Chapter 43: The Anxious Couple

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Translator: Soafp

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Yuzuki's hands trembled violently as she clutched the notebook.

“This… this isn't me…”

Even I couldn't believe it at first.

But the more I struggled, the more everything spiraled toward the worst possible ending.

After being confronted with that “nightmare” over and over again, I had no choice but to accept it.

That Yuzuki was the kind of person capable of that kind of betrayal.

“Whether you believe it or not is up to you.”

“R-Ren! I've always loved only you, from the past until now. There's no way I'd ever fall for Nagasawa-senpai like that! It's impossible!”

“That's the past and present you're talking about. Not your future self.”

“Ugh…”

That's right—maybe the current Yuzuki hasn't done anything wrong.

But that doesn't mean I can just accept a confirmed worst-case future as it is.

“You asked me to tell you, so I did.”

“B-But this is…”

“Now you understand, right? Why I acted so strangely for that whole month.”

“I-I'm sorry… Back then, I didn't understand anything and said you'd lost your mind…”

“You don't need to apologize.”

I kept my gaze averted from her and continued.

“Even if you think I'm crazy, it doesn't matter to me anymore.”

“That's not true! I don't see you like that. At least now, I believe everything you say—your words, this notebook… all of it. It's just… I still can't fully accept it…”

I still vividly remember the look she gave me the first time I hinted at my ability to see the future.

That's why I couldn't take her current attitude at face value.

Honestly, it felt less like she truly believed me, and more like she was pretending to because she still had feelings for me.

“Then today proves it, right? Like earlier—bad futures can be changed, can't they?”

“It's written in there, isn't it? What I did for that whole month. I tried everything I could, and every single attempt failed.”

“I-I'm sure there's still a way!”

“Specifically, what?”

“Eh?”

Before I knew it, irritation welled up from deep inside me.

“What was I supposed to do?”

“Th-That's…”

“Nothing worked, so during our last date, I lost it. I thought maybe if I acted like Nagasawa-senpai first, things would change. But you hated that, remember?”

“N-No, that's…”

Yuzuki was always like this.

All momentum at first—but when it came time to act, she'd hesitate.

Back when we were together, I thought that energy was her strength.

—Now, it just feels like a flaw.

“I can only sit there and watch as he takes you from me. Listen to him mock me. Be crushed by inferiority. And then, on top of that, you abandon me too. Is that what you're saying? That I should just suffer like that?”

“N-No! I'm sorry, it's all my fault!”

“I don't want your apology.”

There was only one reason I brought her here and showed her the notebook.

“I want you to accept that breaking up was the only option.”

If she kept clinging to me like this, I'd end up throwing up again like I did at the camp.

If we were going to interact as nothing more than classmates, we needed distance—physically.

Like every other couple that breaks up, we had to go our separate ways.

“…I understand now.”

“You do?”

“I understand why you were suffering so much… and why you broke up with me.”

Good.

Everything was going as planned.

Just like Ito said—I want her to end up with someone better than me.

That was my honest wish, as her ex and childhood friend.

Well… even if she ended up with Nagasawa-senpai, that was fine too.

“I thought I understood everything about you, Ren… but I didn't understand anything at all.”

“It's not like that's your fault—”

“No, it is. So I'll change. I'll fix it. I’ll become your woman, a woman that Nagasawa-senpai, no, no one else, can ever take you away from me.

Suddenly, Yuzuki dropped to her knees on the floor.

Then, crawling forward, she pushed her face between my legs and reached for my zipper.

I grabbed her shoulders in a panic and forcefully pulled her away.

“What are you doing?!”

“I'll take everything from you properly. You can put as much as you want inside me, whenever you want. I'll even carry your child…”

“That's not the point—doing something like that won't change anything!”

“How do you know if we don't try? Oh, I know! I'll wear a chastity belt every day. You can keep the key, okay?”

Something was seriously wrong.

Why was she this obsessed with me?

I'd never seen her like this before.

Even when her father suddenly disappeared, she wasn't like this.

“But I guess even that has limits, huh? According to your notebook, I let that senpai use my mouth and chest too. Oh—I know. I'll quit school.”

“…What?”

“That's it! I'll quit school and train to be your bride here. Or maybe you can lock me in your room. If I can't meet anyone except you, then no one can take me away, right?”

“Kitayama, get a grip. Do you even hear how ridiculous you sound right now?”

That would basically turn me into a criminal.

Even if I accepted it, locking someone up just to possess them… that's obviously an abnormal relationship.

“Earlier, Sugawara-senpai said something about being a slave, right? I'll become a real slave for you, okay?”

“I don't want that from you.”

“Th-Then at least let me be your FWB. Ren, you have a strong s*x drive, right? You haven't been able to satisfy it lately, have you? I'll take care of everything. Anytime, anywhere—you can do whatever you want. Isn't that good?”

“It's not. I told you—I'm never doing that kind of thing with you again.”

“NOOOO—!!”

Finally, Yuzuki screamed, clutching her head with both arms.

“Don't leave me! Don't abandon me—!!”

Tears streamed down her cheeks.

I'd never seen her lose control like this before.

Maybe it's because we were always together—I just never had the chance to.

“Kitayama, calm down.”

“Call me by my name like before!! Am I below Nodoka and Sugawara-senpai now!?”

“It's not like that…”

A sigh escaped me.

At this point, maybe I shouldn't have brought her into my room at all.

Dealing with her felt like handling a tantrum-throwing child, and an unpleasant feeling kept building up inside me.

At that moment, the door to my room opened.

“Honestly, how pathetic.”

It was Airi.

Apparently, Yuzuki's voice had carried all the way downstairs.

Yuzuki shot up and stormed toward her.

“Give that place back!! That was mine to begin with!!”

“Oh? You're the one who kicked it away yourself, and now you want it back? That's a bit shameless, don't you think?”

“I regret not believing Ren! I regret it so much!! So please—please—!!”

Airi let out a mocking snort.

“You haven't reflected at all. Even now, instead of thinking about Ren's feelings, you're just prioritizing your own need to cling to him.”

“Ugh…!”

“If you really want to get back together with Ren, this isn't how you should be acting.”

“Then what am I supposed to do?!”

“It's simple.”

Airi held out her hand in front of Yuzuki, whose face was twisted in frustration.

“You need to show, in a way that's easy to understand, that you've changed.”

“That's easy for you to say…!”

“Ren suffered all this time before breaking up with you. And you can't even endure that much?”

“…Fine! I'll do it if that's what it takes!!”

Yuzuki grabbed her bag, then turned toward me.

“I'll definitely come back here!!”

It sounded like something out of a cheesy sci-fi movie.

All I could do was sit there and watch her leave the room.

Airi walked over to me.

“Ren, do you really have a strong s*x drive?”

“…I'm normal.”

“Haven't been able to relieve it lately?”

“Well… it's not really like that…”

“You're really bad at lying.”

She smiled faintly.

“Don't hold back because of me. I want to be useful to you in any way I can.”

“You're already helping plenty.”

“Or do I just not have any appeal as a woman? Am I not your type?”

“That's not it…”

“Really?”

Airi climbed onto my lap, then unbuttoned her uniform shirt and pulled it wide open.

A thin pink bra barely contained her large, almost overflowing chest, now completely exposed right in front of my eyes.

(Th-that's huge…)

I thought someone like Yuzuki was rare, but Airi was no less impressive.

My gloomy mood from earlier vanished instantly.

It seemed those measurements she mentioned before weren't exaggerated at all.

“Ren, look over here too.”

“Eh?”

This time, Airi grabbed the hem of her skirt and lifted it up.

Just like before, a pair of light pink shorts was fully exposed.

“I bought these with the money you gave me the other day. Do they suit me?”

“Y-yeah… they really do.”

“Good. I bought them because I wanted to show you.”

Airi let out a soft, slightly mischievous laugh.

“Hey, Ren. I'm trying my best to seduce you here, you know?”

I didn't know how to respond.

My mouth wouldn't move—I could only swallow hard.

“If you still don't react at all even after this, I might actually lose confidence.”

“Well… um… to be honest, as a guy, I do want to sleep with someone as beautiful as you, senpai.”

“Then why not?”

“It's just… even so, I don't think it's right for us to have a purely physical relationship when we're not even in love…”

“That's exactly what makes you so like yourself, Ren—being serious about things like that. But you know…”

Airi gave me a small kiss on the cheek and continued.

“I only have you, Ren. So if you don't want anything from me, it makes me really anxious. So reassure me. For my sake… use my body.”

That was probably her genuine feeling.

Thinking about it, it made sense from her perspective.

She didn't even have family anymore, not really.

That meant I was the only person she could rely on.

If I kept rejecting her, her heart would stay unstable.

“…Alright. If I really can't hold back anymore, I'll rely on you then.”

“So it's not that bad yet?”

“Yeah.”

Airi lowered her gaze slightly, looking a bit disappointed.

For some reason, I felt guilty.

After all, it must take far more courage for a girl to do something like this than it would for a guy…

“There's just one thing I want right now.”