Strategy for Dealing with Problematic Girls

"Would it kill you to show a little restraint?" Kyaru suddenly wondered whether she'd let herself be bewitched for a moment—she'd actually fallen right into Jhin's clutches, and to make it worse, she'd delivered herself straight to his door.

"Nope!" Jhin answered without a second's thought. "With a sweet, gentle girl I'm all meek and obedient—but with a tsundere, I strike with full force!"

"Are you saying I'm a tsundere?" Kyaru huffed and bared her sharp little fang at him, only for her cheeks to be immediately pinched so that her lips puckered up like a goldfish.

Flicking those jelly-like lips a couple of times with his index finger, Jhin gave them a hard little suck under her panic-stricken gaze, then let go with a grin.

Chocolate flavor—so this little kitten's been sneaking snacks while I wasn't looking?

While Kyaru's brain crashed and she stood frozen in place, he carefully studied that small cherry mouth. There was no trace of chocolate on the pale pink lips, nor on the little pearly teeth peeking out shyly behind them. That left only the tongue.

His scorching gaze lingered on her mouth, the heat spreading outward from that point as though to completely melt away Kyaru's entire mind. The wetness at the corners of her eyes made her think she really was starting to dissolve, and she hurriedly raised her left hand to wipe them—but the tears kept pouring out like a dam bursting.

Joy, bitterness, sorrow, and countless other emotions welling up from the depths of her soul were like a whole rack of seasonings knocked over and spilled together. She didn't understand why, when this was something that should have made her happy, the feelings in her heart were this complicated.

Kyaru buried her face in Jhin's chest and wept without a sound. In that moment he was like a sponge, embracing and absorbing all her emotions and tears.

Only when the shoulders of the girl in his arms stopped trembling did he finally stop the soothing pats on her back, asking gently, "Feeling a little better now?"

"I... I just now... I was supposed to be happy, but... I don't know why..."

"It's fine. Things you can't figure out, just don't think about them for now—wasn't that what you told me back then?"

"Mm." With reddened eyes, Kyaru pulled away from his warm embrace. Seeing the large wet patch on his chest, she tugged him toward the shopping street again. "Let me pick out another outfit for you."

"It just got a little wet, that's all. There's no need to buy new clothes, is there?"

By the time they came out of the shopping street once more, it was already dusk, and Jhin kept shaking his head, both hands loaded with big and small bags.

They'd agreed on buying just one outfit, but somehow—maybe it had awakened Kyaru's shopping urge—they'd ended up going through every single clothing store. They'd bought enough clothes for the two of them to change into a new set every day and play dress-up for a couple of months.

"So what now—keep going to the stalls to play games and win medals, or head straight back to the dorm?"

"Let's play a few more stalls. We already ate here in the shopping street, so we can't just waste a whole afternoon for nothing."

"Then you go play. It's hard for me to join the games while carrying all these clothes."

"Mm."

Kyaru walked up to a spinning-wheel stall with utter confidence. She casually spun the wheel, and the pointer came to rest right on the first-prize section. She turned back to Jhin smugly and said, "See? My luck today is really great."

"It really is. Keep it up, then."

"Mm!"

As time went on, Jhin, trailing behind her, sensed something was off. Rather than her luck being good, it was more like these stall owners were deliberately letting her land in the top three once they'd confirmed it was her playing—and yet Kyaru still hadn't noticed, immersed in her ever-growing pile of medals.

This bizarre situation continued right up until she decided to head back to the dorm and stop playing the stall games.

According to Jhin's tally, during this stretch Kyaru had played a total of fourteen games: three of them first place, four of them third place, and the remaining seven second place—and every one of them was a game decided mostly by luck.

If that still didn't make it obvious the whole thing was rigged, then he might as well find a place to go bury himself.

Just as Jhin was hesitating over whether to tell Kyaru about it, he bumped into a blonde girl.

"Ah, I'm sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going." The girl hurriedly bowed in apology.

"I'm partly to blame too. Are you all... band members?"

"Wow, you could actually tell? Amazing!"

Of course I can tell. I am, after all, your band's hidden fifth member.

Jhin only said that line inside his head; right now the four girls of Kessoku Band clearly didn't recognize this stranger.

Especially Hitori Gotoh—she hid behind Kita Ikuyo, observing him with timid eyes that mixed fear and curiosity. Kita Ikuyo could only awkwardly explain to Jhin, "This kid isn't very good at talking to people..."

If she could overcome that flaw, she'd surely be an excellent guitarist.

"Good eye!" Ryo gave him a thumbs-up. "You could actually tell Gotoh is the guitarist."

Seizing on the topic, Nijika urged Hitori Gotoh, "Gotoh, you heard him—you've got to work hard to overcome your social anxiety!"

"Ah, um... I will..."

Seeing her rolling her eyes and looking about ready to keel over, Jhin suddenly cut in, "Of course, the way she is right now is very cute too."

A displeased voice came from behind him: "Excuse me—the moment your girlfriend goes to the restroom, you're here flirting with other girls?"

Kyaru came striding over with puffed-out cheeks, and jealously latched onto his arm, taking the initiative to declare her sovereignty before Kessoku Band. The four of them looked at her, baffled as to why she'd suddenly developed a sense of rivalry.

Jhin shot her an admiring glance.

By order of appearance, you're the one who came later—snatching a man right in front of his current girlfriend, that's pretty bold of you.

"I wasn't flirting, just making small talk."

"That's exactly what cheaters always say!"

"Ah... well, we've got band practice, so we'll be going now. If you'd like to hear us play, please come to the central plaza then." Nijika clearly wanted no part in a couple's quarrel; she stuffed the tickets into Kyaru's hands and left with her companions.

Jhin soothed the ruffled little kitten and returned to the dorm with her. While she was off taking a bath, he took out that white sheet of paper with the rules written on it. It was giving off a faint white glow, and the fifth rule that had originally been missing was gradually taking shape.

"Five: Blood is the vessel of the soul, and memory is its currency—yet the currency alone is the one thing you cannot bring back."

"Currency can't be brought back? What does 'bring back' even mean..."

This rule was quite the riddle. Based on his current guesses, an absurd notion took root in Jhin's mind: this world... couldn't be fake, could it?

Only that could explain why he'd lost most of his memories and also couldn't carry the memories from here back to his waking self.

If it were fake, then the most likely explanation was that this world was a dream—but... could a dream be this real?

Jhin could clearly feel the softness of the blanket, and the faint scent of gardenias on Kyaru's bed. Picking up the clothes and stockings she'd changed out of, the lingering warmth and fragrance were crystal clear as well.

A dream... that doesn't quite add up, does it?

____

👻🔥P-a-t-r-e-o-n: Walnut-chan🔥👻

🔥 New history: Zenless Zone Zero: Rewriting Fate in New Eridu — new on The_Mikudayo

📚 40 chapters ahead over at Walnut-chan — your support is what pays for the translations

Help us hit our targets:

🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 free chapter for all

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!