The Reason Why The Cool Beauty Who Repeatedly Ignores Messages Replies Only To Me. ~The Lonely Beauty Wants To Know The Lonely Me〜 - Chapter 7
Episode 7: Time Alone with Saeki
A week has passed since the lottery draw that decided our fate.
Since then, I hadn’t received any messages from Saeki on Lime, and whenever I opened our chat room, I’d see the message she has sent before, “Instead of ignoring it, why don’t you hurry up and explain yourself?”.
I replied with a “dogeza” sticker, but there was no response afterwards, and our conversation had completely stopped.
But well, Saeki not messaging me on Lime was quite convenient for me, so I continued my usual lonely high school life without paying much attention to it. Saeki became a member of the cultural festival executive committee, so she must be too busy to message on lime.
Speaking of the cultural festival… Our class still hasn’t decided what to do for it, but is everything okay?
There were about two weeks left until the cultural festival. It felt like we should start preparing soon, but… well, it’s not my concern.
That’s what I thought until one day…
“…Hey, Okami.”
In the morning, as I arrived at school, Harada from the seat behind called out to me. He usually only calls me when he’s teasing me, but today he seemed unusually serious. Sensing that something was wrong, I turned towards him silently.
“What’s up?”
“S-Sorry, I have something to ask.”
“Consultation?”
“Could you please switch places with me on the executive committee?”
“…Huh?”
It was so sudden that I couldn’t help but let out a pathetic voice.
So, he wanted to resign from the executive committee… Even though he was so enthusiastic about doing it with Saeki.
“What’s wrong? You were so happy when I gave you the lottery ticket.”
“Well, you see…”
As I listened to Harada, it was exactly what I had feared. It seemed that Harada had tried to talk to Saeki as fellow committee members, but he was always ignored. Because of this, the class’s preparations hadn’t progressed at all. While Harada’s behavior was also at fault, Saeki’s lack of responsibility was also a problem.
Well, Harada had been ignored by Saeki and felt unimportant, and on top of that, Saeki was indifferent to anything she wasn’t interested in, so I had expected this to happen, but… I never thought it would turn out exactly as I predicted.
“I can’t do this anymore!”
“Don’t ask me for that…”
“But you see! It was originally your lottery ticket, so you bear some responsibility too!”
Although Harada seemed to be saying something unreasonable, since I was the root cause, I couldn’t assert myself strongly. In fact, I knew that Harada was targeting Saeki, so I manipulated Harada’s psychology to give him work. Even so, it was Harada himself who accepted that lottery ticket…
To put Harada in his place, it would be wise to push him away here, but if I insisted, “he do it,” I might create a rift between me and the sunny group, and they might become my enemies.
Make no friends, make no enemies—I’ve always valued maintaining that balance. So, getting worked up here wouldn’t be wise.
“…I understand. I’ll inform Machibari about the change.”
“I-Is it okay? Okami?”
“Yeah.”
When I agreed, Harada said, “Thank you so much!” and returned to the sunny group.
Seriously, wanting to quit because Saeki doesn’t pay attention to him… what an audacious guy. Such a person probably won’t succeed no matter what they do.
But once again, I’ve been dragged into trouble…
“Kotoku-kun, why the complicated face?”
As I made a complicated face, Tamari, who had just arrived at school, called out to me.
“N-Nothing.”
“Geez, always hiding things from your ‘beloved’?”
“Sigh… I’m too tired to even retort anymore.”
Tamari approached me with a sweet smile that made my stomach churn.
“About the executive committee for the cultural festival, I’ve taken over.”
“Kotoku-kun is on the executive committee?”
“Harada’s not doing so well, and he says he can’t do his job.”
“That’s troubling… but why does Kotoku-kun have to do it?”
I was bound to be asked that.
It’s hard to say that I manipulated things and pushed work onto Harada. When I hesitated to reply, Tamari furrowed her brows and grabbed my arm.
“Kotoku-kun, are you being bullied?”
“B-Bullied? That’s not it.”
“If that’s the case, I’ll go tell Harada-kun!”
Angrily, Tamari started to move towards Harada, so I stopped her, saying, “Wait, wait”.
“T-That’s not the case!”
“Is that not it?”
“…Actually.”
I reluctantly explained everything to Tamari. Then, the anger that had been directed at Harada until just now was aimed at me by Tamari.
“You can’t cheat, Kotoku-kun!”
“I-I didn’t cheat…”
“Seriously, Kotoku-kun, you’ve always been like that. You act all aloof but say you don’t make enemies.”
“W-Well, what’s wrong with that? I have a principle of making neither friends nor enemies.”
Tamari returned to her seat with an exasperated expression, saying, “I was worried for nothing”.
What’s with Tamari… She doesn’t even know who she’s doing this for, yet she takes this stance.
Freed from Tamari’s grip, I glanced at Saeki’s seat.
Saeki was still sitting quietly at his seat as usual, reading a thick book.
Anyway, since we’re going to be on the executive committee together, I thought I should at least say hello.
I entered Saeki’s chat room and sent a message, “Sorry to bother you suddenly. I’ve taken over as an executive committee member for Harada, so please take care of me”.
It’s been about a week since we last talked, so I might be ignored too.
Saeki might be tired of talking to me and stopped sending messages on Lime.
After a while, the message was marked as read, but there was no reply.
Finally, I’m getting the usual read-and-ignore treatment too.
Saeki said before that she doesn’t do things she’s not interested in.
She has no interest in working as part of the cultural festival executive committee, so she’s not motivated, and she’s not interested in talking to me either.
If this continues, I’ll end up doing the work of the cultural festival executive committee alone.
I can understand why Harada is fed up.
Alright, for now, I’ll consult Machibari about this and have the female executive committee member replaced—
Just then.
“Saeki: Lunch break, library.”
“…A reply came.”
✳︎✳︎
During lunch break in the library.
There were about four round tables placed by the window, and Saeki was sitting at one of them, waiting for me.
Her long straight hair swayed in the wind blowing through the window.
Saeki, reading a book with a bored expression, looked like a scene from a youth movie.
I silently took a seat opposite her.
“…Okami-kun, do you know why I’m angry at you?”
“Huh? Were you angry?”
“…… ”
Although Saeki usually had no expression, she frowned slightly this time.
“…Why did you give that guy the red-marked lottery ticket, even though you drew it?”
“Oh, you noticed?”
“Don’t underestimate me.”
Saeki said, narrowing her eyes.
Her eyes seemed to see through everything, and I didn’t want her to read my mind, so I looked away suddenly.
“Isn’t it okay… a little happy.”
“Huh?”
Saeki muttered softly.