His two most recent suspected body swaps—the ones he assumed were a downside of the superpower—had both happened after he woke from sleep, the two of them having switched places overnight.
In other words, the drawback took effect after he fell asleep.
It wasn't as though Lin Ye had never wondered whether staying up all night might avoid this situation from happening.
He wanted to test it, but after thinking it over he decided against it. Nearly half of this week had already passed—there was no need to keep torturing himself like this.
Besides, Haruno Yukinoshita had already used his body to commit such vile deeds, so what else was there that he couldn't accept?
Lin Ye walked down the main street alone.
The sky was pitch black, a bright full moon hanging high overhead. Both sides of the street were ablaze with lights, and the occasional vehicle drove past, bringing the faintest trace of sound to the silent night.
Today he'd spent the day in Haruno's body at Chiba University. There hadn't been much going on, but Haruno really was quite popular at Chiba University.
Beyond the male students who came up to strike up a conversation, there were even girls doing the same.
Quite a few of those girls had rather good looks and figures too.
No wonder Haruno had said back then that using her body at Chiba University would let him take advantage of plenty of female college students.
Setting aside the matter of gender, it was more that Haruno drew the attention of those female college students and made them approach of their own accord.
For him to use Haruno's body to take advantage would be all too easy—she'd even thought that luring a few of the female college students to a hotel was entirely doable.
Because he'd keenly noticed that a few of them—especially the best-looking one—were looking at Haruno with something that was decidedly not the gaze of an ordinary classmate, but a look that carried that certain nature to it.
But—
Lin Ye naturally refused.
He refused every last one, without the slightest hesitation.
Unlike Haruno, who borrowed her body to fool around and make a mess of things, he was well-behaved. Even now, knowing what Haruno had done, he had no regrets about his own honesty.
People are different from one another.
He wouldn't change his own conduct because of Haruno's behavior.
Lin Ye got off the train, left the train station, and walked toward his apartment.
In under fifteen minutes, he arrived at the foot of his apartment building.
The instant he opened the door, a massive figure came bounding out.
It was John.
"Woof woof woof…"
He barked a couple of times to express the excitement in his heart.
Lin Ye reached out and gave John's head a good, firm rub.
"Awoo, awoo,"
John was even more satisfied now—he loved having his head rubbed.
It'd be even better if the one rubbing his head were a bit prettier.
So thought the black German Shepherd.
"All right, all right, I know you're hungry. I'll get your late-night snack ready."
"Wah wah wah…"
The moment John heard it was food, he got even happier, his big tail wagging away nonstop.
'Rattle-rattle…' The dog food was poured into the bowl, and Lin Ye filled up a cup of water as well.
The instant Lin Ye finished and stood up, John, upon seeing him done, immediately leaned in and started eating.
'Crunch, crunch…'
He ate very fast, as though he hadn't had a meal in a long, long time.
Lin Ye stroked John's back, then turned and headed back through the kitchen and into the bathroom to wash up.
Tonight, he'd just take a bath and go to sleep.
Lying in bed, Lin Ye switched off the light, but recalling the way things had been before sleeping last night, he found himself a little wistful for the soft, delicate body of a girl.
Sure enough, sleeping alone and sleeping with a girl in your arms really were two completely different feelings.
"Maybe I'll go over to Yukino's place tomorrow!"
But thinking of the possibility of yet another body swap, Lin Ye thought it over and gave up on the idea after all.
If it were Haruno, that would be fine, but if it were someone else, that would be terrible.
Lin Ye decided to just endure it for this one week!
With that, Lin Ye closed his eyes and sank into a deep sleep.
John returned to his own spot, laid his head down on the floor, closed his eyes, and fell fast asleep as well.
The second day arrived soon enough.
Lin Ye opened his eyes and the first thing he did was confirm his own condition.
"My hand,"
Not the soft, delicate hand of a woman.
Today, there was no body swap.
Lin Ye set the worry in his heart to rest.
Breakfast was a rice ball he'd left in the fridge; after heating it in the microwave, he drank it down together with some milk.
This was Lin Ye's simplest of breakfasts.
John's breakfast and lunch, along with the dinner that might need preparing in advance, were extremely simple.
"I'll bring you roast duck when I get back tonight,"
"Woof woof woof…"
The moment John heard it, he barked wildly in excitement.
Roast duck—he hadn't had it in ages. He loved it!
Ever since coming to this place, although he got three meals a day, they were all dog food, and he really was getting sick of it.
Lin Ye headed off to Sobu High School, walking the road toward the school gate just as he always did.
That day, gazing at the backs of one youthful, lovely figure after another, his mood remained rather good.
Compared to college students, high schoolers really did have more of that youthful flair.
Before long, Lin Ye spotted a familiar face—Miura Yumiko.
That gorgeous golden hair was far too conspicuous, and Lin Ye caught sight of her at a single glance.
She was his nominal girlfriend at Sobu High—something practically every teacher and student there knew.
In reality, though, she was not his girlfriend. Lin Ye didn't have much interest in her, and right now he didn't have much inclination to pay any attention to that golden-haired young girl either.
But before long, Lin Ye sensed a peculiar gaze. Following it, he noticed the direction it was coming from was Miura Yumiko.
That golden-haired young girl was looking at him with a somewhat displeased gaze.
What was the matter?
Where had he offended Miura Yumiko?
As he pondered, Lin Ye found that Miura Yumiko had already turned her head back and resumed walking toward Sobu High, her pace even quicker, the distance between the two of them growing even greater.
He thought about it, then filed it under the category of Miura Yumiko being on her period, and stopped dwelling on it.
After a few more steps, Lin Ye saw a pretty figure pacing back and forth, waiting at the gate of Sobu High School.
Iroha Isshiki.
Clearly, Iroha Isshiki was here to find him—the guess quickly surfaced in Lin Ye's mind.
"Senpai, Senpai…"
The instant she saw Lin Ye, Iroha Isshiki came trotting over.
She was still brimming with energy and vitality, as though nothing had happened the night before.
If anything, it was because of what had happened last night that she'd grown even more confident in herself.
"What is it?"
"I just missed Senpai so much—what other business could I possibly have?"
Iroha Isshiki gave a little giggle and quite naturally took her place at Lin Ye's side.
On her way over she'd run into Senpai Miura Yumiko and caught Miura Yumiko's scrutinizing gaze, but she didn't care.
Even though she'd witnessed Miura Yumiko and Lin Ye embracing and kissing at noon yesterday, she still didn't care, and chose to ignore it.
Some things didn't warrant too much of her attention—paying them too much mind would only bring herself trouble and add to her worries.
"Sweet talk won't work,"
"Oh, then how about this…"
She swiftly tossed Lin Ye a flirtatious wink. "Tonight… would be okay!"
The suggestive meaning was more than obvious.
Iroha Isshiki had returned to her usual attitude, launching yet another fresh round of seduction and flirtation at Lin Ye.
In Iroha Isshiki's view, Senpai still had needs and still had thoughts about her. Last night's performance and reaction were the best proof of that—it was only that something had happened afterward that returned him to his everyday state, back into that calm, composed Senpai.
So much so that last night she'd let a good opportunity slip by.
Iroha Isshiki regretted it!
If last night she hadn't hesitated and dithered for so long, she'd probably have already succeeded in claiming Senpai.
It was precisely because of her hesitation that she'd lost that best of chances.
Thinking back on it now, oh, how Iroha Isshiki regretted it in her heart!
"Not interested."
"Where is Senpai not interested? Last night you looked plenty interested."
Lin Ye stopped paying this junior any more attention.
The two of them walked shoulder to shoulder.
Over the not-inconsiderable distance, there was the sound of fine, fragmented murmuring.
It was the chatter of the surrounding Sobu High students.
"Isn't Lin Ye Student Miura's boyfriend?"
"That's the first-year Iroha Isshiki, right? Why is she walking so close to Miura Yumiko's boyfriend?"
"And it's not the first or second time either. Student Miura has definitely seen it—why doesn't she come confront them?"
...
...
Yes, what they cared about more was why Miura Yumiko, who clearly already knew her boyfriend was walking so close to a junior, hadn't come to confront the two of them of her own accord.
They wanted to watch a good show, but didn't get to see one, so of course their moods weren't good.
Lin Ye heard it clearly. His gaze fell on Iroha Isshiki's cheek, but he found that Iroha Isshiki wore nothing but an expression of indifference, as if she hadn't heard the outsiders' chatter about the two of them at all.
"What is it, Senpai? Senpai, could it be you've noticed that my makeup looks really nice today?"
After she said it, she bashfully touched her cheek. "All the careful preparation I did before heading out today really was worth it."
She revealed a shy smile.
Her acting really is getting better and better, Lin Ye thought to himself.
"It looks awful,"
"Hahaha, so it really does look nice. When it comes to Senpai's words, you've got to take them the opposite way."
Lin Ye instinctively wanted to fire off another line, but quickly held it back. Against a thick-skinned girl like Iroha Isshiki, this method of his really didn't have much effect.
A normal girl, faced with his refusal, would long since have chosen to back off in the face of difficulty. But this Iroha Isshiki—oh, and Haruno too, these two girls—took an entirely different attitude.
These two even had similar personalities: the kind that loved to stir up mischief, playful and outgoing.
Faced with his refusal, they could always accept it wholesale, without showing the slightest sign of caring.
"You really don't mind the surrounding classmates' gossip?"
"Oh, oh, Senpai minds about that?"
Iroha Isshiki countered with a question of her own.
"No."
"If even Senpai doesn't mind, what would I mind about?"
After her counter-question, Iroha Isshiki swept her eyes around and continued, "The boys are all pining and can't have me—hmph, plenty of them fancy me, but I couldn't care less about them. That's just sour grapes because they can't reach the grapes."
That confidence very nearly sank Lin Ye right there.
But to be honest, it was perfectly normal for Isshiki to have this much confidence. In terms of looks and appearance, Isshiki ranked among the top even at Sobu High.
She was a rare beauty, too.
The number of boys who liked Isshiki was absolutely not small.
"And the girls?"
"Heh, that's even simpler—they're just jealous of me. Especially since I dare to be together with Senpai openly and in broad daylight. Senpai, you're currently Senpai Miura Yumiko's nominal boyfriend, and for me to be with you—doesn't that mean I'm more charming than Senpai Miura Yumiko?"
There didn't seem to be much wrong with that logic.
But the price to be paid for it was a very poor reputation.
Once the label of stealing someone's boyfriend got stuck on, it would have an enormous impact on Iroha Isshiki's future life at Sobu High. On top of that, cliques were a serious matter in Japanese schools, and bullying was even more rampant.
A cute girl who'd committed such an act as Iroha Isshiki was all the more likely to become a target of bullying for the girl cliques of her own grade, or even the upper grades.
"Aren't you worried about being bullied?"
"Nope. With Senpai here, who would dare bully me?"
Iroha Isshiki answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world, as though it were simple fact, treating Lin Ye as her own bodyguard.
"Ahem, ahem, ahem—no, that's not right. It should be that, aside from Senpai being able to bully me, no one else could possibly bully me. Senpai will protect me. Mm-hmm, it's definitely so."
As she spoke, she smiled with a blushing face.
And those two carefully chosen instances of the word 'bully' immediately made Lin Ye realize what she meant.
This girl never forgot to tempt him, no matter the moment.
Last night, Haruno's actions while using his body had filled Isshiki with confidence in her own charm.
This debt, too, would have to be tallied against Haruno.
But even now, Lin Ye knew that the debt Haruno was already shouldering was getting to be quite a lot.
He even worried that Haruno had already prepared to vanish and hide away for a while and wouldn't show up.
But she'd appear sooner or later, and this debt would not fade away with the passage of time.
Haruno's idea of trading time for peace was doomed to be in vain.
"You're overthinking it,"
"Hahaha, so I really wasn't thinking enough. When the time comes, Senpai, besides stepping forward to protect me, you'll surely also declare to everyone that I belong to you. Mm-hmm, it's definitely so,"
Iroha Isshiki seemed to be fantasizing about something.
Seeing this, Lin Ye didn't continue this topic with the junior any further.
The two of them walked into the campus and parted ways at the intersection.
"Senpai, see you at noon."
She even gave Lin Ye a light hug, to express her own friendliness and tenderness.
Any other man would probably have fallen for her long ago.
After Iroha Isshiki left, Lin Ye headed straight for where the second-year International Class was located.
The moment he entered the classroom, Lin Ye saw the girl with long black hair standing at her spot, gazing out at the scenery beyond the window.
The gentle morning breeze blew, and the girl's long black hair fluttered in disarray.
She seemed to sense Lin Ye's arrival, so she gave a slight sideways glance in his direction, but her gaze lingered on Lin Ye for only the briefest moment.
By the time Lin Ye was about to arrive, she had already sat back down in her own seat.
"Morning, Yukinoshita."
"Morning,"
Today, she gave a reply again.
And judging from Lin Ye's reaction just now, she determined that today's Lin Ye was the real him, and not someone else, and certainly not her older sister.
If it were her older sister Haruno occupying Lin Ye's body right now, there was no way he would greet her in such a manner.
A new day had begun once more.
Lin Ye figured today ought to be a peaceful, tranquil day.
...
...
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