Chapter 69: A Declaration of Rivalry

Translator: Cryus

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I broke a good sweat playing card games, so I’m heading off to buy some drinks.

「Yer Noda Sagiri-san, ain’t ya?」

A girl is calling out to me.

And she’s speaking in an accent. I turn around to take a look, and sure enough, I don’t know her.

I can sense enmity from the girl. It’s our first meeting, right? I study her with a serious face. she has slanted cat-like eyes, and her hair is curled and bleached. She’s also short and chubby.

She’s holding a third-year textbook for a mandatory class, so she’s probably one year younger.

「I wanna talk with ye. Mind if I borrow ye?」

She signals to follow her to an empty classroom nearby.

It was a request that sounded more like an order.

「………………………」

At this timing and situation.

I know what she’s here for. I sigh and follow her.

As we enter the classroom, she turns around and looks at me sharply, pointing her finger at me.

「I won’t beat around the bush. What is yer relationship with Mizuhara-cchi? Ye guys datin’?」

I knew it.

I give a wry smile and sigh, then look her in the eyes.

「We’re not dating. I’m in the same club as Michel, and he’s just my junior…」

「………………」

「………………」

……Wait, what?

「Huh? ………Sorry, could you say that again? Who were you referring to?」

That’s weird. I don’t think I heard her say Michel or Arioka-senpai’s name….

「It’s aight. I asked what yer relationship with Mizuhara-cchi was.」

「Mizuhara?!」

I’m shocked. Mizuhara as in Mizuhara Eiichi? I ask her again and she answers with an upset expression.

「Well?」

「No no, we’re not dating. It’s nothing like that at all.」

The girl draws closer, and I shake my hand to make myself clear.

「Then, is it true yer makin’ snacks for Mizuhara-cchi?」

「W-wait a second. First…… Can I get your name?」

She knows about me, but I know nothing about her.

She takes a step back and clears her throat.

「Sorry for bein’ impatient. I’m Nonomiya Sakura. But don’t be callin’ me Sakura. I don’t like that name.」

「Really? I think it’s cute.」

It’s really Japanese and has a nice ring. There are too many flashy names, so her traditional and elegant name is actually refreshing.

「It ain’t suit me. People tell me that I look stern.」

Nonomiya-san looks away. She looks obstinate, but not stern.

「Whatever, ye can call me how ya like. …I wanna talk about Mizuhara-cchi. Ye can probably tell, but… I like Mizuhara-cchi.」

「…………………」

I’ve had experience when it comes to Michel and Arioka-senpai, but it’s the first time with Mizuhara. He said that he doesn’t need romance in his life, so I never expected this case to happen.

Nonomiya-san is sitting in front of me and telling me about how she fell in love with Mizuhara.

He shows zero interest in romance, so I’m interested in her story.

「I’m in the same lecture as Mizuhara-cchi, and so is my ex.」

Nonomiya-san used to devote herself to cleaning her ex-boyfriend’s room, cook for him, and even do his laundry.

He was never grateful for what she did for him, instead piling on cocky demands and even cheating on her.

Nonomiya-san reproached him for his disloyalty.

「Well, you’re a little too fat for a girl.」

He retorted without apologizing.

「He’s such a jerk. I feel like crushing him.」

How dare he.

I offer to deal with him.

「I thought about that too, ya know.」

She says calmly. It seems like she’s already forgotten about it.

There’s no reason for me to get angry as an outsider, but I’m still pissed.

Nonomiya-san isn’t even fat anyway, and the guy should reevaluate his standards.

「There’s a rich and cute gal in our lecture. My ex seemed interested in her, but she had her eyes on Mizuhara-cchi.」

「Hmm……」

Mizuhara seems pretty popular, but I don’t get what’s so charming about him.

Is it because of his personality that makes him a genius as well as an idiot? Or is it because he’s so relaxed and righteous?

「My ex saw Mizuhara-cchi as an enemy since then… but Mizuhara-cchi just ignored the guy. That is, until my ex took away his snacks.」

「Oh… Yeah, I know roughly what happens then.」

Mizuhara doesn’t care about most things, except when it comes to snacks. Nonomiya-san tells me that her ex-boyfriend ate all the snacks he took from Mizuhara.

That’s theft…. Obviously, Mizuhara saw her ex-boyfriend as an enemy from that point too.

「Mizuhara-cchi don’t talk much during lecture, but he kept going against my ex during his presentations by asking him tough questions. It may only have been revenge for the snacks, but I felt great when he done it.」

Nice job, Mizuhara. Well done!

「Since then, I’ve been looking real good at Mizuhara-cchi…」

Apparently, the rich girl said:

「I think you look cooler without glasses. Why don’t you try wearing contacts? I wanna see how you look.」

She asked him cutely, but Mizuhara wore 3 glasses to the next lecture (apparently it pissed her off, but I think he’s an idiot for trying).

Nonomiya’s pissed off ex-boyfriend said:

「Oi, Mizuhara. Which do you prefer? Long? Short? I guess you prefer hair to be soft either way.」

He said that to Nonomiya-san indirectly.

「I think it’s fine as long as you have hair at all.」

He didn’t care at all.

「Then I guess you prefer girls with wide eyes. I wouldn’t want a girl with stern and slanted eyes. Right, Mizuhara?」

Again, he was trying to target Nonomiya-san.

「I only care that they can use their eyes.」

Mizuhara added that he prefers 2.5 vision (you’re not one to talk with vision lower than 0.5).

Mizuhara doesn’t care about appearances, so Nonomiya-san began to fall for him.

「I’ve confessed to him twice already, and he done turned me down both times.」

When she made her first confession, it took less than a second for him to reject her. She didn’t give up, and asked him again. The second time, she used her knowledge about Mizuhara being a part of the Underground Sweets as leverage to talk to him.

「He responded when I talked to him about a snacks store. My mama teaches cooking. I’m good at it too. I thought I could win him over with some good pastries, but it didn’t work.」

She brought some snacks she had made during her spare time, and confessed again. This time, it took less than a second for him to crush her hopes.

She asked him to at least take the snacks, and he did.

「I was sure he’d be interested after eating it once.」

Nonomiya-san sighs and takes out a sweet potato from her backpack.

My stomach is rumbling from the smell of butter. Nonomiya-san hears that and offers it to me.

I thank her and take a bite.

「Whoa! It’s really delicious!」

The sweet potato and butter are moist, and melt in my mouth. It really feels like she made each one in earnest.

「I never thought butter would go well with sweet potato.」

I swallow it whole.

「…There’s still more. Ye can have all of it.」

「Huh? Really?」

She hands me the whole bag of sweet potatoes. There are 3 or 4 of them inside.

I think eating just 1 or 2 is fine, but she insists that I finish it because she’s on a diet.

She’s really not that fat though. But I’m taking her up on her offer.

They’re perfectly baked, and I can’t get tired of the sweetness and taste of the butter.

「There’s a richness to it.」

「I mixed some whipped cream and milk in it.」

「Wow! Sometimes whipped cream alone is too rich, and milk is too subtle. I didn’t know you could mix it.」

「For every 200 grams of potato, I put in 10 grams each of whipped cream and milk.」

「I see.」

I finish everything and see Nonomiya-san with a complicated expression.

「Sorry, should I have left some for you?」

「That’s fine… but ye sure eat a lot, Noda-san. How are you so slim? I’m just a bit envious.」

I know my food doesn’t exactly stay in my body.

I wish they helped make my breasts a little larger. Nonomiya-san sighs at me.

「I came to talk about Mizuhara-cchi in the first place. Why did I end up talkin’ about makin’ sweet potatoes?」

I thank her again for her delicious food.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

「Once Mizuhara-cchi comes back from America, I’m gonna confess to him one more time. I just wanted to make sure ye guys weren’t datin’.」

She leaves while expressing her relief.