I Got Dumped by My Childhood Friend Fiancée Who I Didn’t Even Like, I Thought I Could Finally Have a Peaceful School Life… But Then I Got Targeted by SS-Class Beautiful Young Ladies - Chapter 15

Chapter 15: [Information Disclosure] The Close-Contact Diet Was Supposed to Be One Thing, but Turns Out the Kyoto Heiress Was Actually Worried About Me

“…Um, Shiramine-san?”

“Hmm~? What’s up?”

“This… is this really right? I seriously don’t think this has any diet effect at all?”

“How would I know~? It’s just what that book said~”

So yeah, I got my weak spot grabbed and ended up reluctantly helping Azusa with her diet—but right now, we were in a situation that looked about as far from dieting as you could get.

Azusa had sat down flat on the floor with her legs stretched straight out in front like a long sitting forward bend.

I had my foot resting on her shoulder, using it as a pivot while bending my body backward in basically a handstand-ish position.

The end result? Our bodies together formed this weirdly perfect rectangle shape. Like, what even is this pose during a diet…?

Looking at our current position objectively again, it really makes zero sense…

Upside-down vision and all, I let out a tired sigh at Azusa, who was giggling down there.

“Haa… seriously, what’re you even laughing at…?”
“…Heh, hehe! Pfft… sorry, sorry. I was just thinking… what the heck are we even doing right now…”

“Uh, yeah… I’m the one wondering that the most here…”

Still seeing everything flipped, I answered in the most exhausted voice possible.

How did we end up like this? Simple: I got dragged into another one of this eccentric heiress’s random ideas—

—A few minutes earlier.

Azusa came back to the clubroom after a while, humming happily like she was in a great mood.

When I looked over, one of her hands held a rolled-up yoga mat. The other gripped a book.

“Sorry for the wait~! Ta-da! We’re doing this one next~!”

She held the book up proudly.

On the cover was an overly healthy-looking smiley face paired with even flashier fonts that read:

‘Diet Basics! Yoga Edition! ~Close-Contact Couples Ver~’

…Yeah. Nothing but bad vibes from this.

“…Shiramine-san.”

“Hmm~?”

“Can I ask just one thing real quick?”

“Sure~?”

“Why… do you even have a couples-only diet book…?”

When I asked, Azusa just tilted her head all innocent-like.

Dude… that’s the most obvious question ever. We’re not lovers, we’re not even friends…

She thought for a tiny second, went “Umm…” then answered.

“If I had to say… probably ’cause it’s for two people to do together?”

“That’s not what I— I mean, we don’t even need to do it together in the first place…”

“But like. The book said doing it guy-and-girl boosts the hormones or whatever and makes the effect way stronger?”

“…I see.”

Pretty sure that kind of effect isn’t gonna happen with two people who just met, but whatever—arguing was getting old.

There was zero room for my opinion here anyway, so might as well start quick and finish fast.

“So… what’re we doing?”

The second I asked, Azusa flipped through the pages super excited like she’d been waiting for that.

“This! I wanna do this one!”

The open page had a big header saying “Beginner Recommended.” The actual pose wasn’t pictured there, but if it was beginner-friendly, it’d probably be easy.

I agreed without really checking, stood up from the chair, and hurried over to where Azusa was spreading out the yoga mat—

—And now we’re back to the present.

…The author of that book seriously has zero sense. Or maybe they just ran out of ideas and started trolling.

No way this blocky human-wheel-looking pose is actually beginner-recommended.

And I’m 100% sure this pose has zero diet effect. Bet the author was just messing around.

If anything, I’m the one burning calories here. The person who actually wants to diet is just sitting on the floor.

Trying to distract myself from the blood rushing to my head and making my brain feel hot, I stared at the ceiling—no, wait, upside-down so the floor—and waited for this incomprehensible heiress to be satisfied.

But no matter how long I waited, she never gave the signal to stop.

I was just about to lose patience and throw out a small complaint when Azusa suddenly spoke up in this really soft voice…

“…Hey, Yoichi-kun.”

Her expression was so gentle, and her eyes had this anxious tint—nothing like the person who’d been teasing and laughing at me just a minute ago.

Bracing myself for whatever command was coming next, I answered.

“…Yeah?”

“…You okay today?”

“…………Huh?”

Maybe too much blood in my head, but for a second it felt like she was actually worried about me…

Wanting to make sure I heard right, I twisted my stuck neck a tiny bit and asked back.

“What… did you just say?”

“I said… was today okay for you?”

Okay, not a mishearing.

For whatever reason, this heiress was genuinely worried about something of mine. No clue what she was even referring to, though.

“About… what?”

“You said it yesterday, remember? How the branch family’s door guy got his fiancée stolen. Everyone’s in the same class… so I was wondering if it wasn’t tough on you.”

—Ohhh, that.

Finally the words clicked into place.

I hadn’t expected Azusa to bring that up herself, so I tensed thinking maybe she had some angle… but her face stayed the same as before. No probing stare, no mocking smile—none of that.

Caught a little off guard by this unexpected side of her, I let out a short breath in this ridiculous position and answered.

“…Nah, nothing special. Just a normal day.”

Not lying at all.

Honestly, minus the arrow letter, it really was a normal day. Getting bothered by Ryuki? That barely even counts anymore.

Azusa didn’t reply right away to my flat tone. Instead, her eyes stayed locked on mine—like she was trying to say something with them.

Then she gave my shoulder (the one my foot was on) a tiny shake and slowly tilted her head.

“…Really?”

“Yeah.”

I answered instantly.

Azusa’s eyes sharpened just a little.

“Maybe… you didn’t actually like her that much to begin with?”

“If I’d really liked her, I’d probably be way more messed up right now. This morning my current boyfriend told me I looked like I still had feelings, though.”

I let out a self-mocking laugh with some sarcasm mixed in.

But Azusa kept her serious face the whole time—

“…Even so. Even then…”

Her voice stayed calm, but her expression had this edge to it. Her tone felt a tiny bit lower too.

“Having someone from the main family… get taken by branch-family trash like that… doesn’t it piss you off?”

“Haha, you really don’t hold back, huh.”

“But it’s true, right?”

Azusa said it flat-out, no hesitation.

Ryuki might act all polite and kiss-up to people above him, but word about how awful he actually is has apparently spread pretty far.

“Yeah, it’s true. But… I’m not really pissed or anything. Whether that’s me being stubborn or not, you can judge with your own eyes.”

I didn’t wanna make the air any heavier, so I tried to shrug it off lightly—but in this position all I could manage was a stiff smile.

Still, she didn’t brush off what I said.

If anything, she kept that tense look, a bit of frustration creeping into her clear brown eyes.

“…If you’re just acting tough, I’m gonna get mad, y’know?”

“Suddenly scary… Why would you get mad…?”

“Saying it doesn’t bother you isn’t losing. The real loss… is swallowing it and hurting yourself over and over. That’s what worries me.”

Out of nowhere Azusa dropped this super reasonable take.

She really seemed worried about me—like, genuinely sorry-level worried.

For a second I didn’t know what to say to this side of her that was nothing like the bizarre heiress from earlier, but I quickly answered.

“It’s how I really feel. I kinda always knew this was coming. Don’t you already know, Shiramine-san…? About me and Ryuki… about the Kirishima and Kaga families right now?”

“…………”

That was probably part of why she was worried. The fact that Azusa stayed completely silent was answer enough.

No point hiding it anyway—most people already know.

I took one deep breath and kept going.

“The Kirishima and Kaga families are basically at odds right now. The main family–branch family thing is just on paper—really, the Kaga house is pretty much independent.”

“…Yeah, that’s pretty well-known.”

“Right. Then you probably know this too? My ex-fiancée, Akari Tendo… how the Tendo family went all-in and sided with the Kaga side big time.”