Actually, There’s Someone at Your Workplace Who Likes You ~ I’m Being Transferred to a Sales Office Filled With Only Beautiful Women!? - Chapter 73: He's Not Handsome, Is He?

After taking a sip of the warm, sweet cocoa that Rinta had bought her, Honoka let out a relaxed sigh.

—Alright, time to change my mood and do better in the next game.

Although she thought this, she suddenly remembered something and reached for her smartphone. Rinta had just gone very close to where her mother was sitting. While her mother had pretended not to notice, she must have gotten a clear look at Rinta’s face. She might have sent another message.

Opening her screen, sure enough, there was a notification for a new message in her messaging app. Honoka nervously opened it.

“He’s not handsome, is he?”

Just that single line, accompanied by a sticker of an angry rabbit with a red face.

—Ah… so that’s how he appeared to Mom. I thought Hirarin looked pretty cool while bowling. Guess she didn’t see it that way. Hmm… what should I do? I’ll try to brush it off for now.

Honoka quickly replied:

“That’s not true! I think he’s fairly good-looking. Mom, are you getting farsighted with age? (lol)”

She attached a sticker of a character with a grinning face and sent the message. She could see her mother on the bench by the vending machine, frantically typing on her smartphone. A reply came immediately.

“WHAT!? Mom is NOT farsighted! What part of him do you think is handsome? I don’t approve of him!!”

Honoka’s attempt to deflect with humor seemed to have triggered her mother’s fury instead. Honoka’s mother was someone who put great effort into maintaining her youth and beauty. Of course she’d be angry about being called farsighted. Honoka regretted not realizing this sooner, but it was too late.

—Oh no, I blew it… What should I do now? At this rate, Mom won’t approve of him…

If that happened, her mother would probably try to force her into arranged marriage meetings. That would be terrible. She didn’t want that. She absolutely wanted to avoid it. That’s what Honoka thought. And more than anything else—

Her mother’s complete rejection of Rinta sparked a boiling, indignant emotion from deep within her heart.

—Sure, Hirarin might not be what everyone would call conventionally handsome. But I think his kind face that reflects his personality is quite attractive. Besides, how can you judge whether someone is suitable for your daughter just by their looks? What’s wrong with my mom?

Honoka muttered these thoughts in her mind while staring at her mother’s message.

But her mother’s current reaction was identical to Honoka’s own reaction when she’d first met Rinta. Yet here she was, setting aside her past self and feeling indignant toward her mother.

—Still, what should I do…

In Honoka’s household, her mother had the strongest voice. Even her father was intimidated by her mother at home. Her mother was forceful and talkative. In the Kozakai household, it was impossible to move forward with anything while ignoring her mother’s wishes. Doing so would mean preparing for a storm to rage through the household. That would be troublesome.

In other words, if Honoka couldn’t get her mother to approve of Rinta, she would have no choice but to go through with the arranged marriages. To get her mother’s approval, would she need to have Rinta meet her mother directly, so she could see his personality firsthand…?

—No, no, no. I really don’t want that.

The two weren’t actually dating. If Rinta spoke directly with her mother, she feared something might slip. Besides, having her mother observe from a distance was one thing, but asking Rinta to meet her mother and pretend to be her boyfriend seemed far too imposing. Honoka couldn’t do that to him.

—Hmm… w-what should I do…

Honoka remained seated on the bench in the lane, tightly gripping her can of cocoa.

“Hey Honoka, are you okay? Are you feeling sick?”

When she looked up, there was Rinta standing in front of her with a concerned expression.

“Huh? Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about something. My health is fine.”

“I see. Don’t push yourself too hard. If you’re not feeling well, just be honest about it.”

“Really, I’m perfectly fine.”

“Okay. So what do you want to do now? Another game?”

“Well… umm…”

Rinta was showing concern for her health.

—Hirarin is as kind as ever.

While his thoughtfulness warmed her heart, she couldn’t focus on bowling after seeing her mother’s message.

“Could we maybe stop bowling and go somewhere else?”

“Sure, I understand. Bowling requires concentration. You seemed to be having a hard time. It’s because of your mom, right?”

Rinta understood after all. This made Honoka feel relieved.

“Let’s go to the arcade then. That should be more manageable.”

“Y-yeah.”

“Crane games require concentration too, but I can win prizes for you if you want. And purikura doesn’t need any concentration.”

“What… purikura? You mean taking purikura together? Me and Hirarin?”

“Well, purikura is standard when couples go to arcades, right? Since we’re pretending to be a couple, I thought it would add more realism. Sorry. If you don’t want to, we can skip it.”

Taking purikura with Rinta. Far from disliking the idea, Honoka actually wanted nothing more than to do such couple-like activities with him. Just imagining it made her heart flutter but she didn’t want Rinta to realize these feelings.

As she thought this, she glanced at Rinta’s face and saw he looked extremely apologetic.

Honoka doesn’t want to take purikura with me—that’s what Rinta must be thinking. Realizing this, Honoka hurriedly waved both hands from side to side.

“No, no, no, that’s not it, Hirarin. It’s not that I don’t want to. I just… thought it might be a bit embarrassing.”

“Huh…? Embarrassing? You…?”

Rinta looked surprised. Since he didn’t know that Honoka was actually attracted to him, it was natural for him to be surprised. It was perfectly reasonable, but still—

“Yes! Is it strange that I’d feel embarrassed? Even I feel embarrassed sometimes! Geez, you’re annoying.”

Honoka said this with a sulky tone and turned her face away from Rinta with a pout.