When My Girlfriend Cheated On Me And Spread Rumors That I Was A Guy Who Would Sleep With Anyone, I Decided To Just Accept It And Ended Up Dating The Most Slutty Girl In School. - Chapter 40: Katou Shuu- The Man With The Golden Fingers.

Katou Shuu- The Man With The Golden Fingers.

A week had passed since Chiharu’s confession was rejected.

It turned out that her secret lover was a con artist and a sex offender.

Naturally, everyone was concerned on the first day, but she showed up to school the next day as if nothing had happened.

The school was abuzz with news about Chiharu, and she seemed to relish the attention, playing the role of a tragic heroine to the fullest.

Chiharu was a person full of pride and vanity. It was hard to believe she would give up after being rejected once; if anything, she probably held a grudge.

However, after what happened, she would likely keep quiet as long as she enjoyed the sympathy and attention from others.

As for Naoki, having been able to clearly reject her (albeit over a text message), he felt satisfied with that.

When Chiharu, of all people, threw away her pride to confess her feelings, it made Naoki feel a bit guilty at the time. But after calming down and thinking about it, he realized that she was the one in the wrong, and he felt no remorse.

In fact, the more time passed, the more he felt a sense of satisfaction, almost a triumphant feeling, from having made her confess only to reject her. If she wasn’t going to give up, then fine. He’d just reject her clearly and firmly as many times as needed.

Given that she was the one pursuing him, Naoki held the upper hand.

So, he didn’t care much about it.

Wasting his precious youth on a girl like her would be pointless.

Revenge was important, but if it consumed too much of one’s life, it would mean living a life solely for revenge. And that was not something he wanted.

What concerned him more now was something else.

(…I feel like something’s been off with Kirara recently.)

Specifically, it started after the confrontation with Chiharu.

There’s something vaguely distant about her now.

When their eyes meet, she quickly looks away in a flustered manner.

When he tries to talk to her, she gives a startled cry and stumbles over her words.

Their conversations no longer flow as easily as before.

Overall, there’s an awkwardness and a strange distance between them.

Even now, during lunch break, she hasn’t shown up.

Normally, as soon as the bell rings, she’d come with a cheerful smile saying, “Asshi, let’s have lunch!”

(…Could it be that I’ve become disliked?)

There are plenty of reasons he can think of.

Despite talking about revenge with such enthusiasm, Naoki had ended up being a coward and failed to do anything that resembled revenge.

Even at Fantasyland, he avoided confronting Chiharu, and his attitude was weak when he received her confession over text.

At that time, even though Chiharu was a despicable and selfish woman, he thought he should respond sincerely if she was expressing her feelings seriously.

Considering what Chiharu had done to him, he felt he could have at least said, “Shut up, you fool. Go to sleep and talk nonsense. You’re a vile, selfish woman!”

Instead, Naoki responded with, “I’m sorry, Chiharu. We’re genuinely together. Right now, Kirara is my girlfriend, and I can’t think of anyone else. I’m really sorry.”

He felt his weakness was excessive and pitiful, using his relationship with Kirara as a shield.

After all, his relationship with Kirara was a pretense.

Saying things like that might lead someone to think, “Huh? Is this guy actually taking it seriously? How gross…”

He knew well that Kirara wasn’t that kind of person, but he had plenty of confidence in being a man pitied enough to be seen as pathetic by someone like her.

There was also the issue of how long to continue pretending to be in a relationship.

With the confrontation with Chiharu now settled, the reason to keep up the pretense with Kirara seemed thin.

He’d likely understood Chiharu’s abnormality by now, and it wouldn’t be surprising if Kirara was thinking, “Maybe it’s time to end this.”

Kirara was kind, so she might not say anything directly and instead be thinking, “What should I do? I’m in a bind…”

If that were the case, it was a regrettable situation.

Lost in these thoughts while waiting for Kirara, he considered whether he should approach her himself. However, if she was avoiding him, it might be better not to go.

“――Hey, Yari-mura! Hey!”

Suddenly, one of the cooler guys in class, Katou Shuu, called out.

“Who’s Yari-mura? Mr. Goldfinger.”

“My hand skills make the tide gush! And by the way, I’m not a hawk, I’m an eagle!”

Shuu said, flexing his index and ring fingers.

By the way, it was Naoki who taught Shuu those techniques (or rather, the basics).

Previously, Shuu had asked him for advice, saying, “My girlfriend complains of pain during foreplay…”

Naoki found out that Shuu thought it was better to use more fingers, and he was trying to insert four at once.

Of course, it would hurt.

As a result, Shuu had become a friendly acquaintance.

It was a really trivial matter.

“What’s up, if it’s anything important?”

“Princess is waiting for you.”

Shuu grinned and pointed his index fingers towards the entrance.

Turning around, he saw Kirara peeking her head halfway out from the entrance.

“Kirara? What are you doing there—”

“Eek!?”

She shrieked and quickly retreated.

Her behavior was still strange.

It didn’t quite feel like she hated him, but something was definitely off.

As he was puzzled, Kirara cautiously peeked her face back out.

Previously, she would have walked in with a familiar face as if she were entering her own class, but now she stood hesitantly at the entrance, her face flushed as if an invisible barrier was keeping her out.

“…Is something wrong?”

“…I-I wasn’t going to say it, but I was thinking of having lunch together…”

She glanced up shyly, as if looking at something dazzling.

“But we usually do that, don’t we?”

“Yeah, but…”

Kirara, looking down, fiddled with her fingers in front of her chest.

“Wow! To think that the battle-hardened Hanabusa Kirara would make such a girly face, you’re quite something, Yari-mura! I’m so impressed!”

“Shut up, or I’ll dig a hole for you!”

He gave Shuu a middle finger for teasing him.

“Spare me the butt stuff! Hahaha!”

Ignoring the unrepentant extrovert, Naoki headed towards Kirara with his lunchbox in hand.

“Let’s just ignore the idiot and go.”

“…Yeah.”

Kirara reached out her hand, and Naoki was taken aback.

They had only held hands once, during their visit to Fantasyland.

Since then, they hadn’t shared such an intimate atmosphere, and the whole event felt like a dream.

Nevertheless, if she reached out, he had to respond—otherwise, he wouldn’t be a man.

Naoki tried to stay calm and casually reached out to take her hand—

“—!?”

The moment their fingers touched, Kirara pulled her hand back as if struck by an electric shock.

(…So she really does hate me…)

Naoki was taken aback, and Kirara, with a face flushed bright red, stammered, “I-I’m sorry…”

He wasn’t sure what exactly she was apologizing for, but it didn’t seem like the right time to ask.

For now, Naoki forced a wry smile and said, “Don’t worry about it.”

Inside, though, he was deeply troubled.

***

“…What was that? What the hell was that!? Acting all high and mighty despite being a bitch!”

The voice, filled with resentment as if it came from the depths of hell, belonged to Chiharu, who had been lurking in the shadows of the hallway, spying on the two.

It was understandable that Naoki rejected her.

She had been the one who cheated and spread false rumors.

It was all her own fault, and she knew it well.

But that didn’t mean she could forgive Naoki for rejecting her.

She certainly couldn’t forgive the bitch who stole Naoki from her.

So, Chiharu was biding her time, waiting for the perfect moment for revenge.

The bitch was probably just toying with Naoki’s pure feelings for her own amusement.

If things continued like this, Naoki would end up hurt and suffering.

So, seeking revenge was not only for her own sake but also for Naoki’s.

Despite being so decisively rejected, Chiharu thought, “Aren’t I quite the devoted ex, trying so hard for my former boyfriend?” As she thought this, she gripped the hallway pillar with fiery jealousy.

If this were a manga, cracks would have been appearing in the pillar.

“Damn that prick… Making Hana-chan look like that, I can’t forgive it…”

From the opposite pillar came a chilling voice of malice.

“Huh?”

“What?”

Turning around, Chiharu found herself face to face with a tall, blonde, black-haired gal who looked to be about 180 cm.