Chapter 24: CH 24

I misjudged you, Akito!

Translated by Dawn

I misjudged you, Akito!

The next morning.

I was heading for Nagayama station with my English vocabulary book in hand.

As I approached the station, I put the vocabulary book away.

As usual, Mizutani was waiting for me, leaning against a station pillar.

We exchanged a “good morning” greeting, and Mizutani immediately noticed my hair.

“What’s with the hair?”

“…Is it weird?”

“No, it’s not weird. Rather…”

“Rather?”

“…it’s nothing.”

Mizutani shook her head.

I followed her as she started to walk away, saying, “Come on, we’ll be late if we don’t hurry.”

We took the stairs to the platform and boarded the train that had just arrived.

Since the train was heading toward the end of the line, it was relatively empty, even though it was morning.

I wondered if I should take out my vocabulary book and study again, but I decided not to because Mizutani was there.

…I had been wondering since then whether I should tell Mizutani about yesterday.

Mizutani would probably feel responsible if she heard about the match.

Even if I insisted that it was my own responsibility to accept the match.

Then, I thought it would be better to compete and win without telling Mizutani.

I didn’t want to worry her.

Besides, if I were to talk about my match with Yamamoto, I would inevitably have to tell her about my time out with Satomi. I was not Mizutani’s real boyfriend, so it wasn’t like I did anything wrong…but for some reason, I feel a little guilty about it.

If I had felt this way, I probably should not have gone out with Satomi in the first place.

I didn’t think that far ahead at the time.

“Oh, that’s right. Sorry, Aizawa. I can’t attend the after-school meeting today.”

Mizutani’s voice brought me back to reality.

Come to think of it, there was such a thing as a meeting.

I heard that the entire class committee gathered together several times a year to discuss everything.

What did they discuss?

I didn’t know much about that, but it probably wasn’t anything important.

“Piano?”

I asked, and Mizutani nodded.

She answered shortly, “Yes,” and soon moved on to another topic.

We ended up having a trivial conversation on the train.

Without revealing what happened yesterday, we got off the train at the station closest to the school.

I guess everyone had gotten used to the sight of me walking next to Mizutani in less than a month, and I didn’t feel their eyes on me as much as I had in the past.

However, the classroom was a different story.

After a moment of silence when my classmates saw me and Mizutani enter the classroom, the noise gradually grew louder. Some of them were still glancing at us and whispering.

““…..?””

I hadn’t felt this kind of atmosphere since the day we started going to school together.

Mizutani and I looked at each other and tilted our heads.

*****

After third-period math.

As I was absentmindedly ruminating in my mind about the first-order independence of vectors, the door diagonally in front of me suddenly rattled open. Shuji walked in with a loud thumping sound and slammed on my desk.

“I misjudged you, Akito!”

“…Sorry, what are you talking about?”

“What am I talking about…Put your hands on your chest and think about it!”

Shuji was so fierce that I meekly followed his instructions.

I put my hand on my chest, closed my eyes, and thought.

…Yeah, I seriously have no idea.

“I still have no idea.”

“…Okay, you’re only going to play dumb. Well, I’ll say it myself. Akito, you’re…two-timing.”

“…What?”

Wait a minute, what kind of…ah, is it that?

How did I miss something so crucial?

The only people who knew that my relationship with Mizutani was fake were me, Mizutani, and, incidentally, Ogura.

In other words, to the people around me, I was without a doubt Mizutani’s boyfriend.

If I went out with Satomi and someone saw me there…it was only natural that someone other than Yamamoto would think it was “that kind of thing”

Now I knew why there was a strange atmosphere when I entered the classroom in the morning.

It was probably because Mizutani and I entered the classroom at the exact time when they were talking about that to each other.

When I looked at Mizutani’s seat behind the window, she did not seem to be there at the moment.

I shifted my eyes to the center of the classroom, and my eyes met Satomi’s.

Satomi looked awkwardly at me.

Immediately after, the phone in my pocket vibrated.

I looked and saw it was LIME from Satomi.

I sighed inside and put away my phone and turned to Shuji.

“From the looks of it, you seem to know what I’m talking about.”

Shuji looked down at me with his arms crossed.

I said quietly.

“Before you make that assumption, listen to me for a moment. Shuji.”

“…Well, you are my best friend. Let’s at least hear your excuse.”

The good thing about Shuji was that he could listen to what the other person had to say, even when he was angry.

I told him all the reasons why I had decided to go out with Satomi, keeping the part about lying about dating Mizutani to myself.

“…I see.”

After listening to the story, Shuji nodded gravely and uncrossed his arms.

This was a “Don’t lie to me!” situation. I wonder if I was going to be hit with a punch.

Just when I was ready to take the plunge.

“I knew it! I knew Akito would never two-timing her!”

Shuji said with a smile.

“…..”

This guy.

He was totally suspicious of me just a minute ago.

Shuji changed his attitude from earlier and said, “I’m glad I believed you, you know!” And he slapped me on the back with a lot of force. Ouch, ouch, ouch, you should know what it meant to be moderate.

Anyway, Shuji’s misunderstanding was cleared up.

Then Ogura came in through the diagonal door just like Shuji.

“I misjudged you, Aizawa-kun!”

I saw this scene just a few minutes ago. As expected of a couple.

“Hey, hey, Natsuki. You shouldn’t believe the rumors either. Akito is my best friend.”

“…..”

Weren’t you also believing the rumors…no, let’s stop.

I repeated the same explanation I had given to Shuji to Ogura, whose eyes were lifting in anger.

However, unlike Shuji, Ogura tilted her head somewhat unconvincingly.

“Umm, I don’t know the circumstances…but it’s true that you spent a whole day with Satomi-san, right?”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

“So, isn’t that still bad? I’m sure you’ve already explained it to Karin-chan, right?”

“No, I haven’t explained it yet…”

The color of Shuji and Ogura’s faces changed at my answer.

Shuji’s expression was pitying and Ogura’s was reproachful.

“Akito…you’re done.”

“Aizawa-kun, I won’t say anything bad, so you’d better explain right now. I’m sure Karin-chan is angry with you—-”

“I’m not.”

Suddenly, a voice came from the back side of the two.

Shuji and the others turned around and say, “…Mizutani,” and “…Karin-chan.”

Mizutani, who had approached them before they knew it, was smiling, a rare occurrence in the classroom.

“I don’t think anything of it, just because he went out with another girl once. I’ve been on many dates with Aizawa. Right, Aizawa?”

“Y-yeah.”

Many dates… a memory that didn’t exist.

But it was better to go along with Mizutani here.

I shook my head.

Mizutani said that much and returned to her seat.

As I gazed blankly at her back, Shuji said in a voice that Mizutani could not hear.

“Good for you, Akito. Mizutani, he’s not mad at you.”

“Shu-kun…that can’t be.”

Ogura breathed in exasperation and then turned to me again.

“I know Aizawa, you and the others have a lot on their minds…but I think it’s better to have a heart-to-heart talk with Karin-chan early on. People’s feelings change all the time.”

“I’m sorry, Natsuki. What are you talking about?”

Ignoring Shuji who tilted his head, Ogura stared at me with testing eyes.

Did people’s feelings change all the time…?

To be honest, I had no idea what Ogura was talking about.

But she was the only person in this school, or rather in this world, who was aware of the relationship between me and Mizutani. I felt that Ogura’s words contained some kind of significant meaning.

“Okay, I’ll talk with her later today.”

“…good.”

When I nodded, Ogura looked satisfied.

He pulled Shuji’s hand and turned to leave the classroom.

“Let’s end this conversation. It’s almost time for the chime to ring, so Shu-kun, let’s go back to the classroom.”

“Wa-wait a minute. You’re not explaining anything to me?”

“No, nothing.”

“Eh! That’s no way. I’m Akito’s best friend too, but you’re acting like the two of you understand each other. It’s so unfair.”

“I’ll teach you how to study today, Shu-kun. You don’t have club activities, do you?”

“For real!? Alright!”

Behind the door, Shuji and Ogura’s conversation faded into the distance.

Shuji was so easy. Ogura was Ogura, and she had him completely under her thumb.

…But I envy them a little now for their easy-to-understand relationship.

I looked over at Mizutani’s seat.

She leaned on her chin rest and looked out the window.

What was Mizutani thinking right now?

I had no idea.