Guk?

Haruto said, "Not a good idea."

He continued, "Let's do this. From now on, you'll only have one day of tutoring each weekend, and the other day will be for resting."

Itsuki hesitated, "But can we really manage like that?"

"Are you tired, Kuromori-san? I can give you a massage." Yotsuba stood up and offered.

Haruto waved his hand, "Yotsuba, don't worry. I don't think you're in trouble, and I'm not giving up on you."

After a pause, seeing Yotsuba looking at him with sad eyes, Haruto thought for a moment and said, "Actually, I am a little tired, and my shoulders are a bit sore. If you're willing, Yotsuba, you can give me a massage."

Yotsuba's eyes lit up and she quickly said, "Yes, leave it to me, Kuromori-san!"

While Yotsuba was giving him a massage, Haruto glanced at the other sisters, ignoring the not-so-friendly looks from Nino and Miku. Enjoying the massage, he said, "We'll have one day of extra classes during the weekend, and in the afternoons, we'll study at the school library for a bit."

"If something unexpected comes up, I'll let you know later."

"Yotsuba, a little more pressure, um... yes, that's perfect..."

"Ah, much better."

"Hehe, from now on, if Kuromori-san is tired, just leave it to me..." Yotsuba said happily.

Miku puffed out her cheeks slightly, giving an unfriendly look.

Nino glared at Haruto in disgust, "Kuromori, you perv, stop bullying Yotsuba."

Ichika: "Kuromori-kun, you're such a bad guy!"

Miku: "Guilty!"

Itsuki: "Huh? Wait, is he... in trouble?"

Haruto responded firmly, "Goodbye!"

After saying goodbye and leaving the Nakano household, Haruto slowly made his way back to his apartment.

Passing by a food court, the tempting smell of food filled the air.

Without hesitation, he walked straight into the food court.

Soon, he bought some takoyaki and two red bean daifuku.

He headed to a nearby park. There weren't many people in the park. He found a bench and sat down. Haruto looked up at the sky through the gaps in the trees, then lowered his gaze.

He had taken some precautions against the Demon Summoning incident. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to enjoy his daily life so leisurely.

"Woof, woof…"

At that moment, a puppy came running up to him. It started rubbing against his legs, rolling around on the ground.

Haruto stared at it silently, then looked at the last takoyaki in his box, skewered it with a bamboo stick, and held it up.

He glanced at the puppy on the ground, "Want some?"

The puppy immediately sat up, tongue hanging out, staring at the takoyaki.

"Good, looks like you really want it."

Haruto nodded, then raised his hand as if he was about to toss the takoyaki.

In the next moment, the puppy jumped up, turned its head to the sky, and…

Where's the food?

The puppy seemed confused. Its nose kept sniffing, turning around, but unfortunately, it couldn't find the takoyaki.

Finally, the puppy looked at Haruto.

Man and dog stared at each other.

The puppy slowly tilted its head, eyes blank: "Woof?"

Haruto swallowed the food and shrugged, "Sorry, the food's gone."

At that moment, a familiar voice sounded, "Is that... Kuromori-kun?"

"Hm?"

Haruto turned and saw Yuigahama standing not far away, looking at him with a strange expression.

"So, it really is Kuromori-kun..."

Haruto asked helplessly, "Yui, when did you get here?"

"Well, uh…"

Yuigahama definitely understood why Haruto was asking because…

She couldn't stop laughing.

Otherwise, Haruto would've been too embarrassed to handle it.

Yuigahama covered her mouth and turned away, but she couldn't hold it in and burst into laughter.

Haruto's face darkened.

Yuigahama laughed so hard she was almost in tears.

She never expected that while walking her dog, she would witness such an amusing scene.

Usually calm, composed, rational Haruto…

Hearing her laughter, Haruto's face grew even darker. He glanced at the dog wagging its tail and stuck out his tongue, staring at the pup.

Maybe he'd have dog meat for dinner tonight?

Although he'd never tried it, a little variety might spice things up, right?

As the dog noticed Haruto staring at it, its tail wagged even more vigorously. It had no idea it was being considered part of Haruto's dinner plan.

Haruto waved, "Come here."

The dog, tongue out, quickly trotted over to Haruto's side.

He patted the dog on the head.

The dog, unaware of the situation, showed no resistance at all.

However, Haruto had his suspicions.

Animals' senses were much sharper than humans', so theoretically, this dog should have sensed the intimidating aura around him.

If that were the case, the dog's submission made perfect sense.

Yuigahama, having laughed enough, sat down next to Haruto.

Haruto glanced at her, "You're not laughing anymore?"

"Hmm~"

Yuigahama's face turned red as she cautiously asked, "Um... Kuromori-kun, you're not mad, right?"

"No." Despite the embarrassing moment, that was all there was to it.

Haruto picked up a strawberry daifuku and noticed Yuigahama's eyes lighting up. He couldn't help but say, "This is strawberry daifuku I just bought. Want to try it?"

"Eh? Can I?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks, Kuromori-kun."

Yuigahama eagerly took a bite of the red bean daifuku, her eyes twinkling with joy.

Haruto looked away.

He always felt that if he took Itsuki out for food, he might witness something interesting.

"Kuromori-kun, let's go see Shouko-chan today."

"Mm."

"Shouko-chan started talking today. Although there's still a lot she doesn't understand, she's much better now."

Yuigahama blinked at Haruto and said, "Kuromori-kun, aren't you curious about what we talked about?"

"Not really."

When girls gather, the topics are often bolder and more direct than those of guys, so Haruto had no interest in knowing.

"How can Kuromori-kun be like this!"

Yuigahama poked him playfully, "When a girl asks if you want to know something, you should say yes and satisfy her urge to express herself. Otherwise, you won't be able to find a girlfriend..."

'That's the last thing you need to worry about. Whether it's Mafuyu-chan, Miku, or Nino, they all have a chance of becoming girlfriends!'

Haruto sighed, "Fine, I'm curious, tell me."