Actually, the Hungry Gyaru Who Eats a Lot Was Being Cheated On, so I Decided to Win Her Heart (And Stomach) From Her Jerk Boyfriend - 24

Chapter 24: The Hungry Gyaru, Caught Red Handed by Her Friends

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“Hey, Shizuku. What’s your relationship with Suou?”

They were having a light dinner at a certain burger shop when Sawa asked Shizuku that question. The unexpected question nearly caused the hamburger Shizuku was about to swallow to get stuck in her throat. She quickly gulped the hamburger down with white grape juice and after making sure she had avoided choking to death, Shizuku tilted her head to the side a bit as she answered. 

“…Nothing special, really.”

“Whoa~ Are you trying to play dumb with me now?~”

Shizuku was trying to feign ignorance, but Sawa glared at her suspiciously instead. 

“Let me tell you this. I won’t let you get away that easily. You can’t say there’s nothing going on between you two.”

Upon hearing that firm rebuttal, Shizuku’s resolve wavered a bit. Then, Natsuki and Rinoa, who were also sitting at the table with them, showed their interest in the conversation. 

“Huh? What? What? Shizuku and Suou are having a thing?”

“Ooh~ So Shizuku has found a new love interest…!”

“No! No! That’s not it! Suou-kun and I are not like that…!”

Shizuku desperately denied the accusation, but Sawa only let out a sigh and shrugged her shoulders exasperatedly. 

“No, no. There’s no way there’s nothing between you two. Shizuku, when you were talking with Suou, your face looked so much brighter than usual and the conversation was flowing so smoothly. That’s proof you two are used to talking to each other. Am I right?”

“Tha-That’s…”

But before Shizuku could come up with a plausible excuse, she was bombarded with even more accusations. 

“Not to mention, you’ve been giving off this ‘I’m not interested in being friendly with guys at school’ aura ever since you broke up with Yamachi. But that said aura completely disappeared when you were talking with Suou earlier.”

“Ugh…!”

Sawa was right on the money. Upon being pointed out like that, Shizuku couldn’t come up with a strong rebuttal. She was fully aware that she was being very curt with the boys at school. After all, she really didn’t have any interest in talking to any guys other than Gakuto. Hence why she couldn’t come up with a good response. However, Sawa’s logical questioning didn’t end there.

“And most importantly… This.”

Sawa pointed at Shizuku—or more precisely, at the food in front of her. There were two large fries, two drinks and three hamburgers (five if you counted the ones Shizuku had already eaten) on the tray in front of Shizuku. 

“Why does Suou know that you’re a big eater? The only ones who should know about this are us, right? Not to mention, we only found out about this recently too.”

“Nnngh…!?!?”

All those valid points were more than enough to make Shizuku realize she couldn’t dodge this topic. Upon watching Shizuku left utterly speechless, the two onlookers murmured to themselves. 

“Ah, that was a critical hit.”

“Yeah. A perfect bullseye.”

Shizuku realized she had been caught off guard. She deeply regretted how she had behaved earlier. Sure, being hit on rather forcibly was something she didn’t expect, but she shouldn’t have spoken to Gakuto with her usual level of familiarity. She had forgotten to keep up the pretense. 

Ahhhh!! I’m an idiottttt!!

However, the deed had been done. It was too late for regrets. Sawa flashed a mischievous grin as she said to Shizuku. 

“Alright. Time to spill everything. Tell us everything about you and Suou.”

Ughhh… Suou-kun, I’m sorry! I can’t keep our secret safe from my friends!

Resigned to her fate, Shizuku finally confessed the secret relationship she had with Suou. Of course, she was considerate enough to avoid mentioning the messy details related to Yamachi, but she had told her friends the general story. And so, once she finished her explanation, her three friends nodded in agreement, seemingly understanding the gist of the story. 

“I see. I understand the general picture now. So right now you’re in a completely unrequited love with Suou.”

“U-Unrequited love?!”

“I mean, isn’t it obvious? Even though you’re on a high alert around guys right now, but you still let Suou approach you. He’s the only exception for you. It’d be strange if you didn’t have feelings for him.”

“Well, that… That might be true, but…”

Shizuku replied in a barely audible voice, prompting Natsuki to grin and pull out her phone. 

“Shizuku! You look so completely in love! How adorable!~”

“Hey, don’t take pictures!”

With her face turned bright red, Shizuku lunged to grab Natsuki’s phone while Rinoa only sipped her milkshake nonchalantly. Rinoa then asked Sawa a question, totally unfazed by the commotion between Shizuku and Natsuki.

“By the way, Sawa, what’s Suou like from your perspective? I heard he helped you two when you were being hit on by guys, right?”

“Suou… He’s kind of dangerous.”

Sawa said with a serious expression on her face.

“He’s like a hidden diamond in the rough. He has the physique of someone in a sports club, and his personality is super manly and cool. With a bit of polishing, he’d definitely become super amazing—enough to completely shake up the school’s handsome guy rankings.”

“Whoa, seriously?”

“Dead serious. Honestly, I almost fell for him myself, but…”

With a wry smile on her face, Sawa glanced at Shizuku.

“Well, I quickly put a lid on that thought though.”

Shizuku was staring at Sawa. The anxiety was clearly etched in Shizuku’s eyes. 

“Don’t worry, I won’t steal him. Besides, I don’t think I could even if I tried.”

“…Really?”

Shizuku was well aware worrying too much wouldn’t do her good, but still… The anxiety in her head forced her to ask again. 

“Really…?”

“Yeah, really. That’s… Well, I’m sure everyone will know about it sooner or later.”

Sawa smiled meaningfully, her gaze fixed on Shizuku. Meanwhile, both Shizuku and the other two tilted their heads to the side in confusion.

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