I Ended Up Pretending to Be the Boyfriend of a Beautiful but Tough Classmate for Just a Month, but It Seems That She Has Awakened Her Yandere Tendencies Because of That. - Chapter 25

Chapter 25

♡

“Ugh, I’m tired. Hey, listen, dates are so exhausting.”

“Thanks for the bragging. I’m full now, so I think I’ll head home.”

“W-why does it have to be like that?!”

Dinner was at a family restaurant with Mika.

Both of our parents were working, so weekends were always like this.

This time was the part of the day I looked forward to the most.

But, something felt different.

I don’t know why, but I felt uneasy.

“Right now, you’re probably thinking you’d rather be eating with Suzukaze-kun instead of me, huh?”

“N-no, that’s not true.”

“That’s such an obvious thing to say. If you wanted to, you should’ve invited him.”

“But he looked like he was tired.”

“See, you still wanted to invite him.”

“…That’s not it.”

If we stayed together a bit longer, maybe we could’ve had more conversations.

If we parted ways now, I wouldn’t see him again until tomorrow.

Would he text me properly tonight?

I thought about all of this back then.

And I’m still thinking about it now.

“Well, it’s a good sign. You’re meeting tomorrow too, right?”

“Well, I have things to do.”

“Ah, you’re really living the youth life. Next time, introduce me to your guy.”

“Oh, speaking of which, Mika, I want to ask Suzukaze-kun for a haircut.”

“Uh-huh, so you want to customize your crush to your liking?”

“That’s not it. His messy hair annoys me when we’re together.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll do it sometime during the long weekend. By the way, did you tell him about your family?”

Mika, unusually, had a worried look on her face.

When she mentioned “family,” she probably meant my parents.

“No, not yet.”

“So you plan to tell him, huh?”

“Well, I can’t just let him talk about the bad stuff while keeping things from him. That wouldn’t be fair.”

He told me about his past trauma.

And, bit by bit, I felt like he was trying to get over it.

But what about me?

“Well, there’s no need to rush, right? Life is long.”

“Yeah, but we have a month’s promise.”

“You want to do everything properly while you’re still his girlfriend, right? That perfectionist side of you is so like you, Riara.”

Mika smiled with a bit of disbelief.

After that, we spent the rest of the meal chatting about trivial things.

I think she was intentionally avoiding more serious topics, trying to be considerate.

Then, just like always, she walked me home.

At parting, Mika said:

“Even if the mummy catcher becomes a mummy, it’s fine, right?”

Without waiting for my response, Mika left.

I returned to my empty, dark house alone.

I locked myself in my room, staring at my phone, waiting for a message from him.

I stayed there, in the pitch-black room, waiting.

I couldn’t wait.

♤

“A speech, huh?”

I agreed to it on the spot, but I wasn’t sure if I could actually do it.

I stood in the bathroom, absently staring at the steam rising from the hot water, feeling nothing but anxiety.

I was anxious.

Not just about the speech.

Depending on the election results, what would happen to me?

I thought it would be better to quit school than work under Kamishiro.

And there was also the thing with Takamiya.

When mom came back earlier, she was happily asking, “Is Riara-chan coming tomorrow morning too? Hehe, what should I make for her?”

She had said before that it was fine if we broke up, but deep down, I knew she’d be sad if we really did.

But that was already decided.

This time, I couldn’t just ask, “Can you pretend to be my girlfriend a little longer, for mom’s sake?”

Even if I did, it would eventually end.

Just like how birth leads to death, everything that begins has an inevitable end.

I didn’t know how to end it.

And there probably wasn’t a “best” way to end things either.

All I could think about was how to make the damage as small as possible.

Thinking about all these gloomy things made me feel down.

“Sigh… I should just go to bed.”

I got out of the bath, drying myself off, when I overheard mom and dad talking in the living room.

“Yeah, Riara-chan’s coming tomorrow too. She’s such a nice girl. I’d like you to meet her too.”

Mom sounded so cheerful, and I wasn’t in the mood to talk to her right now.

I quietly slipped back into my room.

“Sigh…”

I’ve been sighing a lot.

If all these worries keep piling up, I think it’s actually easier not to interact with others.

There’s no need to worry about what others think of you.

No need to think about what you should do for them.

No need to agonize over what you think of them either.

That’s why, not getting involved with others was easier.

But…

It wasn’t fun.

Every day felt like the same routine, and life passed by quietly.

Maybe that’s okay during school, but I felt anxious about what would happen when I grew up.

I had no one to talk to about that anxiety.

No one to listen to the fears I had buried in the past.

But now it’s different.

I have Takamiya.

Even if I know I’m just being used, she still needs me.

Talking to others, going shopping, watching movies…

It wasn’t so bad.

She made me feel like that.

So, I really do feel thankful to her.

For today, and for tomorrow…

“…I wonder if she’s already asleep.”

It was past nine at night.

She was probably still awake.

Maybe I should text her.

Or call her.

No, calling at night isn’t something you do unless you’re a boyfriend.

Wait, am I her boyfriend now?

Ugh, this is too complicated.

“…”

I don’t know what came over me, but I called Takamiya.

I honestly hoped she wouldn’t pick up, but of course, she did.

“H-Hello!?”

She picked up the phone immediately.

“What? Why are you yelling like that?”

“You’re the one who’s yelling. What is it? Why the sudden call? Is something wrong?”

“N-no, it’s just about tomorrow.”

“Hmm, I see. So what do you need?”

This was the first time I called her, but even on the phone, she was still the usual Takamiya.

I could practically picture her annoyed expression.

For some reason, I felt a little relieved.

“So, how long is the speech supposed to be? I thought maybe I should come up with a rough script by tomorrow.”

“Wow, you’re suddenly so motivated. The speech is about ten minutes, so that’s what I’m counting on. Well, since I’m going to be your cheerleader, you better make it count.”

That confident side of her, which I didn’t have, was one of her good points.

At first, I thought it was annoying, but maybe I need to learn from it.

“Well, I’ll try my best. And also, thanks for everything today.”

“What’s with the formal tone? I told you, the clothes thing was fine.”

“That too, but it was other things as well. Watching a movie with someone was a first, but it was fun.”

“R-really? Well, of course, anything with me is fun.”

“Yeah, when you’re yelling next to me the whole time. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that. Mom’s looking forward to tomorrow too.”

“Okay. Well, goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

The phone call ended.

I don’t know why, but it felt a little easier talking like this, without seeing her face.

I felt like I could be a little more honest.

If I could express my feelings like this more…

“…I guess I’ll start thinking of speech topics.”