Chapter 67: Disappointment [side Yukari Tomonaga]
I won Miss Hokusho, put on a crown and something like a cape over my uniform, and took a commemorative photo!
After that, I did a parade in that outfit on the first floor! My own popularity scares me!
Then I went back to Class 6, reported to Osada-san, and got put to work as a maid again...
Seriously, shouldn't my status be higher than Osada-san's by now?
...But I'm too scared to go against her...
Thanks to my Miss Hokusho effect, the maid café was booming! It was so packed it was overwhelming!
Osada-san talked to Class 5 next door and proposed a partnership! She started sending customers their way.
?
Aren't we supposed to be competing? Shouldn't we stop her?
Osada: "Even if we don't do that, we've already won, right? If we keep making people wait, our customers will just get frustrated, Class 5's sales will go up, and we can't handle any more anyway. Everybody wins, right?"
Osada-san gave a sly smile.
I seriously can't tell if she's a villain or a good person.
The only thing I know for sure is that she's scary.
The culture festival ended without a hitch.
The second day of the festival, 17:00, the time I promised Kousuke-kun. Behind the school building, next to the gymnasium.
I'm supposed to meet him here.
So? What did I say last week again?
"I'll be waiting next to the gym at 17:00 on the second day of the festival. There's something I asked you to listen to the other day that I want to tell you. I'll do my best to finish it by then. There's the beauty contest, the class maid café, and Kousuke-kun, you're busy too, right? So, I won't message or meet you! I'll push myself, and keep bottling everything up until then!"
*The result was making readers bottle up their stress.*
Was that about it?
And after that, we kissed...
I'm sure Kousuke-kun has already heard about me winning Miss Hokusho and dramatically ending up with Kuzu-kun on the spot... he might have even been there.
So much has changed in just one week.
My surroundings and the situation around me change by the minute.
I just adapted... and grabbed what I could, that's all.
I do feel a little bad for giving him hope... but it couldn't be helped, right?
Kousuke-kun will surely understand.
Kousuke-kun's achievement... I'll just say it was thanks to Kuzu-kun, is that okay?
He's been by my side since summer vacation, so it should be fine!
Honestly, maybe he still likes me anyway...
*I had to laugh at my own shamelessness.*
Kousuke-kun arrived.
Kuzu-kun behind me seems a little tense.
It's fine, Kousuke-kun is gentle and kind, right?
...But Kousuke-kun's gaze is cold...!
I might be a little scared, so I lower my eyes.
Isn't it a bit much to look at me like that?
Since it's a bit of a hard topic, I hope Kousuke-kun will start the conversation...
While I'm thinking that, Kousuke-kun opens his mouth.
Kousuke: "...Congratulations on Miss Hokusho... ...Good job,"
Thank goodness! He congratulated me!
I did my best!
...I looked up, but Kousuke-kun's stare was so harsh I had to look down again... Why is he looking at me like he's blaming me?
"Yeah, thanks to you I won! ...Thank you..."
Whew. Kousuke-kun let out a sigh.
Is he mad? Oh well. But he still likes me, right?
Couldn't he forgive me? If possible, I'd like him to keep liking me.
After all, he was the first boy I ever kissed; it's not like I stopped liking him.
Even though I got dumped by Kuzu-kun, as long as I have feelings left, maybe there's still a chance, right?
*This is the negative side effect of playing too many otome games.*
Kousuke: "So? The talk? The thing you wanted me to hear? What is it?"
I can't help but feel disappointed by Kousuke-kun's cold tone... Is he angry?
He's the one I fell for; I wish he'd just let me go with an open heart...
But it's important to settle things cleanly, right? Because I'm Miss Hokusho!
"...I've started dating Kuzu-kun... ...Thank you for everything up until now..."
It's not like I was dating Kousuke-kun, and I only said I had something to tell him, so it's not cheating or betrayal, but I do need to pay my dues as a person!
So, I'd like Kousuke-kun to cheer me on kindly with an open heart, you know?
That wish of mine doesn't get through.
*Honestly, Yukari saying she needs to pay her dues right now is just too much, lol*
Kousuke: "...That's it? If there's nothing else, I think I'll go. ...Be happy."
Kousuke-kun said what he wanted and tried to leave...
I thought maybe that was better than getting into a fight,
but Kuzu-kun, maybe bothered by the way Kousuke-kun said it, spoke up.
Kuzu: "Isn't that attitude the reason Yukari-san's losing patience with you?"
Kousuke: "Huh? Kuzu-kun, was it? Why are you even here?"
Kuzu: "Because if you lost your temper and started saying awful things, or got violent or tried to rape her, I couldn't let that happen, right?"
*Kuzu-kun has a reputation for indecency with girls from other schools.*
Please don't fight over me?
Kuzu-kun is grinning and provoking Kousuke-kun, maybe feeling superior?
And Kousuke-kun seems irritated, maybe angry about losing me...?
Both of you, watch your words! You're both at fault! You're both wrong! As I try to break it up,
Kousuke-kun really said it like he was looking down on them.
For the first time, I saw those filthy, contemptuous eyes, like he was looking at trash by the side of the road.
But his mouth was still smiling as he said,
Kousuke: "Heh! You know the saying, 'A crab digs a hole to fit its shell,' right?"
*It means people act their station in life, but*
*it's also a sarcastic way to say that small people judge others by their own narrow standards.*
Kuzu-kun, not getting it, just has a question mark over his head.
Crab proverb? I feel like I've heard that somewhere?
Kousuke: "So basically, if you think you'd say cruel things or get violent or rape someone, you suspect the other person would too, right? That's what I meant."
Kuzu: "...That's what you were saying!"
*As the author, I love the situation where Kuzu-kun just gapes until it's explained and then gets mad.*
They're fighting over me again! I have to stop them!
This is my fault, right? It's hard to let go, isn't it?
"Kuzu-kun! Kousuke-kun! Please don't fight?"
I try to step between them,
"There's not even any point in fighting. I'm leaving."
I started to feel sorry for Kousuke-kun,
so I decided to try reaching out myself, hoping we could at least make up honestly...
"Sorry, I know just apologizing isn't enough... but can't we be friends again?"
And then!
Kousuke: "Can't we? There's no way I'm being friends with you. I already kept my promise. I'm leaving."
It was like when you promise to help someone with their diet, and then say you've done your part and walk away—Kousuke-kun spat it out just like that.
...I felt a little let down, I guess?
I really wanted the guy I liked to have a big, open heart.
I'm sure Kousuke-kun doesn't know about my crisis this past week or how Kuzu-kun helped me.
*He's the one who said he was cutting off contact.*
If he knew, he'd probably thank Kuzu-kun instead of insulting him...
He doesn't know, so it can't be helped.
That's why I didn't want those two to fight—I looked at them one after the other with sad eyes. With this...
But Kousuke-kun spat out more poison.
Kousuke: "That crab proverb from earlier. That was you too, right, Yukari-san?"
Huh? Why?
Kuzu-kun didn't get it, but I understood perfectly well.
"Huh? The crab thing? It means you think other people are the same as you, right?"
Kousuke-kun, expressionless,
"Yeah, so the other day, when you said, 'Don't cheat on me, okay?' to me? I never even thought about cheating, so the idea never crossed my mind."
See Chapter 49: Next Time We Meet
Huh? Are you saying I cheated?
Would you really say something like that to a girl?
I felt a little let down.
If you were a guy, you know?
Even if the girl cheated and was at fault? I'd want a guy who'd just pay alimony and break up like a real man.
*Legendary... you know, that's the motif here.
Am I just twisting things to suit myself? Maybe I just didn't know how to judge people...
Just because I got a little interested in someone else? To get treated like that...
I feel like I'm about to lose faith in guys...
*Says the pot to the kettle.
The Kuzu-kun who stays by my side is so much better as a guy,
I'm really glad he's the kind of honest, dependable, straightforward boy I like!
*None of this is true. Also, this is the same type of guy Kureha-san's betraying best friend likes (lol)
Today is the anniversary of becoming Miss Hokusho! Let's just forget about all this!
I went home and told my family I'd won the beauty contest!
The best day of my life! I decided to start fresh!