My stepmother's burden is my ex-girlfriend.

Page 188

I didn't look up or see the woman's face as I put her boots on.

Being perceived as easy to get along with only makes things more complicated. Talking to others makes me very tired.

"So, you're talking to me too?"

"Extremely tired."

"We're all family, don't be so harsh with your words."

The woman said this, but then smiled gently.

...But I just don't need it.

I'm the kind of person who doesn't need "everyone".

Unlike you... the gap is so large that it's irreparable.

After tying the girl's boot laces, I stood up. She also stood up from her chair.

"How about it?"

Jie looked at her right foot, which had a band-aid on it, and walked around the tables a few times.

"...Hmm, it seems like I'm alright now. It doesn't hurt anymore."

"Don't force yourself. I'm too lazy to look at it again for you."

"Be honest with yourself when you're being nice to someone."

Jie Nu seemed to find it amusing, smiled gently, and said:

"Thanks."

The scene of Jie Nu taking care of me when I was sick came back to me.

Aunt Yu-ren asked me to thank her directly. But—I still haven't been able to say those words to her.

Unlike you, who can say it so easily.

"…………Um."

After giving a brief answer, I walked towards the classroom door.

What overflowed from that throat was nothing but empty emptiness.

11:06 AM ■ My overly talented classmate, for some reason, wants me to lose my virginity.

--Chirp...

As I walked out of the empty classroom with Shuidou, just as we were about to leave, I heard a squeezing sound behind me.

"(Wait, wait a minute!)"

"Um?"

I called out to Shuidou in a low but urgent voice, then quietly turned my head to look at the empty classroom that had just been vacated.

Was someone in the classroom just now?

"Huh...?"

Just as Mizuto frowned in surprise, he heard another chirp.

We looked at each other in bewilderment.

Then, we crept stealthily toward the door that had just closed itself and peered through the small window in the door.

Then—I witnessed that scene.

"Oh dear, hahaha. That was really close!"

"...Please stop messing with me, Hong..."

I witnessed the moment when a man and a woman crawled out from under the lectern.

"…………!"

Are they hiding there?

He had been hiding under the lectern all along... when I stretched my feet out to the sink and let him touch them?

Moreover, I am very familiar with the appearance of that man and woman.

The female student is the vice president of the Hongling family, whose distinctive feature is her asymmetrical hairstyle.

The boy was the accountant, Haba Takeji, who was always inseparable from her and wore glasses.

The two of them...while we were in the classroom...were always entwined in the narrow space under the teacher's desk...?

"(Huh? Huh? What does that mean? Why are those two hiding...?)"

"(Of course... it's because you're afraid of being seen..., right?)"

Huh? So they were just doing something that would be really bad if they were seen? Just the two of them, a boy and a girl? In an empty classroom with no one else around...?

Hong patted the bottom of her skirt, sat down on the table by the window, and casually crossed her legs.

My senior is petite, with a relatively small bust, but her figure is incredibly feminine. In other words… well, to put it another way… perhaps you could say she's the type to have a smooth delivery. Wearing a short skirt, she unexpectedly sticks out her slightly fleshy thighs, making it hard to know where to look. In fact, Haneba-senpai subtly turned his face away, while I grabbed Mizuto's face to make him look to the side.

As if deliberately trying to provoke Haba-senpai, Kurenai-senpai braced herself with her hands behind her back without any warning.

"Alright, Uncle. Now that you've had your fill of my scent, shall we continue?"

"I didn't smoke, and I won't continue."

Haba-senpai clearly stated it. This might be the first time I've seen him say so much... But then again, what's next...? What's the follow-up to?

Hong Xuejie chuckled.

"Lying is wrong, isn't it? When you lost your balance and bumped your face into my chest, your nostrils were clearly flared by two millimeters, weren't they? I'm so sorry, if I had anticipated that situation, I would have taken off my bra beforehand."

"I absolutely don't need your meddling... What's the fun in trying to seduce someone like me?"

"This question is really hard to understand. How could seducing a man you like not be fun?"

She likes it…! She said she likes it! She just said that, right?

Red-haired senior sister teasingly tugged at the ribbon.

"Or is it that my virginity isn't worth exchanging for yours?"

Tong!

"(...Hey, is it really okay to keep watching?)"

"(Just one more time! Just one more time!)"

Yuba-senpai had his back to us, so we could barely see his face; we could only make out that his ears were bright red.

"...I've said it several times already, I'm not worthy of you doing this. I don't know where you get this interest from, but in short, someone as insignificant as me is not good enough for Hong."

"To call someone else's first love 'just a passing fancy' is incredibly disrespectful. I've told you countless times that you're not as insignificant as you think. Even I admire you so much, isn't that enough?"

"Let me reiterate, I'm only slightly good at handling machines; I don't have any other strengths—"

"Everyone has an ideal version of themselves in their heart."

Suddenly, Senior Sister Hong told him this.

Incredibly, those words carried immense power, penetrating deep into my eardrums even from a distance.

"Whether the person involved is aware of it or not, I believe that a person's beauty lies in their attitude of respecting this ideal. Uncle, you are very beautiful in your ideal, which is why you think that you are insignificant in reality. You excessively belittle your reality because you respect your ideal. And what I want to tell you is that this attitude of yours is the most beautiful."

Haba-senpai fell silent, and Mizuto next to me held his breath.

My ideal self...

I also have that ideal. That's why I grew my hair long, that's why I overcame my shyness, that's why I tried so hard to make friends—that's why I confessed my feelings to him.

I wonder if Shuidou also has such an ideal.

When I was in junior high school, I saw him as an omnipotent hero. This man, who still seems to know everything and doesn't need anyone's help—does he also have an ideal he wants to achieve, and a reality he can't reach?

"...Let's just leave it at that."

Yuba-senpai let out a voice that he rarely uttered, but which was firm and powerful.

"But the ideal me is definitely not the kind of person who would lose to a smart but unskilled classmate's clumsy seduction, the kind of person who acts like a four-legged beast while everyone else is busy doing their work."

"……I see."

Hong retied the loosened ribbon and climbed off the table without a second thought.

"I read in the reference materials that indulging in lust while everyone is working can make people particularly energetic, but it seems that this trick doesn't work."

"Please throw that reference material away immediately."

"This is really a headache. Alright, I'll think of another scenario. It must be tough to fall for a man with lofty ideals."

"I hope you'll soon realize that being targeted by a strange woman is what makes life tough."

Oh no, they're coming this way!

We held our breath as we left the scene. Only after we had created enough distance and disappeared into the hustle and bustle of the cultural festival were we finally able to catch our breath.

"I was so scared... I always thought those two were together, and it turns out they really were in that kind of relationship..."

"I don't think it can be explained clearly with just 'that kind of relationship'..."

Indeed. Is she really worthy of being called Senior Red? Even her approach to dating is unconventional... or perhaps it should be said that she seems a bit clumsy.

"...I sympathize with Haba-senpai."

Shuidou uttered those words in a low voice.

"Huh? Why? Although Senior Hong is indeed a bit strange, she's still very cute and charming."

"The key point is that it's so charming that it can also be a headache."

After saying that, Shuidou quickly walked forward.

Does that mean she's too unattainable for most people? While it's true that the two have vastly different levels of presence, and the senior himself said so…

...But I don't think those things are important.

Just like I used to be, I was able to become your lover, even though I thought I wasn't good enough for you.

AM11:34 ■ His popularity is a good thing, but it still makes me jealous.

"Ah...! Here it comes!"

I waited in front of the classroom for a while, and finally saw Yui and Irito emerge from the crowd.

Seeing me waving frantically, the two of them ran towards me, glancing at the door behind them—the entrance for customers.

"Sorry I'm a little late... Hey, why is there such a long line?"

"It seems like the line has already passed in front of the class next door...?"

"It's really true! The queue is longer than we expected... We limited our dining time and urgently added more seats, but we still couldn't make it!"

Fortunately, the class next door didn't set up a stall in the classroom. Otherwise, the two lines would be mixed up and become a mess.

"W-How come they're so popular...?"

"It seems like the word is too good. Mu Gen's coffee is so good that it's not even up to the standard of the cultural festival—and then there are two students who are always around who have received rave reviews, and it's going viral online."

I gently shook my phone to show them. "H-How could this be—" Yui let out a groan that was both confused and secretly pleased. But Irito was unhappy and frowned.

"Come help quickly! We're severely understaffed!"

"We're coming right now!"

Yui took Irito's hand and led him into the classroom. And then…

"Ah, it's those two from earlier...!" "Wow~! They're absolutely gorgeous~~~!"

A commotion instantly erupted in the store, making Jie Nu blink repeatedly.

Hehehe, Yui's self-evaluation is indeed too low. She should take this opportunity to realize her true self—she's a super invincible beautiful girl!

Then, it's quite reasonable, as the focus of attention isn't just on Yui.

Upon seeing Irito dressed as a scholar, the female customers who occupied more than 70% of the seats in the store were whispering among themselves or cheering quietly. Some were even speechless, covering their mouths and trembling.

As for Irito herself, she remained completely indifferent, ignoring these reactions. Although Irito would be quite annoying if she knew how wicked she was, her pretense of ignorance still made me uneasy.

Stepping into the staff area separated by curtains, I noticed that Jie Nu seemed to be a little out of touch.