The Case of Liking the Most Beautiful Girl in the School Even After Being Told Not to Like Her - Chapter 6 - If You Break a Rule, Listen to One Thing the Other Person Says

Chapter 6 – If You Break a Rule, Listen to One Thing the Other Person Says

At 7.30am the next day, I got up earlier than usual and went to school. Why so early, you ask…? It’s to stagger the time I go to school with Tachikawa.

Tachikawa, who is apparently weak in the morning, decided last night that I, who is stronger in the morning, would leave the house early.

It’s 8am and I’ve woken up early to come to school and I’m sleepy. I decided to sleep in the classroom, propped up against my desk, until everyone else arrived at school.

—Ten minutes later.

I thought it was about time for my classmates to come to school, so I got up and looked up and saw Mina-san looking at me from in front of me… No, I should call her Tachikawa here… Tachikawa didn’t say anything and just looked at me. I was looking at her. Then she opened her mouth.

“Good morning, Asai-kun. You look sleepy again today.”

Well, I was asleep until just now.

And you’re going to ask me again after this anyway, aren’t you?

‘You haven’t told anyone, have you?’ Or something. I’m sick of hearing that…

It’s like we’re on a loop in time.

For now, I should return the greeting.

“Morning.”

“Wasn’t that greeting too rough?”

“Really? …Then I’ll say it again, since you complained.”

“No, that’s enough. I don’t want to hear greetings from people who say it when they are told to say it.”

Then stop saying hello and talking to me. Every time Tachikawa talks to me, I get painful looks. It’s the same even now… People keep whispering something like ‘Those two are talking again. They’re probably in a relationship.’

“Anyway, Asai-kun—”

“”You haven’t told anyone, have you?””

“Eh…?”

Tachikawa was confused because her words overlapped with someone else’s. Seeing that, I laughed inside. See, I knew she’d ask…

“That’s becoming a catchphrase.”

I said this with a grin, and Tachikawa pinched my cheeks with both hands.

“Asai-kun said it, huh!? Is it funny to imitate me?”

Yeah, it’s fun. Tachikawa’s true colors are being revealed…

And the question about not telling anyone earlier, was that about Tachikawa’s secret, or about becoming a family? …I wonder which one she was asking about.

Tachikawa removed her hands from my cheeks and sighed deeply with a hah~.

“I’ve said it a million times, I’m not telling anybody. I mean, if you ask me that much, it sounds like you want me to tell someone on the contrary.”

It’s like Tachikawa is asking me to say the opposite when she keeps saying it over and over again.

She noticed something, got up from her chair, put one hand on the desk, put her weight on it and looked at me.

“I’m going because my friend called me. You, don’t break the rules when I’m not watching.”

“What happens if either one of us breaks it?”

When I asked her that, she put her hands on her hips and started thinking… And after a few seconds, she smiled and opened her mouth.

“How about listening to one thing the other person says, whatever it is?”

“Yeah, I think that’s good. If it’s not that much of a penalty, you can always break the rules.”

“Then it’s settled.”

Putting her hands together and laughing, she turned her back on me and went to her friend. My friend Kouki came to me after Tachikawa.

“What do you always talk about with Tachikawa?”

“Hmm, we didn’t really talk about anything important. We only talked about things like, what is today’s assignment? We didn’t have any of the conversations that Katayama thinks we did.”

“I see… By the way, your dad remarried right? How’s that going?”

Katayama asked me so softly that the people around us couldn’t hear it.

“His partner seems like a nice person, and he seems to get on well with her daughter.”

“Daughter? If so, she’s your sister…?”

“Yeah, my stepsister.”

“Oh, I’m a bit curious. What’s she like?”

“Well… She’s a little troublesome, but she’s a nice person.”