Almost at the break of dawn, Suzuki Yuu got out of bed.
According to what his senpai requested, he was supposed to spend almost the entire day practicing at her house today.
When Hasegawa Aoi first suggested coming over to her place, Suzuki Yuu instinctively refused.
But her attitude was so firm, as if she wouldn’t let it go unless he agreed.
“If you really want to beat Jinguu, then do as I say!”
That was what she said at the time, leaving Suzuki Yuu with no choice but to comply.
To be honest, beating President Jinguu was just a trial for him, a benchmark he set for himself.
But whether or not he could actually do it was still an unknown, after all, the gap between them was obvious.
During this period, whether the system’s boost could help him reach that level was a mystery yet to be solved.
Of course, if he could sign a rental agreement with his senpai, then maybe he’d really have a chance. After all, double the learning efficiency was quite tempting.
But that was just wishful thinking. With Hasegawa-senpai’s perpetual slacker attitude, he couldn’t imagine what kind of reason would make her agree to such a request.
Unless she actually liked him—but that should be impossible.
As Suzuki Yuu mulled this over, everything he’d been thinking was overturned the moment he saw Hasegawa Aoi out in the countryside.
Senpai, who was usually so unreasonable, now looked rather shy and reserved. She handed Suzuki Yuu a sheet of paper, then clasped her hands behind her back, glancing away as if she was nervous.
Just like a bashful girl about to confess her feelings.
Suzuki Yuu took the document and stared blankly at it for nearly a full minute.
“Boyfriend Rental Agreement…”
Suzuki Yuu’s mind buzzed, instantly going blank.
He jerked his head up to look at Hasegawa Aoi, then down at the paper in his hand, wondering if he was hallucinating from waking up too early.
“Senpai, what is this…”
“Aren’t you running this service? I want to rent you too, is that not allowed!”
Hasegawa Aoi seemed to gather her courage, speaking earnestly.
“That’s not the issue, the point is why—”
“You’re going to be coming to my house to practice a lot, right? To convince my mom and dad, of course you need this identity!”
It sounded like she was forcing herself to find a reason she could accept. Her tone was a little guilty as she said it.
“But there’s no need to go that far—”
“Are you signing or not!”
Suzuki Yuu had just opened his mouth to suggest another way, but Hasegawa Aoi cut him off immediately, not giving him any chance at all.
Seeing her suddenly blow up and return to her usual domineering self, Suzuki Yuu actually felt the atmosphere return to normal.
But this agreement…
He looked over it in detail and found that the demands listed were all pretty vague, as if she wanted a lot but was deliberately avoiding anything too much for fear of angering him.
For instance, one clause said, “As boyfriend, must respond to certain requests from Party A,” but immediately after, in small print, “Party B has the right to refuse unreasonable or excessive demands.”
Another said, “In public places, appropriate displays of affection are allowed,” but didn’t specify what “appropriate” meant at all.
All of these requirements and behaviors had no clear limits, leaving Suzuki Yuu at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
He knew very well that Hasegawa Aoi’s stated reason didn’t hold water.
Even just as a normal senior-junior pair, spending a day practicing music at her house would be perfectly reasonable.
She was just forcing herself to find a pretext for this abrupt action.
But why did she need to do this?
Could it really be as he’d secretly fantasized—that senpai…
“No, that’s impossible. Don’t let my head be filled with wishful thinking.” He shook his head, thinking to himself, then picked up a pen and prepared to sign the agreement.
No matter what, there was no harm in doing this. Hasegawa-senpai’s skills were surely top-notch, and double learning efficiency was nothing to scoff at.
As for her real motive, he figured nothing too over-the-top would happen. After all, from what he’d seen these days, Hasegawa-senpai was rather harmless.
If every person he signed an agreement with was like her, that would be perfect.
“As for the money part, just skip it… Think of it as tuition I’m paying.”
After signing his name, Suzuki Yuu added this to her.
When Hasegawa Aoi took the agreement back, her whole face beamed with happiness.
“There’s really no need for this kind of thing… If you ever need something, senpai, just tell me directly and I’ll cooperate.”
Suzuki Yuu explained, but Hasegawa Aoi shook her head:
“No, having this makes me feel more at ease.”
She said something that left Suzuki Yuu a bit confused, and at that moment, a system prompt sounded in his mind:
[Detection: Binding target confirmed: Hasegawa Aoi]
[Detected: Host currently has emotional links with three females; if skills overlap, learning efficiency is doubled.]
[Detected: Hasegawa Aoi and Jinguu Amane share skills; Host’s piano performance, violin performance, and cello performance learning efficiency doubled.]
[Oboe (Expert) learning unlocked]
[Trumpet (Proficient) learning unlocked]
[Flute (Expert) learning unlocked]
…
A whole string of system prompts finally quieted down in Suzuki Yuu’s mind. It took him quite a while to digest it all.
It seemed that when it came to musical instruments, Hasegawa-senpai had dabbled in just about everything.
She really did seem to love music.
Of course, for Suzuki Yuu, he wasn’t planning to master all these skills; at most, he’d just look into them a bit.
At this moment, before he could even sort out all these newly unlocked abilities in his head, the girl beside him grabbed his hand:
“Let’s go! Time to practice at my place!” she said, brimming with energy.
Just like that, Suzuki Yuu was led to her house, where he soon faced the scrutiny of her parents.
The Hasegawa family home was in the suburbs—a spacious, detached Western-style house with a meticulously tended garden, clearly showing the owners’ refined taste.
“I’m home!”
Her cheerful voice echoed through the broad entry hall.
Suzuki Yuu followed behind her, just about to say “Sorry for the intrusion,” when, from a distance, he saw a middle-aged man with gold-rimmed glasses and a gentle, refined air put down his newspaper and fix him with a piercing gaze.
On the other side, a gentle woman in an apron paused while wiping a vase. Her features were about seventy percent similar to Hasegawa Aoi, and at that moment, she looked at the door in surprise, her gaze darting between her daughter and the boy behind her.
“Aoi? You’re home so early today?” the woman spoke first. “And the one behind you… ah, you must be Suzuki-kun, the one she mentioned before? Welcome.”
“Hello, ma’am.” Suzuki Yuu responded politely.
Hearing the boy’s voice, the lady’s smile deepened.
She didn’t reply right away; instead, her bright eyes carefully, thoroughly scanned the boy from head to toe once more.
After a few seconds, the surprise in her eyes faded, leaving only her smile—obviously, the more she looked at the classmate her daughter had brought home, the more satisfied she was.
Being stared at like this made Suzuki Yuu a bit uncomfortable, but at that moment, the middle-aged man in the living room spoke up:
“Mizuki, don’t keep our guest standing out there—bring him in to sit.”