A Twisted Introvert loner Like Me, Mentally Wrecked One-Sidedly due to Love, Throws Away the Love Letter Sent by the foremost School's Beauty, Leading to an Unwanted Romantic Comedy - v2 Chapter 10: Mental Check 2

Chapter 10: Mental Check 2

“…Don’t you, have something, you want to talk to me, about?”

As I reached out for some fried potatoes, thinking, ‘Let’s see, how does these fried potatoes fare,’ when Katase asked me.

I had only sent her a message saying, “If you’re free after school, how about a visit in the family restaurant?” I didn’t mention having anything else to talk about.

Pulling back my hand after stretching it, I popped a fried potato into my mouth. The sweetness gets overwritten with saltiness.

“Nah~, I just felt like indulging myself in something unhealthy and feel guilty about it later,”

“What’s with that? That’s like giving a reason that would make every person taking a diet turn into your enemy. Weird,”

Katase replied, covering her mouth elegantly with her hand as she giggled happily. But soon, her expression clouded her laughter.

“That was a made-up reason, wasn’t it? It’s all very obvious you know.”

“……….”

“Kazari-kun, even if you made friends, you feel comfortable around, I doubt you’d ever invite someone yourself. You’re mostly passive. So, if you had decided to make a move from your side… it must be for something pretty important, I think.”

“…Well, I won’t deny that, but”

As expected, Katase looked pleased with herself. I had hoped to bring it up more naturally, but it seems that the moment she received my invitation, she felt it already awkward to begin with.

Taking a sip of my Kazari blend and then a deep breath, I looked at Katase.

“It seems like Tachibana has been hitting you pretty hard… Are you fine?”

“…That topic… well it’s as expected… Even though it may seem that I am getting swept away by those strong winds, I am not at all depressed, I’m all fine.”

“I’ve heard a certain degree from Hiiragi. To be honest, Tachibana’s methods are too extreme. This is not just me, but everyone feels like it. And if anyone was in Katase’s position right now, they would have already had their heart broken by now. That’s why —-”

“Does that mean, you can’t trust in me when I say that I am all fine?”

Interrupting me in the middle, Katase said that in a reflex.

“If that’s the case, then that would only mean that my heart is made a lot stronger than other people’s!”

Still, Katase insisted she was fine.

“More importantly, that really took me by surprise… To think that Ryogoku-kun liked me… ——-Did you know about it, Kazari-kun?”

“Eh? Ah, nope.”

“I thought so right. Ryogoku-kun is smart, good at sports, and moreover, looks handsome… So, dating him wouldn’t be a bad idea, right?”

“Why are you looking at me while saying that?”

“Nothing special, just wondering how you’d react if a girl whom you rejected moved on to another guy right away.”

“Ho~ooh mmh… So, in short, you were testing me.”

“Exactly! Then, how did it feel? Did you feel a little… like, I don’t know, —reluctant about the idea of me dating Ryogoku-kun?”

“Nope, not really. I had no other thought than, ‘please do as you like’.”

“Muu, I wish you could have at least let me hope for a bit.”

Katase pouted her cheeks puffing them up like a balloon.

But soon, that balloon deflated, and she flashed a smile with her exposed white teeth.

“But… it’s just like how Kazari-kun would be~.”

Her smile was so delicate, like a thin ice that could crack with the slightest shock.

Of course, it could just be that my eyes are like gnarled holes, or rather, like a glass bead, but there’s also a chance that she’s not actually lying about it right now.

But still, the Katase I see smiling in front of me seems more like a glass expression to me.

Or rather its more like, I can’t help but feel it that way.