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 - 31

Chapter 31: A Conversation in the Restroom

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During a break one day, I felt the urge to pee and headed to the restroom. I opened the door and stepped inside. Unusually, there was no one in there. During breaks, there was usually at least one student taking care of business. A restroom filled with the liberating feeling of being completely alone. Since I had the chance, I positioned myself right in the middle of the row of urinals lined up across the wall and began to relieve myself.

“Phew…”

As I squeezed it out, I sank into thought.

…It had been about ten days since Futaba and I started pretending to be a couple. So far, no guy other than Hachioji had tried to hit on her. If anything, we were gradually being recognized as an officially acknowledged couple at school. Lately, it wasn’t just students in our grade. Even first-years and third-years had been teasing us. It was safe to say I was fulfilling my role as her fake boyfriend.

…That part was fine. There was no problem there. The problem was my heart. I had fallen for Futaba, who was supposed to be my fake girlfriend. That fact troubled me. I still hadn’t come up with a good solution. For now, I was just desperately suppressing my feelings.

…What should I do?

At that moment, the restroom door suddenly slammed open with a loud “Bang!” I turned toward the entrance to see what was going on. Standing there was Senkawa.

“Oh! It’s you.”

With a look that said he hadn’t expected to see me, Senkawa walked over and took the spot beside me. He unzipped his pants and began relieving himself.

…There were plenty of other open urinals. Why did he deliberately come stand next to me? Normally, you leave at least one or two spaces in between.

…Was he one of those so-called “next-to-you guys” people had been talking about lately?

“So you’re dating Futaba now, huh?”

“Yeah. What about it?”

While I was still questioning his choice of position, he asked about my relationship with Futaba. I see. So that was why he had come over next to me. It seemed he was curious about his former childhood friend.

“Come on, don’t be so cold. I’m actually grateful to you, you know?”

“Grateful?”

“Yeah. Thanks to you taking that girl off my hands, I’m finally free and I got my first girlfriend ever!”

“That’s good for you.”

“Yeah, it’s awesome.”

He answered with a bright, refreshed expression. I had been on guard, thinking he might have come to pick a fight with Futaba again, but it seemed that was unnecessary worry. Senkawa and Futaba were disastrously incompatible. If putting distance between them made both of them happier, then that must have been the right outcome.

“Phew, that feels better.”

After finishing up, I zipped my pants and started to leave the restroom. But then Senkawa spoke again.

“…That girl’s annoying as hell, right?”

“Annoying?”

“She hasn’t shown you her true colors yet? If you’re close enough to be dating, I figured she would’ve by now…”

The Futaba I knew was a girl who loved taking care of others. She was a good cook, kind, and cute. She could be a little intense and intimidating at times, but that was about it. Even after becoming fake lovers, my impression hadn’t changed. When he called her “annoying,” nothing about her came to mind.

…Come to think of it, Senkawa had once said before, “You don’t know the real her. You’re only seeing her surface.” Did that mean there was still a side of Futaba I didn’t know?

“Futaba’s such a good girlfriend, so much so that I feel I don’t deserve her.”

As her fake boyfriend, I responded to his question with a brag. He gave me a suspicious look but continued.

“For example… Doesn’t she try to push away girls who get close to you? Or constantly hover around you? Or bombard your phone with messages at insane speed? Or come wake you up in the morning all the time? Or cook meals without asking and tell you to eat them? Or… Say your room’s messy and clean it without permission?”

“Huh?”

Pushing away girls who get close to me… Well, maybe not that. But everything else he listed, Futaba had already done under the name of “taking care of me.” But I had never once thought of it as a nuisance or as annoying. If anything, I was deeply grateful to her. The only reason someone as sloppy as me could maintain a regular lifestyle and eat warm, delicious meals was because of Futaba.

…Was he describing her caretaking as “annoying” or “clingy”?

“I don’t remember ever feeling that way.”

“Are you serious?”

Senkawa looked at me like he had just discovered some rare animal.

“You seriously don’t mind her ridiculously heavy behavior and possessiveness?”

“No. She’s doing it because she cares about me. If anything, I’m just grateful. As a man, you’ve got to accept your girlfriend’s love head-on.”

“……… ”

After hearing my answer, Senkawa stood there with his mouth hanging open in shock.

…I didn’t think I’d said anything that strange though.

“I-I see. Guess you two are compatible. …Well, be happy.”

“Yeah. You too.”

I said goodbye and moved to leave the restroom for real this time. But once again, Senkawa’s words stopped me in my tracks.

“Still, I never thought you two would end up dating. Back then, you said it was because you owed her or whatever. But I guess you had ulterior motives after all. I mean, her personality’s the worst, but her face is decent enough.”

“…Ulterior motives?”

When he said “back then,” he must have meant the time I talked with him to try to reconcile the two of them. But it was his next words—“Guess you had ulterior motives after all”—that stuck in my chest.

I reached out to Futaba because I genuinely wanted to save her. I agreed to pretend to be her boyfriend because I wanted to free her from her worries. There weren’t any ulterior motives there. 

I’m not like Hachioji!

…That was what I wanted to believe.

But what about now? I’ve fallen in love with Futaba. Is my desire to “help her” really as pure as I claim?

“Am I wrong? You’re dating, aren’t you? If you really didn’t have ulterior motives, you wouldn’t have started going out.”

“……… ”

There was a part of me that couldn’t fully deny his words.

“When a guy helps a girl, it’s basically because he has ulterior motives. That’s just how it is. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Phew, that feels better. See ya.”

With that, Senkawa left the restroom. I was left alone.

“I…”

His words echoed over and over in my head.

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