Chapter 73, fine, neurotic.

Rei Furuya fell silent!

Matsuda Jinpei: ? ? ?

Matsuda Jinpei was surprised again.

What's going on here? How come you can't even remember my name?! This is only the first day of our relationship, don't you have any manners as a couple?

Matsuda Jinpei never expected that Furuya Rei would get stuck on such a simple question, which was just as absurd as Furuya Rei's previous mistake of confusing the speaker and creating a chaotic situation.

Humans cannot, or at least should not...

Matsuda Jinpei was speechless for a moment.

Surely you can't be so forgetful of who's who just because you change partners so frequently? Given Furuya Rei's frequency of changing partners, that's certainly quite possible. But—

This doesn't mean that this situation is understandable! What kind of "everyone is true love" is this? Furuya Rei's declaration of true love just now was a complete joke!

He should apologize to Chun'ai, you bastard!

Matsuda Jinpei rubbed his temples.

What the hell is going on?! What's wrong with this world? How can someone like this become a player who effortlessly dumps his lovers every day?

He doesn't understand!

Rei Furuya was indeed stumped by the question, and his face even went blank for a moment, which was extremely rare.

He looked at Nekono Ikuya, who was smiling and waiting to see him make a fool of himself, and his mind raced.

Yumi went downstairs today with her usual black hair and blue eyes, but she changed to pink hair and pink eyes on a whim before leaving. They decided on their cat-nose look in just two sentences, and spent the rest of the time making a shopping list for soufflé ingredients.

...A name? They didn't even give this impromptu new look a name!

Rather, it's more accurate to say they never had the habit of naming their new looks before, after all, it's the ever-changing "Cat Wild," isn't it? Beneath all the unpredictable exteriors lies the same soul; different personas and scripts are an unspoken game they play.

Just like Martin Mystery, Nekono Ikuya's name is usually the same.

"So, what is my name?" the pink-haired boy asked quietly.

“Uh, this…” Furuya Rei, who was being deliberately challenged, was speechless. She felt that just picking a random name wouldn’t pass the test, and calling him Yuya didn’t seem to work either.

His eyes were a little vacant.

Ah, I've been deliberately made difficult by my awful lover!

"Oh~" the pink-haired boy drawled, continuing softly, "You don't even remember my name~"

His composure was almost frightening, in Matsuda Jinpei's view.

What are you talking about?! Furuya Rei's purplish-gray eyes also held a hint of resentment. They hadn't even given this identity a name, so how was he supposed to explain it?

Matsuda Jinpei thought the pink-haired boy would turn on him on the spot—the matter of misremembering the speaker could be barely overlooked, but Furuya Rei was going too far by not even remembering the pink-haired boy's name.

The pink-haired boy should be angry now, right? This is downright insulting!

Unexpectedly, the pink-haired boy surprised Matsuda Jinpei once again; Matsuda Jinpei hadn't made any accurate predictions today.

The pink-haired boy chuckled, and his laughter contained only a hint of mockery and smugness, without any sign of being offended—he wasn't laughing out of anger!

"See? See!" The pink-haired boy looked at Furuya Rei with glee, as if he had caught something incredible, and his deliberately serious expression instantly melted away.

His tone was light and cheerful, his chin held high with a smug look, even his eyes gleaming slightly. "You can't even remember your 'current' name! And you dare call yourself a pure lover? A pure love warrior wouldn't be unable to answer their lover's name. Zero, your purity of love is questionable, isn't it?"

His eyes were teasing: Zero, you might still be a little short of pure love, make a gesture like "fingertip universe."

Is this correct? Is this the right focus?

Matsuda Jinpei's actions were utterly incomprehensible.

Why does it seem like the pink-haired boy's main concern is whether Furuya Rei is purely in love, rather than whether he remembers his name? It even seems like the pink-haired boy has a strange sense of triumphant joy in his prank.

Matsuda Jinpei was completely baffled.

Is this something to be happy about? There's nothing I can do; Matsuda Jinpei is truly at a loss with this reaction.

Furuya Rei was at a loss. Watching Nekono Ikuya blatantly make things difficult for him and seem to enjoy it, a hint of amusement and annoyance flashed in his purplish-gray eyes.

Rei Furuya recovered from the brief glitch, rubbed his temples helplessly, and sighed dramatically, "Oh dear... you're deliberately giving me a hard time."

"This is a necessary test!" The pink-haired boy puffed out his chest confidently.

Matsuda Jinpei, standing to the side: ...Hello? How is asking someone to say the name of their new boyfriend considered a challenge? And... this can hardly be called a test, can it?

Didn't they realize there was something wrong with what they were saying? Matsuda Jinpei felt like he was in a different world from them. Were there any normal people here besides him?

"I thought these were two different things?" Furuya Rei tried to salvage the situation. "I know who you really are, and that's enough."

Matsuda Jinpei: ...What are you mumbling about? I don't understand.

"Hmph, a cunning evasion." The pink-haired boy chuckled. I won't listen, I won't listen, it's like a tortoise chanting scriptures.

Rei Furuya: I knew it!

"Does a name matter? I thought the time we spent together was the most important thing?"

Rei Furuya tried again, staring into Ikuya Nekono's pink eyes as if trying to see through the disguise to his unique soul.

“What I remember is the warmth of your touch, the sound of your laughter, the way your eyes looked at me. And…” he said meaningfully, “and the scent that I can recognize you instantly no matter what you look like.”

Matsuda Jinpei: ...I understand even less now.

Nekono Ikuya smiled and said, "...Sweet talk, your skill is off the charts. Zero-kun, you're really dangerous." She was completely unmoved.

He didn't want to make things difficult for Zero, but Zero's distressed and helpless expression when faced with his deliberate attempts to make things difficult was just so cute!

Rei Furuya: ...I'm out of ideas.

"But, um, sweetheart?" Furuya Rei thought for a moment and used "sweetheart" to refer to Nekono Ikuya today.

He deliberately widened his eyes and looked at Nekono Ikuya with a pitiful expression: "But, sweetheart, you didn't seem to... tell me your name either?"

Hmm, Nekono Ikuya blinked.

Nekono Ikuya feigned ignorance: "Didn't I tell you?"

Rei Furuya innocently replied, "Yes."

He won't take the blame.

Then, in a bizarre turn of events, Matsuda Jinpei saw two different people, leaving him stunned behind the shelf.

Matsuda Jinpei: ...

Matsuda Jinpei: ? ? ?

Matsuda Jinpei rubbed his ears. Haha, he thought he must have just hallucinated.

...No, they're already dating, and they've even been shopping together sweetly, planning to make soufflés. Why haven't they introduced themselves to each other yet?

Isn't this understanding process a bit off?

Where there is a sleeping dragon, there must be a phoenix chick. These two... Matsuda Jinpei stared dumbfounded at the people who, even after discovering the key point, still didn't sense anything was wrong, their eyes looking more innocent than the other.

I think these two people—

This is insane!

He glanced at Furuya Rei to his left, and *crack*—that serious and proper filter shattered on the spot.

He glanced to his right at the pink-haired boy, and *snap*—the icing on his innocent, sweet heart also crumbled.

Fine, nerve.

What Matsuda Jinpei saw and heard today was truly shocking; almost every word that Furuya Rei and the pink-haired boy said made him wonder.

By now, the question mark had become as curved as his curly hair, and Matsuda Jinpei began to wonder if he was dreaming. Wait, why was he having such a crazy dream? It was all because that blond bastard's recent scandals were so explosive and memorable that he subconsciously started making up stories about him in his dreams.

So he pinched his arm hard!

Then—"Hiss~"

Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!

Unbelievably, he used too much force, and Matsuda Jinpei grimaced in pain.

Then he realized this wasn't a dream.

What's going on... it hurts even more now.

Or perhaps I was being manipulated? Are there bad contemporaries enjoying "The World of Chu Matsuda Jinpei" or "The Matsuda Jinpei Version Passing By from the Same Time on the Sea King Scene"?

But there were no hidden cameras or sneaky, mischievous friends around at the same time.

Matsuda Jinpei looked around and found that he was the only one among the suspicious people around him.

Matsuda Jinpei: ...

OK, accept the facts.

Matsuda Jinpei closed his eyes in despair. His blond friend from the same class and his recent limited-time lover really had such... 'strange' views on love!

The amazing blonde and pink-haired duo is still performing.

The pink-haired boy exclaimed in sudden realization, "Oh, so it's because I didn't tell you my name!" His pink eyes betrayed his understanding, though he added, "I was just teasing you."

The pink-haired boy still didn't tell Furuya Rei his name.

But it seems that Kuroko Rei doesn't care.

"Okay, you win this round." He conceded in a low voice, ruffling the pink-haired boy's hair with a rather unpleasant tug. The pink-haired boy immediately perked up, smugly wagging his tail.

Although he listened the whole time, Matsuda Jinpei still didn't understand what they were competing in.

And for some reason, he didn't really want to understand anymore; he felt like he was just asking for trouble. Mainly, the scenes of this "dog food" (a term for public displays of affection) looked delicious, but the dialogue just didn't feel right.

Hmm, I don't really want to eat anymore.

Although no one noticed him, Matsuda Jinpei still had a strange, subtle feeling that he was being used as a pawn in a game.

He took a step back and began to retreat quietly.

Because Nekono Ikuya's tail was held too high and his smile was too arrogant, he was punished by Furuya Rei.

With lightning speed, Furuya Rei grabbed Nekono Ikuya's cheeks and quickly pulled them apart before casually letting go.

"Waaaaah?" Nekono Ikuya's eyes widened suddenly, and he covered his face with his hands. A small patch of his face turned red, and he stared accusingly—

Meanwhile, Rei Furuya secretly twirled his fingers, looking at Ikuya Nekono with an innocent expression, while also feeling somewhat impressed. Ikuya Nekono's disguise skills were becoming more and more exquisite. Now he was no longer afraid of pinching her face, and the touch and reaction were exactly the same as real skin.

This is already magic, isn't it?

Matsuda Jinpei walked even faster.

Nekono Ikuya continued her accusation without blinking—

He even deliberately showed off the red marks on his face from being pinched by Rei Furuya, QAQ.

Rei Furuya's eyes darted around.

My eyes swept across the shelves, and suddenly I reached out and took a bag of strawberry-flavored fruit candies from the candy section.

He winked at Nekono Ikuya: "Strawberry-flavored fruit candy, to make amends? Forgive me?"

Nekono Ikuya asked in surprise, "Eh, you think you can bribe me with just a bag of candy?"

Rei Furuya laughed: "But the candy and your eyes match perfectly, they're both so sweet." She shook the candy, and it made a soft rustling sound.

Nekono Yuuya pinched the bag of candy, looked down at it, then quickly glanced at Furuya Rei. Finally, she couldn't help but let out a small smile, which she quickly suppressed, and reluctantly hummed, "...For the sake of the soufflé and the candy."

...Finally, Matsuda Jinpei was coaxed away with a bag of candy and walked off in a daze. Sigh!