A Sweet Romance That Starts With One Bottle of Juice, Between a Heiress Who Must Marry Her First Kiss and a Lonesome Guy With a Menacing Look - Chapter 3 - Two People Who Crossed Paths - Part 2

Chapter 3 – Two People Who Crossed Paths – Part 2

I ran away like I was avoiding her, but we sit next to each other (In order of attendance number), so I can’t avoid speaking with her after all…

As I sat down first and prepared for the first period, Yasunomihara-san, who came after me, sat down next to me.

“What happened earlier?”

Yasunomihara-san asked me a question as soon as she arrived.

I guess it’s natural for her to ask, since I was so flustered earlier.

She looked at me with a scowl.

“We had the conversation first, so why not say it openly?”

“That’s because…it was clear that I was in the way.”

“In the way?”

“Besides, if Yasunomihara-san was talking to a loner like me, it would be bad for her image.”

“Why?”

Young miss, you’re smart, so please understand without me saying it explicitly…

“Perhaps you don’t like chatting, Yasuda-san?”

“It’s not that I don’t like it, but…”

“In that case! Will you chat with me from now on?”

C-Chat with her? With Yasunomihara-san?

“I’m sorry to be selfish, but… I would like to know more about Yasuda-san.”

I was surprised by how surprisingly optimistic she is, despite being faced with the situation of being close to death.

“Aren’t you angry, Yasunomihara-san? You’re…engaged to an ordinary civilian like me.”

“I’m not angry. In fact, I’m filled with feelings of apology.”

Immediately after saying this, Yasunomihara-san looked down.

“Not only my destiny, but even yours has been shaken by my indiscretion. That is a great sin.”

“I don’t think it’s a sin.”

“That’s why, Yasuda-san, there is no need to force yourself for me, and if you don’t want to be engaged to me, you can refuse.”

Yasunomihara-san said this with a straight face and looked into my eyes with a burning gaze.

She is trying to follow her beliefs rather than her desire to live her life.

“H-How could I refuse?”

“No, you have that right.”

“I can’t do that!”

I suddenly came to myself and realized that I had been unknowingly heating up and quickly looked around.

As expected, the loudness of my speech had attracted the attention of the whole class.

Shit…

I turned away from Yasunomihara-san out of a sense of shame.

“…I’m sorry for shouting.”

Of course, it was only a matter of time before hate would gather when the shady loner guy suddenly raised his voice.

“Yasuda-kun is scary.”

“Fighting with Yuuka-chan, that’s not good.”

People around me seem to think I shouted angrily at Yasunomihara-san, and whispered things to each other quietly.

I see. Will I be made the perpetrator (villain) here as well?

“……”

I couldn’t stand the way they were looking at me, and the next thing I knew, I was running out of the classroom.

✳︎✳︎

—I was looking up at the clear sky.

There was a pleasant breeze on the rooftop and the sunlight cleansed my anxieties.

“…I’d like to quit high school.”

When I was in middle school, I put in a lot of effort to get into high school. But now that it’s come to this, there’s nothing I can do about it.

No friends, no popularity.

In class, I’m just a mob with a physically big body.

I have no value or raison d’etre.

I’m sorry Yasunomihara-san, but I—

“–Suda-san!”

This…this clear voice…

“Y-Yasunomihara-san?”

I couldn’t believe that an honor student like Yasunomihara Yuuka skipped the first period to come here.

“You can’t just skip school.”

“That’s my line! You haven’t come back at all since then.”

“S-Sorry.”

“And the people in the class were always bad-mouthing Yasuda-san, even though it was my fault.”

“That’s…”

Of course everyone would defend Yasunomihara-san, given my status in the class caste.

“So I told everyone! I said it wasn’t Yasuda-san’s fault!”

“Ah. Another unnecessary thing.”

With my head in my hands, Yasunomihara-san sat down next to me, holding her skirt.

“Rather than that, I’m sorry for just now. I didn’t mean to yell or run away suddenly.”

“I’m the one to blame. It was me who broke the tradition and involved you in it. I’m really, really sorry.”

She then bowed her head deeply.

I’ve never had friends or siblings, but today, for the first time in my life, I made up with someone.

With relief, I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

“I was being stubborn… and I’m just ashamed of myself for having you go out with me out of pity.”

It was an opinion that was typical of her pride.

“But…I really don’t want to die! I’m afraid of dying…”

A large tear flowed down Yasunomihara-san’s cheek.

She sobbed repeatedly and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand.

“I don’t want to die, but even if I survive, I’ll cause trouble for Yasuda-san! If I don’t do that, I will die! I don’t know what to do!”

Her face was red and crumpled up in tears, unbecoming of a refined young lady.

“I don’t want to die! But I also don’t want to cause Yasuda-san any trouble!”

“Is that what Yasunomihara-san really wants?”

Yasunomihara-san rubbed her eyes and nodded.

“Well, then, can I ask you to listen to my true feelings too?”

“Ehh—? I don’t want to! Why are you announcing my death at a place like this!!”

“Why are you assuming I’d refuse you…”

“I don’t want to die!”

This young lady is too much.

“A-Anyway, wipe your tears.”

I took a handkerchief and tissues from the pocket of my uniform and handed them to Yasunomihara-san—That was my intention.

“Would you please…blow my nose?”

“Eh… A-Alright.”

“Psst.”

Her nose is really smooth and shiny.

—Why am I helping my classmate (a high school student) blow her nose?

“Sorry, I usually have Natsume do it for me. So what’s Yasuda-san’s true feelings?”

“You’re suddenly shifting the topic to that!?”

“I’ve had my nose blown, so now I’m ready.”

“H-Huh…”

You can’t blow your own nose… Are you in kindergarten?

As I wrapped up the tissue, I started talking about something important.

“Of course it’s my fault for forgetting the bottle. So now that this has happened… I want to take responsibility.”

“…Y-Yasuda-san.”

“Ah, but if Yasunomihara-san doesn’t like it, I’ll—”

Golden hair fluttering in the wind passed in front of me.

“Yasuno…mihara…san?”

My shadow and Yasunomihara-san’s shadow overlapped.

Her petite body dominated my body.

I was…hugged?

Two fruits were pressed against my body.

So a girl’s body is this small and soft…

“I will make every effort to make Yasuda-san like me!”

“N-No, you don’t have to go that far.”

“I do! So for now, like this… Please hold me tight—”

The thought of sharing a passionate embrace with the Yasunomihara Yuuka would have been unthinkable to me a few days ago.

“Um, Yasunomihara-san?”

“Yes?”

“Your snot’s running again.”

“Then, would you please blow my nose, Tadakuni-san?”

“…It seems like it’s still too early for that kind of addressing.” 

“Then, Tadakuni.”

“The bar’s getting higher!?”

My crazy romantic comedy began when I got engaged two months after entering high school…