My cheeks were burning. The slap from earlier had left a stinging sensation.
The collar that had been grabbed was in tatters. When I checked, I found out that the button was about to come off. It mustâve been grabbed with great force.
âPhew⌠Iâm tired.â
With a wry smile on my face, I slumped to the ground.
I was trembling, probably because Iâd done something out of character.
But I was glad.
I was relieved to see that Kirari was looking ahead once more.
ââŚWhy?â
As I breathed a sigh of relief, Mary, who mustâve been watching us the entire time, spoke to me with a sour expression on her face.
âWhy didnât you just accept her?â
She appeared to be dissatisfied with the outcome.
âI didnât want you to go above and beyond⌠This wasnât how things were supposed to end.â
Yes, it was.
In your scenario, Kirari was supposed to like me.
âI didnât expect Ryoma to confess to me so soon, so my plans went a little awry⌠However, that didnât matter. Kirariâs rejection could have been a foregone conclusion. But if she had continued to fall in love with Kotaro, everything wouldâve gone exactly as I predicted.â
As a matter of fact, it was about to happen.
After the play was over, Mary was called over by Ryuzaki and received a confession from him with the understanding that Kirari was following them.
She then withheld her answer and all the while brought me to the back of the school building. I comforted Kirari, who was devastated at the scene, and told her to accept the situation. If I had done as I was told, Kirari would have became dependent on me.
But she didnât.
Because Kirari did not pick me.
âŚNo, let me rephrase that.
I didnât dare to let her choose me.
âWhy did you go with those words? You made fun of Kirari⌠as if you were deliberately trying to offend her.â
ââŚWell, Iâm not sure what youâre talking about.â
I brushed it off.
Maryâs face contorted in displeasure.
âI instructed you to âaccept Kirari,â remember?â
âI tried to accept her, just as youâve said. Although Kirari on the other hand, refused to do so.â
I did exactly as I was told.
I followed Maryâs instructions, albeit in a slightly different manner.
âIf she had simply flirted with me in that way, I would have accepted it⌠Well, Iâm very sorry to hear that. It seems like Kirari didnât think someone of my caliber was good enough?â
ââŚI expected you to accept her the same way you did with Azusa.â
Hmm, it seems that Mary had miscalculated.
She had been mistaken in thinking that I was dancing in the palm of her hand the entire time.
âI assumed Kotaro was one of those people.â
âTheyâre not⌠the same. Azusa and Kirari are completely different.â
Please donât think of me as the type of person who would accept anyone as long as they were a girl.
I am not Ryoma Ryuzaki.
âAzusa is my younger sister. Although we are not related by blood, weâre family who are connected by our hearts. As a result, I can forgive her when she hurts me, and comfort her when she is hurt, because she is the person who is the closest to me, so itâs only natural. right?â
Iâve said it before, but I want to make this clear.
Kirari is a stranger.
âThere is no reason for me to interfere in Kirariâs life. Weâre not family, and weâre no longer even friends. And yet, youâre telling me that I should accept her unconditionally⌠Iâm not a saint, okay?â
Iâm not so naive as to believe I can save people at random.
Because I am a despicable person.
âSo, I tried. I gave her a reason and a few conditions. But Kirari rejected it, thatâs all there is to it. Mary may be reluctant to accept the end result, but⌠unfortunately, people in real life do not always do what you want them to.â
I told her in a flat tone.
Nonetheless, I gave up on trying to accept the situation from the start and instead tried to antagonize Kirari, but Iâm not stupid enough to admit it.
Iâm sure Mary understands what Iâm trying to accomplish. Iâm trying to get her to admit her mistake and take back the reins. I didnât let her plans go as smoothly as she had hoped.
âTchâŚâ
I chuckled inwardly at Mary, who unusually didnât hide her irritation.