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 - 22

Chapter 22: Jujoji’s Suggestion

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After school ended and classes were over, I walked down the road toward the apartment with Jujoji. She was coming over to my place again today to cook dinner. Unfortunately, the traffic light at the intersection in front of the school turned red. I pressed the pedestrian button beside the crosswalk and waited for the signal to change. This light took forever to switch. I had never properly timed it, but it felt like it took a full three minutes before it changed.

While we were waiting, it felt like a good opportunity, so I decided to ask her about what she had meant during lunch.

“Hey, Jujoji, about what happened at lunch…”

“Yes? Oh, you mean that thing where Kokonoe-kun claimed he made the bento I prepared?”

Jujoji said that with a bright smile directed at me. However, behind that smile, I could feel a certain pressure aimed straight at me. …She seemed a little angry.

“I-I’m honestly sorry about that, but I had my reasons.”

“What reasons might those be?”

Without dropping her irritated smile, she asked me to elaborate.

“Well… I mentioned it a bit at lunch, but I thought if other people found out you’ve been taking care of me, it might cause trouble for you… So I said I made it myself.”

“Trouble for me?”

“For example, if you end up liking someone new someday, and it gets out that you’ve been taking such thorough care of me, I don’t think that guy would be happy about it. That’s why I suggested at lunch that we keep our relationship as secret as possible…”

I had accepted this arrangement in order to help heal the wounds in Jujoji’s heart. But when her heart healed and she started a new romance, it wasn’t hard to imagine how this situation spreading around could become a burden for her. In Senkawa’s case, there had still been the excuse of “childhood friend.” But in my case, I was nothing more than a classmate.

A girl excessively taking care of just a classmate. From another guy’s perspective, that probably wouldn’t feel great. I had started this relationship because I wanted to save her. I didn’t want to become a burden.

Jujoji listened to me while glaring at me with narrowed eyes. The signal changed to green, and we crossed the street toward the other side. Just as we finished crossing, Jujoji finally spoke.

“…I understand your reasoning. I appreciate your concern, but that won’t be a problem. If anything, let’s flaunt it.”

“Huh? Why?”

I couldn’t understand what she meant. Instead of hiding it, what did she mean by “flaunt it”? I waited for her to continue her explanation. However, what came out of her mouth was something else entirely.

“More importantly, Kokonoe-kun… I am actually very angry right now. You made it seem like you were the one who prepared the bento I put so much care into making. The sadness I felt at that moment… It was even greater than when I had my heart broken.”

“Ugh… I’m really sorry about that. I apologize, truly. I’m sorry for claiming I made the bento you prepared, Jujoji!”

Even greater than when she had her heart broken… I thought that was a bit of an exaggeration. After all, I had seen her sobbing uncontrollably back then, but it was true that I had hurt her, so I apologized sincerely.

“Um… I’ll do anything I can. So could you please forgive me?”

To me, sincerity was shown through actions more than words. That was why I made that offer.

“Anything…? You just said that, didn’t you?”

“Y-Yeah.”

The moment I said that, her displeased expression completely changed, and she smiled sweetly.

…Wait. This flow of events felt strangely familiar. Hadn’t something like this happened before? Before I realized it, we had already returned to the front of the apartment. My room was 201 on the second floor. Jujoji stopped in front of the stairs leading up and turned to face me.

“Then I will state my request now.”

“O-Okay. Bring it on!”

“Kokonoe-kun, would you pretend to be my boyfriend?”

“Huh… pretend to be your boyfriend?”

Pretend to be her boyfriend? That was quite a request. But why was she asking me for something like that?

“Could you explain to me why…?”

“Very well. The fact that I’ve fallen out with that person has apparently spread quite widely already. It seems boys who were never even interested in me before think this is their chance and keep approaching me. It’s irritating. So I’d like you to pretend to be my boyfriend as a form of pest control.”

The fact that Jujoji had fallen out with Senkawa was already common knowledge among many of the male students. Jujoji was extremely popular. So it wouldn’t be strange for boys who saw this as their chance to come flocking toward her.

“I understand the reason, but… Are you really okay with it being me?”

“Yes♪ Because Kokonoe-kun is the boy I trust the most♡ And if we’re dating, then it won’t seem unnatural for me to take care of you, right? So you can confidently say, ‘She made it,’ about your bento.”

“I-I see…”

That meant she had no intention of starting a new romance for the time being. If the boys approaching her were such a nuisance that she wanted me to pretend to be her boyfriend, then that was clearly the case.

…It felt a little like a waste, but I decided to respect her wishes. People would probably say all sorts of things about me too if I pretended to be her boyfriend. But if she was in trouble, I wanted to help. That feeling outweighed everything else.

“Got it. If that’s what you want, Jujoji, I’ll pretend to be your boyfriend or whatever! Mmph!?”

She brought her right index finger up in front of my mouth and gently pressed it against my lips, smiling sweetly.

“It’s not ‘Jujoji.’ If we’re dating, it would be unnatural not to use my given name, wouldn’t it? It’s ‘Futaba.’”

“R-Right. Futaba! Is that better?”

“Yes. I’ll call you ‘Ichika-kun’ as well.”

And just like that, a new relationship was formed between me and Jujo—no, Futaba. Pretending to be lovers… I had never dated anyone before, so I didn’t know if I could actually pull it off. But I decided I would do everything I could for her sake.

“Groooowl~”

The moment I steeled my resolve, my stomach growled loudly. I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed at my own lack of composure.

“My, my♡ Then let’s hurry and make dinner.”

It seemed she had heard it too. She started climbing the apartment stairs toward my room, and I followed behind her.

“…Sorry. Your cooking is just so good, Futaba. My stomach can’t seem to wait.”

“…That’s a good trend. Please become someone who can’t manage without me. Drown in me.”

“Huh? Did you say something?”

As we climbed the stairs, I felt like she muttered something, but it was too quiet for me to hear clearly.

“It’s nothing at all♡ …Now then. How about hamburg steak tonight?”

“Oh, that sounds nice.”

Looking forward to the food she would make, I climbed the rest of the stairs.

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