CH 9.5

“…That too sudden.”

“I heard that you didn’t have many friends, so I was curious about that.”

“You are curious about that?”

“Fufu, have you ever?”

I unintentionally sighed.

I wonder what I could do to dodge that question.

But the way Susami looked at me made me lose all the ability to think about such things.

“I don’t have any experience with it”

“You’ve never fallen in love?”

“No…well…maybe?”

“So, you are experienced.”

“It’s not like I’ve ever confessed to someone, gotten confessed, or gone out with someone. I have never done anything like that.”

“Oh, It’s not like that.”

For some reason, Susami laid her face on the table and bought her face closer to me

(TL: Actually- Put her face on the table. I have a picture under the chapter for reference)

She stared at me with a gaze that seemed to glue a person at the spot, but without any hostility.

“Merely knowing what it’s like to love someone is a lot different than not knowing.”

“Is that so?”

“That is. Especially for you right now.”

Just as she said that, I knew what this was going to be about now.

And that topic was even more unpleasant.

And especially for me right now.

“I’m sure you were there when Ichinose confessed to Rika.”

“Ah…well…”

“I have a question for you Kusuba-kun, why do you think Rika rejected him?”

“Because I don’t like you”

That’s what Tachibana had said.

It was a simple reason. Nothing more, nothing less.

However, the fact that it was simple, shows that various implications could be assumed in this line.

That’s also why I wondered why Ichinose backed down at that time.

It may seem like saying ‘you don’t like the other person’ is the correct way to refuse.

But actually, that’s not a reason to refuse a relationship.

“Even if she didn’t like Ichinose, it’s not a good enough reason not to go out with him. The idea that you won’t go out with someone you don’t like doesn’t exist in the first place.”

(TL: Susami…STFU)

Susami is right.            

People are often happy when they are asked to be in a relationship, even if they don’t like the other person.

And if you don’t know the person well, it just gets more exciting that way. And if the other person is good-looking, you will expect to like him or her even more.

(Reminds me of Making lovers, lmao.)

There are times that the confession is the trigger for falling in love with someone.

“But Ichinose is a good person as far as I can see. Which girl wouldn’t be happy to receive a confession from him?”

“I guess…”

But why?

I don’t know why Tachibana rejected Ichinose, who is handsome and has a good reputation.

I deliberately stopped my thoughts from going any further.

“But I think it was quite like her, don’t you?”

“Yes, it was really like her”

The second I said that, Susami looked like a military strategist who had found a fatal mistake in her enemy’s planning.

The pink finger which was at the corner of her eyes bent slightly while both her eyes narrowed sharply. 

My body froze.

Unable to speak, I just listened to Susami’s next words.

Straightforward, clumsy, cute, and easy to understand. Don’t you think so, Kusuba-kun?

I don’t think so.

I don’t think anything.

“What is the chance that when someone confesses to you and you turn them down other than that when you don’t like them?”

(TL:Basically, Susami is using a roundabout way to tell Kusuba that she knows that he likes Tachibana)

I wonder what she was trying to do.

Why is she telling me all that?

What does she want me to do?

“…I’m leaving”

I forcefully stood up and went out of the room awkwardly.

If I stay here and this continues, everything will get exposed.

And I’m definitely not ready for it.

Kusuba-kun”

For some reason, I stopped when I heard that.

I must have been so concerned that I stopped suddenly

(TL: probs he talkin bout how much susami knew, kewk)

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“… really?”

“Really. You’re my best friend, Rika’s friend. So, you’re my friend too.”

When I was about to close the door, I saw that Susami had a mysteriously calm smile on her face.

I think I understood what she meant by offending me.