Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/822139838626691253/episodes/822139840156093116
I swear, nothing untoward happened the night I let Aoi-chan stay at my apartment.
After spending the night at my place, Aoi-chan left normally the next day.
Her family probably isn’t very well-off, and losing their home to fire must have been incredibly painful for them. But I believe Aoi-chan’s loving family will get through this hardship.
“If anything troubles you, feel free to talk to me anytime.”
“Yes. Thank you, Senpai.”
When I saw her off, Aoi-chan was smiling as if she had no worries about the future at all.
And the next day.
I studied for tests with Nanase at the private library.
“Kurose-kun, can you go over the parts you don’t understand?”
“Sorry about that, Nanase.”
I had Nanase explain everything I didn’t understand.
Nanase’s explanations were incredibly clear, and even someone not too bright like me could grasp things smoothly.
“Do you get it now, Kurose-kun?”
“Yeah, thanks to you, Nanase. You’re really good at teaching, Nanase. Seriously, it was super clear!”
“Ehehe. Really?”
“But is that okay? You’ve been teaching me this whole time—aren’t you supposed to be studying yourself?”
“I’m fine. I always do my prep and review. I think I’m pretty much done with the test material too. So I can teach Kurose-kun all day today?”
“Huh. Guess smart people really do study hard all the time.”
“You could do it too, Kurose-kun. You grasp things I teach you right away. If you push yourself, I think you could get a good score on the actual test. Let’s work hard together.”
“…Yeah, you’re right.”
Nanase smiled at me.
I thought what a great person she was, and at the same time, my heart ached sharply.
I’m deceiving a girl with such a wonderful personality.
I lied about liking her when I really didn’t, and I’ve been covering it up all this time.
What will Nanase think when she finds out the truth?
“Kurose-kun…?”
“…”
Sooner or later, I have to tell Nanase the truth.
I can’t keep lying and continue this fake relationship with her forever.
The deeper her misunderstanding grows, the deeper her hurt will be when she learns the truth.
“Hey, Nanase. Will you listen?”
“Hm? What?”
I took a deep breath before starting.
“Well… um… just… just suppose… suppose… if I told you I didn’t like you… what would you do…?”
“Eh…?”
I prefaced it with “if” to cover my bases, in case the grim reaper possessed Nanase again and I needed to retract it.
And then, on top of that, I probed her feelings.
“If I’d been deceiving you, Nanase… what would you do…?”
“Deceiving me…?”
“If I’d been lying… saying I liked you when I really didn’t… what would you do?”
“Um… Kurose-kun. Did you start liking someone else?”
“Eh, no… it’s not like that… it’s just a hypothetical scenario…”
“Could it be that woman?”
Nanase’s eyes fixed on me.
Her gaze was like a snake eyeing its prey, making me swallow hard.
“N-no… It’s not like I’ve fallen for someone else… I-it’s just a hypothetical… A little hypothetical scenario…”
“…Did that girl say something to you?”
“H-that girl… W-who are you talking about…?”
“…”
Nanase leaned closer, staring intently at me.
Her gaze felt like she was trying to see right through my thoughts, leaving me speechless.
“…I don’t know why you suddenly started talking about this, Kurose-kun.”
“Oh, uh…”
“Doesn’t really matter, does it?”
“It doesn’t…?”
“Yeah.”
Nanase’s lips curved into a faint smile.
“Even if Kurose-kun was deceiving me… I’d be okay with that? Even if you don’t like me, it doesn’t matter.”
“Huh…? Huh…?”
Could that mean…
That Nanase has stopped depending on me?
If I told her the truth right now, she’d leave me…
“I’ll make you like me.”
“…Hm?”
“No matter how you felt about me, Kurose-kun…
In the end, I’ll definitely make you like me, okay?”
“Huh…?”
“I’ll always be by your side, Kurose-kun. And if anyone tries to take you away, I’ll stop them. So, it’s okay, right?”
“I-it’s okay…?”
“Yeah. It’s okay.”
“…”
Is that really okay?
Isn’t it actually making things way worse?
“Kurose-kun. If there’s anything you dislike about me, please don’t hesitate to tell me?”
“Huh…?”
“I’ll do anything for Kurose-kun, you know? I’ll change in any way, and I’ll try my best to become the kind of girl Kurose-kun likes, okay?”
“…”
“Is there anything about me right now that you’re dissatisfied with, Kurose-kun?”
“N-no…”
“Don’t hold back?”
“N-no…”
I shook my head as I said it.
Nanase smiled brightly.
“I see. That’s good.”
“…”
What was that feeling?
I couldn’t shake the sensation that I was steadily walking down a path with no turning back, or sinking deeper and deeper into a swamp.
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