Chapter 6: Presenting a United Front

“Regarding a girl’s bust size, you might not be very familiar... This corresponds to a 34C. If they ask about the feel or anything like that, I’ll stop them.”

Although he quickly withdrew his gaze, Tsukiko Yamabuki noticed it and felt her cheeks flush. She braced herself and continued.

Because she wanted to drink coffee, she had already taken off her mask, revealing her delicate and beautiful face.

“Alright.”

Ryuichi Sugawara noticed the slight redness on her face, clearly a sign of embarrassment, and avoided looking at her too much.

Ultimately, he himself felt a bit flushed. Even though he had been in relationships in his previous life, having such a stunning girl reveal her measurements so openly was quite overwhelming.

“By the way, why is your weight a secret?”

To ease her embarrassment, Ryuichi recalled a detail from their earlier conversation and asked curiously.

She had already shared her measurements, yet weight was off-limits.

“Because a girl’s weight is a secret even her boyfriend can’t know.”

Though Tsukiko had braved saying her measurements, she couldn’t bring herself to reveal her weight. Her measurements were good, a point of pride, but her weight was not—after all, she was taller than many slimmer girls.

“I understand.”

Ryuichi didn’t quite get the reason but respected it.

“I’m nearsighted with a prescription of -4.00, 23 years old, born on August 13th under Leo. I like reading on rainy days, drinking coffee, eating mapo tofu, and my favorite music is piano pieces—especially Mr. Sakamoto’s ‘Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence’... By the way, your name is quite similar to Mr. Sakamoto’s.”

After prioritizing the key details, Tsukiko began sharing some trivial personal information—things unlikely to be asked but worth mentioning. Suddenly, she noticed something.

“Because Mr. Sakamoto is my parents’ idol.”

Ryuichi, who had been carefully memorizing her information, explained.

In this life, his parents hadn’t hidden the origin of his name.

“Perhaps that’s an even more fitting coincidence, since my greatest idol is Ryuichi Sakamoto, and your name is Ryuichi too. That’s why I felt so favorable toward your approach.”

Tsukiko had long noticed he shared a first name with Mr. Sakamoto, though not the surname. It was only now, realizing he was pretending to be her boyfriend, that she felt a thrill.

“Indeed.”

Ryuichi agreed the coincidence was quite nice.

“By the way, can you play the piano?”

Having settled on the story of their meeting, Tsukiko suddenly recalled something and asked with curiosity.

Her gaze involuntarily drifted to Ryuichi’s hands.

Long, slender fingers, pale and flawless, with distinct knuckles—these hands looked perfect for playing piano.

“I played a little, but gave up after a short time.”

“Why did you quit?”

“Because I thought piano lessons were too expensive, so I pretended to have no talent at all.”

Since she had already revealed such personal secrets as her measurements, Ryuichi saw no need to hide this trivial part of his past.

“Ryuichi, you’re really mature for your age…”

Learning this, Tsukiko looked up at him, surprised.

From their superficial exchanges before, she hadn’t realized how mature he was—so different from the other students at school.

Both his words and behavior, as well as his outlook and planning, were mature. He showed none of the typical senior-year confusion about the future.

Moreover, when with her, he lacked the awkwardness expected of a teenager, remained calm in difficult situations, and was especially considerate, good at seeing things from others’ perspectives.

“...”

Ryuichi shrugged, offering no comment.

If there was one advantage of his rebirth, it was surely his early maturity—having lived more than twice as long as his peers.

Psychologically, he was even older than Ms. Yamabuki.

That said, because both lives were spent as a teenager without starting a family, he was not yet truly worldly-wise.

“By the way, you were the one who pursued me.”

Seeing him just smile without responding, Tsukiko realized she had once again slipped into the teacher’s perspective. Snapping back, she quickly changed the subject.

“Of course.”

Ryuichi understood her stubbornness and mindset. Being pursued by someone so outstanding in every way was something to be proud of.

“I’ve said almost everything I want to. Now it’s your turn.”

“Is that enough?”

“If they ask about my younger days, just say you don’t know. They’ll fill in the blanks themselves, thinking I kept secrets from you.”

Tsukiko nodded slightly in agreement. She could imagine that tonight’s reunion, with four girls and one boy, might get quite wild, but this was generally sufficient.

“To be safe, I think a few more answers should be standardized.”

Considering her concern, Ryuichi pondered and then proposed.

“What things?”

“Number of days dating, number of dates, number of trips, places we’ve been together, and number of times we’ve booked a hotel room.”

“Booked a hotel room?”

Upon hearing this, Tsukiko’s heart skipped a beat. She looked nervously at his handsome profile.

[Tsukiko’s heartbeat quickens, affection level +1]

“If they suspect I’m fake and want to verify somehow, these details are crucial. Agreeing on answers beforehand will make it easier to handle.”

Ryuichi felt no embarrassment about the topic; he simply believed in being prepared.

No matter how much preparation, it is never enough.

But the more you prepare, the more unexpected situations you can handle.

“Indeed... What do you think we should say?”

Tsukiko thought carefully, nodding in agreement, though she was unprepared. She simply passed the question to the one who brought it up.

“Dating days should be set at 362; incomplete data like that sounds more convincing. After all, not every date ends in an overnight stay—there are always unforeseen circumstances. Number of dates and hotel bookings should be 81 times and 72 times, respectively.”

Based on the conditions, Ryuichi quickly finalized the numbers.

“72 times? That’s not even a full year—wouldn’t that be too many?”

Hearing the figure, Tsukiko was startled.

“Not at all, actually it’s on the low side. Considering you have such a beautiful girlfriend and I’m at a vigorous age, staying at a hotel every five days on average is quite normal.”

Ryuichi nodded slightly, explaining as he glanced at her lovely face.

Any normal man with such a gorgeous girlfriend would be expected to book a hotel room almost every day.

“...”

Tsukiko had no experience or concept of this and could only nod.

Vigorous age... the bluntness of this description made her glance at Ryuichi’s face.

So, if they were dating, would he really take her to a hotel every five days on average?

[Tsukiko’s heartbeat quickens, affection level +1]

“Lastly, let’s say we took two trips together. During the relationship, we went to Kyoto in summer to enjoy the fireworks festival and to Hokkaido in winter to ski.”

After confirming that he hadn’t offended her with this remark, Ryuichi continued arranging the story.

“Alright.”

Not wanting him to notice her wandering thoughts, Tsukiko responded enthusiastically and committed the details to memory.