Actually, There’s Someone at Your Workplace Who Likes You ~ I’m Being Transferred to a Sales Office Filled With Only Beautiful Women!? - Chapter 77: "Hirarin, Don't You Want to Stay Here a Bit Longer?"

“Yeah. There’s only one bus per hour here, so if we miss this one, we’ll have to wait another hour.”

“Hirarin, you know a lot. Have you been here by bus before?”

Could it be that he came here with some other woman?

Suddenly, an unsettled feeling spread through Honoka’s chest.

“No. When we got off the bus earlier, I checked the return schedule at the bus stop just in case. I didn’t want to get stuck here and cause you trouble.”

“Oh, I see…”

Realizing he hadn’t come here with another woman, Honoka felt relieved.

But what a thorough guy…

Though slightly surprised, she reconsidered that it was nice how Rinta was quick-witted and considerate of others.

But honestly, I wouldn’t mind staying here another hour.

To be honest, she wanted to keep gazing at the ocean together with Rinta, but she couldn’t bring herself to say that directly.

“But really, Hirarin, don’t you want to stay here a bit longer?”

“Huh? Why?”

“Oh, um…”

She was the one who wanted to stay here longer… Those words came up to her throat, but she still couldn’t say them.

She had just been thinking that she needed to be more honest, yet somehow she couldn’t manage it.

“Because you’re here alone with such a cute girl looking at the ocean. An opportunity like this doesn’t come often. So Hirarin, you want to enjoy this atmosphere a little longer… right?”

Knowing Hirarin, he would probably be polite and say, “Yeah, that’s right.” She wished he would say that not out of politeness, but because he truly felt that way.

That’s what Honoka hoped for.

“Not really. I don’t think that.”

—Whaaaat!? Y-y-you answered so quickly!? At times like this, you’re supposed to be considerate and say “Yes, I do”!

“Oh, is that so…”

How annoying.

Since it was actually her own wish, she could have just said directly that she wanted to stay longer instead of being roundabout. Honoka felt irrationally annoyed at him.

“Listen, Honoka. I’m not particularly fond of the ocean. I’ve enjoyed it enough already.”

“Whatever.”

That’s not what she’d wanted to hear.

“Besides, today I’m acting for your sake rather than doing what I want.”

“Oh, right. So if I said I wanted to look at the ocean a bit longer, would you stay with me?”

“Yeah, of course.”

I see… that’s the kind of person you are, Hirarin. Then just a little longer together…

“Well, I doubt Honoka would want to look at the ocean with me, hahaha.”

“Huh? O-of course not! What are you saying, Hirarin?”

“It’s just a joke, of course. I was trying to lighten the mood with a rare joke from me, but…”

“That’s not funny at all.”

“Ah, sorry.”

Rinta scratched his head with a wry smile. As Honoka gazed at his face, her eyes suddenly fixed on his lips.

Those firm lips. She couldn’t take her eyes off them. Right now, she was alone with Rinta. The only others around were the seagulls making their cries.

Just the two of them with an ocean view. Just the two of them. Completely alone together.

An opportunity like this didn’t come often.

In this atmosphere, if she asked for a kiss, Hirarin would definitely be moved. Without a doubt, he’d be moved, right!?

If a beauty like her made a face suggesting she wanted a kiss, even the super-dense Rinta would surely get the hint. Thinking this, Honoka slowly closed her eyes. Then raised her chin slightly, and puckered her lips…

Just as she was about to do this, she felt a cold drop of water splash against her warm cheek.

“Oh, it’s starting to rain! Honoka, let’s go! Let’s run to the bus stop!”

“Huh?”

When Honoka opened her eyes, Rinta was patting her shoulder and pointing toward the national highway. The sudden rain came in large drops, quickly turning into a heavy downpour. This was definitely not good.

“Oh, yeah.”

Geez! Why did this have to happen at such a bad time!?

Crying out in her heart, Honoka followed Rinta’s back. They ran up the concrete stairs from the beach and took shelter under the roof of the bus stop to escape the rain. After waiting just a few minutes, the return bus Rinta had mentioned arrived, and they both got on.

“What are you going to do now? Your mother has probably gone home already, so in terms of showing her our fake date, we should part ways when we reach the station.”

On the return bus, sitting side by side, Rinta asked Honoka this question.

Indeed, since Rinta only thought of this as a fake date, his assessment was reasonable. However, Honoka wanted to continue their date, but she was also concerned about her clothes getting wet in the rain. And the excitement that had been building up inside her had been dampened by the rain, quite literally. More than anything, Honoka suddenly found herself worried about her mother.

Earlier, she had just wanted to escape from her mother’s eyes and be alone with Rinta, but after some time had passed, she felt that she needed to properly address the situation with her mother.

This was no longer just about “avoiding an arranged marriage”. She had become aware of her feelings for Rinta. To fulfill those feelings, she had to get her mother to accept Rinta, no matter what. Honoka thought about it. She was different now than she was yesterday.

Until yesterday, she had only been thinking about smoothing things over to get her mother to give up on the arranged marriage. But now, she felt that by properly conveying her feelings to her mother, she might be able to persuade her.

If so, she wanted to talk to her mother as soon as possible and get her to accept Rinta.

“Yeah. Let’s go home for today. I’ll go home and have a proper talk with Mom.”

“Right. I think that’s best.”

“Yeah.”

“But… I’m sorry, Honoka.”

“For what?”

“Well, because of my shortcomings, your mother didn’t accept me. We completely failed to achieve today’s objective.”

“What are you saying, Hirarin? Thank you so much for today. I’m really grateful.”

“Thanks for being considerate. But I was useless, so I can only apologize.”

Rinta looked genuinely sorry. It was Honoka who should be sorry for making him feel this way by asking him to go on a fake date, but she was glad she got to know more about him today.

Honoka sincerely felt this way.

“Hirarin, you weren’t useless at all. Really, thank you. Getting my mom to understand is my responsibility now.”

“I see, got it. Yeah. You can do it, Honoka. Let me know if there’s anything else I can help with.”

“Yeah. I’ll ask if I need something again.”

“Yeah. Understood.”

As they were talking, the bus arrived at the terminal station. After getting off, they waved goodbye to each other in front of the station.

“Well, time to do my best!”

It was now time for the showdown with her mother. After parting ways with Rinta, Honoka psyched herself up and headed home on the train.