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
In the end, the next day, I still didn’t feel any better. There was nothing else I could do, so I just put on the same fake smile I always do and went on with my happy school day.
“I don’t know what I’m doing.”
I was in a bad mood. I was frustrated. But now I have no one I can complain to, no one I can vent my frustrations to. All I can do now is play the role of someone cheerful and popular and escape reality.
With the same smile as always, I continue to put on the mask of someone else, as if nothing had happened. …… At least that’s how I keep pushing myself until after school. After school, even if I was rejected, I would force my feelings on Sakaki and tell her I was going to break up with her and that would be the end of it all.
“Really, I don’t know what I’m doing.”
I muttered quietly and brought my consciousness back to reality. I was now at the ground for my afternoon PE class. I was thinking of skipping it because …… it was a hassle, to be honest, but the people around me were so enthusiastic about it that I had to join in with them.
“…… honestly, I don’t like ball games. Especially football. ……wait”
‘Ochicha, the ball’s going that way!’
I thought I heard a voice, but it was too late. I was in a daze, and the football hit me in the face.
“Oh, hey! Are you alright? Ochiha!”
Mori and the others rushed towards me with worried faces. I forced a smile and shook my head.
“Don’t worry, don’t worry. It’s no big deal…..”
“No, you said you were fine, but your nose is bleeding.”
“Eh? Oh, really …….”
The hand that was holding my face felt warm and unpleasant. …I thought that I hadn’t had a nosebleed since I was in elementary school, as if it were someone else’s problem.
“Anyway, I’ll call the teacher. Please be calm Ochiha!”
So after that, I had to borrow a towel from the PE teacher and head to the infirmary alone, holding my nose.
“Really, I don’t know what I’m doing.”
Fortunately, the nosebleed stopped immediately. But I can’t bring myself to go back to class now. I lied to the infirmary teacher that I wasn’t feeling well and decided to go straight to bed to rest for a bit.
“Go back to sleep until after school.”
After PE anyway, we only have Japanese and homeroom. That much skipping should be forgiven.
“…… Well, I can’t sleep.”
Yesterday, I didn’t get much sleep because I was using my tablet to reply to all the sns I’d accumulated. So today I should have been sleepy all morning, but when it came time to go to sleep, I couldn’t sleep at all.
“Well, no one’s coming to check on me.”
Well, after all, they are just friends. It’s not like we’re really close. …Or rather, before I knew it, even the teacher in the nurse’s room had gone somewhere.
The only sound is the ticking of the clock on the wall. The infirmary is enveloped in a cold silence.
“…… it’s getting ridiculous.”
Alone, I look up at the ceiling and exhale heavily.
I want someone. There is no need to be a doctor or a nurse. But in the end, no matter what I did, no one was interested in me…
“Umm ……are you okay?”
A voice echoed from outside the curtains that covered the area around my bed. I stop thinking and open the curtains.
There she is…..
“……Sakaki-san.”
Sakaki-san, still in her gym uniform, is looking at me with reserve. Could it be that she came because she was worried about me? I don’t think …… like that anymore.
“You came all the way here, didn’t you? Perhaps, did the class say something to you?”
I raise my body and twist my mouth. I straighten up and twist my mouth. Sakaki-san looked away from me and said.
“…..I heard from the boys that Sakashima-kun got hit by a football ball and got a nosebleed…”
“That’s why you came all the way here, thanks.”
Everyone in the class knows that Sakaki-san and I are dating. …I guess Mori-kun was worried about me again and told Sakaki-san to go check on me
“But I’m fine now, the nosebleeds have stopped.”
“I see. If that’s the case,……, I’m glad.”
“…………’”
For some reason, I feel like Sakaki-san’s attitude lacks the usual thorniness. …No, it’s probably just my imagination. Even if that’s not the case, it doesn’t matter anymore.
“But I never thought I would get injured playing football in PE. What would my dad say if he found out?”
“Dad ……?”
“Yes. My dad is a famous player. …… But I didn’t inherit the football talent, so it doesn’t matter. I was still told a lot of things in the past. ……”
When my father found out that I had no talent for football, he said he was going to coach a team somewhere overseas and left me. My mother was his escort, and now there is no one at home but me.
I’m not going to complain like a child now, because I’m still getting my living expenses and school fees paid.
“Rather than that, yesterday I was called out by that guy Sakaki-san”
“……! Is that true?”
The most important thing to remember is that you should never be afraid to ask for help. I laughed.
Sakaki-san’s eyes widened, as if surprised. I laughed.
“I can’t lie about something like this. Is it Miwa-kun? I was surprised because he told me all sorts of things, like asking me to break up with Sakaki-san and that I was threatening her and forcing herto date me.”
“Miwa-kun said such a thing …….”
Sakaki-san lowers his gaze. Do you feel sorry? Or do you just think it’s awkward for me to know that you and him were talking behind each other’s backs? …Sakaki-san doesn’t tell me anything, so I don’t know.
“I heard you guys are childhood friends? I somehow know that Sakaki-san and that guy are good friends. Sakaki-san, who wouldn’t even hold hands with me, seemed to get along well with him in various ways.”
“That’s …… different. That person and I are …….”
Sakaki-san fell silent again. As that man said yesterday, Sakaki-san doesn’t seem to be good at expressing her opinion.
“Well, it’s fine. I’m not going to say anything sarcastic now. I already know what Sakaki-san thinks about me.”
I told her to spit it out and turned to Sakaki-san. Sakaki-san kept her head down, not even bothering to look at me. …It’s definitely fine. There’s no reason for me to be the only one who continues to faithfully keep my promise after being made fun of like that and being ridiculed as a convenient keep…
“It’s enough.”
Looking up at the ceiling. The colourless ceiling of the infirmary. My head is foggy from lack of sleep, and I’m trapped in the illusion that the ceiling itself is falling down. Even if it is ……, it is only an illusion. It’s all an illusion that I’m loved, and I’m—
“……What are you doing, Sakaki san?”
Sakaki hugged me. I could feel the soft feel of her breasts through her gym clothes. The soft and warm body of a salt-friendly princess. The first time I touched Sakaki’s skin.
“I’m sorry.”
She said.
“…… what is it about?”
I say back, but …… Sakaki-san doesn’t answer me anything. I grit my teeth.
“Let me go, quit it. Don’t do that now. Do you think that if you press your body against me a little, I’ll go back to being a convenient keep?”
“No, I don’t. I’m—”
“Just let me go.”
I forcefully shake off Sakaki-san’s arm. She looked a little…hurt. My girlfriend, who had always rejected me, forcibly touched me and I rejected her, and…she seemed hurt.
……Oh, it’s really sickening.
I go on and try to put this chest pain into words, but as if to interrupt it, …… the chime rings, signalling the end of class.
I let out a big breath.
“Hey, Sakaki-san. Do you have time after school today? There’s something I’d like to talk to you about.”
“…… after school? I don’t mind …….”
“Then, come with me for a while. I’ll at least buy you a cup of coffee.”
“I’m…”
“Okay. Let’s both say what we want to say then. The next class is about to start, so Sakaki-san should get changed and go back to the classroom. I’m sorry, but I’m going to sleep a little longer, so please tell the teacher something. Please let me know properly.”
With that said, I avert my gaze from Sakaki-san, cover myself with the futon, and lie down.
“I understand…I’m sorry.”
Sakaki-san muttered a little and left the nurse’s room. All that remained was the cold silence and the stabbing pain in my chest.
“Really, I don’t know what I’m doing.”
I said something I shouldn’t have said. I couldn’t say what I should have said. My heart was pounding so loud, like it wasn’t my own.
“That’s fine. We said goodbye after school and that was it.”
I closed my eyes, trying to avoid the soft feeling that remained on my body.
-Maiban