After I Comforted My Younger Stepsister Who Had Her Boyfriend Taken From Her, She Started Becoming Obsessively Sweet - 28

Chapter 28: It Didn’t Sit Right With Me

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“Megumi… She’s using her current boyfriend, Sugisaki-kun. She’s dating him even though she doesn’t have any feelings toward him.”

Upon hearing Sugai’s words, both Shikino and I couldn’t help but widen our eyes in surprise. Era, who was sitting next to Sugai, only looked up at the ceiling with a smug expression while muttering to herself, “I knew it.”

Of course, I couldn’t let this slide without pressing for more explanation.

“Huh…?! What…?! Orihara-san doesn’t have any feelings toward Sugisaki-kun…?! But they’re dating…?! Why..?!”

“You have no right to talk like that to me! That woman is doing the same thing as I did!”

“No, no. That’s not quite true. What Megumi is doing right now is a little different from what you did, Shikino-san.”

“Huh…?”

“To be honest, what Megumi is doing might be worse than you. Compared to Megumi, what Shikino-san did can be considered as ‘cute’ in my eyes.”

“What I did was ‘cute’…?”

Sugai nodded. Listening to this conversation, Era then interjected. 

“But, I’m a bit curious… Ayanon, does Megumi-chan share this kind of thing with you? Or do you gather this information on your own without her telling you firsthand?”

“She doesn’t tell me directly, but I don’t gather this information on my own either. The information just naturally comes to me when I’m talking with a close friend of Megumi’s or when I’m chatting with the other girls without her around. Basically, I’m getting my information from rumors.”

Rumors, huh… What? Does that mean the information you know is not accurate? It’s just a bunch of rumors?”

“That’s right. I’m not some kind of detective or information broker. I’m just a regular high school student. There’s no way I’m going to go out of my own way to verify all rumors I hear. Right?”

Well, I guess she has a point there. 

No one would go out of their own way to confirm every gossip they hear. Sugai and Orihara-san were friends, but unless there was a significant reason behind it, Sugai wouldn’t question every bit of information that came her way.

Unnecessary skepticism will only lead to discord among friends. Even more so for girls. 

I thought to myself. 

“But still, I’m convinced that Megumi doesn’t have any romantic feelings toward Sugisaki-kun.”

“…About that… Did she say that to you directly?”

I asked and Sugai nodded.

“She did. In the beginning of their relationship.”

“The beginning…?”

“Shortly after they started dating, Megumi asked me to meet her at a family restaurant. There, she told me that  she didn’t have any romantic feelings toward Sugisaki-kun and she clearly emphasized that he was the one who confessed to her.”

“Huh…? No, no. That doesn’t sound right. Orihara-san stole Sugisaki-kun from Shikino… Sugisaki-kun was dating Shikino until Orihara-san came and snatched him away… Isn’t that right, Shikino?”

I turned to Shikino for confirmation and she nodded at me. 

Right. Sugai’s story didn’t make any sense. It was filled with too many inconsistencies. But…

“Maybe that’s what you and the other people might think of, but all of you are wrong.”

“Huh..?”

“What do you mean?”

Both Shikino and I tilted our heads to the side in confusion.

“What exactly are we wrong about?”

“Megumi didn’t snatch Sugisaki-kun from Shikino-san. It was Sugisaki-kun who approached Megumi.”

“What?!”

“To put it bluntly, Sugisaki-kun was the one who cheated on Shikino-san. He was the one who made a move on Megumi while still dating Shikino-san. I’m sorry, but that’s the fact.”

“…”

“Cheating is not right, but it’s understandable if we think about Sugisaki-kun’s point here. Megumi is a popular girl and she’s beautiful too. Sugisaki-kun’s feelings weren’t reciprocated by Shikino-san, so it’s perfectly understandable for Sugisaki-kun’s to have a change of heart.”

“…Even though he was the one who confessed to Shikino?”

“Yeah. Even though he was the one who confessed to Shikino-san.”

I gritted my teeth in frustration. Shikino, who was sitting beside me, didn’t seem to be shocked by the fact. She looked more confused. She turned to Sugai, pressing for more explanation.

“…But in the end, Sugisaki-kun is still being used by that woman, right?”

“Yes. He is being used. That guy really has no eye for women. I really can’t understand why he can end up in this state when he looks that handsome. Maybe he’s doomed with this kind of fate?”

With a perpetual smirk adorning her face, Era joined the conversation.

“But still~ Shikino-chan, you don’t look that upset even though now you know your ex-boyfriend cheated on you instead of being stolen by another girl.”

Shikino only averted her gaze nonchalantly. 

“…It doesn’t matter to me. I don’t care about Sugisaki-kun anymore. I have Onii-chan and little details like whether he was cheating or he was snatched from me doesn’t really change anything.”

“Fufufu~ Poor guy~ If Sugisaki-kun were here, he’d be crushed for sure~”

“….”

Without saying anything in return, Shikino slowly wrapped her arms around mine. I appreciated the gesture. I was happy, but…

“…Something just doesn’t sit right to me.”

I muttered to myself.

“Hm? What doesn’t sit right to you?”

Sugai tilted her head to the side.

“No, I mean..”

I shook my head slightly before continuing.

“I now understand that Sugisaki-kun wasn’t snatched from Shikino. He was cheating on Shikino. I get that, but…”

“…”

“It’s just… Sugai-san, that’s only true if we take what you’re saying at face value. If you’re actually lying to us or just feeding us nonsense, then we’re just dancing to your tune. That means we’re completely fooled by you.”

“…Yes. What you’re saying is right.”

“No matter what, you’re still Orihara-san’s friend. I can’t see why you’d help us and you don’t seem particularly close to Era-san either.”

“…”

Instead of denying it, Sugai just stared back at me, as if she was pondering her response. Eventually, Sugai chuckled. Sighing, Sugai nodded to us.

“Your assumptions are not wrong. Era and I aren’t that close. We were classmates in our first year. That’s all. We used to be in the same class. Just a friend of a friend… Or to be precise, she used to be my friend.”

“Used…?”

I questioned even further and Era, who looked a bit uncomfortable with this, tried to gloss it over vaguely.

“Well~ You know~”

Just what had happened between them?

“Ayanon, can we not talk about that, please? There are things I’m okay with discussing and things I’m not.”

“…Aren’t you on their side? I thought you’re trying to help them?”

“Fufu~ Well, I am, but talking about that right now isn’t going to change anything, right? That topic is not going to help them right now. Right?”

“…”

The tension in the air was palpable. Enough for Sugai to stop pressing even further. 

“Fair enough. Unami-kun, please keep in mind that I don’t know everything about Megumi. We are friends, yes, that is right, but she’s still her own person. She has her own life and there’s no way I can know every single thing about her.”

“I get that. I’m not expecting you to tell me everything either. I’m not that gullible.”

“Is that so? Well, I guess we’re done here then.”

Sugai said as she stood up from her seat.

“You’re leaving already?”

“Yeah. Unfortunately, I didn’t come here to sing karaoke. And besides—”

Sugai glanced at all of us before she continued. 

“To you all, I’m the enemy.”

Sugai said with a smile. Her expression was light and refreshing, yet her face carried an air of hidden depth. There was something about it that left me unable to come up with a response to her.

“Bye now, Era. Enjoy yourselves, the three of you. I’ll be leaving first.”

“Whaaat?~ You’re leaving already? At least sing one song before you go! You will feel better after you sing, you know?”

“No, thanks. I didn’t pay for this room and more importantly, I have other things to do.”

Before we could ask what those things were, she gave us a small wave and left the room.

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