41. Dropping The Bomb At The End

By Lyfe April 18, 2022

“That Kuze guy came.”
“Huh?”
“Hey, you should say that more politely.”

Kuze, frowning like Aoi, appeared, and my face stiffened.
Scary, don’t glare at me. It wasn’t his scheduled day or anything, and yet why was he here?

When I looked at Kinoa, she seemed surprised as well. So apparently, Kuze was not there to pick up Kinoa, but he came alone.

“Why are you here?”

I couldn’t think of any reason why he would come there intentionally. I don’t have a good feeling when Kuze is involved. Also, he looks scary.

“I heard from Kinoa that you fell into the pool.”
“Is that so?”

It’s not like Kuze to worry about me because of that. This guy is supposed to not worry about me. Because we have been on bad terms ever since we were kids. Usually, I would just say, “Oh,” and that would have been the end of it, but I wondered what he wanted to say?

“What are you involved with?”

The intimidating look in his eyes irritated me. Why couldn’t he ask it more gently? I definitely don’t want to marry this man. It was going to get bloody suspenseful.

“I fell because of my carelessness.”
“Are you concerned about Asami Kanade because he is close with Tengenji and the others?”
“What do you mean?”

I started to ask him, but I began to understand what he was trying to say. I guess, for him, I don’t seem to be someone who would genuinely help others. He thought I had ulterior motives.
I wondered if he had nothing better to do than to come all the way to my house just to say that? Or rather, did Kuze have any close friends? I had only ever seen him alone or with Kinoa.

“What was your purpose?”

I gave a deliberate fake smile to Kuze, who was squinting at me as if looking at something suspicious.
If the memories of my previous life returned before I met Kuze, our relationship might have been a little better. Well, I don’t think I can get along with him, though.

“Do you think I helped Asami as an excuse to get close to Tengenji and the others? If so, then you really don’t know much about me at all.”
“Didn’t you say it yourself before? You said that you would have preferred someone like Tengenji instead of me as your fiancé.”

Eh, is that so? I guess it was before my memories came back, but I hadn’t gotten involved with them yet at that time. I probably just had a faint admiration like “how cool” while looking at Tengenji from a distance. And when Kuze and I had a fight, I might have made some off-the-cuff remark.

“Regardless, whether my fiancé is you or Tengenji, my desire to refuse it will not change.”
“Maria!?”

Kinoa, who wants me and Kuze to get married, looked shocked and turned pale. She covered her mouth with her hand as she gasped.
I felt sorry for Kinoa, but I had no intention of marrying Kuze. Once I had safely broken the death flag, I would figure out the engagement problem next.

“Then, why do you care about Asami Kanade? Do you like that guy that much?”
“Are you telling me to leave Asami alone and not to help when I know he is obviously being harassed?”
“…I think there are many obstacles between you and him.”

This Kuze bastard seems to have a big misunderstanding.
Kuze thinks Asami is a man, so he seems to think that I have fallen in love with Asami. He thinks that’s why I put my body on the line to save Asami.

“Kotaro!”

Kinoa’s voice, which is more strict than usual, caused Kuze to frown and let out a sigh. It seems he is no match for her.

“Maria, my personality doesn’t match with you, but I still am worried about you. Don’t push yourself too hard.”

Worry, huh? I feel like he is trying to tell me to not cause any trouble. If I were to behave flashy in the school and strange rumors were to reach my aunt’s ears, Kuze as my fiancé, might be in trouble too.

“Thank you for your concern. But, I’m fine.”

I raised my voice and said clearly.
I didn’t mean to worsen my relationship with Kuze, but I didn’t want to get close to him either. Besides, I had made an appeal to him earlier that I wanted to break off the engagement. I was sure Kuze would be very happy. I was sure he’d like to break off his engagement to me, too.

If Kuze was the culprit, his motive would most likely be about the engagement problem. If I told him that I wanted to break it off too, then Kuze probably won’t be desperate enough and say, “I don’t want to share my future with this girl!”. Well, that’s the case if he were the culprit.

“Kinoa, let’s go home.”

Kinoa, who was about to leave the room to chase after Kuze, turned around and whispered softly.

“He is jealous.”

Kinoa said it happily, but I could not believe it honestly. After all, did she think that Kuze would be jealous of someone like me? No way, no way, no way.

With a vague smile, Kinoa said goodbye to me elegantly and left the room.
I wonder how Kinoa could have had such a misunderstanding? Kuze does not seem to be jealous, no matter how I look at him.
But well, the storm has finally passed.

“Sis… What was that?”
“Eh?”

Aoi’s gaze led me to the First Love Conception that I talked about with Kinoa earlier. Come to think of it, Aoi likes to read books, so he might already have read this too.

“I borrowed it from Sumire. It seems that the Moonlight Girl is popular in this volume.”
“I wrote that one.”

I felt like Aoi said something, but I didn’t understand, so I tilted my head and blinked repeatedly. I can’t keep up with the information processing in my brain. “Eh, what did you just say?” When I asked him, Aoi frowned while lowering his eyes.

“Like I said, I’m the author. Well then, I’m going back to my room.”
“Ehh! Wait, Aoi!? You were in the literary club!?”

Aoi dropped the bomb and left my room in a hurry.