Chapter 88: Volume 3 - CH 4.4

TL Note

Hiding in the shadows, Yuzu quietly drew in a series of deep breaths. In both hands, she held the phone she had just finished answering, and her heart was thumping at a rapid pace in her chest.

Glancing down the main street, she found Yamato standing where she had been a moment ago, looking around. Before long, perhaps deciding that he was getting nowhere, he headed off elsewhere.

“He came…” Yuzu muttered, ruminating on the earlier phone call.

“But…”

—Are you going to betray your friend?

The other Yuzu inside her heart questioned her in a whisper.

—You ran away at a crucial time before, are you going to run away again?

—You’ve fooled your friends by being a fake couple with him, have you forgotten what it was for?

Of course, she did it for her friends. But if she were to run away at the most important time, all of that would be nothing but lies.

“…That’s why, I won’t be meeting Yamato-kun,” she carefully chose her words, reminding herself of her resolve.

I won’t meet him. I won’t be meeting him today. That’s what I’ve decided.

But… If I really don’t meet him, what’ll happen to Yamato and me? Will we be able to talk like normal from tomorrow? Maybe things will never be the same again, he will leave by himself and those days will never come back.

“….Ugk!” Her heart ached.

She couldn’t allow such a future. Totally unacceptable!

Alas… She couldn’t run away from her current position.

“Yuzu-cchi, what’s wrong?”

Keigo, who was standing next to Yuzu, called out to her in a worried tone when he saw Yuzu’s pale face.

“Ah… It’s nothing.”

Yuzu awkwardly feigned a smile, trying to evade the issue.

“Well, if you say so…”

Keigo, too, seemed to realise that her words were far from the truth, but he did not inquire further at this critical juncture.

Taking advantage of his generosity, she decided to ask him for a favour.

“Keigo, Yamato-kun came here,” Yuzu told her friend who looked surprised upon hearing that.

“…Isn’t he here to pick you up, Yuzu? There’s no problem with only me here, why don’t you go see him?”

The all-too-tempting offer swayed her heart for a moment. But she clenched her teeth and shook her head.

“No, I won’t see him. I think Yamato-kun will probably look for you, Keigo, and he’ll ask you where I am. So I want you to cover it up for me.”

At this request, he showed some hesitation.

“Are you sure about that…? He even came all the way here.”

“Yeah, I’ve made my decision.”

That was a lie. In truth, Yuzu was still wavering.

While asking him to do this, she had also hoped that Keigo would refuse. Her mind was a jumbled mess, and even she didn’t know where her heart was inclined to.

“…I got it. If that’s what you’ve decided, I’ll respect your choice.”

Alas, contrary to Yuzu’s expectation, Keigo actually accepted her request. Her chest tightened and her breathing became shallow. Yuzu suppressed these emotions and smiled.

“…Thanks.”

“No problem, it’s just a simple matter. But Yamato is sharp and a quick thinker. There’s no guarantee I can fool him.”

Being told that, Yuzu started to think. Yuzu, who had always been by Yamato’s side, knew his wits better than anyone else; he was not one to be underestimated.

“Then pretend to betray me and tell him where Aki will confess. I think that will work out. I’ll wait at another place and will call you to find out the result of the confession.”

Her heart might be in disarray, but her mind was still nimble. This skill was built up after years of efficiently separating her real face and the facade she put up in front of people. She had always thought it was a good thing, but only at this moment did she begin to feel that she could have lived more honestly without it.

“Yuzu-cchi… I’m reconfirming this with you, but are you sure about this?” Perhaps some hesitation showed on her face, Keigo anxiously questioned Yuzu’s intentions.

“Yes. It’s really a pity I won’t be there to witness Aki’s confession,” she answered without a pause—afraid that a bad answer would come out if she were to mull on it.

“…”

Will Yamato understand me? He did once and saw me off before. So surely it will be okay this time.

“Yamato-kun…”

Even though she believed so, her heart ached; the anxiety was tearing her heart out.

What was it that was important to her? What was the thing that she had wanted to protect all along? She didn’t even know anymore. She had no clue but the only thing that had kept her from collapsing now was her resolve to not ever run away.

==

TL Note

“Ouch…”

After a brief moment of blacking out, my consciousness returned to normal.

My whole body was aching. My vision was spinning and swaying. With a deep breath, I slowly raised my upper body, while keeping the pain under the control of my rational mind.

“I fell quite badly…”

I took a spectacular slip and tumbled down a flight of stairs that had about twenty steps. The damage was considerable, as I was so startled I couldn’t even catch myself.

“My bones… none are broken.”

I couldn’t avoid full-body bruising, but it was fortuitous that I got away with just that.

I rose to my feet, checking each movement one by one—

“…Argh! I shouldn’t have moved that.”

—I couldn’t help but wince at the extreme pain in my right ankle; it had been sprained.

This wouldn’t be so bad normally, but to slip through this crowd in this condition, was way too difficult.

“There’s no use crying, huh?”