CH 208

It was after I saved Kurumizawa from a car accident.

When I hit the ground, I suffered an abrasion on my knee.

Of course, that was just a minor injury.

I thought it would heal on its own if I washed the wound and put a bandage on it, but when Kurumizawa saw it, she turned quite pale.

“I’m sorry I caused you to get injured, okay?”

Apologizing, she tended to me.

She went out of her way to take me to her home and treated me excessively.

That was so, so unnatural.

I could clearly see that her romantic feelings were shaken.

I would have ignored it as ‘just my imagination’ when I was insensitive, but now that I’ve … awakened and am somewhat better, I can see it clearly.

“I wonder if it’s okay like this… Hey, are you okay?”

I smile back at Kurumizawa, who looks at me anxiously.

“It’s okay. It’s no big deal.”

What’s the point of this?

If I smile, it makes you happy, too, doesn’t it?

This is too arrogant a thought.

This is not normal.

It’s as if I’m popular with the ladies, that they’re happy just because I smile.

–I had been mistaken before because I thought so.

In fact, I am apparently popular.

Shimotsuki told me so.

No one is as much of a ‘womanizer’ as I am – she said.

“Yeah… that’s good.”

When I smiled at her, Kurumizawa turned away, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment.

Easy. It’s too easy.

Even though I didn’t do anything special, Kurumizawa has already become a total addict for me.

It’s so easy now.

“Instead of me, is your body all right too? Since we fell down together, you might be hurt somewhere, right?”

“I think I’m probably fine…”

“No, I don’t know. Let me see. Are you sure you didn’t hit your elbow or knee or something?”

I held Kurumizawa’s hand, pretending to be worried about her.

I tried skinship with her under the guise of checking her arm for any injuries.

If she didn’t like me, she would clearly reject me here.

She should shake off my hand and give me a disgusted look.

But … after all, Kurumizawa is still favorable toward me.

“Huh? Oh, wait…!”

She looked embarrassed by the sudden touch, but did not resist at all.　

This is now certain.

(Shimotsuki… Kurumizawa is definitely in love with me.)

I don’t know if she is aware of it or not.

However, it is certain that I, as a person, have taken control of a part of her heart.

(I’ve exposed this woman’s true nature, just as you planned.)

… Well, I don’t think I’m in a position to say anything about it.

Kururi Kurumizawa’s feelings for Nakayama are as fake as they can possibly be.

Because a person of my caliber was able to steal her heart.

(To fall in love with someone who is only superficial… Kururi Kurumizawa must be a normal girl.)

Nevertheless.

It’s not that I hate her.

Rather, her weakness is human and even favorable.

(You’re so brave to try to compete with Shimotsuki.)

That girl is extraordinary … No, let me put it this way.

Shiho Shimotsuki is an anomaly.

Perhaps not a ‘normal’ person like Nakayama or Kurumizawa.

Perhaps she is an “abnormal” person like me.

That’s how strong and unreasonable she is.

I could be proud of the fact that she opposed her and that she tried to resist.

I wanted to praise her will to stand up.

“Yeah, you don’t seem to be hurt. That’s a relief.”

I checked Kurumizawa’s body and smiled at her again.

Her face was already bright red and she was so embarrassed that she couldn’t look at me.

“I’m not thinking of … thanking you or anything, you know!”

The tsundere words, spun in a shy manner, make my cheeks loose, not in an act this time, but from the bottom of my heart.

（I wonder if that is Kurumizawa’s true self.)

I wonder if she ever showed her innocent side in front of Nakayama.

Probably, she never showed such a side.

Because her love for him was “fake”.

Perhaps it was a “counterfeit” made by someone else…