Volume 2 - CH 4.4

“Yo, I’ve been looking for you.” I stopped in my tracks and called out. 

“…”

In front of me was… the jack-o’-lantern.

The pumpkin-headed mascot who had told me where to find Hina.

Have you found Hiiragi-san? The jack-o’-lantern wrote in the sketchbook. 

“Yeah. All thanks to you. Yuzu.”

“…”

The jack-o’-lantern went stiff.

I walked closer and the jack-o’-lantern removed the pumpkin head. As I thought, the face that appeared was Yuzu’s face.

“…How did you know?” The previously stiffened Yuzu asked me as if she had finally snapped to her senses. 

“Well, that’s the power of love. How could I not recognise my most beloved girl?”

I guess Yuzu was not pleased with my answer, but she did not lose her tense face.

“You always make light of things so easily like that.”

She was absolutely right. We were a fake couple, so we had kept things ambiguous and glossed over the matter. 

“I just met Namase earlier. He thought that Yuzu and I would be wandering around the festival together. But how could that be? Namase should have known that I was looking for Hina.”

His assumption that Yuzu and I were wandering around the festival together obviously meant something was wrong. When I thought about it from there, a lot of things started to become questionable. 

When I asked them where Hina was, it was unnatural how Namase, who was supposed to be unaware of the relationship between me and Hina, could quickly catch on that I was talking about Hiiragi Hinano. And also, it was questionable how he was standing by the fourth floor that had no visitors when he was supposed to be on patrol. 

“So I knew the jack-o’-lantern who told me where to find Hina wasn’t Namase.”

When I thanked Namase earlier, he must’ve thought that I was talking about the matter of the fortune teller.

“…Is that so? I screwed up.” Yuzu slightly laughed off her mistake in embarrassment. 

“Geez, you just make things complicated. Take that costume off.”

When I reproached her with a sigh, Yuzu tilted her head slightly with a light gesture. “But I’m wearing a vampire costume under this, you know?” 

“It’s fine now. I’m the only one watching anyway.”

When I said this, Yuzu’s eyes widened as if she was a little surprised, and then her lips pouted in a sulky manner.

“…What’s that? I knew it, you were jealous before?”

“Maybe.”

I admitted it honestly. Perhaps caught by surprise, Yuzu fell silent. Then, I asked her a question. 

“By the way, did you know I was going to see Hina?”

No, it went without saying that she knew for sure. Otherwise, there would be no point in wearing such a disguise. 

“Yup, I figured that much.” Yuzu nodded, confirming my guess. 

“And yet… You told me where she was?”

—Just how did she feel at that time? When I asked where Hina was. And when she answered and saw me off.  

“Yamato, you helped me when I was about to have a falling out with Sota and the others. I just wanted to help you as well.”

However, as she said that, she put up a smile to conceal whatever was inside her heart.

“…But it was no good. Honestly, I wanted to stop you so bad. Well, I still managed to do it right, as you’d expect from me.”

Just like her usual antics. Her inner feelings and her facial expressions were incongruent; her current self was trapped by her remarkable outer appearance and socialising skills. 

“Yeah. Thanks to you, I could have a proper confrontation with Hina. I’m very much grateful.”

But she certainly had done me a great favour this time. So I honestly thanked her, but Yuzu’s shoulders jumped and she faced downward. 

“Ye…ah, that’s how it’s supposed to be. Yup, in the first place, you belong there. I think once you make up with her, you’ll return there. Now that’s a happy ending.” 

Yuzu tried to send me off with a voice that was laced with a slight tremble. 

I let out a sigh and chided her for such a rash assumption. “Are you an idiot? I have no intention to return to how I used to be, nor do I want to join the basketball club. My relationship with Hina will also probably be different from what we used to have.” 

Yes. Now that I received a big favour from her, I was indeed thankful—but it didn’t mean I acknowledged the outcome as she saw it. No way I’d accept that she alone ended up being at a disadvantage.  

At my words, Yuzu peeked at me with a baffled look on her face. 

“Why…” 

Even if she asked me that, there was only one answer. 

I took a deep breath to get my mind right and then began to weave it into words. “Back then during the play, you said I’m the type of guy who could work hard for others, right?” 

“Yes, I did say that.”

Yuzu nodded, and then I replied with a wry smile.

“You got it totally wrong. I used to think so too, but unfortunately, I wasn’t such a nice guy. From that misunderstanding, I messed up during middle school.”

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I only became aware of that anguish by putting it into words, even though it was after it was all over.

“Yamato-kun…”

“I can’t work hard for others. I can only work hard for the ones I care about.”

At these words, Yuzu made a sulking sound as she pondered a bit.

“…But, you did work hard this time. That means Hiiragi-san is very important to you, doesn’t it? So why haven’t you gone back to the basketball team?”

I was a little taken aback by Yuzu’s question. She knew the answer anyway, but she still asked that mean question. 

“That, do I have to actually say it out loud?”

“You don’t have to, but I want you to say it.”

Her eyes filled with a mixture of anxiety and anticipation shot straight through me. Once she showed me such an expression, there was no way I could not answer her. 

I let out a sigh and said that one sole fact that was neither ambiguous nor deceptive. 

“—Because I have Yuzu with me. So, here is where I belong.”

Oh, darn! My face feels hot.

I unwittingly turned my face away from Yuzu and heard a giggle. 

“Yamato-kun, you’re talking about something extremely embarrassing.” 

“You’re the one who made me say it!” I spat out grumpily. 

Grr, I suffered a loss by saying that! As that thought ran through my mind, Yuzu plopped into my chest.

“But, I’m happy. Thanks.”

Her body temperature was slightly lower than mine, and her delicate shoulders fit snugly in my arms. Her forehead stuck to my bosom, and I couldn’t see her face. But, it didn’t hide the fact that her ears were bright red. 

“…You’re welcome.”

I hugged her back as gently as I could.

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chocolala: If you’re annoyed how they still won’t make it official yet at this stage, blame the author, haha