CH 143

Yuzuki Hojo.

If she had to be described in one phrase, it would be “Yamato Nadeshiko”.

(TLN: personification of an idealized Japanese woman)

She is a beautiful girl with long, lustrous black hair. She is small in stature, but has a well-developed physique and a large bust. She does not have the looks to be popular with girls, but she is very popular among boys.

Inside, she is just as profound and reserved as she looks.

At best, she is obedient, at worst, she is blindly trusting.

In any case, she never asserts herself. She always lives in accordance with others and never rejects others at all.

She has rejected only once, including in the past.

It was the time she parted ways with her childhood friend, Kotaro Nakayama, at her high school entrance ceremony.

Since then, she has always followed Ryoma Ryuzaki.

She has always followed Ryoma Ryuzaki’s back from a distance.

Mary once commented on Yuzuki Hojo.

“Yuzuki has a weak will.”

Mary’s nature was distorted, but she had a real eye for people.

Therefore, her analysis of Yuzuki Hojo was also accurate.

She has a weak will.

She is the kind of person who is easily swept along by the current and accepts it when she is pushed.

She is incapable of denial.

She thinks that even if she doesn’t like something, she can ‘just put up with it’.

That’s why she was able to accept even the pathetic harem protagonists who had lost all sense.

This is not the ‘total affirmation’ that Mary did for a time. That was a kind of pep talk, a therapy to build self-confidence by satisfying the need for approval.

Well, she dared to do it excessively, so it is doping, not therapy.

As a result, the story of Ryoma Ryuzaki, whose self-confidence became bloated and conceited, has already been told.

Anyway, Yuzuki Hojo has accepted the weak-willed and no-good Ryoma Ryuzaki.

“Ryoma-san? Um, I actually made a bento for you, would you like it for lunch?”

“…………”

There was no reply from Ryoma Ryuzaki. However, without worrying about that, Yuzuki Hojo continued to talk to him.

The content was also terrible.

Why does she have a bento for Ryoma Ryuzaki, who has been absent for so long?

The answer is obvious.

While Ryoma Ryuzaki was absent, she had been making a bento for him every day. If he didn’t show up, she would throw it away at home, get up early again, and make another one… a cycle that continued for a month and a half.

(TLN: The definition of insanity…)

No normal person would do such a thing.

Because there is no result for the effort. There is no meaning in unrewarded effort. However, Yuzuki Hojo does not care about such things because she does not want to be rewarded in the first place.

She is devoted, to the point of blind devotion.

No, the expression would be a little different.

Yuzuki Hojo is not devoted. She is “subservient”.

Her service is … like that of a servant who is charmed by her master.

“What a menu, Ryoma-san’s favorite fried chicken, a hamburger steak, and then…”

“No thanks.”

However, Ryoma Ryuzaki stomped on the girl’s devotion and love.

“I have no appetite.”

A single sentence. With that single statement, all of her efforts for the past month and a half were negated.

She had worked so hard to please Ryoma Ryuzaki. The fried chicken and hamburger were not frozen foods. They were made from scratch. She woke up at four in the morning every morning and took the time to make the bento, but … all that effort was destroyed with a single statement.

A normal human being would dislike the other person.

One would feel disgusted by Ryoma Ryuzaki, who trampled on their compassion.

However, Yuzuki Hojo cannot do that.

She is not strong-willed enough to deny others.

That is why Yuzuki Houjou accepts.

“Yes, I’m sorry. If you have no appetite, it can’t be helped. It seems I was a little arrogant… Ryoma-san, I’m sorry.”

Yuzuki Hojo bowed her head.

Kirari Asakura, who was watching her nearby, had a sad expression on her face as she held her chest.

(Yuzu-chan, you can’t do this…)

She already knows.

(Only acceptance and … pampering is not the only way to ‘love’, you know.)

If you do something wrong, tell them you did something wrong.

If they do something wrong, scold them and tell them not to do it again.

That is very, very important.

Kirari Asakura knew from experience that simply accepting and pampering … is not love.

Once, when Kotaro Nakayama had harsh words for her, she had become enraged.

But looking back over time, Kirari realized that it was his way of giving her a pep talk.

It was because of that that she was able to look forward again.

So, the current behavior of Yuzuki Hojo did not seem to be the right one.

(Hah… I don’t know what to do anymore.)

She is suffering.

The person she loves who has been ruined and the rival who has accepted him as such… If things continue as they are, Kirari Asakura’s feelings will not be rewarded.

She didn’t like that either… but above all, she was most worried that such two people were going to continue on this path of destruction.

(Is this the story I chose to tell …?)

Kirari Asakura could only sigh at the difficult romantic comedy that lay ahead…