The Story of How I, a Guy Who Couldn’t Care Less About School Castes, Somehow Ended Up Making All the Five-Star Gals Fall for Me - Chapter 15: Secretly a Masochist?

Chapter 15: Secretly a Masochist?

“Kizuki, were you a fortune-teller in a past life? Or maybe a counselor?  Or a con artist, perhaps?”

“No way that’s true.”

I, Ikoi Kizuki, was just your average high school boy.

Just because I lent an ear now and then, it didn’t mean I could magically see through someone’s situation.

“If someone I just met yesterday or today can already read me… I must really be falling apart.”

“I’m not trying to tease you.”

“I know. If you were that shallow, Kizuki, I wouldn’t have talked to you in the first place.”

Classic Hari Suitengu—her words always carried that kind of weight.

“Still, the fact you even came to me shows how cornered you must feel.”

“I keep pretending I’m fine… but yeah, being misunderstood all the time does hurt.”

She really was struggling with it.

And since she was serious, I had to take her seriously too.

“…You don’t actually need to change.”

“Eh?”

“You’re already plenty charming as you are. You just need more confidence in that.”

There wasn’t a shred of dishonesty in what I said.

“…So you’re not telling me to force myself to change?”

Hari stared at me, wide-eyed, like the air had been knocked out of her.

That defenseless expression of hers—honestly, it was cute.

“I just thought that was the best advice. Besides, today’s about me listening to your complaints. If I started acting all high and mighty, you wouldn’t listen anyway, right?”

“Pfft, yeah, that’d be the worst.”

Hari seemed to like my approach—her face softened into a smile.

“Do you really have to let some stranger’s clueless opinion get to you, to the point you end up hurting yourself over it? Nobody has that right—and you don’t need to pile more worry onto yourself than you already do.”

I gave a full-on endorsement of the Hari Suitengu standing before me.

“But what if I can’t even like myself the way I am?”

Hari’s complaint slipped out like she was swallowing down life’s bitterness.

No matter how flashy or beautiful a gal looked on the outside, at the core she was still just a teenager.

She might seem mature and confident, but inside, she carried the same everyday struggles as anyone else.

—Wanting to fix herself right now, yet frustrated because she couldn’t.

That’s why, just like back then, I didn’t hold back with my words.

“If you really wanted to change, you would’ve already started on your own.”

I knew better than anyone that Hari Suitengu had always stayed true to her own wishes.

Even as a kid, she dreamed big, chose her path, and charged straight ahead.

“So if you haven’t done it yet, that just means the timing isn’t right. Once the chance comes, you’ll change naturally—like you always do.”

Forcing yourself before then would only end up painful.

“God, seriously—why do you keep hitting the bullseye every time!? What are you, psychic? Or do you have my room bugged!?”

“So you actually mutter all that stuff to yourself at home? Sounds like a pretty advanced case.”

“Shut up! And don’t give me that pitying look—that just makes me even madder!”

…Guess my face must’ve given me away a little too much.

“Hey, we’re inside the shop. Don’t yell so loud—it’s embarrassing.”

“That’s because you keep pouring fuel on the fire, Kizuki!”

Compared to when we first sat down, we’d definitely loosened up.

We just kept chatting about nothing in particular until both our drinks were empty.

“I thought you were some stuck-up type, but… I feel a little closer to you now. So, I’ll say thanks—just this once.”

“Honestly, I should be the one thanking you. Suitengu-san kept the conversation going.”

“Seriously, though… why did I even end up babbling so much?”

“You should laugh it off more often. Suitengu-san, you’re gorgeous when you smile.”

“Wha—Don’t get cocky. Flattery won’t get you anywhere.”

“Why snap at me right away? It was a genuine compliment.”

“You always say stuff that leaves me scrambling for how to respond.”

“Oh? Even you get flustered, Suitengu-san?”

Before I could react properly, Hari had already marched off toward the register.

I scrambled after her.

Once outside, the sky was already painted with the colors of dusk.

“Heading to the station together?”

“Nah, I’ll stop by the bookstore on the way.”

“Alright. Then I’ll walk with you part of the way.”

We started strolling toward the station.

“After today’s talk, I think I finally get it—you really are that ‘guy who doesn’t care about the caste system.’”

“Again with that? I’m just me, nothing more.”

“Everyone says it, you know. It’s like you’ve got some free pass—you can talk to people from all sorts of groups.”

“It just happens. I don’t mind listening to people, and it’s fun learning things I didn’t know.”

“So what, you’ve already made like a hundred friends?”

She asked it in the same tone you’d use when teasing a little kid.

“I’m not interested. Most of these connections only last through high school anyway.”

“Wow, Kizuki, that’s so cold~~”

“Coming from you, Suitengu-san, that’s rich.”

“I’ve got three best friends, so I’m good.”

“For me, it’s more important not to be misunderstood by one person I care about than to be liked by a big crowd.”

That was just how I was wired.

I could understand wanting the comfort of being in a big group, but I wasn’t the type who could treat friendships like some kind of social insurance.

“On that point, I actually agree with you.”

“Finally, a common ground.”

I felt a little happier than I expected, my guard loosening just a bit.

“…Just so you know, I’m not gonna fall for you, Kizuki.”

Hari drew a sharp line in the sand.

Like she wanted to hammer it in—don’t get cocky, don’t misread this.

“Yeah, yeah. All four of you already have boyfriends, right?”

“Exactly.”

Hari turned away with a sulky little huff.

Her pale profile and slender neck looked almost too feminine.

“…Why’d you even think I’d fall for you? Because you’re a beauty and you’re confident? Maybe you’re just a little full of yourself.”

“Shut up! Or wait—is this your thing? Do you say painful stuff like that because you want to get yelled at? Are you secretly a total masochist!?”

She shot me a sharp, scornful glare—like I was nothing but trash on the ground.

“Cut it with the verbal abuse already.”

If I hadn’t braced myself, that one might’ve left me with a serious emotional scar.

“Hmph, you’re my punching bag—so what’s the problem?”

“Sorry to disappoint, but I don’t get off on being mistreated. I just don’t mind listening to you talk, that’s all.”

“Weirdo.”

“Come on, no one hates someone who actually listens to them, right?”

“And what do you even gain from me liking you?”

“Nothing in particular.”

I answered without a shred of hesitation.

“Wow… only you, Kizuki, could say that so flat-out.”

“If you even suspected I had ulterior motives, you’d never open up, right?”

“Exactly. It’s called a maiden’s sense of self-defense.”

“Well, if you were dumb enough to be tricked by an amateur like me, some sleazy guy would’ve smooth-talked you ages ago.”

“None of your business.”

With that, Hari turned and started toward the station.

Even from behind, she was striking—her figure looked like it belonged in a picture.

I stood there for a moment, watching her back grow smaller, before finally turning to head the opposite way.

“Kizuki.”

I thought she’d already left, but Hari had turned back.

“What is it?”

“See you tomorrow. Bye.”

“…Yeah. See you tomorrow.”

That little exchange felt… just like something between real friends.