the others out, he bid farewell to them one after another. Just as he closed the door and was about to go back and call the angel out, he heard the doorbell ring again.

"Who is it this time..." Xia Chuanzou muttered, then suddenly felt a pang of panic, realizing that the neighbors might have seen the house number and discovered something?

He hesitantly opened the door again, only to see Ishigami Yu standing alone outside the door, greeting him: "Oh, Senpai, I forgot something..."

Without further ado, he stepped into his house again, looking around furtively for a while. Realizing that he was already inside, he finally scratched his head, chuckled, and turned his backpack over, unzipping the top while saying to him, "I almost forgot to give you this."

Xia Chuanzou lowered his head slightly and took a closer look, discovering it was a swimsuit photo book. The date on it clearly indicated it was the latest magazine.

"Ah, this..."

"It's okay, it's okay, don't be polite with me, Senpai, after all, I also got 'something good'!" Ishigami Yu gave him a knowing look.

"..." So, Xia Chuanzou nodded, then glanced at the bedroom behind him out of the corner of his eye without revealing any emotion, and whispered back, "Then thank you..."

"Hehe... that's it then, see you tomorrow, Senpai."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow."

What a scolding.jpg

263. The Awakened Angel

After seeing Ishigami off again, the house immediately became quiet, and the chirping of birds outside the window could be heard clearly.

This time, there were no more accidents. Xia Chuanzou went straight back to the bedroom, preparing to call the angel who had been hiding for a long time out for some fresh air.

After slowly opening the door, he found it was silent inside, and even the angel's figure couldn't be detected for a moment.

At first, he thought that Mahiru was worried about being discovered by others, so she found a corner to hide in or something. But after scanning around a bit, he saw the angel lying on his bed, with her eyes closed as if she were fast asleep.

This didn't seem like she was pretending to be asleep at all, because she had clearly turned over, leaving some traces on the bedding beneath her. Her beautiful hair was spread out randomly on the bed like a river, and her body was slightly curled up into a ball, making her petite and cute appearance even more prominent.

Hearing her cute breathing sounds like "Hoo... Hoo...", Xia Chuanzou's movements immediately became gentle. He leaned over slowly and stood in front of the bed, squatting down slightly to observe her adorable sleeping face.

Actually, the angel was already very cute usually, but this innocent and adorable appearance when she was asleep was magnified again. And perhaps because she was always on edge at school, she usually had a rather aloof expression when he saw her. So, every time he came home and saw her softened appearance, his heart would become especially satisfied, as if this adorable contrast was something only he could enjoy. And now, he had unlocked a new CG—the angel sleeping soundly in bed. At this moment, she was more like an extremely cute little animal than a beautiful girl.

Thinking of this, Xia Chuanzou couldn't help but want to reach out and gently stroke her smooth hair again, and couldn't help but want to try poking her soft cheeks.

And—he did indeed do so.

The feeling of the smooth face transmitted to his fingertips was almost exactly the same as the softness he had experienced before. And just gently pressing on it would make it deform a little, and when he pulled back slightly, it would slowly spring back up. It was truly soft and squishy to the extreme.

Undoubtedly, this smooth touch would naturally make people want to linger on it forever, so Xia Chuanzou couldn't help but poke it gently twice with his fingertips.

"She's too cute..." Xia Chuanzou murmured.

Because it was so soft and comfortable, he had only intended to take a small taste, but now he couldn't stop himself and began to wander around gently with movements like stroking a cat.

Although he was already trying to use less force, the result was that the angel, who was sleeping peacefully, made a seductive sound that was hoarse but sweet, like "Hmm..."

Then, just as he was about to pull his hand back, the angel's originally closed eyes began to open slowly.

At first, they were a pair of moist eyes with unfocused pupils. Her caramel-colored pupils were reflecting his "mischievous" appearance. Her expression was still a bit loose and dazed, and her face retained the childish afterglow of waking up. Her consciousness should still be in a daze at this time, so he wanted to take the opportunity to pull his hand back, perhaps he could fool her.

But as a result, in his vision, the angel tilted her head slightly, revealing a "confused" look, then quickly lowered her eyebrows and closed her eyes again gently.

He thought that this might be the best time to withdraw his hand, but she began to actively lean her face against his fingers and rub against them gently. At the same time, she also made a spoiled "Umm..." sound in her throat.

Xia Chuanzou's pupils suddenly dilated, and he doubted whether he had seen it wrong.

But the fact was so, she took the initiative to rub her face against him as if she was saying "Please don't leave".

Perhaps... no, no perhaps, he could probably be sure, Xia Chuanzou thought.

The angel was clearly still sleepy, otherwise she would never have been able to make such intimate movements so naturally. It was like a little cat that was usually proud, aloof, and ignored people, suddenly learning to meow and act spoiled and frequently showing it in front of you. He could only explain her cute actions as "sleepy."

So, what about him? Obviously, he wasn't sleepy, and he knew very well what "bad" things he was doing. He was even quite clear that when the angel woke up completely, she would definitely point her finger at his nose and scold him for being too much, how could he play pranks on her while she was sleeping?

So, was he going to choose to stop?

No, of course not! How could he just stop like that? Of course, he would continue to cherish her according to his inner thoughts!

Both his inner desires and his mood were saying so, so he did so. After all, he didn't usually get to see such a soft and cute angel, and honestly, he was very interested in "how spoiled and cute she could be!"

So, with the angel's active cooperation, he felt more of her softness, more of her warmth, and correspondingly, some heat began to emerge in his heart and on his face without him realizing it.

"Hmm... Hmm..."

He didn't know how long such a scene lasted, because Xia Chuanzou had completely stopped paying attention to time, and all his attention was focused on feeling her cuteness. Then finally... she seemed to have finally woken up and opened her eyes again slowly.

"...Eh?" The angel made a very pleasant sound.

After making eye contact with him, Mahiru quickly moved her gaze to his fingers that were touching her, and then seemed to freeze her entire body.

"!"

Then, immediately after, she moved away abruptly and sat up all at once.

"G-Good morning!"

"Good morning... no, I should say it's evening now, right?" Xia Chuanzou felt a little regret in his heart, but he was also curious as to why the angel's reaction seemed a little bland, as if it wasn't as intense as he had imagined?

"Umm..." Mahiru's cheeks looked a little red. Xia Chuanzou thought that this might also be due to the fact that she had just been confused again and said something outrageous.

"..."

The angel seemed a little uneasy, constantly looking at him, then looking at his hand that hadn't fully retracted, and her face seemed to show a somewhat resentful expression, but on closer inspection, it didn't seem quite like it.

"What's wrong?" Xia Chuanzou asked curiously, without the slightest awareness that he had done something "bad", but instead began to "interrogate" this innocent girl.

"...Does Zou like to touch faces?" The angel pulled over the edge of the blanket, slightly covering her pretty face.

"Hmm?"

"Because... it's happened before, and it's like this today too..." Shiina Mahiru's eyes flickered.

She recalled the scene from before a little. When she woke up, she thought she was still dreaming. When she found Zou by her side and stroking her with his hand, she felt so comfortable and at ease that she followed along and accidentally enjoyed it. But now that she was fully awake, her mind was filled with shame, but she was unwilling to admit that it was her fault and wanted to put all the responsibility on him.

"Ah... maybe... yes, I guess..." Xia Chuanzou also felt a little embarrassed, because being pointed out by the person involved, the originally somewhat relaxed thoughts became slightly faded.

"As I thought... Zou is an idiot."

"Eh?" Xia Chuanzou was a little surprised, because he rarely saw Mahiru "scolding" like this.

But he had to say, it was actually a little exciting, what was going on?

The "idiot" spoken from the angel's mouth not only didn't feel like being scolded, but instead sounded a little "spoiled", so Xia Chuanzou couldn't help but have the intention of teasing her.

"Although I did do something bad—but Mahiru is also responsible!"

"...Eh?"

"Who told you to be so cute, and so defenseless, so I couldn't help but take action." Xia Chuanzou coughed a few times, suddenly feeling that his statement was really quite shameless, actually wanting to put all the responsibility on Mahiru, it was simply the behavior of a scumbag. Although he originally just wanted to tease her, was it too much?

"And I was originally going to take it back, but Mahiru suddenly pulled it over and wouldn't let me take it..."

"Eh? How could that be..." The angel's tone seemed very pitiful, with a weak and helpless cute appearance, which he found very satisfying.

And how should he say it... Although Mahiru seemed quite "pitiful" now, and was lightly wrinkling her little nose with a pout, Xia Chuanzou could still feel that she was definitely not angry, and might not even have the slightest intention of blaming him, because she was such a cute and gentle person.

Even if she was really "deceived" by him, after reacting, she might just glare at him lightly, thinking that this would be punishment enough for him, right?

"But, if you do this kind of thing, Zou is also responsible, right?" The angel retorted with a slight pout, she was unwilling to give in like this.

"I clearly thought that Zou wouldn't do that kind of thing... I-I was also pretending to be asleep to confirm that..."

"...Is that so?" Xia Chuanzou's expression was very subtle.

In his opinion, the angel's remarks were too cute, after all, she had just said "I believe he wouldn't do anything to attack me", and then said "I was pretending to be asleep to confirm that", but in fact?

She wasn't pretending to be asleep; she was clearly sound asleep, right?!

Explaining her little mistake as wanting to test if he would have bad intentions made her seem like a very clever girl... Wow, the angel is just too cute, isn't she?!

Of course, he was quite touched that she could say she trusted him like that, but it was also quite necessary to give her a good lesson, because he naturally hoped that she would never show this to other men except in front of him, so it didn't matter even if he might not be able to experience it himself in the future.

"Yeah, I'm glad to hear you say that, but..." Natsukawa Kanade nodded, expressing his thoughts to her. "After all, I'm a guy, okay? Such a cute girl sleeping in my bedroom, sleeping on the bed I usually sleep on, it's absolutely impossible to say I wouldn't do anything, right? I'm a guy, after all..."

"Th-that kind of thing, I still know it..." The angel lightly patted the quilt, as if protesting.

"Oh?" Natsukawa Kanade raised an eyebrow, and bad intentions welled up in his heart again. "Does this mean... does Mahiru actually want me to do something?"

"H-how could that be!" The angel denied him strongly, her face completely red.

Natsukawa Kanade chuckled immediately, because this reaction was completely within his expectations, and he felt very satisfied seeing her blushing and shy.

But seeing him like this, the angel seemed to misunderstand that she was being ridiculed, and suddenly made a "Uu..." sound of shame, but the power of just a light glare was not enough to make him restrain himself, so she made another small beast-like wail of "Guu..." Finally, having no other choice, she simply covered her face with the quilt and then burrowed into the covers.

"Glug glug," indistinct sounds came from under the covers.

"Uh..." Natsukawa Kanade opened his mouth, watching her act like an ostrich, and forcibly swallowed the retort, "This is my bed, isn't it?"

After all, it was the result of his mischief. If he even pulled away the quilt she was using to shield her eyes, she might really explode with shame, and she might not talk to him for several days like before.

In short, for the sake of his meals for the next few days, he decided it would be better not to tease her until the angel's shyness completely subsided.

But even though he had decided to leave her alone for a while, his body didn't think so, and even made a strange sound on its own.

"Grumble~"

So Natsukawa Kanade subconsciously covered his stomach and prayed that the sound hadn't been heard by the other person.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as he expected, and the angel's movements stopped suddenly, and she quickly emerged from the covers.

But she didn't say anything, just stared at him with a strange look.

"..."

"Uh..."

Their eyes met, and Natsukawa Kanade felt a little embarrassed, but the angel suddenly "Pfft" laughed.

"I just can't do anything with you..."

"..."

He blushed slightly.

Final Chapter

Ordinary people's daily lives don't actually have that many turbulent stories, and Natsukawa Kanade had always thought so, but he didn't realize until the end that he was actually not ordinary at all—after all, he was a transmigrator, so how could he be "ordinary"? It's just that compared to other transmigrator seniors, his "golden finger" awakened exceptionally slowly—

It wasn't until right before the college entrance exam that all the memories of his previous life, his life before that... or rather, every life before his rebirth, were finally slowly recalled by him.

Not any key parts, but very trivial, continuous memories—memories of him getting together with each "heroine."

I guess you could say these are the so-called IF lines? In those worlds, his "conquest" was quite successful. Every time, he got together with them very smoothly, from getting to know each other to him starting his pursuit, and successfully dating, then getting married, then having children, and finally growing old together, and now, all the memories generated in these IF worlds have all been recalled by him at this moment.