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 - 83 END

Chapter 83: Standing Side by Side with the Hungry Gyaru

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When I got home, my older sister and Mom were each relaxing on the living room sofa.

“I’m home.”

“Welcome back. How was your date with Shizuku-chan?”

“It was fun.”

When I answered shortly, my sister tilted her head suspiciously. It was probably because my reaction wasn’t what she had expected. In contrast, Mom simply smiled gently.

“Is Ichika already asleep?”

Well, it was a pretty late hour. I had actually wanted to say it when all three of them were together, but I figured telling her in the morning when she woke up would be fine. For now, I’d report it to my sister and Mom.

“Starting today, Shizuku and I are going out. I’m gonna take a bath.”

“Ooh, see ya—… wait, what!? Gaku, hold it right there! What kind of huge announcement are you just casually dropping like that!?”

As I was about to head back to my room to grab a change of clothes, my sister sprang up from the sofa and grabbed me by the collar.

“That story! In detail! You are telling us everything! Every single detail!”

“…Can it wait until after I take a bath?”

“Nope! This is super important! Now, hurry!”

“I got it, so quit yelling.”

She could seriously end up bothering the neighbors at that volume. And while Mom wasn’t as forceful as my sister…

“Gakkun, come sit over here.”

She paused the drama she had been watching and gestured for me to sit beside her.

There’s no escaping this.

Resigning myself to my fate, I let my sister push me down onto the sofa next to Mom. Then the barrage of questions—no, the interrogation—began. After being questioned thoroughly from every angle, I was finally released a full thirty minutes later.

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At long last, the long summer vacation ended, and the second semester began today. On a clear morning that still carried lingering heat, I was waiting on the platform of my nearest station for the train heading toward school when…

“Gakkun, morning~!”

Someone lightly tapped my shoulder from the side. When I turned around, there stood Shizuku, already in high spirits despite it being early morning.

“Yeah, morning.”

Seeing her in her uniform again for the first time in a while filled me with a strange sense of sentimentality, and my heart beat a little faster. Hiding that feeling, I answered with a small smile, and Shizuku grinned back in satisfaction.

“You’re in a pretty good mood.”

“Well, obviously. I finally get to go to school with you, Gakkun.”

“…Yeah.”

To tell the truth, I had been looking forward to this moment too. This was actually the first time we’d commuted to school together, and more than that, I got to see Shizuku first thing in the morning. Just thinking that this would continue every day made my energy well up.

Even so…

I could feel occasional stares piercing into me from around us. When I glanced around, most of them were from people wearing the same school uniform.

Well… it’s only natural this would happen.

I had completely forgotten, but Shizuku was pretty famous at school. Not only because of her flashy, cute appearance, but also because she had been at the center of that incident right before summer vacation. If someone like her showed up right after break ended, stuck close to a guy, of course people would be curious.

If it was like this even here, away from school grounds, the number of stares would only increase once we got there. And sure enough, my prediction hit the mark.

After boarding the train, the closer we got to the station near the school, the more the gazes from other students on the same train stabbed into us one after another. When we arrived at the station closest to the school and stepped onto the platform, the number of eyes on us increased dramatically.

As we headed toward the ticket gates, I asked Shizuku something that had crossed my mind.

“By the way, did you tell Miura and the others that we’re dating?”

“Nope, not yet. I figured I’d surprise them and watch them freak out.”

I couldn’t help but let out a wry smile at Shizuku’s mischievous grin.

This is probably going to get pretty troublesome once we reach the classroom…

But strangely enough, I didn’t mind that at all. It wasn’t that I wanted to show off or anything, but if the fact that the two of us were dating became widely known, it might keep any guys from trying to make a move on Shizuku. And since I had no intention of hiding the fact that we were dating, this was bound to happen sooner or later anyway.

In that case, I might as well—

After passing through the ticket gate and exiting the station, I suddenly reached out and took Shizuku’s hand. When I glanced at her, she lightly blushed but intertwined her fingers with mine and pressed herself snugly against my left arm. Immediately, I felt the number of stares shoot up even more, but I ignored them and started walking toward school.

“…Oh, right. I packed your favorite stuff for today’s lunch.”

“Wait, seriously!? Yes! Oh man, now I’m legit super excited for lunch…!”

By the time this lingering summer heat passed and autumn deepened, the stares directed at us now would probably die down. But Shizuku’s smile, warm like the summer sky, would surely remain unchanged.

Watching her profile, I quietly narrowed my eyes into a smile. 

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