Chapter 12: CH 12

I didn't mind. It's fine.

Translated by Dawn

I didn’t mind. It’s fine.

I managed to somehow finish all the classes for the day.

After the end of the assembly, while getting ready to go home, I casually looked at Mizutani’s seat behind the window.

I knew that I would be going home with Mizutani.

While I was looking for the right moment to call out to her, a man with a shaved head came into the classroom and walked next to me. It was Yamamoto. I had a bad feeling about this, and Yamamoto was heading straight toward Mizutani.

“Mizutani, why don’t we go home together?”

The air in the classroom literally shook roughly at the sound of Yamamoto’s voice.

You know…..at least turn down the volume a bit.

Maybe it was because he was usually speaking out loud in club activities, but he simply had a loud voice.

“Huh? Is Yamamoto dating Mizutani?”

“Come to think of it, I heard last year that Yamamoto was hitting on Mizutani.”

“If it’s Yamamoto, that makes sense.”

“But it looked like she was going out with Aizawa earlier, though…”

“So, is it two-timing?”

“Oh no, there’s going to be a fight.”

I could hear people talking to each other as they pleased.

They probably heard it too.

Still, Mizutani would probably give the same curt response as she did the other day.

I looked at her with that thought in mind—

“….”

Mizutani just stared at Yamamoto silently.

She was clutching the handle of the bag on her right shoulder with her right hand.

…Maybe she’s nervous?

No, but on second thought, that was normal.

Mizutani was used to people looking at her and gossiping about her, so she should be fine.

I thought so on my own, but……even if she was used to it, she would still be under a lot of mental pressure. Especially now that she was told that there was going to be a fight and that she was two-timing.

The burden on her must be immeasurable.

Perhaps the reason she seemed so unconcerned this morning was that…I was unreliable and she was acting that way. As long as I was the one asking him to do this, I mustn’t waver. It was not surprising that Mizutani would think that way.

I found myself taking a step forward.

I went to Mizutani and grabbed her vacant left hand.

I looked at Yamamoto while apologizing in my mind to Mizutani, who widened her eyes.

Yamamoto looked doubtful for a moment, then furrowed his brow.

“You, what are you doing…… Come to think of it, you interrupted me the other day, too. What is your relationship with Mizutani? In the first place, what is your name?”

“I’m Aizawa. I’m…dating Mizutani.”

Oh, no, I messed up on the crucial bit again.

The buzz in the outside world was getting louder.

Was I being laughed at for being lame?

Well, it didn’t matter now. I felt like I was getting desperate in various ways.

“…Is that right, Mizutani?”

Yamamoto looked at Mizutani with a look of disbelief.

Mizutani nodded her head.

“I-I see. Then, I’m sorry to have disturbed you…”

Yamamoto looked stunned and backed down more easily than I had expected.

My heart ached just a little.

Because even though the way I did it was clearly wrong, his feelings for Mizutani were real, and my feelings for Mizutani were fake.

—Now is not the time to feel sorry for Yamamoto.

I hurriedly told myself so and left the classroom, still holding Mizutani’s hand.

We walked through the waves of people, and before I knew it, we were out of the school building.

After leaving the school gate, I let go of Mizutani’s hand when the number of students became sparse.

It was there that I realized for the first time that my hands were sweating.

“Sorry, Mizutani. My hands were sweating a lot, weren’t they? Umm, I’ll give you handkerchief—”

“It’s ok.”

“Huh?”

“I didn’t mind. It’s fine.”

“…ahh, I see.”

When I looked next to me, Mizutani was looking in the direction of the day after tomorrow and I couldn’t make out her expression.

However, judging from the tone of her voice, it did not sound like she was saying this out of consideration. I took out a handkerchief and used it to wipe my hands.

The air felt somewhat heavy, so I jokingly said,

“But I may not be able to go to school after tomorrow.”

“Why?”

“Mizutani’s admirers in the school will kill me.”

“Then I’ll protect Aizawa this time.”

“…I think that’s just going to make them want to kill me even more.”

“…they might.”

“Your voice is awfully realistic.”

“I’ve had similar experiences. I’ve been on the receiving end.”

“So you’ve been with someone before?”

When I probed, Mizutani finally turned to me.

It was her usual cool face.

“Do you want to know?”

“No, not really. I’m just asking as we speak.”

“…I’ve never been in a relationship. I’ve never liked anyone. I just had a boy who liked me. He was popular in class, so I was bullied by the other girls. He defended me, but that made the bullying…even worse.”

“…I see.”

That reminded me, she also said before that Satomi’s harassment “hasn’t been a big deal to me yet”. What I could see naturally from those words and what she was saying now is……yeah, let’s not get any deeper into this.

“…Hey, was that the right thing to do?”

I asked Mizutani as I put away my handkerchief.

“There’s no need for Aizawa to feel sorry for Yamamoto. I’ll never fall in love with him anyway.”

“…Is that how it is?”

“That’s the way it is.”

Was it what girls sometimes call “physiologically impossible”?

If so, as a guy, I felt a little sorry for Yamamoto.

If I were to think that the girl I liked thought it was physiologically impossible for me…

Well, considering how persistent he was, I think he deserved it.

“More importantly, I’m sorry, Aizawa. I caused you more trouble than I thought.”

Mizutani, straightening her posture, bowed her head to me.

It was like this happened two weeks ago. But that time—-

“At times like this, I guess a thank you would make me feel better.”

“…I see. Well, thank you.”

Mizutani looked up and smiled at me, her long hair flowing over her ears.

I looked away from Mizutani.

“I-I mean, do you think Yamamoto has given up now?”

“I don’t know…I don’t think so. He’s not a quitter.”

“You’re right…”

Judging from the way he looked at me earlier, he seemed to be in shock.

But if he was so understanding that he would give up after that, there would be no need for me to pretend to be Mizutani’s boyfriend in the first place.

“So I want Aizawa to pretend to be my boyfriend for a while longer…is that ok?”

“…yeah.”

To begin with, if I stopped acting as soon as we started dating, it would look from the side as if I dumped her or she dumped me as fast as possible. That probably wouldn’t be good for either of us.

After walking for a while, we came to the vending machine.

Mizutani pointed at the vending machine and said,

“Can I buy you a drink again?”

I wonder if it would be better to let her buy me a drink at a time like this with a good feeling.

Having been in contact with Mizutani since the other day, I had the feeling that she was somehow that type.

“Yeah, I’ll have a Pocarii today.”

“Understood.”

With a clatter, I heard the sound of a 500ml plastic bottle falling.

I took a bottle of Pocari and immediately put my mouth on it.

“Cold…”

‘It’s still April.”

“…that’s true.”

It was probably a little early in the season for sports drinks.