I asked him to be my pretend-boyfriend but after a while I fell for him, but I can't seem to admit that fact! - Chapter 31: What's going on?

What’s going on?

When the week began, I returned to school to see something unexpected.

“Is this you, Itsuki?”

On Yuuka’s smartphone screen was an image of me, transformed by makeup.

“Um, yeah.”

The images from the makeup event that day had been widely circulated on social media, and it became a hot topic at school.

“When did you make your model debut!?”

“Well, it’s not really a debut or anything like that.”

“You’re being so coy. You should have told us earlier.”

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

“How’s it not the case then?”

“It’s not really what you’re thinking… it just happened that I bumped into Shizuka-san and was asked to substitute for Nana-san as the makeup model since she wasn’t able to make it.”

“Ehhhh!”

As I started to explain in more detail, Yuuka let out a surprised exclamation.

“You just happened to know Shizuka Onda, the charismatic stylist?”

“Well… it’s not exactly like that.”

I whispered to Yuuka that Shizuka-san was the stylist for ” Inherit Sound.”

“I see… your boyfriend is amazing.”

“Hahaha…”

“So, does that mean I met Shizuka Onda too!?”

“Why?”

“Because, she was the woman your boyfriend was with arm in arm at that time right??”

Oh… right, that’s true.

“Yeah… I guess that’s how it turned out.”

“Ugh, why didn’t I realize that back then?”

“It couldn’t be helped…”

Around my seat, there was a crowd of people waiting for Yuuka and me to finish talking.

Well, at least they were willing to wait.

As expected, when I finished talking with Yuuka, I was bombarded with questions, but the questions were not really about me. They were about Akira, who had made a guest appearance.

It’s great that my boyfriend is popular, but I couldn’t help feeling a complex mix of emotions.

And, I’m surely going to release my pent-up feelings in a fighting game against Akira later.

“Hey, wait a minute.”

As I was leaving the school gate, I was approached by a mysterious, tsundere-sounding beautiful girl.

She had an inward bob cut with outward flares, a double eyelid, and large, captivating eyes. She was also quite tall and looked like a model.

Who could she be?

“You’re Itsuki, right?”

She knows my name?

Who is this?

“Yes, that’s me, but… who are you?”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

“Do you want to know about me?”

She seemed a little pleased, quite tsundere-like. I didn’t really want to know, but it would be troublesome if I said “no” here, I thought.

And then…

“Shall we go home, Itsuki?”

“Huh?”

Akira made an unexpected interruption.

“Hey, who are you? Don’t just butt in like that!”

“No, you’re the one who got in our way.”

Akira was absolutely right.

“Be quiet! I was the one talking!”

However, the mysterious tsundere beauty presented a bizarre argument.

Akira looked at her with a stern expression.

“Nevermind her, let’s go home.”

He gently put his arm around my shoulders, and we started walking away.

“Grrr, just wait!”

The tsundere beauty ran over and blocked our path.

“Seriously, who are you?”

Akira, unusually, used harsh words.

“You’re the one! You!”

“You didn’t introduce yourself, did you? Besides, if you had something to say to Itsuki, you should have introduced yourself first, right?”

“Ugh…”

“Let’s go, Itsuki.”

“Uh, okay…”

However, Akira was a bit relentless today. Had something bothered him?

“Wait, wait! I get it! I’ll tell you.”

Akira stopped, but he didn’t seem very interested in hearing her answer.

“Alright, fine, I’ll tell you.”

“She’s taking too long to say something, right, Itsuki?”

“Lies! You’re lying! So wait!”

I’m not sure what it is, but their interaction… it’s kind of enjoyable.

“I’m Nana Nana, by the way… Itsuki, thanks for yesterday.”

I had a hunch, but the mysterious tsundere beauty turned out to be the model I substituted as on the event, Nana.

“What’s your deal, anyway?”

As soon as she introduced herself, Nana started arguing with Akira.

“I’m Itsuki’s boyfriend, and if there’s a suspicious character around, it’s only natural for me to want to protect her!”

“You’re the one who’s suspicious! Besides, your face is practically hidden by your bangs!”

They seem… very close.

“Anyway, you’re done, right? Let’s go, Itsuki.”

“Wait a minute! I still have something to talk about!”

She seemed desperate, and I felt sorry for her.

“What do you want to talk about? I’ll listen.”

“I don’t have anything to say to you!”

Akira was quite harsh.

“Are you two really just meeting for the first time? You know Akira from ‘ Inherit Sound,’ right?”

“Well, yeah.”

What’s this… is it about Akira again?

“So… did he say anything about me?”

Huh? What? What?

They do know each other after all?

I’d been curious about Nana ever since I heard her name, but that curiosity disappeared in an instant.

So, Akira… what’s going on?