CH 26

Proofreader: Mowaso

After moving out of Marin’s sight, Yō took out the video camera he had in his bag.

He then started to take a video to post on the website.

The sky and the sea dyed orange by the sunset are breathtaking, while the shadows casted by the sunset are fragile and lonely.

However, the two contradictory elements coexist in a way that creates an unspeakable beauty and preciousness.

Yō especially likes the combination of the sunset and the ocean in the scenery.

That’s why he brought Marin for the first time to the ocean during the time of the sunset.

As he was taking the video, Yō noticed the sound of footsteps approaching him.

He turned his gaze to be sure, and what stood there was not a petite beautiful girl with beautiful blond hair― but a beautiful girl with beautiful black hair and a style like a model.

“…”

Yō conversed with the beautiful girl with his eyes for a bit, then silently returned his gaze to the video camera screen.

After a few minutes of filming, Yō stopped and opened his mouth.

“You kept your promise to me, didn’t you, Kasumi?

He then called out to the beautiful girl who had approached him, Kasumi Nemoto.

The reason why she was here was because of a text message he had received a few days ago.

In the email that Yō received after his phone call with Marin, it reads―

『I’ll be there at the next shoot.』

After receiving the email, Yō considered several possibilities and negotiated with Kasumi.

He finally managed to drag her to the meeting.

“‘You’re truly the worst for purposely showing me that, Yō.”

When Kasumi was called by her name, she called him back by using Yō’s name, and gave him a very cold look.

It was clear from the look on her face that she was angry, and Yō opened his mouth with a sigh.

“I didn’t mean to show off, and it wasn’t that big of a deal, right? So please don’t try to kill me every time you see me.”

Yō understood what was causing the chills that occasionally hit him.

He complained about it, but it made Kasumi’s mood even worse.

“W-What’s with all the indirect kissing…! What’s more, in a soft-serve ice cream…! Even though I haven’t experienced it yet…!”

“You’re really a bad thinker, you know that?”

Yō said in a dumbfounded manner to Kasumi, who usually makes bombshell statements.

However, he felt relieved inside.

He was relieved to know that the person he wanted to talk to was right in front of him.

However, unaware of Yō’s feelings, Kasumi became even angrier!

“You’re the one who made me like this!”

“That’s a ridiculous accusation.””

Without a moment’s pause, Yō committed tsukkomi to Kasumi’s words, which could have led to a strange misunderstanding.

He doesn’t know why women say things like this that can cause misunderstandings― At any rate, Yō’s glad there aren’t any people around them at the moment.

“…Well, I do feel bad about what I did to you.”

“―Huh?”

When Yō suddenly made a gentle voice, Kasumi gasped and stared at Yō’s face.

Therefore, Yō gazed back into the eyes of Kasumi and continued to speak.

“In the winter of the third year of middle school, I couldn’t stand you anymore and pushed you away. I was the one who had spoiled you and made you dependent on me, but I took it upon myself to stress you out and pushed you away in a terrible way. I still feel bad about that.”

Yō knew that Kasumi had been dependent on him since she was a child. One day, he just couldn’t stand it anymore.

At first, Yō indulged her like a cute little sister, but as she got older, her dependence on Yō increased, and by the time they were in their third year of middle school, it was beyond Yō’s tolerance.

It was at that time that a certain action from Kasumi finally caused Yō to push her away.

It may have been an instinctive crisis avoidance.

However, it broke her heart as she lost her dependence on him, and even now, her personality has become distorted.

The action that triggered this― was Kasumi’s confession to Yō.

“Now… that you’ve brought up… that subject… what about it…? Your repentance… won’t make what you did to me go away…”

Kasumi recalled the time she was rejected and felt a tightening in her chest as she wrung out her words.

Ever since the rejection of her confession, Kasumi has been in a period of depression.

How did she get back up? It was by turning her anger at the man who had abandoned her into hatred.

From there, Kasumi made a vow.

She vowed that she would definitely take revenge on Yō.

Well, it took a few twists and turns, and in the end, she’s almost back to her original feelings― but that’s why her mind has become unstable.

The result was the current situation.

“I know. That’s why I wanted to talk to you like this.”

Yō immediately realized that he had made a mistake in dealing with the embarrassed Kasumi in front of him.

That’s why she had tried to make amends, but she had ended up running away from Yō.

In the beginning, she couldn’t even meet him.

When they were in the same class in high school, even Yō broke out in a cold sweat, but when he thought about it, he hadn’t been in a different class from Kasumi since nursery school, so he thought it was fate.

And as expected, he thought he could talk to her if they were in the same class― but then Kasumi started spreading bad news about Yō, and if Yō tried to get close to her, she would blatantly dislike him and make it impossible for him to get close to her.

As a result, whenever Yō tried to approach her, their classmates would look at him disapprovingly, and some students would blatantly interfere.

Because of this, Yō is unable to talk in class, and when he tries to talk to her when they meet outside, Kasumi quickly drops the subject and runs away.

In other words, there was no way for Yō to talk about the past because Kasumi kept running away.

But finally, Yō was able to drag her out to the discussion.

Of course, Yō had to accept the terms that Kasumi had given him, but it was a small price to pay to get rid of the current situation.

Yō took a pause and took a deep breath.

He then looked into Kasumi’s eyes again and slowly opened his mouth.

“I’m not going to push you away again, and I’m going to fulfill my promise. So, please. Please stop shoving Akimi and Kinoshita around. It’s not right to drag them, who have done nothing wrong, into our mess.”

Yō thought that if Kasumi would just back off from them here, the whole problem would be solved.

It would hurt Haruki temporarily, but it was definitely better than having Kasumi, who had no feelings for him, deal with him.

At least, the one who can make him happy is Marin rather than Kasumi.

The relationship between the two, who had been close friends since childhood, was already broken, but Yō thought that this would be corrected by Marin’s being there for the wounded Haruki.

That’s why he had to get Kasumi to back off at all costs.

He had asked for this because he thought so, but Kasumi said something that betrayed Yō’s expectations and hopes.

“I’m not afraid to back out since you’ve agreed to my terms. However, you’re making a mistake. If I back out now, Akimi-san will only be hurt more. And this time― well, I think it will hurt you as much as it did me in the past.”

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Tsukkomi – The Tsukkomi character is usually played by a very serious straightforward individual, who uses very dry humor to criticize verbally and abuse the “Boke” who is seen more as the more spontaneous of the two.

Translator’s Comments: Uhh, yeah, Kasumi ain’t wrong there exactly on what she said. Here’s the meaning of tsukkomi above this comment btw, it’s used in the next chapter again. Also, tsukkomi on the text itself is clickable, that’s where I got the meaning.