I Will Do Everything In My Power To Bring Happiness To The Enchanting Beauty Who Can No Longer Smile. - Chapter 57: She Intrigued Me.

She Intrigued Me.

The ticking of the clock echoed softly through the room. With those steady sounds in the background and under the weight of her dark gaze, I sat down on the bed.

For a few moments, silence reigned between us.

—In times like these, I still haven’t quite mastered when to begin speaking.
And this time, there’s just so much I need to say.

Still, if I kept staring into Tsubame’s eyes like this, the minutes would slip by before I knew it. So I decided—it’s time to speak up.

But… she beat me to it.

“I’d like to say something first.”

“…Huh?”

Her words caught me off guard, and I responded more flatly than I meant to. Even so, she didn’t falter—her serious expression never wavered as she looked at me.

When I straightened my posture and met her gaze properly, she continued.

“I was really happy when you said you didn’t want me to go.”

It was a short sentence, but I understood immediately what she meant. She was talking about earlier—when Arisaki handed her the invitation, and I blurted out how I didn’t want her to accept it.

Looking back, it’s a little embarrassing… but I don’t regret it.

“Up until then, I was still unsure. I kept thinking… if I turned it down, so many people would be disappointed.”

She reached for my hand—and then gently wrapped her arms around it, pulling it close to her chest. Her expression softened slightly.

“But your words made me realize something. That I didn’t want to go either. That I didn’t want to be apart from you, Shigure-kun.”

Her fingers intertwined with mine, holding on tightly. When I instinctively squeezed back, she smiled with a radiant joy.

“I’ve always worked so hard to bring joy to others. To give dreams to as many people as I could. To make others happy. Of course, I enjoyed the photoshoots too…”

Her expression brightened as she said this, and her embrace grew a little firmer—yet still so gentle.

But in her voice, I heard something deeper—something words alone couldn’t express.

Then, she lifted my hand and pressed it to her cheek, smiling.

“But from now on, I’m going to try harder for myself. To make myself happy. To give myself dreams. To pursue things that bring me joy. I’ve decided—I won’t force myself to do anything that truly makes me unhappy.”

Her words—quiet, honest, determined—began to warm something deep inside my heart.

And that warmth… wasn’t content just to stay there. It was overflowing.

“Tsubame…”

“Yeah… I want to hug you too.”

It seemed my feelings had reached her with just her name.

While one of her arms was still holding mine, I used the other to embrace her. She responded by wrapping both of her arms around me in return.

Her warmth pressed fully against me.

“I’m so glad…”

I held her tightly. My voice came out naturally—uncontainable.

“I’m so, so glad… I got to hear you say that.”

There was a time in her life—a time so long and dark I hesitate to call it just a ‘phase’—when she couldn’t taste anything from stress, when she forgot how to smile, when she didn’t even know what she wanted anymore.

And now… that same girl was saying she wanted to live for herself.

I was overwhelmed with joy.

This feeling… it’s similar to what I used to feel before. But something about it is different. Fundamentally different.

I’ve always loved seeing people smile.

When I entered middle school, I wanted to catch up to Tsubame, so I started helping others. Eventually, people started calling me the “Handyman.”

It sounds like something out of a story, helping people left and right… But honestly, I think it was just self-indulgence.

I loved hearing people say “thank you.” I loved the moment when my effort led to someone’s happiness.

I loved seeing that boy—who’d been nursing a five-year-long crush—finally confess and come back to tell me it worked.

I loved seeing the boy who once whispered that he wanted to die now laughing with friends at school.

I loved how the girl who asked me to help clear the name of a boy falsely accused of theft came back after the case was resolved to ask how she could grow closer to him. And I loved that the boy, too, came to me—how those two eventually found happiness together.

These moments brought me joy.
But this feeling I have now—this is different.
It’s similar, but not the same.

“I think… to me, Tsubame, you’re someone truly special.”

“Same here. Shigure-kun, you’re someone truly special to me.”

Her words came back at me just as directly, just as clearly.

Come to think of it, she’s always been straightforward like this.

“That’s why—I want to know more about you, Shigure-kun.”

The words that followed made my heart race. But I wasn’t surprised.

“…”

We released each other and sat face-to-face again, thinking.

As for Arisaki—I’d leave that to Usui-san. But there was still something I had to take care of myself.

That important conversation. The one I’d meant to have with her in the flower field.

And—

“Kizuki-san… she’s a woman, right?”

That name—the one Se-chan had mentioned earlier. The one I’d avoided for so long.

I had never had the right opportunity to talk about her. But now… maybe this was the time.

Beads of cold sweat ran down my back. I swallowed hard.

“I thought it was strange. When her name came up, you made a face I’ve never seen before.”

“…”

“And just to be clear—I’m not trying to blame you or anything. I trust you, Shigure-kun. And I figured it probably wasn’t something happy, so you never brought it up. You said she was someone who’d been hurt…”

My body tensed up instinctively. But Tsubame gently rubbed my back, easing the tension away.

“Even so, I want to know. If you’re okay with it… I want to know what happened. Because after I opened up to you earlier, I felt so much lighter. And I want you to feel that too, Shigure-kun.”

Maybe—just maybe—she’ll be disappointed in me.

Or maybe it’s wrong to bring this up now, at a time like this.

But I shove those fears to the back of my mind. If I don’t speak now, I might never be able to.

And I’m not the kind of person who can keep secrets for long. So… it has to be now.

“Thank you, Tsubame. I was always planning to tell you—so yes, I’ll talk.”

But before I begin, there’s something I want to make clear.

I embrace her once more. Firmly, but gently—making sure I don’t hurt her.

“Everything that happened… was because of the choices I made. It’s all on me. Please remember that.”

“Yeah. I understand. I’ll remember.”

With that said, I took out the notebook Se-chan had handed me earlier.

“‘The Handyman’s School Case Files’… Don’t you think that title’s a bit much?”

That notebook documented all the requests I’d taken back when I was called the “Handyman.” Se-chan had written it all down.

She once told me, “I’ve always wanted to make something like this! It feels like an anime!”

Honestly, I’m really glad she did.

I exhaled deeply—then slowly opened the lid of my memories.

Of the time when I was still the “Jack of All Trades.”