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Chapter 60 – Show Me Who You Really Are
We bumped into Tsuru on our way back to the classroom.
“Ah, there you are.”
“Yo.”
“Hm? What’s wrong, Arina?”
Arina who walked behind me looked dazed. I knew the reason for this, I didn’t expect that it would affect her this much, though.
“Ah, I’m fine.”
“Huh? Really? Sui, what did you do to her?”
“Tsuru-kun, I’m the victim here! This woman actually took my kidney out and she said she’s going to sell it in SEA!”
“…Let’s pretend that she did that, so how are you still standing here looking healthy?”
“The anesthesia is still working. I’ll probably go insane at midnight, if you don’t believe me, I’ll record it and upload it on YouTube!”
“Sure, so what really happened? You don’t seem down anymore… Did you solve everything properly?”
I took a glance at Arina.
She noticed my gaze and immediately looked away.
“Well, Arina gave me some advice. I’m okay now, thanks for trying to help me, Tsuru.”
“No need to, I’m just glad that everything is okay now.”
Maybe he heard our voices, Makoto came out of the classroom and called out to me.
“Chui~”
“Don’t call me that, it’s disgusting! Also, I ended your dream to be a psychotherapist, hah! You can’t help me with my problem anymore because I solved it on my own!”
“But, my dream is to be a cook…”
“Anyway, you don’t need to worry about me anymore, everything is solved now. Thank you for worrying though.”
They seemed to be confused, understandable because if I were in their positions, I would be too. After all, this guy who had been acting so out of it since early in the morning suddenly acted normally again, who wouldn’t be curious about that?
They probably noticed that I was avoiding the topic like a coward, so I pointed at them and said ‘Mortals, it’s better for you to not pry about this matter…’
Then Arina and I returned to our classrooms without exchanging any words.
I sat down, took a deep breath and spinned my pen around.
Then I felt the classroom tremble.
No, it wasn’t the classroom, but it was me who was trembling.
WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST SAY TO HEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRR???!!!
That cry of my poor heart transmitted in the form of my trembling. I couldn’t even bring myself to crack a joke at Makoto, who was staring at me with an intense expression. My feeling of shame took over and I started to writhe like a worm inside the classroom.
I just made the biggest mistake of my life…
*   *   *
A few minutes ago.
“I love you, Arina… That’s why I don’t know how to answer Shirona’s feelings…”
At that moment, time stopped and everything stood still.
Then the clock began to tick again.
“Ah…”
That was the only sound she managed to make.
Meanwhile I could only keep my mouth shut.
Why did I say that?
Moreover, at this timing?
Did I even mean it?
Was it a joke?
I was only trying to pull her legs, right?
I like Arina?
The girl with a venomous tongue?
Does that mean I don’t like Shirona?
What the hell am I even doing?!
A never-ending list of questions appeared in my mind. Shame and regret began to take over.
I immediately tried to cover everything with a joke.
“Y-You see, that’s why even if I received a confession from 3.5 billion women, I can’t accept them! A-Ah right, by Arina, I meant I liked the other Arina, the angelic and gentle one, not—”
“…”
“Oi oi, stop giving me that look! My Dear angelic Arina, please come out!!”
I f**ked up.
“…I see.”
“…Yeah…”
Heavy. Not the atmosphere, but my feet felt heavy. Who turned on the gravity machine? Why couldn’t I move my feet? My back was wet from cold sweat and it felt disgusting.
No one could mistake my words, it was a clear confession. I didn’t plan to say that out loud, I mean, I didn’t even want to go out with her. Yes, I liked her, but that wasn’t enough reason to go out with her.
Saying that out loud was not my intention. Someone manipulated me to make me say that out loud! Who was it? Show yourself!
“You know what happened to everyone who confessed to me, don’t you?”
“I know, but you don’t need to take me seriously!! Just treat me like an ant–”
“Then you know what you’re getting yourself into, you maggot. Do you think you are good enough to keep me company? Do you still want to live? I’ll dispose of you right this instant, come…”
She crossed her arms and glared sharply at me. Seeing her face, I felt somehow aroused… Wait no, I’m not an M! This feels humiliating though…
Well, I expected this reaction. I mean, she wouldn’t blush and squeal out of nowhere, she wasn’t that kind of person.
“Anyway, I got your answer regarding your things with Shirona. Everything is cleared up now too, so good for you, you can stop acting like a loser.”
“Ah… I guess…”
“Then, I’m going back. Oh, if you tell anyone some bulls**t like I’m kidnapping you, I swear I’ll rip your organs out of your body and throw them all into the ocean.”
“At least sell them away! They make good money, you know?”
She turned her face away and stormed out of the Rose Garden.
I was expecting a follow-up from her, but she kept her silence.
*   *   *
Back to the present.
Seriously, what the hell was I doing?…
I want to forget everything. I should drink my tomato juice, if I drink enough of them, I should be able to forget about everything.
So I took a carton box of tomato juice out of my bag and downed it in one gulp. Man, this kind of tomato juice is great, I could just throw them into the trash can inside the classroom whenever I’m done drinking them… Wait, no, I have more pressing matters at hand. I have to reply to Shirona.
But…
How do I even reject her?
I knew I was being indecisive, but the fact that I was hesitating like this was enough proof that this matter wasn’t as simple as it seemed to be.
But still, Shirona wouldn’t want a relationship born out of pity…
I opened up my phone’s contact list and looked up ‘Namiki Shirona’.
{Hello, this is Shirona…}
“It’s Sui. After school, where should we meet?”
{…The old staff room…}
“Eh?”
She hung up the call.
I heard her clearly. The old staff room.
Why would she choose that place? The old staff room… In other words, the Rose Garden… The school was large, why did she choose that place out of all the places? Why would she choose to meet me at that place filled with my memories with Arina? It was the place where the person that she liked hung out with another girl, wouldn’t she feel repulsive to be there?
I don’t know what’s going to happen anymore…