The Salty Princess Told Me That I Was a โConvenient Keepโ, so I Tested What Would Happen if I Introduced the Most Beautiful Girl at Another School as My Girlfriend
There was no mistaking her. She has waist-length glossy black hair and pure white skin that seems to have rejected the sunlight. And her eyes are long and cold.
The person standing at the entrance is undoubtedly the โ salty princess,โ Sakaki Saori.
โWhy is Sakaki-san coming to โฆโฆ my house? What’s more, it’s โฆโฆ this time of night.โ
I think I told you the location of my house on โฆโฆ some time ago. But there was no reason for Sakaki-san to come to my house.
“I’m sorry it’s so late at night. I have a few โฆโฆ things I wanted to talk to you about. โฆโฆโ
Sakaki-san opens her mouth. I held down my chest, which was heaving in a different way than before, and said in as flat a voice as I could.
โI’m sorry, but I have a guest here right now, so I’m โฆโฆ going to ask you to leave.โ
“That’s โฆโฆ sorry to bother you. But there’s something I need to talk to you about regarding your smartphone.โ
โMy โฆโฆ smartphone?โ
How did Sakaki-san know about it? I’m sure I haven’t even told Sakaki-san that I lost my smartphone,โฆโฆ, but well, I was sitting next to her looking for my smartphone, so it’s not surprising that she noticed.
And since that Sakaki-san went all the way to my house to visit me, it must have been something more than that.
“โฆโฆโฆโ
Frankly, I’m curious about what she’s talking about. But I didn’t want โฆโฆ to bring her up to the house and run into Koga-san right here and now.
There’s no reason to call me cheating now, but I don’t want to get into an argument in front of Koga-san.
ใ
“I’m sorry, but I still can’t do it right now.”
I said this and tried to get Sakaki to leave, but she interrupted me and pointed something at the camera.
It was โฆโฆ
โโฆโฆ eh? My โฆโฆ phone.โ
โฆโฆ No, no. What Sakaki-san is holding in her hand is the cover of my smartphone. No one uses a fancy bright red smartphone cover like that except me.
“โฆ. you brought it all the way here to give it to me?”
“Yes, I did. I’d like to give you this one at least,โฆโฆ.โ
Why does Sakaki-san have my phone cover? I knew it โฆโฆ there was something related to her?
โโฆโฆโฆโฆโ
I can’t ask her to leave it in the mailbox after having it delivered to my house. But now I am home, and Koga-san is there. It’s โฆโฆ not a good idea to let Sakaki-san come home under these circumstances.
โYou’ve been talking for quite a long time, who’s your guest?”
Koga-san, who had somehow come close to me, peeks over my back at the monitor.
โโฆโฆ eh? A girl โฆโฆ.โ
Then, her eyes widen when she sees Sakaki-san’s image on the camera. I turned my back to the monitor as if to deceive her and said,
“This person is not so much a friend as a โฆโฆ classmate. She’s the โฆโฆ person who came to deliver the cover of my phone that I dropped.”
“Oh, I see. really? Then, why don’t you ask her to come up? I don’t really mind you knowโฆโฆ.”
โReally? โฆโฆwait, Koga-san.
Don’t pinch โฆโฆ my back, it hurts. It hurts.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I was unconscious. I was โฆโฆ unconscious.โ
Koga san immediately removed her hand from my back and went back to the sofa. I told Sakaki san to wait for a moment and then went to open the front door.
“Really, I don’t know what I’m doing.โ
I swallow a sigh and open the front door. There she was, as expected, โฆโฆ Sakaki-san.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for interrupting you out of the blue. But โฆโฆ thought it would be best to get it to you as soon as possible. โฆโฆโ
“I’m glad you got it to me. Thank youโฆโฆ.โ
I receive the cover of my phone from Sakaki-san. I wonder if this is the reason why โฆโฆ Sakaki-san tried to reach out to me today. If I had listened to her a little more, it wouldn’t have been such a hassle.
โฆโฆI should reflect on this a little.
“I’ll at least make you some tea. Or is it already late and I should thank you later?โ
“No, no need to thank me. I just came to deliver the phone cover.”
Sakaki-san averts her gaze, as if to shy away. โฆFrom the front, her attitude was unbelievably arrogant. Maybe something happened to Sakaki-san just like I was reunited with Koga-san?
“Well, thanks anyway. โฆโฆ helped me out a lot.โ
“No, it was my fault to begin with. Well, I will leave you now.โ
It seems that Sakaki-san is planning to go home. From my point of view, that’s a blessing, but it would be rude to have her deliver it and then turn her away.
ใ
โฆโฆWell, maybe there is no need for me to worry about that to Sakaki-san after all this time. I’m curious as to why Sakaki-san had my phone cover, but it’s already late and it would be annoying to keep her back.
As I was mulling these thoughts over in my head, I heard a voice from behind me.
“Nice to meet you, my name is Koga Kotone. I’m Ochiha-kun’s childhood friend, and I’ve been visiting his house for a while now. Are you by any chance Ochiha-kun’s friend?”
Koga-san, still in her light clothes, leans toward me and looks at Sakaki-san. For a moment, Sakaki san looks surprised, but soon returns to her usual cold expression.
“Nice to meet you. I am Sakaki Saori, Sakashima-kun’s classmate. I’m โฆโฆ sorry for interrupting your fun. I’ll be leaving soon. โฆโฆ”
“Is that so?โฆIn that case, why don’t you give her a lift? It’s already late and it might be dangerous for the girl to be alone.”
โNo, Iโฆ”
“I’ll be fine. I’ll wait for you here. So, when you get back, โฆโฆ let’s continue where we left off, okay? I want Ochiha-kun to touch me โฆโฆ a little more.”
Koga-san hugs my arm as if to show off. I can feel her warm body temperature through her soft chest.
“โฆI see that you two are very good friends.”
Sakaki-san murmured in a small voice. A little lost for an answer, I open my mouth.
“Yes, we are. We are good friends. I’m sure that โฆโฆ doesn’t matter to you, does it?”
“Yes,โฆโฆ it is.โ
Sakaki-san looks as if she is hurt and lowers her gaze.
โฆโฆWhy does she have such a look on her face now? She is supposed to think of me as nothing more than a convenient keep, so why is she making such a โฆโฆ expression now?
“โฆ.No, that’s okay. I’m sure Sakaki san’s house is far from here, right?”
“About three stations away”
“I’ll walk you to the station.”
“No, you don’t have to do that. โฆโฆ”
“Okay. If you get involved in any kind of incident on the way home, I’ll be in trouble. โฆBesides, I want to talk to you about what I couldn’t talk about yesterday.”
Sakaki-san looked troubled, then said in a small voice, โThen, please โฆโฆ.”
“I’m sorry, Koga-san, but could you wait here for a moment? I’ll get you some pudding or ice cream as a souvenir.”
โOkay. โฆโฆ, but if you’re too late, I’ll go through Ochiha-kun’s room and stuff, okay?โ
Koga-san smiles slightly and returns to the living room. โฆI’ll have to tell Koga-san about Sakaki-san when I get home, I thought as I put on my shoes and left the house.
ใ
The street lights are shining brightly in the nighttime. It is a familiar nighttime town. I and Sakaki-san start walking, keeping a little distance from each other.
“How did you know where I live?”
I opened my mouth without looking at Sakaki-san.
“I remembered you telling me about it before โฆโฆ.”
Sakaki-san replies in the same matter-of-fact voice she always uses. She then turns to me and bows her head.
“I’m sorry I stood up for our appointment yesterday.”
โโฆโฆIt’s okay, that’s all right. It’s over and done with.”
“That still doesn’t โฆโฆ mean it didn’t happen.”
“I’m sorry โฆโฆ for saying those terrible things today, too. I was a little emotional.”
โNo, it’s not your fault, Sakashima-kun.”
โโฆโฆโฆโฆโ
“โฆโฆโฆ..”
Silence for a while. The cold night breeze caressed my cheeks. I put my hands in my pockets and look at Sakaki-san.
“So, why was Sakaki-san holding my phone cover?”
“That’s โฆโฆ I picked it up yesterday after school.”
“Did you pick it up?”
“YesโฆโฆAfter school, I went to the infirmary to check on Sakashima-kun.
But Sakashima-kun was sleeping comfortably,โฆโฆ. And so I was going to go back to the classroom, but on the way there, I heard voices coming from an empty classroom.”
“โฆโฆโฆ.โ
I silently urged her on. Sakaki-san continued to speak in an indifferent manner.
“I thought it sounded suspicious, so I listened in, and it seemed that those people were struggling over whether or not to return โฆโฆ your phone to you.”
I knew someone had stolen it. That’s why I couldn’t find it no matter how hard I looked for it.
โApparently, those people are like my โฆโฆ fans. They stole Sakashima-kun’s phone and said they were going to find evidence of Sakashima-kun’s affair.”
“Evidence of an affair, huh? That’s nonsense.โ
โโฆโฆ Yes. When I called out to them, they were surprised and ran away. I chased after them, but I couldn’t catch up โฆโฆ”
“โฆโฆโฆ”
Maybe in the meantime, I woke up and went back to the classroom. So, I mistakenly thought I had been stood up and took it out on her
“โฆ. really, I don’t know what I’m doing.โ
I let out a small breath. Sakaki-san continued to speak.
โAfter all, I couldn’t catch up with them, so I gave up and went back to the empty classroom. Then I found only a phone cover there, โฆโฆ. I went to your house hoping to at least give you that. I โฆโฆ got a little lost, though.โ
“I’m sorry I bothered you, thank you.โ
“No, it was no big deal. If I knew their names, I could have done more โฆโฆ. I could have taken a picture, or told the teacher, or something, but I couldn’tโฆ.”
“No, thanks. Thank you. I’m sorry you had to go through all that.”
I think it would be better to think a little more about how to deal with those people. I’ve gotten into trouble a few times before, but this is the first time someone has tried to steal my smartphone from me. โฆAs expected, I can’t keep quiet about it now.
“โฆ..can I ask you one question too?โ
Saying that, Sakaki-san looks at me. After all, that didn’t look like her, she looked worried. โฆI put on my usual smile, trying to hide my inner feelings.
“Hmm, what? Ask me anything.”
“Thatโฆ that person from earlierโฆ was very, very cute. You seemed to be veryโฆ close to each other. What kind ofโฆ relationship do you have?”
“Ah, about Koga-san. Koga-san and I are childhood friends. However, we haven’t seen each other for over five years. We met by chance the other day, andโฆ”
So what is it? I still think of her as friend, but I can’t say that I don’t consider her to be of the opposite genderโฆ If Sakaki-san hadn’t come to visit us, I’d be with Koga-san by nowโฆ
โAre you dating โฆโฆ by any chance?โ
“No, I am not. I just met Koga-san again.”
“Is that soโฆโฆ?โ
Sakaki-san lets out a breath of relief. If it were me a while ago, I would have misunderstood this attitude. However, despite all that, the result was a convenient keep.
“I really don’t know what I’m doing.”
I look up at the sky. The chipped moon is looking down at us. โฆโฆ No, The moon never changes, it always faces the same way and just stares at you.
I look up at the sky and open my mouth.
โI was in love with you, Sakaki-san.”
“โฆ..Eh?โ
My sudden words made Sakaki-san stop and look at me in surprise. I also stopped and looked at her
“Well, I confessed to you, and I’ve said similar things to you many times, so it may be too late. But I really liked โฆโฆ you.โ
“โฆโฆโฆ.โ
Sakaki-san doesn’t say anything. The sound of car horns can be heard from a distance. A man’s self-mocking voice echoes in the quiet night.
“I wanted to see your smile. I wanted to touch you just once. I promised you that I would protect you,โฆโฆ and I was so happy, it was like I was the hero of a story.โ
But in the end, Sakaki san never looked at me once. I was hurt when she said I was a convenient keep, and I wanted to โฆโฆ cry when I saw her befriending a man I didn’t know.
I thought I was the main character, but from Sakaki-san’s perspective, I was just another mobster.
“But I was only thinking of my convenience. I was only thinking about me and not about how you feel about me. If a flashy blonde guy like me came on to you, you would have been too scared to say no.โ
โThat’sโฆ.”
Sakaki-san also closes her mouth in the middle of his words. I โฆโฆ laugh.
“Honestly, from my point of view, Miwa-kun is nothing but an annoying and troublesome man. But I’m sure he’s an important childhood friend to Sakaki-san. He thought I did something terrible to you, butโฆ From your point of view, you may think that I’ve been doing terrible things to you for a long time.”
I’m sure I’m not the only one who thought I was lacking.
โSo, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I hit you in various ways.”
“You don’t โฆโฆ need to apologize. I don’t โฆโฆ really. I’d ratherโฆyou โฆโฆ.โ
Sakaki-san reaches out her hand toward me. For the first time, she was willing to touch me. This is different from when she hugged me the other day. I saw it as Sakaki san’s โฆโฆ favor.
โโฆโฆAh.โ
โฆโฆ but I shook my head.
“I feel bad for not thinking about Sakaki-san’s feelings. But, I don’t want to be your ‘convenient keep’ forever either. โฆ I’m tired of that kind of thing. That’s why. โฆSakaki-san”
Exhale. My chest hurt. It hurts, it hurts, and my weak self thrashes inside my chest. โฆBut it’s okay. It hurts and hurts and I want to cry, but that’s why there is meaning in words.
I said with a small smile.
โ—-Let’s break up”
ใ
-Maiban