I Started Dating Someone By Taking Advantage Of Her Weakness, But I Was Actually Dating Her Mother - Chapter 49-50: Stalker? (Part 9&10)

“Good morning, Tsukimizato-san.” 

“Good morning.”

After Jin arrived at school and headed to the classroom, he sat at his desk and was organizing the textbooks he would use that day. Then Otowa entered the classroom and sat at her desk. When Jin greeted her, Otowa returned the greeting in a cold emotionless voice.

(When she responds this coldly, it’s really hard to talk to her.)

Hearing Otowa’s greeting, Jin strongly felt her desire for him not to get involved with her. This made it feel even harder to approach her.

“Good morning, Kaneda-kun.” 

“Eh? Oh, good morning.”

As Jin was feeling a bit down, a girl from the same class greeted him.

(That’s right, she’s the person who sat with me in the cafeteria the other day.)

That girl was someone who had sat with him at the cafeteria recently, and they had been exchanging greetings more often lately.

“Good morning, Kaneda-san.” 

“Morning, Kaneda-cchi.” 

“Hey there, Kaneda. Good morning.”

After that, several other girls exchanged greetings with Jin.

“Hmm.” 

“Wh-what?” 

“N-nothing.”

Since Otowa was watching this scene, Jin thought she might have some business with him and asked, but Otowa turned to face forward as if she had lost interest.

“It’s lunch break!”

Somehow the morning classes ended, and the lunch break Jin had been looking forward to arrived.

“Tsukimizato-san.” 

“Don’t talk to me so casually in the classroom.”

When Jin tried to talk to her about spending lunch together, Otowa shouted loudly. The loud voice caught the attention of their classmates, whose gazes all gathered at once.

“Sorry, but don’t talk to me so casually in the classroom. I’ll go ahead and wait.”

After Otowa told Jin this in a small voice, she took her small handbag and left the classroom.

“What’s with Tsukimizato-san’s attitude?” 

“I’ve always thought this, but she seems to reject getting involved with people.” 

“Just because she’s a bit smart, she gives off this unpleasant feeling.”

After Otowa left the classroom, Jin could hear the whispered conversations of the classmates who had been watching.

(I wonder if Tsukimizato-san isn’t well-regarded by the people in class?)

Jin became a bit concerned about Otowa, but now he felt it would be a shame to reduce the time they spent together, so after getting ready, he headed to where she was.

“Did you wait long?”

“Not at all.”

When Jin climbed the stairs from the third floor toward the rooftop, Otowa was waiting. She was sitting on the top step of the stairs just like yesterday, and since her legs were slightly open, the fabric inside her skirt was visible.

“Today it’s pink.” 

“Eh? Today it’s just plain rice balls too… Wait, hah! Y-y-you, you saw it, didn’t you? Could it be that yesterday when you said ‘white’, you were actually being a pervert!”

Yesterday it had been white so she could brush it off, but today the color was different, so Otowa finally realized what color Jin had been talking about. She hastily closed her legs, and shouted at Jin while turning bright red from embarrassment.

“It was unintentional. I just happened to see it.” 

“Ugh, I admit I was at fault for carelessly having my legs spread open, but if you could see it, you should have told me yesterday!”

While Otowa acknowledged her fault in having her legs open, she felt unsatisfied about having been seen under her skirt.

“I’ll forgive you with this. Something like this should be cheap, right?”

(I ended up saying it without thinking, but what should I do if he actually takes it out?)

Otowa held up her right index finger toward Jin, presenting a compromise. This had come out in the flow of conversation, and she didn’t really intend to collect anything.

“I’m really sorry. Wait just a moment.”

Jin said this and took out his wallet, pulling out a single bill that had been folded in quarters and handed it to Otowa.

“Hmph, well, I suppose I’ll accept it.”

(After lunch ends, I’ll have to say it was a joke and return it.)

Otowa put the still-folded bill that she had received from Jin straight into her uniform jacket pocket. She intended to return the bill when lunch was over.

“Kaneda-kun, don’t just stand there, sit down next to me.” 

“Oh, excuse me for intruding.”

Otowa patted the spot next to where she was sitting, inviting Jin over.

“Ah, that’s right, that’s right. When I told my mother about yesterday, she made me bring one rice ball for you, Kaneda-kun. If you’re not going to eat it, I’ll eat it myself, you know?”

Otowa held out a plain white rice ball to Jin, just as Yoriko had instructed her to do.

“Thank you. I’ll take it then. Oh, that’s right. I prepared drinks – tea or coffee, which would you prefer?” 

“Eh? Is that okay? Well then, I’ll take the tea.”

Jin took out a plastic bottle of tea from the supermarket shopping bag he had purchased on his way to school and handed it to Otowa.

“I’ll give you this as thanks for the white rice ball.”

Jin handed over something he had purchased in advance, thinking to give it to Otowa.

“This is a sandwich. Let’s see, the filling is… oh, it’s a fruit sandwich. Is this really okay?” 

“It’s fine. I bought it for you, Tsukimizato-san, so please eat it without holding back.” 

“Even if you ask for it back later, I won’t return it!”

When Otowa checked the contents, it was a fruit sandwich made with strawberries and kiwi fruit sandwiched between bread with fresh cream. She really felt the urge to eat it right away, but since she had Yoriko’s white rice ball, she decided to eat that first.

“Thank you for the meal.”

Jin and Otowa began eating their white rice balls together.

“It’s delicious. Even though it’s the same white rice ball, somehow it tastes better than yesterday’s.” 

“Really? I think it tastes the same, but hmm, it doesn’t seem like there’s anything different in it…”

After taking one bite, Jin felt the taste was different from yesterday. As Otowa said, the ingredients themselves hadn’t changed, but there was a strange texture that felt like being warmly embraced.

“What did you buy for today’s lunch, Kaneda-kun?” 

“Um, bread. A standard product called ‘Ohiru no Sand’.” 

“I know that one. It’s a prepared bread where ingredients are put in bread and the edges are pressed together, right? I’ve never eaten it before.”

Otowa was curious about what Jin had prepared for lunch and asked. Jin then took out from his shopping bag a popular prepared bread called “Ohiru no Sand”. It was a standard product where ingredients were sandwiched between bread slices and the edges were pressed together to seal it. For Otowa, who had only ever eaten the cheaply sold plain bread, this was one of the products she longed for.