The Reason Why I was Cheated on By My Girlfriend - Chapter 39

Mixes, Melts and Sweetness (1)

Haru’s POV    

First, I tell dad about my situation.

“Just tell them that I’m staying at the lab to help you with some research.”

Next, I tell my mother and Yua a made up story.

Yua sounds really sad, but she accepted it easily.

Perhaps it’s because she knows that I often help my dad with his research.

(…it’s feels like I’m making an alibi for cheating.)

I’m not doing anything wrong because Kaguya is my girlfriend. However, I still think that I should hide it from Yua.

I know how much pain it will cause Yua when this truth is discovered later.

But still, I can’t tell her about this in her current unstable state.

(…what’s the actual right thing to do?)

After taking a bath, I sit by the window in the tatami room while looking up the starry sky.

If I could abandon Yua, I would’ve cut off my relationship with her from the start.

Considering Kaguya, I should keep an appropriate distance with Yua.

However, right now, that’s absolutely impossible.

I can’t just leave Yua right now, if I really wanted to do that, I should’ve done that from the beginning…

I keep thinking about the same things over and over again.

My head hurts.

“It was a nice bath, wasn’t it?”

Kaguya said so.

I interrupt my thoughts and turn my gaze.

My heart starts to race.

Her indoor wear, which is different from both her school and casual clothes, is truly alluring.

“The view in the bath is surprisingly good, isn’t it?”

I said so, trying to hide my true feelings.

“Yeah, I get what you mean.”

The exterior of the hotel does seem old, but the inside is beautiful.

Perhaps we got lucky, but the large public bath is almost completely private, and you can even see the starry sky through the window.

“Can you see the starry sky from this room as well?”

Kaguya asks as she sits down next to me.

Her slightly flushed cheeks and slightly damp hair seems very dangerously alluring to me at this moment.

“…it must be quite a trouble to dry your hair.”

There’s no particular meaning to it.

It’s just a conversation to fill the silence.

“I usually take more than an hour taking care of it.”

“An hour? Doesn’t that seem like a lot of work?”

“Once you get used to it, it’s not so bad. I often get lost in thought while doing it.”

Maybe it’s because the time spent not thinking about anything is calming? …or maybe it’s the other way around?

“Do you prefer shorter hair like Yua-san’s?”

…again, talking about Yua.

I delay my response slightly in order to not show my emotions.

“I can’t really imagine Kaguya with short hair.”

“…so, you think long hair is better after all?”

“Hmm, I like both.”

“…you avoided the question.”

I didn’t really answer the question, but Kaguya seems happy with my answer.

I think ‘avoiding the question’ is the right way to put it. Well in fact, I did avoid the question.

It’s funny. I can’t even answer that question.

So there is no way I can choose between Yua and Kaguya.

“…it’s kind of romantic, isn’t it?”

Kaguya said so.

“Watching the starry sky with your lover is a scene that’s often depicted in novels…”

“…yeah.”

I also read books fairly often. Of course, I’m nowhere near Kaguya’s level, but I do remember similar scenes like this.

“In novels, they often mention constellation names while staring at the starry sky”

“I know what you mean. Everyone is oddly knowledgeable, isn’t they?”

“Knowledgeable, huh…”

“That’s a suggestive way of saying it.”

“No, I just thought that Kaguya is knowledgeable too.”

“As I said before, I only understand things that I’m interested in.”

“So you’re not interested in constellations?”

“…I don’t really like it.”

That’s unusual.

I don’t remember seeing Kaguya clearly deny something like this before.

“Stars are just there. Yet, people arbitrarily give them names and create stories about them…I can’t bring myself to like that.”

Kaguya murmurs so.

When I glance at her profile, she has a slightly lonely expression on her face.

I might have stepped on a landmine.

I want to say something thoughtful, but nothing comes to mind. This is the first time I’ve seen Kaguya like this.

The silence continues.

Eventually, Kaguya speaks up first.

“…shall we set up the futon?”

“…yeah, let’s do that.”

I agree to her suggestion.

Since the hotel doesn’t offer a futon setup service, we’ll have to prepare it ourselves.

“Is it okay to set it up by the window?”

“I’ll leave that to you. I can sleep anywhere.”

“Then I’ll set it up by the window.”

We set up two futons while chatting with each other.

After taking a light breath, we both stare at them.

“…all that’s left now is to sleep.”

“…yeah.”

We’ve had dinner, taken a bath, and brushed our teeth.

There’s nothing else to do but sleep.

Well actually, if we don’t want to sleep yet we can just look at the starry sky.

(…it’s okay. Just sleep.)

I don’t know what exactly is okay, but in any case, it should be fine.

Even if something happens, it shouldn’t be a problem since we’re a couple.

It will probably just kisses or holding hands.

I don’t feel like going any further than that, I can’t even imagine it.

“Haruki-san.”

I hold my breath.

“…what?”

My response sounds awkward.

Kaguya takes a few deep breaths.

Then, as if she has made up her mind, she says,

“Please do to me what you did with Yua-san.”

“……”

What?