CH 28

When I came home from the school festival, I found Kaede in the living room with a stoic smile on her face. Usually, she would have cheerfully welcomed me with a bright smile on her face, but that was not the case for today.

It was obvious to everyone that she was in a really bad mood.

However, this was within the expected range. I decided to clear up the misunderstanding that happened when we met with Soji-san.

“Kaede, I need to talk to you…”

I’m just playing the role of Sakuramiya-sensei’s finacé and we’re not actually in a romantic relationship.

It took nearly 2 hours for Kaede to understand my reasoning without any false information in it.

“Well, I believe you, Mi-kun, but it’s strange to ask a student to do such a thing. Don’t you think she has ulterior motives behind it?”

Of course, the misunderstanding was not over and Kaede showed her distrust toward Sakuramiya-sensei.

In any case, there was no point in saying anything about it now.

“That’s not true, you know the difference in our ages right?”

“No, you don’t know that. There are some cases where people with that big age gap marry each other.”

“That’s love between adults. If we compare it to our case, it will be like I have romantic feelings for Shi-chan.”

(TL/N : Lolicon alert!!)

“Ugh, when you say it like that… the mysterious persuasiveness comes out.”

Meanwhile, Shi-chan who was listening to our conversation interjected.

“Hey Minato-nii, do you hate me?”

“No, I love you. I’m sorry for saying weird things.”

“I’m glad. I am relieved. Shiina also likes Mi-kun, but you’ll be his cousin forever.”

“Kaede, stop using that analogy now. I will have to marry Shi-chan at this rate.”

“Die Lolicon!”

You don’t have to look at me with such contempt, okay? You really don’t intend to get married do you?

But as I recall, cousins could marry each other. If I’m still single when I’m thirty, I might ask Shi-chan to marry me… But, I’m also sure she’ll turn me down when that time comes.

At any rate, I am glad that the misunderstanding was cleared up. Now if Sakuramiya-sensei finds a financé for herself, it looks like Kaede will be very happy when she finds that out.

_____________________________________

Due to the festival, I was busy cleaning up on Monday and had Tuesday and Wednesday as compensatory days off. And now it is Thursday.

While the afterglow of the school festival was still lingering in the air, the regular classes started.

Since we haven’t had any classes for a while, I feel strangely buoyant, but I have to switch over to the next class.

Incidentally, my actions at the Beauty Contest have turned out to be for the better.

Sakuramiya-sensei is our homeroom teacher, so for a while I wondered what would happen.

However, since my classmates are all warm and friendly, I don’t get teased that oftenly about it. And Sakuramiya-sensei herself didn’t create any awkward atmosphere between us either.

The school hours passed by and It was after school and I was getting ready to go home.

“Hey…!”

When I was getting ready to go home I heard a threatening voice from behind.

I turned around without being particularly surprised and there was a girl with walnut colored hair in a ponytail. A smiling, charming face stuck to her.

“What’s wrong?”

“That’s strange, I thought I’d pretty much sneaked up to you.”

“No, I’ve been telling you for a while now, if you want to freak me out, you have to come at me in a more eccentric way.”

“Oh. For example?”

“Like… suddenly dropping into a bungee out of the blue?”

“Hahaha, it surely will be eccentric that way.”

“Right? So, what do you want? You just wanted to scare me?”

“Oh, no, no. Well, that was one of my purposes.”

The girl who was nonchalantly talking to me was Shinozuka Mizuna, right now she was laughing happily and waving her hands to the side.

And you might be wondering who this Shinozuka-san is? She is none other than the one who won the Beauty Pageant competition.

Well, if Sakuramiya-sensei would have participated in it without the confession incident, which led to her getting abstained from it, she would have surely won the contest.

“Here, I’ll give you this.”

“… What is this?”

I was given a rectangular piece of paper and it was a ticket to an amusement park.

“Eh? Why me?”

“I am ashamed to say that I, Mizuna Shinozuka, won the beauty contest.”

She raised her right hand in front of her forehead and saluted. I know she won the contest and the winning prize was a ticket to the amusement park.

But I was more surprised that she handed it to me.

“No, why did you have this to me? Shouldn’t you have given this to Saeki-san.”

Saeki-san… she is a girl who often hangs out with her. According to what I have heard, they have known each other since elementary school.

I think that amusement parks are definitely more enjoyable when you go out with good friends. But why did she gave this to me?

“I thought maybe Segawa-kun might be a little brokenhearted, and doing something fun would make him feel better.”

“I’m glad you went out of your way to care about me. But I’m fine, so I’m going to give this back to you.”

I returned the ticket to Shinozuka-san. It seems that she thought I was depressed after getting rejected so she gave this to me to cheer me up.

“… I wonder if going to the amusement park with me would be boring for you.”

“Huh? No, it’s not like that.”

Going to an amusement park with Shinozuka-san would not be boring at all. She has a cute face with a bright personality. There are many boys in our grade who won’t miss that chance.

I just don’t have the right to get this ticket.

I just don’t have the right to accept it.

“If that’s the case, then get me that ticket!”

“But I’m not really heartbroken or anything. You don’t have to worry about it…”

I shook my head and tried to show that I wasn’t heartbroken using certain gestures. But suddenly a hand was placed on my shoulder.

I turned around and there she was, a girl with long black hair. It was none other than Saeki-san, her best friend.

She stared directly at my eyes and said,

“Actually, Mizuna was dumped by the guy she had a crush on the other day. So she is heartbroken too. She wants to go to an amusement park with Segawa, who is in the same situation, to relieve her sorrow.”

“Oh, I haven’t been dumped yet…”

“Shut up, Mizuna.”

“Sorry.”

Saeki-san was very aggressive with her and she shrunk when scolded. That expression of hers was also cute.

Anyway, in this situation we certainly look like comrades in arms who are dumped by someone they like.

“Anyway, that’s how it is, Segawa. Now you have to decide about it.”

“Eh? Let me think…”

After saying her point she quietly leaves the classroom.

I looked at the amusement park tickets which were in my possession. I think it’s rude to give something back to someone once handed to us with their consent.

“You don’t have to worry about what Yuka said. I am not forcing you to come with me, okay? And it’s you Segawa-kun that’s why…”

Shinozuka-san’s cheeks flushed in panic. The corners of my mouth loosened at the sight and I replied,

“Thank You. Then I’ll gladly take it.”

“Really?”

“Well, but are you coming with me? I don’t have the guts to go to the amusement park by myself alone.”

“Yes, yes, of course! When are we going then?”

“Well, let’s see…”

Shinozuka-san leans forward and checks her schedule. Seeing her happy expression, someone might have misunderstood that she likes him.

Fortunately, I have a reputation for having low self-esteem, so I don’t have to worry about being misunderstood.

I pulled out my phone and checked my calendar. The only thing I have scheduled for the moment is this Saturday. Other than that, I don’t have anything special to do. But it’s a little hard to have plans on Saturdays and Sundays in a row.

“I’m basically fine anytime after next Saturday.”

“Really? Then next Saturday is fine?”

“Yes, it’s okay.”

I’ll contact you later with the detailed schedule.

When I nodded, Shinozuka-san smiled broadly. She thanked me for accompanying her and after saying, ‘See you later.’ she also returned back to her seat.

I followed her with my eyes and looked at the ticket in my hands to the amusement park once more.

I never thought I would be going to an amusement park with Shinozuka-san. I put the ticket in my wallet, finished my preparations, and left the classroom.