The Charm of the Popular Beautiful Succubus in Class Doesn't Work on Me ~ For Some Reason, This Beauty Keeps Trying to Hold My Hand ~ - 63-64

Chapter 63: If Dreams Could Come True

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Several days had passed since that day.

Today was the day of the “Starry Night Festival.” The surroundings had grown quite dark, and the summer insects in the grass chirped, filling the air with a pleasant melody. From a little distance away, I could hear the rhythm of the folk dance and the laughter of everyone enjoying themselves. Amidst it all, I sat alone on the stone steps behind the gymnasium.

Mm… This place really is really calming.

I had found this special spot last year during the “Starry Night Festival.” After receiving countless confessions from my classmates, being invited to dance by people I barely even knew, and desperately trying to escape, I had stumbled upon this very place. The scenery before my eyes hadn’t changed at all from a year ago. The lush vines entwined around the fence, the flower bed left untended for who knows how long, with nothing growing in it. It was as if time had stopped here, preserving that moment just as it was…

“A whole year, huh…”

I muttered to myself without thinking. So much had happened over the past year. I recalled the moment I met Michihito. Fufu~ I still remember it so vividly. He had caught me using my ability, and in his shock, he fell straight on his butt, staring at me with his mouth hanging open.

The next thing that stood out in my memories was probably the palm reading. That was when Michihito told me to think about what it meant to “like” someone, wasn’t it? Looking back, maybe I had already started to be drawn to him from that moment. What cemented my impression of Michihito was definitely the shared umbrella moment. He protected me from that car… Then, worried about my drenched uniform, he even lent me his umbrella and ran home in the rain himself… 

Seriously, just how much of a good guy can someone be?

Well, thanks to that, I got to visit him while he was sick. After that, we started “pretending to be lovers,” went on so many outings together, and had so much fun. This place hadn’t changed at all, but I felt like I had changed a lot over the past year. After all, last year, all I wanted was for the “Starry Night Festival” to end as quickly as possible. I didn’t have the luxury to enjoy the starry sky back then… But it was different now. Sure, because of my “ability,” I still couldn’t join everyone around the campfire, but I could at least sit here and gaze up at the endless night sky.

Yes… The same starry sky that everyone else is looking at.

Even if it was only a little, thanks to Michihito, I had gotten closer to being just a normal girl. A cool breeze occasionally swept through, stirring my hair. Lately, I had been having a certain dream. In it, Michihito would reach out his hand to me, and we would dance together. Over and over again, without a care for the people watching, as we circled around the campfire…

Ah… If dreams could come true… I would love to dance with Michihito, just once.

…As if.

After rejecting him, what right did I have to be saying something so selfish…? Just having the chance to pour my feelings out to Shibuya-senpai was enough for me…

A single tear traced its way down my cheek.

“Michihito… Michihitooo…”

“…Ah, so this is where you were.”

…Huh?

At the sound of that familiar, gentle voice, I lifted my head.

“I’ve come to get you, Princess.”

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Chapter 64: Would You Dance With Me?

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“I’ve come to pick you up, Princess.”

She looked at me as if she’d just seen a ghost. Maybe she still hadn’t processed the situation, because she blinked at me with her swollen, tear-reddened eyes. Then, as if suddenly coming to her senses, she roughly wiped away the tears that had been streaming down her cheeks.

“W-why is Michihito here…?”

She muttered almost like in a daze, but maybe she was still confused because she widened her almond-shaped eyes and stared straight at me, as if trying to confirm my existence.

“I told you, didn’t I? I’m here to pick you up, Kisara.”

“…That’s not what I meant. What I’m asking is, why are you the one picking me up?”

“If the class rep is skipping out, of course  I can’t just leave her be, can I?”

“……”

“That was a joke. The truth is, I wanted to spend the ‘Starry Night Festival’ with you, Kisara. I was looking for the right moment to call out to you, and then I saw you leaving the venue, so I followed you.”

“…You want to spend time with me?”

“Yeah.”

“…Why? I… I don’t deserve to hear words like that.”

“Does a guy need to meet certain qualifications to invite a girl out?”

“But… I already told you… That I ‘don’t like you’…”

“Indeed. You did say that. Even my heart almost broke to pieces at that moment.”

“……”

“But, like I told you before.. Love is about thinking through your feelings. I’m a positive guy, you know? No matter how many times you say ‘I don’t like you,’ I can’t help but wonder if maybe you’re just ‘playing hard to get’.”

“…Michihito.”

“So, Kisara, would you humor me for just a little while? I have some things I’ve thought through in my own way too.”

For a brief moment, Kisara looked like she was about to cry. Then, ever so slightly, she gave me a small nod. Ever since I talked to Kokubun, I’d been thinking a lot. About her ‘abilities,’ about my own feelings of ‘liking’ someone, and about the words Kisara had said through her tears on the night of the fireworks festival: ‘I don’t like you.’

And at last, I felt like I had begun to understand just a little of Kisara’s feelings. How she had felt when she was dealing with me… Maybe it was just my own sense of self-importance, but looking back, I felt like Kisara had been asking for my help all along.

“Kisara, you said it yourself. You have an ability that makes people like you in proportion to the amount of time you touch them.”

“…Yeah.”

“You said you’ve made countless guys fall for you with that ability.”

“…Yeah.”

“And you said you used that ability on me too.”

“…Yeah.”

“But what if… That ability never actually worked on me in the first place?”

“…Eh?”

Her eyes wavered violently. She let out a small gasp, probably because she hadn’t expected me to say that.

“When you explained your ability to me, something felt off. If touching you made people fall in love, then… When exactly did I start liking you?”

Thinking back, my first impression of Kisara had been the worst. Despite barely knowing me, she had ordered me up to the rooftop in a commanding tone. Sure, she was cute, but she had an inflated ego and was selfish. Honestly, I hadn’t wanted anything to do with her. By the time we had that rooftop conversation, she’d already held my hand twice. The first time was when she offered me a hand in the classroom. The second time was when she shook my hand on the rooftop. If an ordinary guy had his hand held twice, he would’ve fallen for her instantly.

But I was able to tell her, without hesitation, that I didn’t like her. I think that was an unexpected turn of events for Kisara as well. After that, Kisara persistently tried to touch me and kept asking, “Do you like me?” over and over again.

“The first time I consciously realized that I liked Kisara was probably… When you came to visit me while I was sick.”

I never told Kisara, but back then, I had woken up part way through. I pretended to be asleep on a whim. I merely thought it would be fun to surprise her. But I missed the right moment to reveal I was awake, so I kept pretending to sleep and somehow, Kisara’s face got closer and closer…

By the time her forehead gently pressed against mine, my heart felt like it was about to explode, and I ended up opening my eyes before I could stop myself. I had a fever then, so my flushed face didn’t give me away, but Kisara had turned bright red all the way to her ears. I never expected Kisara to have such an innocent reaction. Her reaction was unbelievably cute.

I almost hugged her on impulse, but I held myself back. Good grief. I had to give my self-control some credit for that.

“From that moment on, I started liking you more and more.”

During lunch, at the movies, at the batting center, on our trip to Onomichi, during study sessions….  Every time we met, I got to see a new side of Kisara, and each one was so incredibly charming that I just kept falling for her even more. And as I thought about all of this, I realized something.

“Kisara… when we were ‘pretending to be lovers,’ weren’t you deliberately avoiding touching me?”

Her eyes were filled with shock. Then, as she slowly closed them, a few tears slipped down her cheeks. Kisara, who had wished so much for us to act like a real couple, who had insisted on perfectly playing the role of my girlfriend, for some reason… Never once held my hand.

But now, I understand Kisara’s feelings. That must’ve been her last desperate resistance to not get controlled by her so-called ‘devilish’ ability… 

It was the princess’ deepest plea, her crying out for help. Kisara said that this feeling of ‘love’ was just an illusion created by the ‘ability’…

“But Kisara, in actuality, you were trying to tell me that this feeling isn’t an illusion, weren’t you?”

Kisara covered her face with her hands and sobbed.

“It took me a long time to realize it, but because of that message, I was able to believe in my own feelings for you. Thank you.”

After saying that, I looked straight at her. She raised her face, meeting my gaze with tear-filled eyes. Our eyes met, and for a moment, it felt as if time had stopped. A brief silence fell between us.

“…Kisara.”

“Yeah?”

“I love you, Kisara.”

Her large eyes widened even more.

“Kisara, because of this ‘ability,’ you’ve had so many guys tell you they love you. You’ve been hurt so much, and it must have been really painful. Even after meeting me, you must have been struggling with your ‘ability,’ but I never noticed. I’m sorry.”

“…………”

“But… I’m grateful for this ‘ability.’ Because if it hadn’t existed, I never would have met you.”

“…………”

“No matter what ‘ability’ you have, I want to stay with you from now on. And when you’re hurting, I want to be the one to support you. Also…”

I trailed before continuing.

“Even if every man in the world falls in love with you, I promise that I will love you more than anyone else. I’ll also do everything I can to become the one and only man who Kisara truly loves in return.”

So… so…

I reached my hand out to Kisara.

“If you’d like… Would you dance with me? I want to spend this ‘Starry Night Festival’ together with you.”

This is my feelings, poured out with everything I have.

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