A Beautiful Girl Confessed Her Love to Me as a Punishment Game, but After We Started Dating, She Started Getting More and More Obsessive - Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Saigo finished off the contents of a large tiered lunchbox in no time and gulped water from his bottle with gusto, while Minami watched him, seemingly entranced.

Thick eyebrows, sharp facial features, a strong build, and a hearty appetite—he exuded masculine vigor.

Saigo, who had finished eating so quickly, opened his mouth to say something, but then furrowed his brow and folded his arms as if deep in thought. I looked down at my own bento, which was still half full.

“Saigo, you eat so fast,” I said.

“Yeah, he’s always fast,” Minami interjected.

“Ah, well… People keep telling me to slow down, chew properly, and not rush,” Saigo added with a slight chuckle.

Whenever I spoke to Saigo, Minami would chime in with her own explanations. She seemed to be in a cheerful mood, which was surprising since I usually thought of her as someone with a perpetually annoyed expression. It was refreshing to see this side of her.

What made Minami fall for Saigo?

The pairing of a cool-looking girl like Minami with someone as bold and striking as Saigo was intriguing in itself. The image of friends pushing desks together to share lunch and talk about love—just like in those dreamy, youth-filled scenarios—felt so nostalgic and appealing.

“Saigo’s…”

As the words left my mouth, I noticed Kiryu sitting quietly and chewing his salad with care.

I remembered his frozen expression when Daichi suggested that punishment game. Kiryu had always disliked those kinds of antics.

Besides, Minami and Saigo probably weren’t even dating yet. At this uncertain stage, an outsider like me saying something unnecessary would only come off as insensitive.

That was close. I almost ended up repeating Daichi’s mistake.

“What about Saigo?” Minami immediately reacted, likely because I had mentioned Saigo’s name. Was she really that smitten?

“Uh, no, it’s nothing…”

“What’s wrong?” Saigo pressed me, his gaze sharp. Or at least, it felt sharp.

I was a bit intimidated. Was this what a high-pressure job interview felt like?

Realizing mid-sentence that what I was about to say would have been a slip-up was fortunate, but now that I’d lost my original thought, I had nothing to say.

Three seconds passed in silence.

Minami and Saigo waited patiently for me to continue. At this point, it felt hard to backtrack and say, “Forget it.”

Even Kiryu was now looking my way.

I genuinely didn’t have anything to say.

Honestly, I was just trying to ease the awkwardness of having Saigo, someone I hadn’t spoken to much, sitting next to me.

I didn’t have anything to say, but there was something I wanted to ask.

“Well, um…”

I figured Saigo had come to talk about Fujisaki. The way he folded his arms and appeared conflicted suggested he didn’t know how to broach the topic.

The tension was palpable, and it was making me uneasy.

I think I tend to talk more when I’m uncomfortable, maybe even blurt out things I shouldn’t.

Silence feels awkward, so I try to fill it by talking.

But since I’m not great at conversation, I end up saying unnecessary things.

That happened yesterday, and it’s happening now.

I nearly stepped on Kiryu’s landmine by commenting on Minami’s love life, and I was on the verge of mentioning Fujisaki’s name, a subject I’d been trying to avoid.

Still, I didn’t want to be the one to bring it up.

Honestly, after being dragged into situations by Yasumura and Fujisaki on both Friday and Sunday, I wanted to know what kind of person Saigo thought Fujisaki was. I also wanted to ask how things led to Daichi proposing that punishment game and about the supposed love triangle involving Kiryu and the others.

But talking about this in front of Kiryu didn’t seem right.

Depending on what Saigo said, he and Kiryu might get into a fight. If that happened, Minami, who liked Saigo and valued Kiryu as a best friend, would be caught in the middle.

If Fujisaki and Yasumura’s feelings reached Kiryu in such a convoluted way, they’d surely hate it. Kiryu might say something harsh, and that would undoubtedly hurt them deeply.

In such a scenario, I’d be blamed for starting the conversation.

Even if the blame didn’t fall on me, the classroom atmosphere would only grow more tense, which I wanted to avoid.

I wracked my brain for a safe continuation to “Saigo’s…” but the complex web of relationships surrounding Kiryu, Fujisaki, and the others made it hard to predict where the landmines lay.

Why was someone as socially awkward as me being dragged into this minefield of human drama?

My head was spinning.

I came to my senses.

Saigo and the others were still waiting silently for me to speak.

How long had I been thinking?

What now? After making them wait this long, it was even harder to say, “Forget it.”

“Numata, if you don’t have anything to say, that’s fine too,” Kiryu finally offered, throwing me a lifeline.

“Th-thank you. Then, yeah, it’s nothing.”

“Why? Numata, you were about to say something,” Saigo said, frowning.

“It looked like he didn’t want to say it,” Kiryu explained.

“Really? I didn’t notice.”

I looked at Kiryu and gave a small nod. I was genuinely grateful that she had noticed and helped me out of my predicament.

“…It seems Kiryu has taken a liking to Numata,” Minami said suddenly. “Can I ask what it is about him that you like?”

“That’s basically asking, isn’t it? But…well, I guess he’s surprisingly easy to talk to,” Kiryu replied.

“Why’s that?”

“I don’t know, exactly. Numata seems to have a good understanding of both himself and others. It feels like he’s genuinely engaging when we talk. It’s…interesting.”

“Hmm.”

“What?”

“Nothing. I just felt a little jealous of Numata.”

“Why’s that?”

“And what about you, Numata? What do you think?”

“Uh, well… I guess I’m happy.”

Being told I was easy to talk to and genuine felt strange, but knowing Kiryu thought positively of me made me simply happy.