CH 32

Chapter 32 – You’re Gonna Fall in Love!

Walking hand in hand with Urushibara-san after getting tangled up with Kasumi.

Dozle seems to have gotten used to Urushibara-san and is walking as if guiding her.

As I walk, I recall my earlier exchange with Kasumi.

Dozle threatened Kasumi, who suddenly called out to me.

I could see that Urushibara-san was also overly cautious towards Kasumi, just like Dozle.

I was surprised that Kasumi talked to me, but I was more surprised that Urushibara-san revealed so much caution toward Kasumi.

Maybe she knows about the past troubles between me and Kasumi.

I wonder if Haruko told her about it.

They were glaring at each other (I was standing behind Urushibara-san, so I couldn’t see whether she was glaring at her or not) and it looked like a fight was about to start, so I asked Urushibara-san to calm down anyway and clearly showed my stance to Kasumi as well.

If it wasn’t for my hubris, Urushibara-san would have gotten mad at Kasumi for me.

Of course, I’ve never seen Urushibara-san like that at school.

She often gets angry with me and glares at me when it’s only the two of us, but I know it was a different kind of anger.

For me, it was more like anger towards a friend.

It was not rejection.

It’s like she was scolding me because I wasn’t listening to her.

The earlier anger towards Kasumi felt like hatred.

Some kind of rejection, or revenge, those kinds of anger.

Urushibara-san spoke calmly, but her voice was the angriest I have ever heard.

Seeing that, I thought that Urushibara-san was angry with Kasumi for me.

I’m a really pathetic man…

Even though it was out of the blue, I was so shaken up by Kasumi that I made Urushibara-san and Dozle worry.

I have some idea what Kasumi is thinking.

I guess she’s not amused that the guy who lived next door, who had bothered her so much, seemed to be getting on so well with his friend of the opposite s*x.

She must have lost her temper and wanted to complain.

Kasumi has always been like that.

She has a short temper for a girl, and when she gets angry she becomes foul-mouthed.

However, if it had been years ago, I could understand Kasumi complaining about such a situation, but Kasumi and I are no longer friends or childhood friends.

Besides, I didn’t confess, but I was rejected by Kasumi.

We’re just neighbors now, and I don’t think I’ve caused any trouble for her in the last few years.

No matter who I get along with, Kasumi has no right to complain.

When I was walking thinking about this, I arrived at the Urushibara residence.

I receive Dozle’s lead from Urushibara-san, return Urushibara-san’s luggage that she had left with me, and give her a hug, which has become a habit of mine recently…

But today’s hug was different.

Not the usual hug, but something more. It feels powerful…or perhaps passionate. I thought it was that kind of hug.

Just as I was thinking that sometimes hugs like this are possible, Urushibara-san whispered in my ear, “It’s okay. I’m here for you, Moriyama-kun.”

Urushibara-san’s breath on my ear sent a shiver down my spine.

Urushibara-san quickly left my embrace and went into the doorway to escape.

The expression on Urushibara-san’s face, which I was able to see only for a moment when we separated our bodies, looked shy but also somewhat happy.

I think Urushibara-san was trying to reassure and encourage me when I was feeling depressed about Kasumi.

Urushibara-san, you are a really nice person.

It’s no longer about being the idol of the school.

Perhaps a saint? She’s a saint because she’s a girl.

True saints do not discriminate against the lonely or the gloomy, sometimes they take a risk to protect them, sometimes they embrace them with love and smile at them with compassion…

If one were as popular as Urushibara-san, he/she would have a lot of friends.

I’m a gloomy loner among them, but she cares about me and we have many opportunities to do things together these days.

She also tried to protect me from my neighbors who have had problems with me in the past, and encourage me…

Urushibara Mama once told me that she liked me more than a friend.

I thought it meant I was a friend who was special to her out of all her many friends.

A loner like me is particularly sensitive to such things.

I knew that Urushibara-san was treating me specially, and these days we hold hands regardless of whether Dozle was there or not.

Last week, when I was in Urushibara-san’s room and we were talking about her views on love (that she admires strong men), she said in a very light voice that I was a “very strong person.”

I didn’t understand it at the time, but now I know that she respects me as a man.

I looked up at Urushibara-san’s house and saw a light in her room on the second floor.

It reminded me of the hug we had earlier.

My face is getting hotter now.

“You’re Gonna Fall in Love!” Some comedian once said that, but that’s something that I’m really feeling right now.