Chapter 32: A lot has happened.

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Translator: Soafp

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Amanatsu and Shinonome both stood there speechless.

Both of their eyes were fixed on the hands I was holding with Sakura.

Now then, what was I supposed to do about this situation?

I let go of her hand for the moment and shrugged in my usual way.

“Yo, long time no see.”

“No, you can't brush this off with a greeting!”

Even Amanatsu wasn't that easy to fool after all.

She looked completely flustered, her gaze darting around wildly. Her face kept turning pale and red in turns.

“H-Hatsukade-kun, you really were lying to me!”

“There are complicated circumstances behind this.”

“That's a lie! You told me every day that you were bedridden with a cold!”

“That was unavoidable. More importantly, why are you two here?”

“We… we were worried because Sakura wasn't coming to school, so I came with Shi-chan to check on her location and see how she was doing… and I also wanted confirmation that the person in that photo wasn't actually Hatsukade-kun.”

So basically, stalking.

And Shinonome was in on it too.

I remembered the two of them having a really awkward atmosphere before, but apparently they'd made up.

“Amanatsu, I'm glad you and Shinonome made up.”

“Eh… yeah. Thanks.”

“And Shinonome, you're back after suspension, huh. Has the classroom stopped feeling awkward?”

“Me? W-well, thanks to you, more or less… wait, don't try to dodge this with a nice vibe!”

Shinonome snapped at me, glaring sharply.

“What is going on here!? We talked everything out properly, so I was prepared for that, but nobody told me Sakura would join in! Why are you holding hands? We came here because we were worried, and you two were just enjoying a vacation!? Skipping school and running off to a seaside town together is way too much youth for one pair!”

While Shinonome was going off at top speed, Sakura stepped in front of her and raised a finger.

“Wait, everyone, this is a misunderstanding. Subaru and I…”

““Subaru!?””

The two of them shouted in perfect unison.

No good. This was absolute chaos.

“I'm disappointed in you, Hatsukade-kun! After saying you weren't interested in romance at all, you ended up going for the cutest one after all!”

“If you weren't interested from the start, don't do something this misleading!”

Why was I the one getting blamed?

I really needed to explain before this turned into something even worse.

Just as I was thinking that, Sakura gave me a look that said, Leave this to me.

So I did as she asked.

The reason Sakura had gone on this trip in the first place was because things had gotten tangled between her and Amanatsu.

It wasn't my place to blab about that.

Better to leave it to the people involved.

“Before you two start badmouthing Subaru, calm down and let me explain, one at a time. First of all, do you really think he's the kind of guy who would hold hands with just anyone for no reason?”

“Well, when you put it like that… no, I guess not?”

“Then why were you holding hands with Hatsukade-kun!”

“Because… we're dating?”

““!?!””

My head hurt.

That order was catastrophically bad.

That just made the misunderstanding worse.

I was an idiot for leaving it to Sakura.

“I can't believe this, Sakura! This is betrayal! I was the one who liked him first, and I even talked to you about it so much!”

“Yeah, exactly! That makes you a homewrecker! I mean, Sakura already had a darling!”

Faced with Amanatsu and Shinonome's furious complaints, Sakura sheepishly scratched the back of her head.

“Hehe, um… that darling turned out to be Subaru.”

““What!?””

“When I was little, the one who saved me was Subaru, and I found that out.”

“…Little?”

“So that means I'm the one who got in late the most?”

The two of them glared at me at the same time.

Enough already…

Amanatsu lowered her head sadly and fidgeted with her fingers as she looked up at me.

“Hatsukade-kun, are you really dating Sakura?”

“…”

“If you're dating, that's why you were holding hands, right? Because, like Sakura said, you're not the kind of person who'd hold hands with just anybody.”

She was trusting me in a weirdly specific way.

Still, this situation was hard to explain in one sentence.

“I am dating Sakura, but only for one week.”

“…What does that mean?”

“Ask Sakura about the details later. The reason I skipped school this entire week is because Sakura said she was going on a trip prepared to repeat a year if necessary.”

“Was that the message where I asked for help?”

“Yeah. If things had gone on like that, Sakura was going to run away from school. So I chased after her, and things kind of naturally led to us dating.”

“It got to that point…? So, Sakura, are you coming back to school?”

“She's accepted it.”

Sakura nodded.

“That's right, Nakina. We're not really dating for real.”

That should have covered the minimum necessary explanation.

I looked at Amanatsu.

Then her eyes filled with tears.

“Uuugh, I'm sorry!”

And then, turning around in a flash, she ran off.

…Why did it end up like that?

---

Why have I ended up chasing after a girl two days in a row?

As I ran down a gentle slope, I called after her back.

“W-Wait, Amanatsu!”

“Uuu, don't come near meeee!”

The people passing by gave me suspicious looks.

When I checked behind me, I could see Sakura and Shinonome farther away.

It looked like Shinonome was helping Sakura, who couldn't run because of all her luggage, so they were falling behind.

I had a backpack on too, so it was hard to run.

But lucky or unlucky, Amanatsu's lack of exercise was closing the distance between us little by little.

“Hey!”

“Eek!”

She made a sharp turn and cut right.

I chased her, and she ended up cornered in a dead-end alley, crying and panicking… honestly, a little ridiculous.

“Why are you crying?”

“Because… sniff… I was jealous, thinking you and Sakura were getting along while she was having such a hard time.”

“…”

“I-I'm such a terrible friend. I'm the worst.”

I was taken aback.

I had assumed she was crying because she didn't like the fact that I was only dating Sakura in name, even if it was temporary.

But Amanatsu and Sakura were both ridiculously worried about each other.

“You and Sakura are both idiots who care way too much about each other.”

“Huh?”

“That's why I told you to talk things out sooner. If you had, none of this would've happened.”

“Hatsukade-kun?”

“At this point, I'm just going to say everything. I used to say I would never date anyone while I was still in high school. I'm taking that back.”

“W-Why!?”

“Because I've been thinking about things. That doesn't mean I've fallen for a specific person… it just means that if the opportunity comes, maybe romance isn't such a bad thing.”

Saying it myself felt pretty stupid.

Why did I have to stand here in broad daylight saying something like this?

Amanatsu looked like she might cry again, her brows knit together.

“But even so, after hurting you with that fake confession trauma, I don't have the right to…”

“How long are you going to keep dragging that around? Cut it out and move forward already.”

“But… but…”

Honestly, everyone around me was such a handful.

I pressed my arm against the wall behind her and blocked her escape.

“H-Hatsukade-kun!?”

“Did you forget? I was the guy who had no interest in my classmates, except that I kept looking at you. And I forgave you for the fake confession too because it was you…”

I looked her in the eyes and made sure she couldn't run.

“There's no way I could ever hate you.”

“…!”

“If anything, I lean more toward liking.”

“Kh…!”