I'll Take Nanase-san, Who Is Small And Adorable, Away From Her Cheating And Clueless Ex And Make Her Happy. - Chapter 287: An Autumn of Dieting for Hiyori-san and Me.

An Autumn of Dieting for Hiyori-san and Me.

“Eh…!?”

Her words shocked me so deeply that my voice came out choked.

Hiyori-san, who had been coming over for dinner quite frequently, was now saying she would stop… I couldn’t process what she had just said. Seeing me at a loss for words, she looked at me with a pained expression and continued.

“It’s because… all the meals you make are just too delicious, Yuusuke-kun! And chatting with Marie-san and the others is so much fun that I always end up eating more than I plan to! If I keep this up, I’ll never be able to diet! I’ll be stuck as a round and chubby Hiyori-san forever, you know!?”

She might have a point, but for me, this was nothing short of a crisis.

Not only would she stop coming over for dinner, but it was clear this decision would limit a lot of what we usually did together.

If she wasn’t coming for dinner, she obviously wouldn’t come over for lunch on weekends either. On top of that, our date spots would be affected – our favourite ramen place and the sweets buffet would be off the list, and even casual café visits when we felt a little hungry would disappear.

If we went to the movies, she’d want popcorn, so that would be a no-go. If we went out to the aquarium or zoo, we’d inevitably end up eating something there too – so those were out. And theme parks? With all their tempting food stalls, they’d be completely off limits.

She wouldn’t be able to come to my house. We wouldn’t be able to go out. Which meant… I wouldn’t be able to go on dates with Hiyori-san anymore.

In other words, the time I could spend with her would drastically decrease, to the point where I might not even get to talk to her outside of school.

“Ugh… grrr… uooooo…! UOOOOOOOO…!!”

This time, it was my turn to groan in despair. Faced with this crisis triggered by her decision to diet, I clutched my head and forced my brain’s CPU to operate at full capacity.

I had to find a way to spend time with her. I was sorry, but that was the one thing I absolutely could not yield on. No matter what happened, I couldn’t let that go.

But telling her to give up on dieting was out of the question. I couldn’t selfishly stop her from doing something she wanted to do.

So, as I desperately searched for a way to support her diet while still being part of her life… a brilliant idea struck me. I grabbed her hands and declared,

“I understand…! I’ll support your diet, Hiyori-san! No, I’ll help you with it!!”

“Eh…?”

Suddenly holding both her hands like I was about to propose, I saw her looking at me in wide-eyed surprise.

Looking straight into her eyes, I continued.

“Dieting is really tough. It’s not that I don’t trust you, but you always hear about people giving up when they try it alone, right? To avoid that, it’s best to have someone supporting you!”

“Support…? Specifically, what do you mean…?”

“I could make diet-friendly meals for you, or we could exercise together, or I could just cheer you on when things get tough… There are lots of things I can do!!”

Secretly, suggesting that I cook her meals was my way of retracting her earlier decision about not coming over.

Determined not to let my desperation show, I kept trying to convince her that helping with her diet was the best way to support her.

“Besides, it’s kind of my fault too… I’m the one who kept taking you to all those tempting places. And it’s a boyfriend’s job to work hard together with his girlfriend, right?”

“Yuusuke-kun…!!”

Hearing my words, Hiyori-san broke into a relieved and happy smile.

I won’t deny that I wanted to protect the time I spent with her, but wanting to support her diet was also the truth.

If I could help ease her worries, I would do whatever it took… sensing my sincerity, she nodded deeply and replied.

“Then… I think I’ll take you up on that. I’ve never really done a proper diet before… and if I’m alone, I might just give up halfway.”

It worked…! I felt a wave of relief wash over me, knowing I had avoided the worst-case scenario of being apart from her. Suppressing my triumphant feelings, I smiled and said,

“Alright! Let’s do our best together, Hiyori-san! So, shall we start gathering information about dieting today? Ah, come to think of it, I think I have just the thing…!!”

I remembered that my mom had bought a magazine with a special feature on dieting. It might prove useful as a reference.

Thinking that, I left her house with her and returned home to find the magazine, before heading off to school together.