Chapter 9: Who Do You Want to Give Yourself Away To?

Chapter 9: Who Do You Want to Give Yourself Away To?

“W, why did Yatsuno-san suddenly come to my house?”

Under the streetlights of the dark night, long light dragged out both of their shadows.

The girl, whose head was slightly lowered, still felt somewhat guilty. She kept feeling that the makeup she had applied in a rush was not very good, though perhaps some flaws had been obvious from the beginning. There was no way he could not have guessed.

“Before, you called me Yatsuno-kun, didn’t you? Now I’m back to san.”

With both hands in his pockets, the young man still had that lazy, comfortable posture.

The girl said with a flushed face and embarrassed anger, “I never said that. You definitely heard wrong.”

Yatsuno Gen nodded thoughtfully.

“No helping it. I’m getting old, so my hearing isn’t very good.”

”Pfft.”

Kazama Sakura laughed softly and secretly glanced at Yatsuno Gen.

“Why are you pretending to be so mature? You really aren’t suited to saying such old-fashioned things.”

Yatsuno Gen shook his head.

“No choice. When I’m with Kazama-san, I always can’t help wanting to act like an adult.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Because Kazama-san always looks like someone who really needs to be taken care of.”

When Yatsuno Gen said that so casually, Kazama Sakura clearly heard the little deer in her heart singing again.

Yet her gaze dodged away.

“Not at all... And if Yatsuno-san thinks it’s troublesome, couldn’t you just pretend not to see it?”

He must have specially come to find her because he had noticed something was wrong with her mood after school, right?

She had caused him trouble again.

He was exactly this kind of person, someone who looked indifferent on the surface but was actually very attentive and warm. So how could she possibly stop herself from relying on him?

However, it seemed that these days would soon pass too. If she was going to be annoying, clingy, and bothersome, this would be the last time.

Yatsuno Gen kept looking at the road ahead, as though the girl beside him was not particularly worth paying attention to.

Gazing at the bright streetlights one after another, the corners of his lips curved up.

“I can turn a blind eye to many people, but...”

His words stopped there abruptly.

Kazama Sakura had even already filled in the next sentence in her mind using Yatsuno Gen’s voice.

But only not to Kazama.

Yet Yatsuno Gen did not say it aloud.

Kazama Sakura thought the summer night wind might have been too strong and blown away his words. She could not help turning her head, only to discover that he was looking at her with a smiling expression.

The playfulness and teasing in his eyes were clearly his familiar wicked prank.

“But what?”

She was dying of impatience.

The little deer in her heart was madly ramming the wall around her heart, already battering its head bloody.

She needed a great deal of self-control to stop herself from grabbing the young man’s arm and stamping her foot while acting spoiled.

“But is this oden place alright? Would it feel a little halfhearted?”

“Huh?”

Following Yatsuno Gen’s gaze, she looked over and saw a lonely oden stall by the roadside. There were not many people coming and going, and steaming white mist drifted around it.

“Didn’t we say we were eating oden?”

The young man spoke as though it were only natural, seemingly not noticing the embarrassed anger in her eyes at all.

“That’s true.”

To hell with oden!

Fuck!

“Kazama-san suddenly looks so angry?”

“Not at all. Even if there were something, if Yatsuno-san doesn’t want to sense it, you can probably manage not to sense it, right?”

“That sentence sounds a little sarcastic.”

“Not at all. I’m just very curious. So there really are people who can hear only what they want to hear.”

Sitting on the chair before the oden stall, the lamplight shone on the girl’s pure and beautiful face.

She smiled prettily, revealing her cute little canine teeth.

Like drawing a sword.

“Most people can only hear what they want to hear. Even if they seem to be listening to other people’s opinions on the surface, they’re only putting on an act and giving people that illusion. In reality, they can’t change even the most instinctive thoughts in their hearts.”

“I’m not talking about those grand principles with you!”

Kazama Sakura’s fragrant cheeks puffed up, making one want to reach out and poke them.

But Yatsuno Gen still looked toward the stall owner.

“Make mine a little spicier. It would be even better if you could add some vinegar.”

The topic had been changed again.

Kazama Sakura felt somewhat stifled and reached out to pinch Yatsuno Gen’s waist. The young man did not dodge either, letting her pinch his waist without the slightest instinctive reaction.

Instead, he looked at her strangely.

“Thank you. I’m not ticklish.”

Kazama Sakura:???

“I really should have brought a knife to stab you!”

“That wouldn’t be good. The Kazama-san in my impression isn’t that kind of violent maniac.”

Kazama Sakura shifted her gaze and looked at the hot oden before her. She did not know if it was because the aroma was spreading or because she was beside this young man, but she actually felt that she had a little appetite now.

“Then what am I like in your impression?”

“Hmm... cute, pretty, long legs, and your chest has developed quite well too.”

“Stop, stop, stop!!”

The girl’s face turned red all the way to her ears. She unnaturally covered her chest, and her legs clamped together slightly.

“Are you a pervert?”

Yatsuno Gen, who had received his serving of oden, answered as though it were perfectly natural.

“I only have a pair of eyes that can see beauty and a mouth that can accurately express it.”

“But that’s only appearance!”

“Nonsense. Am I supposed to lie and say I can see through your soul, your essence? Too fake. Whether it’s men looking at women or women looking at men, most of the time, all they can see is appearance. Besides, is thinking someone is nice because of their appearance really such an inferior thing? I just think I’m honest.”

“Hmph, smooth-talking pervert... I want to drink beer.”

Kazama Sakura’s eyes fixed on the shelf.

Yatsuno Gen sighed.

“If you go home smelling of alcohol, your mother will think of me as a delinquent blond punk who coaxed her daughter out to drink.”

“She won’t care... I want to drink.”

The girl looked at Yatsuno Gen pitifully.

In truth, she did not specifically need to seek Yatsuno Gen’s approval, but she very much wanted to try becoming the sort of person in a romantic relationship who was restrained by the other party, as though only then could she feel that love existed.

“No.”

“Please~”

The more troubled Yatsuno Gen seemed, the more Kazama Sakura could not help acting spoiled. She even reached out with both hands and hugged the young man’s arm, rubbing it slightly against her well-developed chest.

The girl’s cheeks were slightly flushed, and even her tone was cloyingly sweet.

“Please, please~”

“...Fine, just a little. Boss, two cans.”

“You’re the best, Yatsuno~”

The girl smiled sweetly, as though only beside him could she completely relax her true nature, without pretending to be strong or appearing heavy-hearted.

She could rely on him if she wanted to rely on him, and act spoiled if she wanted to act spoiled.

Even if his responses were not that many.

Opening the cold beer and mixing it with hot oden gave this summer night a special feeling.

“I also think I’m pretty great.”

After taking a big gulp, Yatsuno Gen sighed with emotion.

The lamplight illuminated his clean profile. Kazama Sakura had only taken two small sips, yet she already felt her cheeks turning red and her head becoming a little dizzy.

“If you think you’re so great, then go pursue Asagiri-san.”

“Why? If I’m this great, why should I give myself away to her?”

“Huh? Then who do you want to give yourself away to?”

It was somewhat suddenly bold, so the girl took a big gulp to suppress her uncontrollable heartbeat.

But Yatsuno Gen turned his head and looked straight at her.

He looked until she did not dare meet his gaze and forcibly turned her head away. But after thinking for a while, and letting the drumbeat in her chest pound hard a few times, she gathered her courage and turned back.

She met his gaze.

“Looking at me like that, does Yatsuno-san have some kind of thought about me?”

“Before I went to your house, you cried.”

Yatsuno Gen drank a mouthful of alcohol and said softly.

Kazama Sakura’s eyes dimmed.

“I thought I did a pretty decent job with my makeup. I thought you wouldn’t notice.”

“Why wouldn’t I notice?”

“Because I put on quite a lot this time... there should be some difference, right?”

Yatsuno Gen smiled.

“Useless. Because I remember how you originally look.”

A blush once again rose over Kazama Sakura’s cheeks. Her smile needed no makeup to adorn it.

She sighed, then took another sip of alcohol before saying softly.

“My parents argued at home. I don’t know when they’ll get divorced... Those worries come second. It’s just that my mother keeps saying that as long as she raises me, it’ll be fine, as long as I get into a good university, it’ll be fine, as long as I graduate and find a good job, it’ll be fine... but I’m so tired. I can barely breathe.”

Kazama Sakura was somewhat depressed. She ate a fish ball, but seemed not to feel that it was hot.

Yatsuno Gen looked at her profile.

“Do you feel as though your mother is living for you alone, so if you do anything badly, you’re letting her down?”

Kazama Sakura nodded lightly.

“Where you’re born and what family you’re born into are things you can’t decide. But everything you learn afterward is helping you break free from it.”

“Thinking about that kind of thing is useless... In this framework, everyone wants to jump out, right? But how many people can really jump out... I’m sorry for telling you these worries. It must seem a little annoying, right?”

She looked at Yatsuno Gen.

Yatsuno Gen laughed.

“When you ask that, it sounds like you’re hoping I’ll tell you I won’t feel troubled. But in reality, I really don’t like adding weight onto myself because of other people’s worries.”

Kazama Sakura’s head lowered slightly. Her cheeks turned even redder, but very soon, she moved closer to the young man beside her.

She gently leaned her head against Yatsuno Gen’s shoulder, her voice carrying a delicate pitifulness as she sank into it.

“Then don’t hate me because of that, okay?”