I Thought She Was the One, but It Turned Out to Be a Fake Confession, so I Decided to Break Up With Her
โKotone, just because itโs summer vacationโno, precisely because itโs summer vacationโyou must never let your guard down.โ
โYes, Mother.โ
โIn fact, you should work even harder than everyone else during summer vacation. Iโm going to hire a tutor who graduated from the University of Tokyo for you, so listen carefully to what he says and maintain your current grades. Do you understand?โ
โYes, Mother.โ
At the Shimazaki familyโs dinner table.
Kotone responded mechanically to the words of Asami, her mother and the head of the household.
The meal was a traditional Japanese spread made entirely of fresh, high-quality ingredients, but she could taste nothing on her tongue.
โBy the way, Kotone, youโve been going out a lot lately. What have you been up to?โ
โโฆJust hanging out with friends.โ
โReally, just friends? You havenโt gotten a boyfriend, have you?โ
At Asamiโs words, Kotone paused with her chopsticks for a moment.
But she quickly brought the food to her mouth, careful not to let her unease show.
โNo. I donโt have a boyfriendโฆโ
โIs that so? Well, thatโs fine then.โ
Asami scrutinized her daughter closely.
Under that sweeping gaze that seemed to take in her entire body, Kotone couldnโt hide her nervousness.
Asamiโs intuition was so sharp that she didnโt miss even the slightest change.
โKotone, I understand that you canโt stop yourself from falling for someone. So, I donโt intend to deny that.โ
โYesโฆโ
โBut you know, I wonโt tolerate you playing with fire to an extreme degree. You understand, donโt you? The fact that most high school couples donโt last long.โ
โYes, of courseโฆโ
Asami set down her chopsticks and stared intently into Kotoneโs eyes.
โA womanโs virginity has a fundamentally different value than a manโs.โ
โUmโฆ what do you mean by thatโฆ?โ
โIt means the caliber of the prospective husband I choose for you will be higher. Donโt make a split-second mistake that could lower your own value.โ
โP-prospective husband?โ
To Kotone, a high school student, marriage seemed like something far off in the future.
Yet Asami spoke of it as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Moreover, she spoke on the premise that Asamiโnot Kotone herselfโwould choose Kotoneโs marriage partner.
โIโll find you a partner worthy of the next head of the family. You have nothing to worry about. I have no intention of repeating the same mistakes.โ
Asami paused and gazed at her daughter.
โKotone, youโre different from me. Youโll be marrying the son of a distinguished family. Iโve already worked everything out with them.โ
โT-Thatโs so arbitraryโฆ!โ
โArbitrary?โ
โUghโฆโ
Faced with Asamiโs glare, Kotoneโs urge to protest shriveled up in an instant.
She couldnโt say a word in response.
All Kotone could do was refuse to say โYes.โ
(Fujimori-kunโฆโฆ)
Because of her motherโs strict upbringing, Kotone was a naive girl who didnโt even know the things any ordinary high school student would naturally know.
Amusement parks, street food, fireworks, arcades, family restaurants, buses and trains, convenience stores, karaokeโDaiki taught her all of these things.
It was precisely because she was able to show her classmates that she, too, was a normal high school girl that she was able to make friends besides Hina.
(Iโm sick of this houseโฆ)
Whenever she felt like she was being treated as a tool for the family, the only face that came to Kotoneโs mind was Daikiโs.
ใโโ
After finishing volleyball practice, Hina Honjo didnโt go straight home; instead, she headed to the back of the gym.
Misaki Honjo, Hinaโs cousin and the volleyball club advisor, was crouched down smoking a cigarette.
โOh, Iโve spotted a delinquent teacher!โ
When Hina called out to her jokingly, Misaki chuckled.
โI donโt want to hear that from a student whoโs having an inappropriate romantic relationship~โ
โWeโre pure, though~โ
โโฆโฆSetting aside everything else, being his second girlfriend means youโre definitely not pure at all.โ
Hina crouched down next to Misaki, who looked conflicted.
The fact that Hina had suddenly dyed her hair and changed her style of casual clothes was clearly due to Daikiโs influence.
Misaki knew this without even asking directly.
โDonโt let guys influence you too much, Hina.โ
โItโs not like Iโm being influenced. If anything, Daikiโs the one being influenced by me.โ
โThat might be true, or it might not beโฆโ
Misaki dropped her cigarette butt into her portable ashtray and took out a pack of cigarettes.
Just as she was about to take out a second oneโshe realized it was the last one.
โBecause of you, Hina, my cigarette expenses have been piling up lately.โ
โWhy donโt you just quit?โ
โIf I could control it, they wouldnโt call it an addictive substance, would they? Itโs the same as how you canโt stop yourself from liking Daiki.โ
โNow that you mention it, I get what you mean~โ
Hina watched intently from beside her as Misaki lit her last cigarette.
โBy the way, Misaki nee, how did you start smoking? As far as I know, you didnโt smoke at all until high school.โ
โโฆWhen I was in college, my boyfriend taught me how, just on a whim.โ
โWhat? So youโve totally been influenced by guys, Misaki.โ
โThatโs exactly why Iโm warning you not to end up like me.โ
Hina grinned.
Even though they were cousins, perhaps because they were related by blood, having their lives thrown into disarray by menโmaybe that was the one thing they had in common.
Misaki exhaled a long stream of cigarette smoke.
โSpeaking of which, Hina, are you using birth control properly?โ
โYeah, of course. Iโm already taking the pill to control my period for the competition, anyway.โ
โOh, thatโs rightโฆโ
So that means sheโs not using โthat other thingโ she usually relies on.
Misaki knows that the pill has a higher success rate for birth control.
โฆStill, in many ways, Hina is bolder than sheโd imagined.
โWell, if itโs Fujimori-kunโs family, even if something were to happen, heโd definitely take responsibility, right?โ
โHuh? What do you mean by that?โ
Hina also has a vague sense that Daikiโs family is quite wealthy.
The place he lives in is on the top floor of a luxury apartment building.
Itโs spacious enough for six people to live comfortably.
Since theyโve given him a place like that for him to live on his own, even without hearing it directly from him, she canโt help but sense his parentsโ financial standing.
โOhโฆ It seems you havenโt heard this directly from Fujimori-kun.โ
โWhatโs that supposed to mean? Iโm super curious.โ
โBut I donโt know the details either. I donโt know the details, butโฆ Iโm not Fujimori-kunโs homeroom teacher, and I hardly know anything about him, so I did a little digging.โ
โWhy would you go out of your way to do that?โ
โWell, thatโsโฆโ
Misaki doesnโt particularly doubt Daikiโs character either.
Itโs just that, since Hinaโwhoโs like a real younger sister to herโis trying so hard to stay by Daikiโs side that sheโs even calling herself his โsecond girlfriend,โ Misaki simply wanted to know a little more about what kind of person Daiki really is.
โAnyway, as soon as I started digging around a bit, I got summoned directly by the chairman.โ
โHuh? By the chairman?โ
โI think you know this too, Hina, but our chairman is usually a pretty calm person, right? But he spoke to me with the utmost seriousness.โ
Misaki gazed at Hina as she continued.
โHe told me, โDonโt go messing with a prestigious family that even the Shimazaki family canโt hold a candle to.โโ
The Shimazaki family wields immense influence in this region.
The chairman of this academy is also from a branch of the Shimazaki family.
Yet Misaki couldnโt even imagine a family of much higher standing than the Shimazakis.
But Hina just smiled.
โOh, really? So if things go well, I could end up marrying into a family of that high standing? Whatโs that? Daikiโs a total catch, isnโt he? I knew my eye for men was spot-on!โ
โโฆโฆโ
Misaki had never felt so distant from Hinaโwho was practically like a younger sister to herโas she did today.
Maigetesu