The Salty Princess Told Me That I Was a ‘Convenient Keep’, so I Tested What Would Happen if I Introduced the Most Beautiful Girl at Another School as My Girlfriend
“─ ─ Sakashima Ochiha-kun. I like you.”
The words echoed in the quiet classroom. The cold, soft touch on my lips for a moment. The blood rushing to my head freezes in an instant. It was a dream-like reality with no sense of reality, so much so that I felt such an illusion.
The next thing I knew, I pulled my hand away from Miwa’s and gazed at Sakaki-san. Sakaki-san’s cheeks were slightly reddish, and she looked at me not with her usual cold gaze ……, but with an expression as if she was forcibly swallowing her embarrassment.
“Why ……?”
All that flowed from my mouth were such meaningless words. There should be something else to say, but the words just don’t come to mind. I just felt my heart pounding loudly as if it belonged to someone else.
“W-What are you doing, Saori?….”
Miwa-kun muttered, stunned. He slowly walks over to Sakaki san, looking much more agitated than when I was holding him by the chest.
“Saori, did you just say you like this man ……? Moreover, you even kissed …… this man.”
“If I didn’t, you guys wouldn’t trust my word, would you?”
“That’s ……”
Miwa-kun couldn’t say anything, but turned his attention to Sakaki’s fans behind him, as if asking for help.
“………”
However, are the male fans also upset? They just looked at each other with wide eyes and didn’t say anything.
……No, no. The leader of the group is a lot calmer than the rest of us, he said in a trembling voice.
“S-Sakaki san. That was …… a lie, wasn’t it ……? that man had a weakness for you, and that’s why you did that …….”
“Oh, that’s right! Sakaki-san, we’re on your side! That’s why someone like this—“
“Enough!”
Sakaki san shouted. Her voice was not particularly loud, but it was filled with strong emotion.
If Sakaki san, who was supposed to be who their protecting, raised such a voice, they would not be able to say anything.
“I’m not going to let you people decide how I feel without my permission! I’m sick and tired of it …… ! I’m sick of you making Sakashima-kun look so sad …….
Do you think that will make me happy!? If you are going to cause him any more trouble, I will never forgive you people!”
“……!”
The men were frightened. Sakaki-san was angry. More seriously than I had ever seen her, she was …… angry.
“Let’s …… go, shall we? Sakashima-kun, you don’t have to deal with these people.”
Sakaki-san grabbed my arm. It was different from the last time she grabbed my arm at the station. It was not as if she was clinging to me, but she grabbed my arm with her own will. So I started to walk away as Sakaki-san pulled me along, but as if to stop us, a voice sounded from behind.
“Wait, Saori! Do you really …… like that guy? You saw it too, didn’t you? You saw him grab me by the chest! That man is violent and irresponsible! I’m much …… better than that man! I am athletic and studious.
I am tall and good looking. Above all, I have been by your …… side for a long time! So, why ……?”
Miwa’s voice was trembling. Sakaki san turned around and said in a quiet voice that was a complete change from before.
“…I don’t think you understand. You just want to use me to prove your worth….No, I can’t say for sure. But at least that’s how it seemed to me.”
“No, it doesn’t! I am thinking of you! I love you far more than that irresponsible man!”
“It’s not me you love. You just don’t realize it ……. You are …… no, you are just projecting your ideals onto me and not seeing the real me.”
“No, I am not! No! Don’t put me in the company of these people! I am thinking about you…”
“But you don’t believe me when I say that I love him. You believe your words in your own head more than you believe my words out of my own mouth.”
“That’s ……”
Miwa-kun says nothing and lowers his gaze. The men, too, were perhaps struck by Sakaki san’s words, and looked away as if to run away.
“I’m not a doll to make your ideals come true. I like him…and sometimes I want to kiss him. If you guys really say you love me, … Please respect the thoughts of mine”
“That’s …… a lie, Saori. Such words are not like you. You were a timid child who couldn’t make any decisions on your own, weren’t you? ……Yes, that’s right. You are the one who sees in him an illusion that suits you! You are seeing a man you are not used to seeing, a man who is a different type of person than you are, and you are seeing illusions that are not there! It’s like seeing a delinquent being nice to a kitten and saying he’s a nice guy! That is not kindness!”
“Then how is that kindness on your part?”
“……!”
Miwa-kun can’t say anything again. Sakaki-san looks down at Miwa-kun with cold eyes.
“It’s enough. I have nothing more to say to you guys. ……I’m angry. Sakashima-kun, you made me look so bitter. …… You did such a terrible thing to him. ……”
“That’s not true! That’s because he…”
“No, it’s not!”
Sakaki-san says that and screams with the most angry expression I’ve ever seen.
“Miwa-kun and the people in the back there! The next time you do something bad to Sakashima-kun, I won’t forgive you anymore! Please don’t forget that!”
Saying this, Sakaki-san grabs my arm and walks out of the classroom. Neither Miwa nor her fans could hold her back anymore.
And after walking in silence for a while, we come back to our usual classroom. There was no one in the classroom, just the two of us, me and Sakaki-san. Sakaki-san finally let go of my hand and bowed her head with an apologetic expression.
“….. I’m sorry for doing something selfish.”
“No, you don’t have to apologize. I’d rather …… thank you. It helped.”
I think about it now, I was so mad just now. I knew I had passed a familiar face on my way there, but I was about to cause a problem.
“No, it was my fault to begin with. Besides,…… I suddenly did all that,…….”
Sakaki’s cheeks turn red. I too remember the soft touch from earlier, and my cheeks get hot.
“…Um, Sakaki-san…did you do that to help me? Or…”
“I’m serious. If It’s a lie. I won’t kiss you. But I’m sorry. I did something like that without your consent, I’m really sorry.”
“No, that’s ……”
What is that? I can’t say that it’s a good thing to suddenly kiss someone without their consent. …But that doesn’t mean I didn’t like it. My heart just hurts and I don’t know what to say.
Sakaki san exhaled as if to remove the heat from her body and looked straight at me.
“I don’t think that anything like that will ever forgive me for what I did. I also don’t think that just because we kissed, Sakashima-kun will magically fall in love with me.”
“……….”
I can’t say anything. A pleasant spring breeze blows in through the open window. Sakaki san’s beautiful black hair sways in the wind.
She continues to speak quietly.
“I have done many terrible things to you. I have hurt you …… a lot. So I have no right to blame them. But I like …… you. I like…… you, so I couldn’t stand to see you hurt.”
“…… me, did I look hurt? I thought I was just angry,…….”
“Everyone who is angry is hurt in some way. At least to me, it looked like you were …… hurt.”
“…… I see.”
Then was the reason Sakaki-san was angry earlier because she was hurt too? Seeing me hurt, Sakaki san was hurt too.
So she kissed me …….
“………..”
I touch my own lips. There is no longer any body heat left in. Even though I know that, my heart still hurts.
“So, Sakaki-san, about the confession you just made…..”
I swallowed my embarrassment and looked at Sakaki-san. But Sakaki san shook her head.
“I don’t need an answer right now. I know how you are going to answer. I’m not lying about my feelings, …… though. I want you to understand that much …….”
“………….”
It feels kind of strange. It’s not that I don’t particularly like it. It was my first kiss, but now I’m not sure if we actually touched. But… it’s not that I didn’t like it.
It’s just that …… so many things have happened and my brain is still a mess. she kissed me and told me she liked me, after we had just broken up and she wouldn’t even let me hold her hand. A month ago I would have been jumping for joy.
…… But now that we’ve broken up, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do …… if she says something like that.
“Shall we go home for the day then?”
I guess Sakaki-san was concerned about my silence, because she turns her head away from me and grabs her bag from her seat. So I grab my bag and start walking away.
Shall we go home together? I stop and look at Sakaki-san, not knowing whether I should say that
“Ah.”
“………….”
Sakaki-san was also looking at me. The eyes meet. I don’t know why, but my heart aches again.
“…………”
“………..”
Neither of us could say anything, so we just stared at each other in silence for a while. …I can’t help but be drawn to Sakaki-san’s beautiful pink lips.
“…..Hey, Sakaki-san.”
“………What is it?”
” …… sorry, nothing.
Shall we go home now?”
“……Yes, that’s right. Shall we go home?”
We both grabbed our bags and walked out of the classroom.
“Let’s do our best in the sports festival.”
Sakaki-san said something like that in a small voice.
“I guess so. Let’s do our best.”
So I replied with the usual words.
Then we walked to the station together, neither of us saying a word. My house is within walking distance, so there was no need to go to the station, but somehow we ended up going there.
Then, when we parted. At the place where Sakaki san had clung to me the other day, she looked straight at me and said
“…..I’ll wait for you. I’ll always be waiting for you. So, one day,…… please tell me how you feel.”
“I …… understand. I promise.”
“Thank you. …… then I’ll be off.”
Sakaki-san waved her hand cutely and then ran towards the platform. I couldn’t move until I couldn’t see her anymore.
“….I don’t know what I’m doing.”
As I looked up at the sky that was beginning to set, I murmured that in the end. …Even so, the soft feeling that remained on my lips didn’t go away.
-Maiban