After Being Dumped With the Insult, “You’re So Clingy!” and Finding Her in Despair, I Kept Encouraging My Beautiful Classmate and as a Result, That Beautiful Girl Started Directing Her Heavy Emotions Toward Me Instead, but Since I Like Emotionally Heavy Girls, It’s No Problem - 19-20

Chapter 19: ~Another Side: Futaba~ 3 and A Midsummer Dream

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“It’s nothing♡ You’re right. It would be a waste to throw away such wonderful cream puffs. I’ll gratefully accept them. I’ll savor them carefully♪”

“Yeah, I’d appreciate that.”

Ahh… Kokonoe-kun. I love you love you love you love you love you love you love you love you love you love you love you love you love you love you love you love you love you love you love you love you love you love you love you love you love you love you love you love you love you love you love you love you love you love you love you love you, I love you so much♡

Jujoji Futaba was deeply moved. The reason was that Ichika had given her cream puffs, her favorite food, as a token of his gratitude. Moreover, he knew perfectly well that if he handed them to her normally, Futaba would refuse out of modesty. So he had gone out of his way to create a situation in which she had no choice but to accept them.

Futaba loved that awkward kindness of his.

When he comforted her as she cried over her heartbreak, when he arranged things so she could rest while she was exhausted, and this time as well… He always treated Futaba gently, even if he was clumsy about it. It certainly wasn’t a smooth or sophisticated approach. But for Futaba, the simple fact that he had thought of her and cared for her made her overwhelmingly happy. She desperately suppressed the affection for Ichika that threatened to spill onto her face and instead silently chanted words of love for him in her heart.

Futaba had a trauma. It was the heartbreak she had experienced not long ago. That heartbreak had wounded her heart and at the same time, it had made her cautious.

…If she recklessly pressed forward just because she “liked” him, the way she once had before, there was a real possibility she would only make him dislike her. From that previous experience, Futaba had learned that directing feelings that were too heavy, too suddenly, would cause the other person to pull away.

Human beings were creatures that learned. She would never repeat the same mistake twice. And so Futaba concealed her feelings for Ichika as much as possible. Of course, she couldn’t hide everything perfectly, and sometimes her feelings leaked out, but still…

Her ideal scenario was for Ichika to fall head over heels in love with her and confess first. To achieve that, what should she do? One of her strategies was already in progress. She would take care of him in his daily life and make him unable to function without her. In other words, she would make him dependent on her.

And the other…

What the now-cautious Futaba had devised was to “fill in the outer moat.” For example… She could spread rumors among close friends that she and he were already romantically involved, planting the perception in those around them that the two were already dating. If the people around them believed that, Ichika would be forced to become conscious of Futaba’s presence. At the same time, it would eliminate any stray female cats trying to cozy up to him. She had already involved her parents. Next would be their classmates.

“Ufufu♡ Ufufufufu♡”

She believed that this time, she had truly found her destined person. That was precisely why she absolutely did not want this love to fail. She would date Ichika, marry him, and stay by his side until death did them part.

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~Side: Ichika~

“Sniff… hic… waaah, waaah…”

“……… ”

I was having that dream again. A girl was crying, large tears streaming down her face, while I hid behind something and watched her from a distance. A memory from my childhood. The greatest regret of my life…

Not wanting to repeat the same regret as back then, I spoke to Jujoji when she was crying. Perhaps because of that, little by little, smiles began to return to her face, and she was gradually recovering from her heartbreak… from that overwhelming sorrow. As she regained her cheerfulness, my own heart seemed to clear as well, as if responding in kind.

After all, girls look better when they’re smiling.

From the bottom of my heart, I was truly glad that I had spoken to Jujoji back then. The way she had sunk into despair after her heartbreak… I had honestly thought that if she were left alone like that, she might even take her own life. My small bit of courage had led to saving her.

…If it was to heal the wounds in her heart, I would do anything within my power… Because I never wanted to see a girl’s tear-streaked face ever again.

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Chapter 20: My Relationship with Jujoji

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The week began, and it was Monday, a school day. I woke up a little earlier than usual and waited for Jujoji to come to my room. I had already given her a spare key, so she could let herself in whenever she wanted, but it would be rude for the homeowner to still be fast asleep the whole time.

Right at seven o’clock, Jujoji appeared in front of my door. I opened it first and welcomed her inside. Though she seemed surprised that I had opened the door before she could, she wore a slightly dissatisfied expression. Apparently, she hadn’t liked the fact that I was already awake. According to her, “I wanted to wake you up, Kokonoe-kun!”

I somehow managed to calm her down despite her sulking, and we had breakfast. When I praised the taste of the meal, her mood returned to normal. After that, we changed into our uniforms and headed to school. Of course, together. We changed our shoes at the lockers, climbed the stairs, and entered the classroom side by side.

However… That was when I noticed our classmates looking at us with suspicious eyes. Why? Well, Jujoji was one of the most popular girls in class. From their perspective, seeing someone as unremarkable as me walking to school with her must have looked like an unusual pairing. It wasn’t surprising. Until last week, Jujoji and I had barely interacted at all.

…And then several concerns about that very fact surfaced in my mind. Jujoji came to my apartment every morning to make breakfast, and after school she came again to cook dinner. She was living almost like a wife who commuted back and forth.

If the boys throughout the school found out that Jujoji—who had been unofficially crowned “Number One Girl Guys Want as a Girlfriend”—had this kind of relationship with me, it wasn’t hard to imagine them going mad with jealousy.

And there was another issue.

I didn’t know whether Jujoji, after her heartbreak, wanted to find new love or what she intended to do moving forward. But if she did want to find someone new, the fact that she was taking care of me like this would undoubtedly become a shackle for her. From a guy’s perspective, he wouldn’t look kindly on a girl who was constantly looking after another guy. If our relationship came to light, things would definitely get complicated.

…In the worst case, I didn’t mind if I became the target of the guys’ jealousy. But I absolutely wanted to avoid becoming a burden that held her back. For those reasons, I concluded that it would be best if other people didn’t find out about our relationship.

“Ichika, morning!”

“…O-Oh, Musashi, morning.”

To keep everyone from discovering our relationship, maybe starting tomorrow we should stagger our arrival times a bit. …I was vaguely thinking of such countermeasures when Musashi suddenly spoke to me. Slightly flustered, I returned his greeting and headed to my seat.

“It’s pretty rare to see you walking to school with Futaba-chan.”

As I suspected, that had caught his attention too. I had to deflect things somehow so he wouldn’t figure out our relationship.

“Hm? Oh, we just ran into each other in front of the school gate. So we walked here talking.”

“Were you and Futaba-chan even that close? I don’t remember seeing you talk with her much before.”

“We’ve gotten closer recently.”

“Is that so? Huh…”

It seemed he accepted my explanation for the moment. Feeling relieved, I sat down at my desk, placed my bag beside it, took out my textbooks, and prepared for class.

“Oh, right. Speaking of Futaba-chan, I saw something crazy on Saturday!”

“S-Saturday…?”

My relief was short-lived. Musashi suddenly said something that made my heart jolt. Startled, I accidentally dropped my textbook onto the floor.

“You dropped your book. Here.”

“O-Oh… Thanks.”

I took the textbook he picked up and slid it into my desk. My palms were soaked with sweat. Saturday was the day Jujoji and I went grocery shopping together, ate sweets, and did something close to a date. If he had seen that scene…

I felt my blood run cold. Nervously, I waited for his next words. Musashi glanced behind him to confirm that Jujoji wasn’t looking our way, then leaned in and whispered quietly.

“So, get this! I saw Senkawa on a date with Banri from the class next door on Saturday!”

His words, however, were about something entirely different from what I had feared. I let out a silent sigh of relief. Come to think of it… Senkawa had gone on a date Saturday with a girl named Natsuki Banri. Apparently Musashi had witnessed it too.

“I can’t forgive him…! He’s got Futaba-chan, a ridiculously cute childhood friend, and on top of that, she’s clearly got feelings for him yet he goes and cheats with another girl! Damn popular guys!”

Musashi seemed outraged by Senkawa’s behavior. He didn’t know that Jujoji had already been rejected by Senkawa. So he still thought she liked him and that he had cheated on her.

Now then, how should I respond to this? Knowing Musashi’s personality… he would probably tell the other guys about this after this conversation. Jujoji was admired by all the boys. If that happened, there was a good chance some of them would approach her directly, hoping for an opening.

From how Jujoji reacted the other day, she clearly didn’t even want to see or hear about Senkawa anymore. Her emotional wounds hadn’t healed yet. The last thing she needed was to have them ripped open again. Deciding it was best to leave her in peace for now, I tried steering him away from spreading the story.

“Don’t tell anyone else about that.”

“Why not? Don’t you think Futaba-chan deserves better?”

“You’ve probably got the wrong idea.”

“Huh?”

“They’re not dating, and Jujoji doesn’t like Senkawa like that. So no matter who he dates, it’s not something to get angry about.”

“Eh…? But the way Futaba-chan fussed over him was way beyond normal.”

“That’s just because they were childhood friends. She paid special attention to him for that reason. You know how kind she is.”

“Is that so?”

“I was curious about their relationship too, so I asked her directly. That’s what she told me. If she says so herself, then it must be true, right?”

“Seriously!?”

“Yeah. So if you tell other people, they might see you as some pitiful guy who’s jealous that Senkawa was on a date with a girl. I think it’s better if you don’t say anything.”

“S-So that’s how it is… Yeah, I guess you’re right. If he’s single, it’s not a problem no matter who he dates… Thanks, Ichika. You saved me from being seen as some pathetic jealous guy.”

“Sure!”

It felt strange to be thanked, but it seemed I had successfully sealed his lips. Just then, the warning bell rang, and our homeroom teacher entered the classroom. We ended the conversation and turned our attention to the teacher’s words.

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