Can I brag about my very devoted wife to you?

The right way for high school couples to spend their time (weekdays) ①

That day, I received a lot of trouble throughout the entire day. First of all, I got a lot of stares. Not only during recess and moving classes, but even during class.

When I had lied about being childhood friends with Riko, it had drawn a lot of attention, but it was nothing compared to now.

“Look, that’s Hanae-san’s…”

“Ehh… Really?”

In addition with the stares, I could hear the muffled gossip.

Well, yeah, I know what you’re going to say.

It’s disproportional, it’s unbelievable.

I know exactly what you mean, because I feel the same way.

And yet, I’m still trying to get Riko to like me, so I’ve become quite brazen.

I’m not really good at being the center of attention like this.

But I’ve come to believe that I’ll get through it as long as it prevents me from losing my marriage to Riko.

I was deeply impressed to see that love can change a person in such a way.

The second hardest issue to deal with was Sawa.

“Niiiiyaaaaamaaa! Why didn’t you tell me? You’re so horrible! I don’t know why I have to hear about you getting a girlfriend at the same time as all the other classmates I don’t care about! And you’re even with Princess Riko…! I’m jealous, I’m miserable, and I’m getting bald!”

As soon as the first period was over, Sawa rushed to my seat and started scratching his head saying so. The stares of my classmates hurt, so I took Sawa with me and hurriedly ran to the bathroom.

“Sawa, calm down. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. But the other person is her. So I couldn’t tell you that we were dating behind your back.”

“I’ve told you before… Princess Riko likes you. But you said you had another girl you liked despite already being in a relationship at that time…?”

Th-that’s bad.

The lies that I told in the past are now pulling me down…!

When I was at a loss for an answer, Sawa suddenly laughed and crossed his arms.

“No, I get it. You don’t have to say anything. I know how you feel.”

“Eh?”

“Even if you like someone else, there’s no way you can reject a cute girl like Riko if she says she likes you. So I can’t blame you for your actions.”

“Ah, yeah.”

I don’t know how it happened, but I’m glad that he was able to convince himself on his own.

But of course, Sawa’s troublesome entanglements did not end there. After that, every time we had a break, Sawa would ask me questions about Riko. He asked if Riko had really confessed her feelings to me, and how long we’ve been dating. Since I hadn’t talked to Riko that specifically, I could only reply, “I don’t want to say.”

“Why not! You can tell me.”

“I can’t say.”

“Then, what’s the reason?”

Sawa, who was sitting across from me, leaned over to me, ignoring lunch.

I’m glad the cafeteria is buzzing as usual.

I don’t want the other students to hear us interacting like this…

“Shinyama, what’s the reason?”

“That’s why I… That’s right. My partner is also involved. So I can’t talk about it on my own.”

“What’s with that? You sound like a celebrity who just got found out of having a hot relationship. Then check with Princess Riko. Ask her if it’s okay to tell your best friend, Sawa-kun, about the two of you.”

“I don’t want to.”

“No, Shinyama. Think about it. You’ve never had a girlfriend before, right?”

“So what…”

“Do you think you can always choose the right route by yourself? Love is just like a gal game. If you make just one wrong choice, your girlfriend who was saying she liked you will say, Niiyama-kun, you’re disgusting. Let’s break up.’ “

“……”

“I’ll ask you again. Do you have confidence that you can always choose the right route by yourself?”

All I could do was to shake my head, feeling the blood drain from my veins. There was no way I could be confident.

“Then why don’t you ask me, the love expert?”

“You’ve also never had a girlfriend, Sawa…”

“Well, yeah! But I’ve been studying relationship engineering for as long as I can remember!”

Hmmm.

I’m not sure if I can rely on him or not…

But it’s true that it’s a little better to have someone to talk to than it is for me to have no one to talk to.

“Wait until I ask Riko if it’s okay to tell you what happened between her and me.“

“All right! Then I’ll change the question.”

“… Are we still on this subject?”

“Of course not. You’re not giving me any real information at all!”

“You’re obviously enjoying this…, aren’t you?”

“What are you talking about? It’s 20% worry and 80% fun!”

So you’re almost enjoying this…!

“So, my next question is – why aren’t you eating lunch with Princess Riko when you’re dating?”

“What? Isn’t that normal?”

“Because, you know, look at them.”

I turned my gaze to where Sawa indicated with his chin and noticed a table where two men and a woman were having lunch.

“That’s how everyone enjoys their time together. Unlike adults, high school students only have a limited amount of time to spend together in a relationship. Even on after-school dates, if you hang around too late, you’ll get arrested.” [TN: Japanese laws.]

“I see.”

“You don’t have much time at all, even with your part-time job. Then on weekdays, you can only spend time with Riko at lunch or when you go home, right?”

I couldn’t possibly say, “I’m already living with her,” so I could only give a wry smile.

“What? What’s with all the leeway? … Huh, no way.”

“Wh-what?”

I felt completely nervous.

“You’re dating on the weekends, so you don’t have to date during the week? Damn! I’m so jealous! Perish!”

Hearing Sawa’s misguided guess, I felt relieved.

“… Hey, what kind of date do you normally have with Princess Riko? I’m not going to tell anyone, so tell me.”

“Date…”

The only time the two of us ever went out together was when we went shopping at that shopping mall in the first place.

Oh no…

Should I tell him about my imaginary dating experience?

No, this won’t work, I’ve never been on a date in my life.

The truth would soon be dragged out, exposing the lie, of course.

Then he would ask me why I had to tell such a lie, and if I was not careful, I might even be found out to be lying about our true relationship itself.

So, if I’m going to tell a lie based on the truth, I might as well be honest about it.

“I’ve never been on a date before.”

“What!? Seriously!?”

“Yes, seriously.”

“Just why? But then, what about the pictures taken in that shopping mall!?”

“That was the only time we went out together, and how can you call shopping in a shopping mall a date in the first place?”

“Cer-certainly… And why aren’t you dating? Oh, because you were hiding your relationship from me?”

Sawa unintentionally threw me a good fastball of an excuse, so I hurried to catch it.

“Yeah, yeah! So whenever I’m in a date, there’s nothing to it.“

“I see. But I guess you can go anywhere you want from now on!”

“Eh?”

“Because you don’t have to hide it anymore. Just go on a date this weekend! I remember you said you had free time. Tell me about it then!”

“No, no, no, I won’t!”

“You know, girls don’t like guys who can’t be bothered to go on dates.”

“Eh… Is that so…?”

“It’s obvious. What else is in the meaning of ‘dating’? If a man who doesn’t provide any entertainment nor excitement for her, she will soon lose her affection of him.”

Affection…

The weight of his words was so extreme that I felt my blood being drained.

But that’s only the case if Riko is my real girlfriend, right!?

No, but even if a man and a woman are not in a relationship, can they provide what Sawa calls “entertainment and excitement” by asking each other out on a date?

If I can do that, then isn’t dating an opportunity to show Riko that it’s fun to go out with me…?

“If they find out that you don’t hang out with her at school and you don’t even date, there’s a risk that other guys will go after Riko. Up until now, she hasn’t been interested in boys in general, so they would look at her from afar as if she was a flower on a high mountain. However, now she’s got a boyfriend and he’s a plain, ordinary guy named Niiyama. If you’re not careful, the rush of confessions that happened when Princess Riko first entered the school might come back.”

“… No, that’s not good…”

“You know? There are even guys who don’t care if she has a boyfriend or not. So, at least you shouldn’t let them think there’s a gap in your relationship.”

“What exactly do you want me to do…?”

“Just eat lunch together while flirting, go to and from school together, also while flirting. You should show them that you’re a super couple and no one can get in your way.”

“Oh, I see…”

It’s going to be quite a hurdle.

But I definitely don’t want Riko to be taken away from me, so I guess I’ll just have to try my best as part of my efforts to get her to like me.

“Okay. I get it. I’ll just ask her to come home with me today.”

“Yes! That’s the spirit! And if any sweet or sour incidents happen, you can report them to me!”

Sawa brushed his shoulders with an attitude like a housewife enjoying a TV show. It seems that Sawa has shifted his focus to enjoying this relationship of me as a form of entertainment. Well, he usually loves to talk about love…

However, he’s the only person I can talk to about it, so I can’t just ignore him.

Sawa had always had a crush on Riko, so to be honest, I was worried that he would get angry when he heard that we were dating. But instead of getting angry, he cheerfully congratulated me and I am grateful to him. Still, I don’t want to report to him about any incidents, because I’m sure he’ll get carried away if I do…

Well, but even if Riko came home with me, there was no way that a sweet or sour incident would happen that would make Sawa happy.

I was quite optimistic, but my prediction turned out to be wrong.

Translator & Editor: Riciel