I became the boyfriend of the school's madonna, who had turned down numerous confessions, but somehow, without realizing it, I wasn't just playing a role anymore - Chapter 13

Episode 13: Could It Be That… You Like Her?

“Niini, carry.”

The next morning, as I prepared to take her to kindergarten, Kokoa extended her arms in front of me. It’s become our routine for me to carry her to the kindergarten.

“Kokoa, can’t you walk by yourself sometimes?”

“……”

Kokoa looked up at me with teary eyes, silently pleading. It seemed she wanted to be carried. While it would be good for her to strengthen her legs, she’s still quite young…

“When you get a bit bigger, you’ll have to walk by yourself, okay?”

Since she’s still quite small, I decided to carry her for now.

“Hmm!”

Kokoa happily pressed her cheek against mine and rubbed it gently.

She’s as affectionate as always.

We left the house and walked to the kindergarten.

“Sensei, good morning!”

“Good morning, Kokoa-chan. Good morning, Shirai-san.”

Upon arriving at the kindergarten, Sasagawa-sensei greeted us with a smile.

“Good morning. Please take care of my little sister today too.”

“Of course. Shirai-san, do your best at school.”

“Thank you. Kokoa, be a good girl, okay?”

“Hmm! Niini, bye-bye!”

Waving energetically, Kokoa bid farewell, and I waved back. Then, I turned my attention back to Sensei.

“……”

“Um, is there something wrong?”

As we exchanged parting words and I was about to head to school, I noticed her staring at me intently. It wasn’t something that usually happened.

“Fufu, I’m glad it’s Shirai-san.”

“…? What are you talking about?”

“This is what I’m talking about.”

Sasagawa-sensei chuckled mysteriously and shook her head with a smile. I had no idea what she meant.

Curiosity got the better of me, and I wanted to ask her, but unfortunately, there was a train to catch. If I missed this one, the next would be in thirty minutes.

“Sorry, I have a train to catch.”

“All right, take care.”

“Excuse me.”

Then, Kokoa gave me a cute smile.

That was enough to get me going for the rest of the day.

After that, I headed for the station, being seen off by my cute little sister and the teacher.

◆

“Why are you here…?”

That was my honest impression upon arriving at the station.

After all…

“G-Good morning, Raito-kun.”

Misaki was there at the station.

We hadn’t made plans to go together, and this isn’t even the station she usually commutes from school. She should be using a station two stops beyond mine. We shouldn’t just coincidentally meet at the station unless we’re on the train.

“Isn’t ambushing someone a rather interesting hobby?”

“A line you say to your girlfriend…?”

Misaki approaches with a troubled smile.

Well, she’s not entirely wrong. After all, even though we’re “dating,” it’s a fake relationship.

“If you were planning to go together, you should’ve contacted me yesterday or something.”

“Well… actually, just a while ago, Hyouka-chan asked me, ‘Even though you’re dating, you don’t commute together?'”

“And you spontaneously said, ‘We meet up at this station,’ right?”

“Yeah…”

Is she okay? 

It feels like she’s willingly shouldering a burden.

“It’s better to avoid making a habit of lying to get out of situations.”

For a moment, the memory of the festival crosses my mind, but that’s a different matter. Occasionally, there are situations where you have to lie. However, if you start relying on lies in your daily life, you’ll end up losing people’s trust.

“You’re right… I’m sorry…”

“No need to apologize to me… Well, whatever. Usually, you meet up with Suzumine-san and commute together, right?”

“Yeah, since our houses are next to each other, we naturally end up together…”

In that case, Suzumine-san probably won’t delve too deep. If they hadn’t made plans, and Misaki and I did, it would be strange for Misaki to get off at this station.

It would make sense to inform Suzumine-san first or ask me to get on an earlier train due to my circumstances. However, if she hadn’t made plans with Suzumine-san, and she only had plans with me, she could argue that she changed the train time for my convenience.

Well, even though it’s inefficient, Suzumine-san might catch on without any evidence… but without a clear basis, she won’t immediately assume it’s a lie.

“If you had said you were coming to pick me up, it would have been the least suspicious.”

“I didn’t think that far…”

“Well, never mind. It won’t change anything since it’s a lie.”

I should probably inform Suzumine-san when the timing is right. She seems to know a lot about my family situation, so I can mention taking my sister to kindergarten.

…The problem is how far I can take the conversation with that ice queen-like girl.

“……”

“Hm, is something wrong?”

After passing through the ticket gate, Misaki stares at my face, prompting me to ask.

“Could it be you’re thinking about coordinating stories with Hyouka-chan?”

“How did you know?”

“You suddenly went silent, looking like you were pondering something.”

When it comes to matters related to Suzumine-san, Misaki, despite her airhead appearance, is unexpectedly sharp. I think she’s second in our grade after Suzumine in terms of academic performance.

If it’s just about studying, I wouldn’t stand a chance against her.

“…Could it be that you like Hyouka-chan?”

“…Huh?”

For a few seconds, I thought about what she said.

“Wh-why do you make such a scary face…?!”

“No, why do you think I like Suzumine-san?”

“Because… Hyoka-chan is cute and smart, and that… you two originally knew each other, right?”

Misaki glanced at me, looking for a reaction, and met my eyes with a gaze from below.

However, I couldn’t quite understand what she was saying.

“Since before entering school… Wait, is that right?”

“I didn’t get to know Suzumine-san until I entered high school, you know?”

“Oh, really…?”

What’s with that questioning tone?

I was about to dismiss it, but maybe she thought that we’d known each other from before high school.

If that were the case, and I didn’t remember, and she remembered me for some reason, it might explain why she was cold to me when I first entered school. But then again, she treats everyone coldly.

“Well, for the time being, I don’t like Suzumine-san. I mean, I don’t have anyone I like.”

“I see, that’s good…”

Misaki let out a sigh of relief.

“If you liked Hyouka-chan, our relationship would be really complicated.”

We dropped the topic as the train arrived.

“Well, for now, I don’t have any feelings for Suzumine-san. Actually, I don’t have anyone I like.”

“Oh, I see. That’s good…”

Misaki sighed with relief.

This is―

“If you liked Hyouka-chan, it would really complicate things between us.”

Yeah, that’s true. It’s not like Misaki could like me.

“Oh, the train’s here.”

Since the train arrived, we decided not to continue this conversation.