The day I moved on from my crush — who worked as a rental girlfriend — I ended up with a yandere

I remained silent for a few moments before asking her, “You really locked yourself up because I stopped coming over, and you realised I have feelings for someone else?”

She sighed. “Yes… you can say that. And I would never have bothered you about my feelings. However, when I heard your voice just now, I found the courage to confess.”

I hummed in response, and the room fell silent once again.

I didn’t know what I should say.

I mean, Tsumiki-san was a beautiful girl, no doubt about it. She had big eyes, long legs, a beautiful face, and a charm that urged anyone to glance at her at least twice.

Truth be told, someone like me wasn’t even in the same league as her. No exaggeration.

If I hadn’t heard it from her directly, I might have believed someone was joking about Tsumiki-san having feelings for me.

But now… could I really look away from her feelings and pretend to be oblivious?

No.

Heaving a sigh, I said, “Truth be told, I can’t give you an answer right now, Tsumiki-san. The situation with Satsuki—the girl you saw on my wall—has become quite complicated. So my answer might be untruthful based on my current situation.”

“Did you find out about her job?” she asked, raising her head slightly.

I blinked in surprise. “You know?”

She slowly nodded. “When I saw her so close to you, I got jealous and started looking for dirt on her. I wanted to manipulate you into leaving her. That’s when I came across the app she works for—the one where she’s rented as a dating partner.”

I gave a wry smile at her blunt confession. She really wasn’t holding back, huh?

I was surprised she found out about Satsuki’s part-time job. After all, she wore heavy makeup whenever she switched identities to Setsuna—her fake name on the app.

No one other than Tsumiki-san had ever discovered that Satsuki worked as Setsuna.

“Kazuki-kun,” Tsumiki-san suddenly approached me… on her knees.

That made me painfully aware of how well-endowed she was as she said, “Why not date me on a trial basis? I’m not asking for any commitment… but we can at least give it a try.”

I bit my lip.

Truth be told, Satsuki had hurt me so deeply that even the word dating scared me now.

And yet, when I saw those hopeful eyes, I couldn’t bring myself to reject her immediately.

After a brief pause, I asked, “What… if I say no? What will you do then?”

Her eyes went blank. All the emotions she’d shown moments ago vanished as she muttered, “Then you don’t need to worry about me… I’ll do something about myself.”

A shiver ran down my spine.

What exactly was she planning to do?

She had already threatened her parents that she would jump out of the window if they tried to force her out of the room. I could tell Tsumiki-san was in a very vulnerable state right now.

In that moment, I was reminded of the teary eyes of the two older people who brought me here and begged me to somehow help her.

All her life, Tsumiki-san had been alone. She never made friends, and when she finally gathered the courage to do so, that friend betrayed her—completely shattering her trust in people.

If I reject her now… I could barely imagine her recovering from it this time.

I let out a sigh and said, “Even if I accept your proposal, you know there won’t be any feelings involved from my side, right? You might get hurt, Tsumiki-san.”

She gave a faint smile—the first one I’d seen since I entered the room—and said softly, “Even if it’s fake… I want to know what it feels like to be your girlfriend. Your presence alone would be enough for me.”

I stared at her quietly for a few moments before shrugging. “Then… if you’re okay with someone like me—ah!”

I didn’t get to finish.

She suddenly jumped onto me, and we both fell onto the bed as she rubbed her face against my chest like an adorable kitten, a beautiful smile blooming on her lips.

“Thank you, Kazuki-kun… for giving me this chance.”

I had no idea where this would lead.

Whether I accepted her out of pity or because I wanted to forget about Satsuki, I didn’t know.

But one thing was certain—

I am now dating Ichihara Tsumiki.