I Was Reincarnated as a Mob, and After I Kept Listening to the Losing Childhood-Friend Heroine’s Complaints, I Somehow Maxed Out Her Affection Rating - 41

Chapter 41: Impossible to Win

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Shouma’s POV

The moment I arrived at school, I froze.

“……Huh?”

Among the crowd of students heading toward the entrance, there were two people walking hand-in-hand. Kaede and… Yuuta Fujiwara. And they were interlacing their fingers, which was absolutely not something “just friends” would do.

“……W–wait… No way…”

I almost said it out loud and hurriedly covered my mouth. If they were coming to school together, didn’t that mean she had stayed over at Fujiwara’s place…?

Calm down. Calm down… Yesterday, she said she didn’t stay over… No, she did say that. She said it… Right!?

I rewound Kaede’s reply in my head.

“Not really.”

Her tone had been flat. So that meant…She lied to me for the first time… My chest tightened painfully. If I rushed off like before, Mio would yell at me again. I wanted to ask her. Right now, even. But that was impossible. I had no choice but to look away.

Then—

“…Ah, Shouma-kun.”

At some point Mio had appeared next to me, and she followed my line of sight…

“Ahh… Those two look pretty close.”

Don’t point. For the love of god, don’t point.

“… ‘Pretty close’ doesn’t cut it, right? That’s just… Already…”

“They are a little too close.”

“Right!?”

My voice rose before I could stop it. My uneasiness was spilling out just as it was.

“I mean, he’s totally taking advantage of her or something… That’s weird, right!?”

“Haah… You’re saying that again.”

Mio sighed deeply and flicked my forehead.

“Ow!”

“Shouma-kun, Fujiwara-kun isn’t as sly as you think he is.”

“But…”

“No buts. I told you yesterday. Kaede-chan’s attitude has definitely changed.”

I didn’t have anything to say back. Yeah… I had felt that too.

Yesterday’s call. When Kaede asked me, ‘Hey, why did you even call over something like that?’ I’d been panicking so much even I could tell.

“…But Mio, something still feels off. And she lied to me yesterday—”

“Shouma-kun.”

Mio’s voice became a little sharper.

“The one acting weird is you.”

“……!”

“To Kaede-chan, Fujiwara-kun is becoming someone she can feel safe with. But you’re blaming all of it on him by saying he’s ‘taking advantage’ of her. That’s… Honestly scary.”

“…………”

I couldn’t say anything. A sharp pain spread in my chest, as if she had hit the bull’s-eye.

“You seriously need to cool your head.”

“…Sorry.”

All I could do was mutter that quietly. Looking ahead, the two of them were still walking hand-in-hand, unfazed by the stares around them, smiling as they went.

…What happened to you, Kaede? No… What’s happening to me?

I clenched my fist, so tightly my nails dug into my palm.

…Why am I this desperate?

It was an answer I knew, but didn’t want to admit. 

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Yuuta’s POV

I was sitting at my desk, taking out my textbook, when—

“Fujiwara-kun, got a minute?”

A group of three girls surrounded my desk with inexplicably bright smiles.

“Eh, wh-what?”

“What do you mean what, it’s that, obviously~~”

One girl smiled sweetly, another grinned, and the last one delivered the “finishing blow.”

“When did you and Kaede-chan start dating?”

“Pff—! W–we’re not!!”

Holy crap, I almost spit water all over my desk. And even a few surrounding students were looking over here.

“You’re not dating!?”

“No way, even after that!?

“That kind of closeness definitely means you’re her boyfriend…!”

“No no no, we’re not dating! Seriously!”

I denied it desperately, but the girls’ expressions screamed “there’s no way that’s true.”

“Ehh, there’s no way. You two were holding hands this morning. And it was a lover’s hold.”

“Th-that’s… Uum…”

The moment I tried to explain—

“Hey hey! How’d you two meet!?”

“Who confessed first!?”

“Tell me about your first date!”

Their barrage of questions was insane. My voice was completely drowned out.

Oh god… Someone save me…! 

I pleaded desperately in my heart and at that moment—

“—What do you want with Yuuta-kun?”

My spine snapped straight. Everyone turned around. Standing there with her arms crossed, glaring down at the girls like some overwhelmingly strong heroine, was—

Kaede.

“W–wait, Hiiragi-san!?”

“Okay okay, break it up, break it up~”

She waved her hand briskly, shooing the girls away like scattering pigeons. They fled, saying “Ah, sorry,” “See you,” like little spiders running away. And then, it was just the two of us.

“………………”

“………………”

Kaede turned away with a pout. Her cheeks were seriously puffed up.

Ah. She’s totally jealous.

“Wh-what’s with that face…”

“…Nothing?”

“That is not a ‘nothing’ face.”

“…Hey, Yuuta-kun.”

“What?”

Kaede, her lips still pushed forward, murmured softly.

“You should’ve just said we were dating.”

“No, but…We’re not…”

“…‘Yet,’ right?”

“No, ‘yet’ is… I mean…”

The moment I hesitated, her cheeks puffed out even more.

“That’s exactly why girls keep swarming around you!”

“Eh, it’s my fault!?”

“Of course! If you’re all like, ‘No no, we’re not dating,’ with that smile, of course they’ll get the wrong idea!”

“I wasn’t smiling!”

“Then say it next time.”

“…Say what?”

“That we’re ‘dating.’”

“You’re really going all-in on this!?”

Kaede rested her fingertip lightly on the edge of my desk and looked up at me. Her eyes were oddly shiny. She was exuding an unfair level of cuteness.

“Okay? Say it, okay?”

“………………………Yes.”

It was my complete defeat. My rationality HP dropped to zero. Kaede’s expression landed a critical hit. And then—

“Hehe, good.”

Her displeased expression vanished like it had never existed, replaced by a bright smile. No, that switch was way too fast.

…She’s too cute…

While I was muttering that inside, Kaede plopped down into the seat beside mine.

“Then starting today, let’s just say we’re like that officially.”

“W-wait, what’s ‘like that’ supposed to mean!?”

“Fufu, it’s a secret~♪”

The wink was absolutely cheating…

Yeah. I definitely wouldn’t be able to win against this girl.

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