Do You Like Romantic-Comedy Protagonists?

Chapter 9: Do You Like Sousuke Sakurai? 4

“Sorry, Kyouko, can you hold this for a sec?”

“Huh? Uh, sure, okay.”

Sakurai handed his school bag to Hachiya and ran off.

With Sakurai suddenly gone, Hachiya turned her attention to Akaishi. She belatedly noticed that Akaishi had been following them silently.

Akaishi, hand on his chin, was looking down with a grim expression.

“What’s with that serious face?”

“Huh?”

Hachiya spoke to Akaishi, and, not expecting to be addressed, Akaishi widened his eyes slightly and looked up.

“What? Is it that weird for me to talk to you?”

“No… I was just thinking about something.”

He couldn’t tell Hachiya that he was thinking Sakurai was a self-centered hypocrite wielding justice for ulterior motives.

Hachiya slowed her pace to walk beside Akaishi.

Since Akaishi said nothing, Hachiya turned her gaze toward where Sakurai had gone.

Sakurai had run to a woman standing by a bicycle, looking anxiously left and right.

Seeing Sakurai help someone without expecting anything in return, Hachiya’s cheeks flushed slightly.

Why was he so kind? She recognized her feelings for him growing even stronger.

Hachiya spoke to Akaishi.

“Look at that, Akaishi. That’s Sousuke.”

“…”

Akaishi had already noticed Sakurai listening to the confused woman by the bicycle before Hachiya pointed it out.

“That’s Sousuke, Akaishi. Helping someone without expecting anything, too kind for his own good. Completely different from you.”

“That’s absolutely true.”

Watching Sakurai, Akaishi fully agreed.

He knew he could never do something like that himself.

Indeed, someone who helps a struggling person would be universally seen as a saint. They’d rightly be called kind-hearted.

But only if they did it anytime, anywhere.

Akaishi thought this act of kindness was performed because he and Hachiya were watching, and Sakurai might not help in such situations otherwise.

Relentlessly cynical and distrustful of others’ goodwill, Akaishi suspected even this act was a calculated move to boost Hachiya’s affection.

But it was too hasty to judge based on this alone, so he had to agree with Hachiya’s words.

Sakurai seemed to have fixed the woman’s bicycle issue and returned with blackened hands.

“Man, sorry, sorry. Thanks, Kyouko.”

“It’s fine, but Sousuke, your hands are filthy!”

“Oh… Yeah, the woman’s bike chain came off, and when I touched it, my hands got this dirty, haha. You can’t just ignore someone in trouble, right?”

“That’s not funny! Here, give me your hands.”

Hachiya took Sakurai’s hands, pulled a handkerchief from her bag, and wiped them clean.

The more Akaishi watched, the more it looked like hypocrisy, and he felt a twinge of guilt for thinking so.

“Sorry, Kyouko. I’ll wash this handkerchief and return it.”

“It’s fine, don’t worry! Come on, Sousuke, let’s go.”

“…Right, let’s head back.”

Sakurai and Hachiya walked closer together than before, with Akaishi trailing behind.

The three reached the school’s nearest station, where Sakurai and Hachiya got off at the urban station, and Akaishi got off at the next one.

※

Akaishi’s actual stop was the same urban station where Sakurai and Hachiya got off.

※

“Morning, Akaishi!”

“…? Oh… Morning.”

The next day, Sakurai greeted Akaishi as he entered the classroom.

Perhaps feeling closer to Akaishi after yesterday, Sakurai greeted him out of the blue.

Still, Akaishi viewed Sakurai critically.

Akaishi wasn’t the type to actively talk to girls, as proven yesterday, so he worried Sakurai might use him as an excuse to approach girls in the future.

After greeting Akaishi, Sakurai returned to his seat and, as usual, chatted with his entourage.

Akaishi still couldn’t accept Sakurai’s hypocritical actions from yesterday, harboring significant distrust.

But, relieved that his involvement with Sakurai and Hachiya was finally over, Akaishi regained his usual rhythm.

※

The day passed uneventfully, and without taking any particular actions, Akaishi returned home as usual.

※

Sakurai

Went to eat with Kyouko and Akaishi yesterday.

Looks like Akaishi and Kyouko were fighting, but I managed to get them to make up.

(Tap here to view photo)

“…”

SNS app “Tsuiiku.”

An app for posting daily thoughts or diaries, with over a billion users.

Akaishi, like many, used Tsuiiku.

In his room, Akaishi was idly browsing posts on Tsuiiku and came across Sakurai’s account, scrolling through his posts.

“…”

Sakurai had posted about Akaishi and Hachiya’s conflict.

Reflexively tapping the photo, Akaishi saw a picture of their meal, likely taken without his knowledge.

His hamburger in the foreground, with Sakurai and Hachiya’s napolitan and carbonara.

“…”

A vague, dark emotion consumed Akaishi.

It left a heavy knot in his heart.

“Why does this guy…”

Why was he doing this?

Curses, insults, venom, envy, complaints—every time he opened his mouth, they threatened to spill out.

And he was disgusted with himself for scrolling through a classmate’s posts just because he found their account.

“Looks like Akaishi and Kyouko were fighting, but I managed to get them to make up.”

Not “they made up” but “I managed to get them to make up.” Every word made him nauseous.

“Hypocrite.”

The only word that came to mind for Sakurai was “hypocrite.”

Without Akaishi asking, Sakurai had selfishly mediated between him and Hachiya, sidelining Akaishi while acting like it was his achievement, then broadcasting it on SNS.

Flaunting goodwill to others. Or perhaps performing fake goodwill just to flaunt it.

Sakurai’s post had replies from what seemed to be his entourage.

Hatsufuyu

Sakurai, you pervert!

Shiorin

You were doing that yesterday!?

Though unconfirmed, two of the five entourage members had likely replied.

Sakurai responded to them, and the exchange continued briefly.

“…”

Akaishi let go of his phone, tossing it onto the bed.

“…”

“I managed to get them to make up.”