Chapter 21: Chapter 21

Superb feeling.

This is the first time I’ve touched the b*****s of a girl in my class.

Thanks to Uchida pulling on my hand, my upper body was closer to hers across the table.

This scent…

And also…

“Huh!”

An image of Ayane-san comes to my mind.

Come to think of it, they look a lot alike, with those magenta eyes, pure white skin, and a well-endowed body.

Sometimes she also looks at me like she’s going to drown me in.

But I don’t have time to think about that now.

Uchida is apparently mistaken.

Not really, I just don’t feel the need to go out with her because of Ayane-san and Natsuko-san, and it shouldn’t come directly from Uchida.

If anything, if she knew the real me, she’d despise me more than she did a year ago.

“W-wait, it’s not your fault, Uchida. So don’t worry about it.”

“No… it’s my fault. Because, Kudo-kun, you had the same face…”

“Same face?”

“You had the same look on your face when I dumped you.”

“……”

I see.

Is she trying to say that I’m holding onto the past?

It’s true that I’ve been telling myself that I’m fine, but seeing the discomfort I feel when I talk to Uchida, I might actually still be holding onto the past.

When I think about it, I feel miserable.

I wonder if the fact that I falsified my age and had a relationship with Ayane had anything to do with Uchida.

Well, I can worry about that later.

But Uchida’s point should be taken in stride.

Even if I insist that it’s okay, she won’t be convinced.

“Yes… I might be. Although it was my first confession, I still can’t believe I’m still dwelling on the old days… I’m such a shallow person… I realized it when Uchida told me.”

“It was the first time… and I was…”

“But I’m having so much fun now.”

“Are you having fun?”

“Yeah. Hanging out with Yuto, and others.”

“… But you don’t intend to have a girlfriend.”

“Well, yeah…”

“I knew it…”

“……”

“Then come and hang out with me.”

“What?”

“A year ago, Kudo-kun liked me, right?”

“… Yeah.”

“So, I’ll accept all of your feelings from a year ago now, Kudo-kun.”

The feelings I had a year ago have long since faded into a bubble of illusion and no longer exist. But Uchida still feels guilty about me for tgat.

I’m sure the old me would have made the mistake of thinking, “Maybe this is my wan-chan?”, but I know better now. [TLN – Wan-chan = one chance, not dog]

She just wants to get rid of her guilt.

And that my feelings don’t have a play in here.

But still, I have to help her.

“Really?”

“Yeah… I’ll go out with you until you can confess your feelings to a girl again, Kudo-kun.”

“… Got it.”

“Fufu…”

She smiled happily.

This is just a help.

Just play with her as you see fit, and when the time is right, say, “That’s enough.” and I’m sure it will come full circle.

As I was thinking about this, something occurred to me.

“Hey, Uchida.”

“It’s okay to call me Rino. Kenichi-kun.”

“Does… Rino have an older… sister or something?”

I asked, and she shook her head.

“I don’t have one but…”

“Okay.”

“Why do you ask?”

“No, I just wanted to get to know you better, Rino.”

“Oh! Is that so?”

Now my little question is answered.

But my hands are still bound to her b*****s.

X X X

Next day.

Evening.

Bar.

“Hmm~ I didn’t know that was possible.”

“Yes.”

I was curious.

Why did Rino call me up and tell me about that thing from a year ago?

I’ve never been in a relationship, so I wanted to talk to someone who was familiar with that kind of thing.

So I contacted Natsuko-san and she gave me a two-fold OK, and I went straight to the bar and explained the situation to her.

“She’s a bad girl who thinks only of herself.”

“Ehh?”

“Because she dumped you, didn’t she? If she wanted to, she wouldn’t have to go through all that trouble to tell you what was on her mind, would she? So why are you looking up to her? You make it sound as if you have a problem, Kenichi.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Because, you know what? You’re a total suck-up, dropping it and then feeding it to me.”

“……”

Seriously.

Was I being used by Rino?

Like kicking the corpse…

“You seem slow at that sort of thing~”

“… Can’t deny.”

Because I’m still in high school.

“Kenichi!”

“Y-yes!”

“I don’t give a shet about that troublesome woman, just hang out with me and I’ll teach you everything I know.”

“E-everything…”

“There are a unusually few customers today, and I’d like to do a little work in the warehouse, so help me ♫”

“……”