I Chose the Plain Girl Instead of the Class’s Top Three Beauties, and Somehow She Became the Heroine - 82

Chapter 82: Confession

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《Hiroko Anno’s POV》

Right next to my ear, his voice melted away.

“I like you, Hiroko-san.”

Like holding a sweet candy in my mouth, that voice was so sweet and unraveled inside me. It felt like the world blinked once along with his voice. The sound of the park’s fountain, the lights of distant cars, the rustling of the wind. Everything reached me just a little delayed. What arrived first was the sound of my own heartbeat.

Thump.

Deep in my chest, it leaped largely just once.

Like.

The words I’d always wanted to hear. The words I’d been terrified might be directed at someone else someday. They’d been caught somewhere in my chest all this time. Just because his appearance changed, the voices in class shifted. A small, dark shadow had formed inside me.

But now, the “I like you” whispered in my ear was stronger and quieter than any words, and it was looking straight at me alone. My face felt hot. I was probably bright red. I was so embarrassed I wanted to crawl into a hole if there was one, yet I had no desire to run away. Because I’d always wished, deep down, that this would happen. 

I tightly gripped the sleeve of my own clothes. My throat was parched, and words wouldn’t come out smoothly. But staying silent here would probably be the rudest thing, I thought. Especially when he had mustered up the courage to confess.

“…Um.”

My voice was a little higher than usual, pathetic, but definitely my own.

“I… I’ve always liked you too, Sora-kun.”

It felt like some lid quietly opened. The moment I thought, “I said it!” the feeling of finally being able to say it collided in my chest.

“At first… I was just happy you said you liked my vibe. Talking more on the same bench made me like you even more. Basketball, studying, the cultural festival… Everything is a precious memory with you, Sora-kun, for me.”

My feelings overflowed. I couldn’t stop the words from flowing anymore.

“Splitting the gloves, splitting the scarf… Those were all small things, but… Every one of them is precious. When you said you wanted me to watch your karate tournament, my chest felt warm and tingling…”

The words spilled out like they were overflowing, one after another. It felt better not to stop. If I stopped now, I felt like I’d never reach this point again.

“But I was scared. You’re kind to everyone, and in class, there are those three girls called the Three Great Beauties and everyone looked at your photos and said you were cool.”

Somehow, it felt like I didn’t have the right to say I liked you.

“Just thinking you might date someone else made my chest tighten…”

Saying that much made me feel pathetic, and I gripped my sleeve harder.

What if it’s too heavy? What if he pulls away? 

The shadow in my chest wavered like a final struggle, but the breath I heard from beside me was very calm. It wasn’t blaming or rushing. Just the sound of him listening.

“So… Hearing you say you like me now… I’m really, really happy.”

The final word that came out of my mouth trembled just a little. As if wrapping up that tremble entirely, his hand gently grew stronger. A little more strength went into our joined hands.

“…Then…”

Sora-kun’s voice was also a bit stiffer than usual.

“Um… Will you go out with me?”

Hearing it formally again made the depths of my chest ticklish, itchy, and painfully happy. I took one deep breath. In the air, the smell of leaves, the chill of autumn, and the memory of the soup we’d drunk earlier mixed together. All of it entered into me now.

“…Yes.”

As clearly as possible… Without running away as much as possible…

“Nice to be with you, Sora-kun.”

It was just a small “yes,” but it echoed surprisingly largely in my chest. The moment I said it, something softly fell from my shoulders. The “mismatch,” the “rumors,” all those shadows gradually unraveled.

He then said

“Thank you.”

That one word was straighter and kinder than any I’d ever heard. Our still-joined hands drew just a little closer than before. The distance between us was only a few centimeters while we were sitting on top of the bench, but that closeness was a bigger step forward than everything that had come before.

Halloween was a night of costumes. Just a short while ago, people in the city had been walking around in all kinds of disguises. But here, there were two people who had taken off their masks. Neither a phantom thief nor the Witch of Prayers. Just as Sora Mukei and Hiroko Anno.

The night breeze gently swayed our hair. At last, I was able to give a name to what lay at the very center of my heart. I was in love. And it wasn’t unrequited. It was a love that properly had the shape of two people.

“…Will you keep drinking soup with me on the bench from now on?”

“Of course. I’m looking forward to your new creations.”

“Then I’ll do my best.”

As we carried on a conversation that felt the same as always, I listened to the sound of a heart that was nothing like usual. When I looked up at the sky, I could tell that, inside my chest, a single star was shining clearly and it was bright enough not to lose to the city lights.

That day, I had been called the Witch of Prayers. But now, I felt like I had become a witch whose wish had been granted, just a little.

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