The Handsome Girl Who Stole My Girlfriend Seems to Be After Me Now - Chapter 12: Is She... Getting Hit On?

Chapter 12: Is She… Getting Hit On?

“Nfufu, Souta~”

“Enough, you’re so annoying! Get off me!”

“No way~”

After leaving the apparel shop, we decided to grab some lunch and headed to the food court in the shopping plaza.

Just so you know, after the fashion show, Mizushima ended up buying the girly outfit I chose for her. She changed into it right there and planned to continue our date in that outfit.

And now, she’s clinging to me even more in that get-up, throwing me off balance. We might have looked like just friends before, but now we definitely look like a couple.

“It feels kind of new to me.”

“What does?”

“Well, whenever I go out, I’m usually the one taking care of someone else. I’ve never really had someone dote on me like this.”

Saying that, Mizushima flashed an innocent smile at me.

“So, I thought I might as well enjoy being spoiled by Souta today.”

“Hmph. Don’t expect anything special from me. This date is just part of our ‘bet’. I’ll do the bare minimum as your (pretend) boyfriend, but don’t expect me to get too cozy. Don’t get the wrong idea.”

“Eh, tsundere?”

“No!”

When have I ever been affectionate with you? 

…Well, except for the swimsuit thing, but let’s not count that.

“Sigh… Can you at least let go of my arm for now?”

“? Why?”

“Don’t look at me like you don’t understand! I need to go to the washroom, so let me go.”

“Oh, I see. My apologies.”

Finally letting go of my arm, Mizushima pointed towards a marble circular bench nearby.

“I’ll wait for you on that bench over there. I’ll also grab something to drink in the meantime.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

With a half-hearted response, I headed towards the nearest men’s restroom.

“Seriously… Mizushima is acting all lovey-dovey as if we’re a real couple.”

Before being pretend lovers, doesn’t she remember she’s supposed to be my “arch-enemy”?

“A whole month like this, huh…”

Even though it’s a challenge we agreed to, I can’t help but dread what’s coming.

Sure, Mizushima is beautiful, and having a girl like her as a girlfriend would be a dream come true for any guy. If she keeps this up, even I might…

“Wait! No, no, no, no, that’s not happening!”

Trying to shake off such thoughts, I splashed water on my face at the sink.

Get a grip, Souta Sakuhara. Falling for that would be playing right into Mizushima’s hands.

Even if my feelings for Ena-chan are unrequited, my heart is still hers. No matter that the opponent is Shizuno Mizushima, I won’t just hand it over that easily.

“Phew… Alright, cooled down now.”

After drying my wet face with a handkerchief, I took a deep breath.

I’m fine now. Today was our first date, and it was quite surprising in many ways. But, on the flip side, I guess I’ve built up some resistance to it.

From now on, no matter how much she flirts, I should be able to brush it off easily. Bring it on, whether it’s seduction or anything else.

“Still… she seems seriously into it.”

Reflecting on Mizushima’s actions and words until now, I suddenly thought of that.

She seemed genuinely enjoying our date today. At first, I thought she was just teasing me, and I’m still somewhat skeptical…

But her words, “I like Souta,” might not be completely false after all.

“If that’s the case… why does she go to such lengths for me?”

To her, until just a few days ago, I was just another faceless guy at school, not even worth talking to.

Why would she propose such a bizarre “challenge” to become my girlfriend… What’s driving her to do this?

“Hmm… I still don’t get what she’s thinking.”

Pondering over this, I left the men’s restroom.

Well, there’s no use thinking about it now. Whatever her intentions, there’s no way I’m going to accept her confession and become her boyfriend.

“…Huh? What’s that?”

Just then, I noticed that the area in front of the washroom was buzzing with activity.

In the busy shopping floor, where many shoppers were coming and going, a few of them had stopped their shopping spree to form a small crowd.

At the center of this crowd was the circular bench where Mizushima was supposed to be waiting.

“Did she get caught up with some fans again?”

With a sigh of optimism, I peeked through the gaps in the crowd towards the circular bench.

But what I saw was…

“Come on, just hang out with us for a bit~”

“We’re just killing time anyway~. Right, it’s cool, isn’t it?”

“No… um…”

Mizushima was surrounded by a group of guys who looked like college students, giving off a frivolous, or rather, flirty vibe.

She seemed to be caught up in some annoying situation, huh.