CH 31

I hope Yamamoto has learned his lesson by now.

Translated by Dawn

Edited by Dawn

I hope Yamamoto has learned his lesson by now.

In front of the vending machine on the way to school.

“Then, let’s celebrate this victory…Cheers.”

Mizutani and I lightly bumped each other with a 250ml can of soda.

Mizutani let out a giggle.

“But Yamamoto’s face just then. It was funny, wasn’t it?”

“Well.”

I mumbled my words.

Even though I won the match with Yamamoto, I was the one who lost to Mizutani.

I was in no position to laugh at him.

After Yamamoto presented his report card to us in the classroom.

Yamamoto was shaking with fear and trembling when he found out about Mizutani’s and my grades,

“I-I see…I understand. Then, as I promised, I will support the relationship between the three of you. I’ll stay away from Mizutani, too, from now on.”

He declared. With a very pained look on his face.

—Three people? What is he talking about?

At first, I thought like that.

But when I thought about it again, I realized that I had not yet cleared up the misunderstanding about my relationship with Satomi.

In essence, in Yamamoto’s mind, I was a bad guy who was dating both Mizutani and Satomi. That was why he looked so pained. It was simply too much for him.

After I hurriedly cleared up the misunderstanding, I pushed Satomi toward Yamamoto and left the place with Mizutani.

The rest was history.

I didn’t want anything more to do with those two.

Since I knew it was going to be a hassle.

When we arrived at the station, I sat down on a chair on the platform alongside Mizutani.

I grabbed the carbonated drink, opened the mouthpiece, and drank it.

The feeling of the soda was pleasant.

“I hope Yamamoto has learned his lesson by now.”

When I casually said that, Mizutani looked down and said, “…I wonder.”

She fiddled with the key ring on the zipper of her bag.

Huh? Strange.

If Yamamoto learned his lesson, shouldn’t Mizutani be happy about it?

Why did she look so sad?

Was it because Mizutani still assumed that Yamamoto wouldn’t give up?

…No, there was one more thing. A reason for Mizutani to be sad.

Though, I didn’t know if that was the right one.

Or rather, it was very likely that was not.

I knew it must be just my wishful thinking that it was the right one, but—

Yamamoto gave up on trying to be closer to Mizutani.

In other words, the cause for me and Mizutani to continue this fake relationship had been resolved.

If either Mizutani or I was to say, “Well, thank you for everything until now,” our connection would be severed at any moment.

But…

“…..”

I couldn’t say it. I didn’t want to say it.

I didn’t know why.

I thought it was wrong to continue this relationship, and that was why I tried so hard to win that match.

I clearly told Mizutani this before the exam.

When it came time to say goodbye, I couldn’t find the words.

I looked at Mizutani next to me.

Mizutani never looked at me.

She stubbornly kept looking away as if she was afraid of something.

I wouldn’t expect Mizutani to be thinking the same thing as me.

But maybe.

No, that couldn’t be.

But, no, but…

The train was coming to the platform, interrupting my thoughts.

For me, it was a relief.

I hurriedly stood up and asked Mizutani if she wanted to get on the train.

Mizutani nodded her head.

I stood up as if following her, and she held out her hand to me as we boarded the train.

“…what is it?”

“…I’m afraid of falling.”

“You’ve been fine all this time, though?”

“It’s just now that I’m kind of scared.”

“…Alright, princess.”

When I held Mizutani’s hand, she smiled faintly and said, “Thank you.”

More cautiously than usual, I stepped into the car.

The automatic doors closed, and the train began to move with a rumble.

If only it wasn’t my imagination.

I think I had earned Mizutani’s trust to a certain extent.

Reaching out her hand like that would be unthinkable if you were an acquaintance.

But I was afraid of expecting something strange.

I’d seen the pain of doing so before.

It was better not to have such high expectations.

*****

After dinner, I was lying on my bed in my room.

Normally I would have studied, but today was right after I got the test results back.

I was not motivated to study.

…What naturally came to my mind was Mizutani.

I knew in my head that it was the right thing to do to say goodbye.

I knew that I shouldn’t continue this distorted relationship with Mizutani any longer.

But I couldn’t take action.

I thought about telling her on LIME.

In fact, I’d already typed my message.

All I had to do was press the send button and it was all over.

And yet, I couldn’t press that button.

“Guwaaaaa!”

I didn’t want my mind to be boggled all the time, so I yelled out uncontrollably.

I heard a thudding, wall-kicking sound coming from the next room.

Next came Mai’s voice saying, “Shut up!”

“Sorry!” I replied and I slumped down on the bed.

Immediately, Mizutani’s face came to mind.

I should stop. I should stop thinking about her anymore.

I heard the sound of the door behind me open.

I turned around to see Mai, dressed in her nightgown, frowning at me.

“What, why you’re yelling all of a sudden? Have you gone crazy?”

“I’m not. Sorry. For making you worry.”

“Hmm…so, what’s going on with you and that Mizutani-san?”

“…nothing happened.”

Why is this girl so sharp?

I was scared of her, even though she was my blood sister.

Mai smiled at my answer.

“Your reaction makes it sound like I’m right. What is it, did you get dumped?”

“…No, to call it dumped is a bit—”

“N-no way, did you really get dumped?”

“Of course not. But what is the best way to say it…”

As I was choosing my words, Mai tilted her head and said, “Weird.”

After a while, she thought of something and clapped her hands.

“So is it that situation when it’s not like you get dumped or he dumped you, but you had to break up anyway?” (+)

“….Well, I guess you could say that.”

“Hee, that’s a bit strange. Is it okay if I ask why?”

“Why? Hm…”

I felt that the current situation of being a fake couple was not the right one.

If Mizutani found someone she liked, I would become a hindrance.

When I talked to Mizutani the other day, I felt that she was convinced of this.

However, I couldn’t just tell Mai about this.

Mai didn’t know anything about our situation.

“I guess you can call it we have different ways of seeing things.”

For some reason, Mai was confused when I made up a reason that sounded like it.

“A-ahh. So you mean that guy was straight…”

“…What in the world are you talking about?”

“No, it’s nothing! But, I see…well, there will definitely be a next time!”

Mai patted me on the shoulder as if to comfort me and left the room.

What’s with that girl? I couldn’t understand why she said that kind of thing.

…But I guess it was a good distraction.

I opened the LIME app again and checked my typed text again.

『Now you don’t have to pretend to date me anymore. Congratulations. From tomorrow morning, you don’t have to wait for me at the station.』

That was what I typed.

I contemplated and hit the send button.

After confirming that the message was sent to Mizutani, I immediately closed the app and turned off my phone. With a thud, I laid back on my bed.

I felt like I was mentally exhausted after just a few seconds.

It was a little early, but I think I’d go to bed.