CH 3

For the next few minutes, Marin kept her gaze fixed on the setting sun.

What Yō was looking at during that time was not the beautiful sunset, but her profile.

She looked so vulnerable, as if she was about to disappear, but it was a look that strangely grabbed Yō’s heart.

The fact that it was illuminated by the setting sun probably had something to do with it.

Although, even with that out of the way, she was still beautiful.

(I have a nasty personality, don’t I…?)

Yō, who thought that the expression brought out by a rejection was beautiful, laughed to himself only in his heart.

Yō was very fond of beautiful things― And also, fantastic things.

That’s why he often goes out on holidays in search of breathtaking scenery and fantastic places.

That’s just how fascinated Yō is with beautiful things, but he has never felt this way about anyone before.

And yet, he was so fascinated by Marin’s figure that he even wondered why he hadn’t seen it before.

Even if the expression on her face was brought out because she was rejected in her confession, it didn’t matter to Yō as long as it was beautiful.

At the same time, he was disgusted with himself for thinking that way.

Eventually, Marin noticed that he was staring at her face and looked up at Yō with a sly smile.

“Do I have something on my face?”

She was already aware of the reason why Yō was staring at her.

She looks like a natural little animal, but her actual personality and thinking are far from natural.

In short, she is a mature woman who is attentive and very smart.

So she is aware that she is better looking than anyone else.

On top of that, she has a very nice personality that is neither prideful nor pretentious.

However, the reality is that this does not always turn out to be a good thing.

“You’re a strong person.”

“Eh…?”

Unexpected words were said, and the crinkled eyes of Marin opened wide for a moment.

Yō turned his gaze away from her eyes and looked again towards the setting sun.

“You always try to smile, even when you’re having a bad day, and you are quick to laugh even when things are rough. Even when things are tough, you try to smile. I don’t know anyone else with such a strong heart.”

Yō is uncomfortable with Marin, but that doesn’t mean he hates her.

In fact, he thought she was someone he could respect.

“I’m surprised… you thought of me like that, Hazakura-kun…”

Marin, who thought that Yō hated her, stared at his face as if she was surprised while saying so.

The look she had was as if found something unbelievable.

“It’s not just me, but most of the people who know Akimi think so.”

He’s not saying that Marin is only acting this way towards Yō, but rather, she’s acting this way in front of everyone.

So, inevitably, everyone must have the same thoughts as Yō.

However, not all of them have the exact same thoughts.

They will all agree that Akimi Marin is a strong girl, despite her appearance.

However, just because she is strong, it doesn’t mean she can’t get hurt.

There are many people who are under the illusion that this is the case, perhaps Haruki, who just dumped Marin, is on the side of that illusion.

That’s why he didn’t go after Marin.

Even though it turned out to be the right decision, Haruki would have gone after her if it had been another girl.

He has such a good-natured personality.

The reason why he didn’t chase after Marin― was because he thinks that she will recover soon.

The action he took was consequently the right one, that doesn’t change.

However, he didn’t seem to be able to take into account what he had to do afterwards.

After witnessing the scene, Yō decided to do so and went after Marin.

The difference between Yō and Haruki’s perceptions was whether they knew or not that strong people are really fragile.

And Yō knows this.

He knows how dangerous it is when a person who usually appears strong shows a weak side.

Even though Marin tries to keep a smile on her face at all times, right after she was dumped, she couldn’t hold back her tears and ran away immediately afterwards.

If she were a normal person, she would have smiled and made up for it no matter what.

Her heart is so wide that she was even caring for a man like Yō for a long time.

Her feelings for Haruki were so strong that she could not mend them.

In short, the damage she suffered when she was rejected was too great.

In fact, she couldn’t stand it and cried for a long time in front of the third party, Yō.

Although she was smiling now, it was clear that she was straining herself.

It was dangerous to leave it to natural recovery.

At the very least, Marin would continue to feel this way, and she would continue to be hurt whenever she saw Haruki and the rest at school.

If that happened, there was no telling what kind of path she would choose in the end, and it could be the worst case scenario.

So what Haruki had to do was to find someone who could take care of her right away.

(Well, it’s hard to say that you should care that much about the person you dumped…)

That’s why Yō decided to act on his own, instead of telling Haruki something.

Yō Hazakura by no means is a softie.

He doesn’t have such a good-natured idea of saving someone he doesn’t know.

However, at least he was a person who fulfilled his duty to those who cared for him.

“You know, I think it’s okay to let it out when you’re in pain. Even the strongest people want to whine sometimes.”

Yō, who was staring at the setting sun, shifted his gaze back and stared into Marin’s eyes.