My stepmother's burden is my ex-girlfriend.

Page 184

The unexpected turn of events wasn't over yet.

As Yasuda-senpai shook hands with Mizuto firmly, she suddenly leaned her face close to his.

Ah, airspace violation!

Shuidou's personal space radius is approximately 1.5 meters. This man, who even looks somewhat displeased while queuing at the supermarket checkout, couldn't possibly remain unperturbed by such overly intimate contact!

"I've heard about you before, but looking at you closely, you're really cute. You must be very popular with girls, right?"

Waaaaah! You can't tease him like that, senpai! That's the kind of thing Mizuto hates hearing!

Originally, I thought that to bring Mizuto into the executive committee circle, I needed to start with someone who wouldn't give up just because he wasn't friendly. But I didn't expect my senior to try and close the distance with him after only a few words. This might backfire; Mizuto will be even more unwilling to lower his guard.

"My senior spoke so highly of me."

Mizuto spoke gently, a faint smile on his face.

He gave a faint smile.

...and even gave me a faint smile?

"I'm bad with words, and I don't even have many friends. As for a girlfriend, I don't even dare to think about it."

"Really? But everyone's saying it's true. They say you're always with your girlfriend, and they're so sweet together."

"That's just rumors. That guy is just one of my few friends. My sister is right here and can vouch for me."

They were actually chatting and laughing.

That guy was chatting and laughing with others, all smiles and friendly.

The impact of this scene was so great that when Yasuda-senpai said, "That girl in the rumors, is she really not my girlfriend? Yui, tell me the truth secretly!" I could only reply absentmindedly, "Um, probably..."

How could this be?

Could it be that people with a proactive and enthusiastic attitude are actually easier to talk to with Shui Tou? Come to think of it, it makes sense. Dong Tou is always both proactive and enthusiastic towards Shui Tou... Besides, when I first met him, I think I also tried my best to talk to him...

Although I once mistakenly thought that my cousin, Madoka, was his first love—a past mistake that proved my analysis completely inaccurate—his first impression on Yasuda-senpai was impeccable. Senpai was the life of the party among the executive committee members; winning her favor guaranteed him a place on the margins.

The fact that things were so simple made me realize I'd been nervous for nothing. We walked out of the meeting room with the whole bundle of posters. These posters were to be posted on bulletin boards throughout the school.

During this time, Yasuda-senpai continued to talk to Mizuto.

"Irito-kun, you're a good student, right? How do you manage to study so hard?"

"It's all last-minute cramming. I usually just copy notes."

"Cramming at the last minute and still getting second place in the whole grade? The IQ difference is too big."

At first, we just talked about broad topics using publicly available information, but gradually we started talking about privacy issues.

"Hey, let me ask you something! You and Yui aren't related by blood, right? What was your initial reaction? 'We're family now that we're with such a cute girl!'"

"I was startled because it happened so suddenly. Later, we could only try to adapt to our new lives, and nothing ambiguous happened."

"Really? Well, that's probably how real life is."

She's even better at chatting than I am.

I'm used to it now, but when I was first asked about living together, I didn't know how to answer. But this guy answered very naturally.

He's not incapable of communication; he just doesn't want to interact with people.

When we first started dating, his excellent communication skills helped me several times. So, thinking about it carefully, it's not surprising that he could chat amiably with senior students he had just met.

In fact, he and my mother got along very well from the very first time they met...

He probably already possessed this ability, and can easily demonstrate it whenever given the opportunity. If I had known this, I would have arranged opportunities for him sooner.

...Hmm? But didn't Senior Hong say there were "many difficulties"...?

"A little more to the right—"

"This way?"

"Yes, yes. It's all set!"

A question, like a thorn stuck in a corner of my mind, puzzled me greatly, but the process of posting the poster went smoothly.

After I finished pasting the stickers in two places, Yasuda-senpai came over and whispered something to me:

"(Yui, Yui.)"

"(What's up?)"

"(Your brother is always in a hurry to go home. I thought he was difficult to get along with, but after talking to him, I found out he's actually a well-behaved kid! Now I know why. But why does he always rush home?")

"(He was in a hurry to go back... I think it's because that female friend I mentioned earlier is very shy and seems unable to stay in class when it's in festival mode...)"

"(So he was worried his girlfriend would be lonely, so he went to keep her company? Wow! That's so sweet! My affection for him is skyrocketing!)"

...I already said she's a female friend, not a girlfriend.

Waaah... yeah, everyone thinks that way, right...?

"(We need to let him go as soon as possible! Let's get this done quickly!)"

"(OK……)"

Ignoring my own incompetence that was crushing me, Mizuto stared at his phone screen.

"You've worked hard! See you tomorrow!"

After posting the posters, we went back to the conference room to get our belongings and said goodbye to the other executive committee members and Senior Yasuda.

Mixed among the scattered executive committee members, I leaned over to look at Shuidou's face.

"You've worked hard. You and Yasuda-senpai seem to have a lot to talk about. I had no idea how nervous I was, afraid you'd suddenly say something rude."

Mizuto glanced at my face casually and said:

"My senior isn't like some person who speaks with a barb and likes to be sarcastic; it's much easier for her."

"...Your way of speaking isn't just used on me, is it?"

"And Kawabata."

Oh yeah, that makes sense... Well, it made me a little excited.

"It's a real shame I didn't take a picture of you chatting so amicably with that person. If I had shown it to Dongtou, she would have laughed her head off."

"Absolutely not. Either she'll use me to make fun of me for the rest of her life, or she'll be haunted by her own inferiority complex. That guy is really hard to deal with."

"You're not as difficult as me, are you?"

"It seems you have no idea how formidable a guy with no communication skills can be when he starts to get impolite."

Okay, okay, I got it. So you were talking about me too.

I struggled to keep a smile from creeping onto my face. Although he claimed that I wasn't the only one who was special... this kind of conversation, which we can only have after breaking up once, made me feel very comfortable right now.

"It's a shame we didn't film it. When you throw a tantrum, it's way more dramatic than Dongtou's—"

"Excuse me, could we pause for a moment?"

Shuidou gently waved his phone at me to show me.

It seems there's something urgent. The only person Mizuto would proactively contact is—

"Dongtou, classmate?"

"Hmm. Because it's a little later than we agreed on—"

Shuidou talked while scrolling through his phone, holding it to his ear.

I couldn't see his profile because his hand was blocking my view.

Therefore, I obviously couldn't continue making that joke.

Since it's about the late contact... well, there's nothing I can do about it. This matter is more important.

After a while, probably because Dongtou's classmate answered the phone, Shuidou spoke up:

"Hello? --"

I remained quiet and listened to Shuidou talking to Dongtou on his cell phone.

He only spoke for about ten seconds.

"Oh, um. I'll be there soon."

Mizuto took the phone away from his ear and ended the call.

Then he turned to me and said:

"I'm leaving now. I'll go somewhere else first before going home."

"Ah... um. Don't come back too late, it gets dark very quickly now..."

"Ok, I know."

After giving me a brief explanation, Mizuto quickly walked ahead. He must be heading to the library. That place has nothing to do with the cultural festival; it's a place where the students from the east end can relax.

If you just go home and wait for a while, you'll be able to see Shuidou again soon.

If there's anything else you want to talk to him about, you can do it later.

I should know this very well, but—

"etc!"

But I called out to him.

Shuidou stopped and turned to look at me.

"What's wrong?"

"That...is..."

Why did I call out to him?

I don't understand it myself, so I can only try to find something to say:

"Class...class uniforms! They should arrive tomorrow...!"

The slanting rays of the setting sun only stained half of Shuidou's face red, while the other half was obscured by shadows.

"Really? That makes me really excited."

With that one reply, Mizuto left.

I stared at the steps leading away from the water bucket for a long time.

It's been like this for a long time.

Since our relationship deteriorated into a cold war-like state, we've been mocking each other and testing each other's limits—we've been getting along like this for a long time.

This is who we are now.

I've started to like the current situation.

But—I don't know why.

It was exactly the same as usual.

We are still the same people I love.

Why did I feel a distance between myself and the water just now?

The six sentences I couldn't say back then in Volume 6: "I'm sorry."

When summer vacation ended, I went to the old spot and you were still there waiting for me.

This means that nothing of it is fake.

You and I became lovers, but a small thing caused friction between us, and we didn't see each other for the entire summer vacation—the feelings that once filled my heart a year ago have become so faint, and none of them were fake.

—Good morning, Irito-san.

--- Hmm. Good morning.

If only it were all fake.

If it's all just my delusions and fantasies... not reality... I might be able to tolerate myself like this.

But you are here.

After not seeing me for over a month, she took the initiative to greet me with "Good morning".