I am that male friend in the harem story

[Kissing Level 3 (48/100).]

His kiss was quite good, or rather, Onodera was addicted to being kissed by him as it was so enjoyable. 

In the beginning, it was a bit rough and amateurish, but as Ishigami wished to improve, he studied hard and quickly became a master of this art. 

Onodera's skill might not improve much, but considering it had only been two days, they started to date each other; it was normal as her movement was still jerky, but under his guidance, it was so nice and enjoyable. It felt like her entire body was filled with a pleasant sensation that made her feel like she was drunk. 

Frankly, if her boyfriend pushed her further, she might agree to it, but as her boyfriend didn't want to hurt her, she knew that she had to be the one who took the initiative, and she knew what she wanted to do. 

However, before that, when they parted, she slightly grasped his 19 cm marker pen curiously with her slender hand, causing him to bend forward subconsciously, and slapped her hand away.

Naturally, Onodera pouted, but she stayed with him until he calmed down, and then she decided to leave to make her preparations. 

"Huh? Are you going home?" Tsubame was surprised and felt a bit happy somehow when she heard Onodera was going to go home. 

"Um." Onodera nodded, then looked at Ishigami with a shy smile. "We are going on a date tomorrow, so I want to prepare myself. See you on Monday, Senpai." She then moved closer to her boyfriend and kissed his cheek. "See you tomorrow~!" 

After she left, she took her smartphone and opened a ticketing app, scrolling at various places to rest in case they were exhausted after their date in Shibuya tomorrow. 

"..." 

Tsubame only stared at Onodera's back, who was happy and all jumpy, without saying anything until she heard Ishigami's apology. 

"I am sorry, Senpai." 

"...why did you apologize, Yuu-kun? You didn't do anything wrong." 

Yes, Ishigami didn't do anything wrong, but he felt that he had to apologize, especially when he knew that he was the one who caused Kobachi and Onodera to act that way toward Tsubame, and at the same time, he had to say Tsubame was as gentle as ever. 

"Well, they reacted that way because of me, after all." 

"Fufufu..." Tsubame smiled and said, "It seems you are not dense." 

"...did I give the impression that I am a dense character or something?" Ishigami looked at Tsubame speechlessly. 

"You are right." Tsubame still maintained her gentle smile, soft as ever, but at the same time, she also understood why it was so comfortable with him. He knew what she wanted, so he didn't do anything to her, nor did he try to give her an expectation that gave her a pressure, such as asking to date her like any other man, yet this was why she also shouldn't have pressured him, wishing them to remain the same, especially when there were many women who fell for him. 

Being a normal senior and a junior were the most comfortable, but if he had someone important to him, could this relationship remain the same? 

'No, no. I can't think of a way to do that.' 

If she thought that way, she would be like those girls who expected the companions of a male friend, who wouldn't betray them and be a place whenever they were hurt, then ignoring them when they made up with their boyfriends. 

Even though the girls didn't date the guy, they expected the guy to be by their side, hanging them and pretending not to see his feelings so they could have a comfortable place whenever they had a fight with their boyfriends. 

And as for those guys, with their pure love, they would await those girls, hoping they would see in their direction and start to date each other. 

Still, instead of Yuu, Tsubame felt that she was the one who was a dense character, especially when she also noticed many signs that Onodera had fallen for him, yet she pretended not to see anything and made an excuse that since they didn't date to each other, it was all fine for her to get close, right?

So, at this moment, she knew that she didn't have a right to get sad since she was the one who pretended not to see anything, and their decision to date also had nothing to do with her, especially when their relationship wasn't something that she could decide or stop, but even so—

"Yuu-kun, can I ask you something?" 

"What's wrong, Senpai?" 

"...why did you decide to date Rei-chan?" 

Ishigami stopped studying and looked at Tsubame, who asked such a question. While her voice was filled with curiosity, her expression was as gentle as ever, yet there was also sadness, reluctance, and other emotions that he couldn't read. 

"....." 

Frankly, he felt that this question was quite troublesome, and he wondered how many times he had been asked this type of question, so at this moment, he decided to use a different approach. 

"It's a secret." 

Like a shy, virgin boy, Ishigami decided to avoid answering this question. 

"......" 

Tsubame fell in silence, watching him, who suddenly acted in a different way than he usually was. She asked him seriously, but why did he answer her coquettishly?

"Yuu-kun!" 

"What?" 

"I am asking you seriously!" 

Ishigami felt helpless, wondering why everyone wanted to make everything become so complicated. Dating was just dating. Was there something else behind it?

While some people dated for a complicated reason, it was just a minority, after all. 

Dating was just two people who liked each other and wanted an excuse to do something perverted. 

However, some people could say it was also a preparation for a couple to take their relationship to the next step. 

Still, whatever the reason is, to make someone become an exclusive existence is the best way to describe why people are dating. 

"But aren't you afraid that your relationship won't work out? If you break up, then won't your relationship with her be awkward? Have you thought of that? More importantly, there are also many matters that you need to handle, especially if your breakup is so messy!" 

"...do you think that we're going to break up?" 

At the same time, he thought that Tsubame must have had a lot of messy relationships that hurt her in the past. 

"You don't?" 

"Well, I can't deny that possibility, though." 

As he said so, he saw Tsubame's surprised expression. "Why did you have such a surprised expression?" 

"No, usually, if I asked someone that, they would be in denial as if their relationship would last forever." 

"...of course, they will. You sure have the guts to ask such a question to someone." 

"But you don't." Tsubame looked at Ishigami and asked, "Why?" 

Ishigami didn't answer Tsubame's question for a moment; he thought of this question for a while and said, "I think in a relationship, the most important thing is the process instead of the result."

Watching her confused expression, he knew his answer might have confused her. 

"In a novel, a happy ending is when one's confession is accepted, or the couple marries each other, right? But in reality, does it work that way? No, right? Even if a relationship is established when two people are in love with each other, due to many reasons, they might break up." 

"Then, why are people being together?" 

"Well, if you say that, why do people even work hard when we know that we will die in the end?" 

If, in the end, all of us leave this world and are unable to bring our hard work after death, then what is the use of working hard?

Wasn't it meaningless? 

Tsubame was shocked as she looked at him and then asked, "Why then?" 

"........." 

Ishigami wondered why they started to have a philosophical argument, but he answered her question, "There are many reasons, but in the end, I think all of us do all of that because we want to be happy." 

"Be happy?" Tsubame was dumbfounded and asked, "That's it?" 

"Yeah." Ishigami nodded. "In case you love someone, you are happy when you are with someone you love, but you are unhappy when your loved one is with someone else, so that's why you confess your love, dating her or him, so the intimacy you have with that person can become exclusive for you and be happy." 

In the end, no matter what the reason why people were working hard, whether it was for a relationship, work, or other things, it was because they just wanted to be happy. Many people might complicate it, though, and some happiness isn't something that one should pursue. 

But let's put those things aside, as he was afraid that he would spend the entire day explaining the philosophy of happiness and karma. 

"Well, let's continue our study, Senpai." 

Regardless, for her to show such doubt toward a relationship, Ishigami knew that Tsubame must have gone through a lot of things and was a mess. Still, in this situation, he felt that he should say something to comfort her, or she might find someone special who could treasure her in the future, but he felt that it was irresponsible to say something like that, so he just quietly patted her head, comforting her with action. 

As for the problem in her heart, let's have time to heal her, and while it was a bit rude, with her thoughtless nature, Ishigami felt that Tsubame could heal faster than anyone could imagine. 

Feeling his gentle touch on her head, while it was quite rude, especially when he was just her junior, Tsubame couldn't look away and just stared at him silently, thinking about his previous words, before she showed a gentle smile. 

"Um."