My stepmother's burden is my ex-girlfriend.

Page 74

"……this……"

A complex and unsettling feeling lingered in my heart. I was indeed feeling down, but it was slightly different from how I felt when I thought Dongtou might become Shuidou's girlfriend.

It wasn't rejection, resentment, or anger, but rather...

"...I'm scared."

Dongtou looked down at the empty crepe wrapper and said.

"The thought that I only have one friend, Mizuto, while she has many friends who could replace me makes me feel inexplicably scared and lonely."

Ahhh.

I really, really can understand.

Experience the fear of losing your original status and being left alone in the world.

I understand... she didn't want to monopolize the water bucket.

I just fear that in Mizuto's heart, he no longer has a place for himself.

...However, I have a question.

Is this really good?

She always relied on him, depended on him, and acted spoiled towards him... It really was like that...

"Dongtou, classmate."

"What's up?"

"You got whipped cream on your lips."

"Ahh."

I used a tissue to wipe Dongtou's mouth. It was like taking care of a baby.

She said, "I only have one friend, Mizuto."

But today, Irito Mizuto is not here.

Her clothes were chosen by me and Xiaoyue.

"Dongtou, classmate."

So, I said it.

"We're friends too."

"Huh, ah..."

Dongtou's eyes darted around furtively, his face flushed... secretly observing my expression.

“Is…is that okay?”

She asked for my consent like that. Just like when buying clothes—it's really unnecessary.

"Of course. I've considered you a friend for a long time."

"Um...but!"

Dongtou said excitedly, clenching his fist tightly—but then lost his strength.

In the end, she still murmured very softly:

"...I still can't replace Mizuto-kun..."

That rebuttal is absolutely futile.

But I wasn't discouraged.

"Ok, I know."

Because I'm probably just like you, or even more so...

◆

After saying goodbye to Xiaoyue and Dongtou and heading home, I saw that my stepson had already returned home.

Without saying a word, I asked from behind the man sitting on the living room sofa reading a book:

"How about it?"

"What's going on?"

"Dongtou, classmate."

Shuidou only turned his head and glanced at me.

"...Well, it should be alright, right?"

"Couldn't you just say she's cute?...And then what? What did Dongtou say?"

Mizuto looked impatient, picked up the phone on the table and swiped it a couple of times, then held the screen up to my face.

It's a screenshot of his LINE chat with his classmate from Dongtou.

In response to the praise for Shui Dou's steady and reliable performance, Dongtou's classmate sent the following reply:

...This girl is really something.

Why can't the reactions we show to the water bucket be the same reactions we show to the water bucket?

Being unable to express one's feelings frankly is truly a disadvantageous personality trait. I can't help but feel sorry for her.

"...So, why is Dongtou covering his eyes with his phone in this photo?"

"I don't know, you should ask her."

"I don't think I'll get a decent reply..."

I felt like someone who uploads obscene selfies on social media—I reluctantly swallowed that thought. Because saying that would play right into Dongtou's hands. Looks like I still have to talk about her.

—Just then, I felt a gaze upon me.

"?"

"........."

I glanced at the water basin, and just then he looked away.

...Is he looking at me?

I came back wearing my new clothes, so now I'm wearing the pants outfit that Xiaoyue recommended—when I bumped into him outside, he didn't say a word about it.

I initially thought it was because it didn't suit his taste.

"Oh...?"

"........."

I walked around to the front of the sofa and stood within the sink's line of sight to take a look.

Mizuto was engrossed in his book and refused to look at me.

I no longer need to cater to this man's tastes.

I no longer need to use this man as a standard for judgment.

However, this is a different matter from that.

I calmly took out my phone, held it horizontally to block my eyes, and took a look.

Just like in Dongtou's photo.

"……Hello."

Shuidou's voice trembled slightly, and the corners of his mouth twitched a few times.

"What are you doing?"

"What do you mean? I was just looking at my phone from a relatively high angle."

"Speak plainly if you want me to say something."

"No? You must have something to say, right?"

With a bitter smile, Mizuto turned his head to the side and said in a rough, stiff tone:

"Well, these aren't bad looking."

"Hmph."

I became smug. Water Bucket looked very unconvinced.

I have no reason not to wear miniskirts anymore.

No matter how much I love showing off my legs, this guy has no right to complain.

But then again... it's quite interesting to see this man's poker face removed.

This kind of enjoyment is probably not something that can be easily given away.

Volume 3: Childhood Friends? Forget it! Kawanami Kogure refuses to accept it. "What's going on, Irito!"

Looking back, I can only say it was a mistake I made when I was young. However, between my second and third years of junior high school, I had what is commonly known as a girlfriend.

So I know that Christmas, Valentine's Day, New Year's Day, birthdays, and anniversaries—couples living on busy schedules, especially student couples, will have a special regular event that other couples don't have.

This activity, which takes place every few months, or up to four or five times a year, is exactly what we call "preparing for exams."

Wait a moment.

Perhaps some people are thinking, "Preparing for exams isn't an activity." I can almost hear someone saying that such a thing is like going to hell, and that the level of torture is far too high for an activity. I must apologize for that. It's understandable that people who have never attended a book club with their boyfriend or girlfriend would think that way.

That's right.

That kind of thing is just going to hell to suffer and be tortured.

I remember we had only been dating for a short time, probably before the final exams of the second semester of eighth grade—we had developed a sense of crisis because of the accident that happened during the midterm exams.

Are you referring to the incident where that woman secretly worshipped my eraser? No, although that was indeed a disgusting true story, I was unaware of it at the time—I'm referring to the more real crisis that occurred.

In other words, the grades have declined.

It wasn't quite obvious. I think it's about the average score dropping from 80 to 75. But for us, who were head over heels in love at the beginning of our relationship (and then our heads were in a frenzy for several months, but this period was particularly severe), this significant data was enough to throw a bucket of cold water on us.

If this continues, things will get really bad.

With the final exams approaching, we shared this consensus—therefore, as a solution, we adopted the following strategy:

In short—it means only studying together in public places.

No, why don't we just not study together?

Please hold back this criticism—junior high school couples who have just started dating are severely lacking in judgment. Do you really think this seemingly reasonable and correct argument applies universally? The smart thing to do is to deal with unusual people and things with an unusual attitude.

In short, let's wait until after the exams are over before we start being all lovey-dovey.

After making this decision, we chose the library, which was a bit far from home, as our main place to study. This was because few students from our school went there, and most importantly, the library had a rule that we had to remain silent.

We knew from our many meetings during the summer that the school library had an atmosphere that allowed students to talk quietly—in that sense, even a middle school couple would find it difficult to chat freely in a public facility where strangers gathered, no matter how shameless they were… sorry, I misspoke.

──……………………

──……………………

Although we sat next to each other, we didn't say a word, and the only sounds around us were the turning of pages and the rustling of mechanical pencils.

This is the proper attitude for exam preparation. All other behaviors are unnecessary. There's absolutely no need for whispering, giggling, pointlessly bumping elbows, or pretending your pinkies just happened to touch. We've reclaimed the correct way to prepare for exams.

However, there is a trap here.

We didn't realize that situations where couples have to consider other people's opinions and refrain from making intimate gestures are actually more dangerous for foolish and infatuated middle school couples.

The first to make a move was Aya.

--...Irito-san, over here...

Ayai pointed at the textbook and whispered, then suddenly snapped back to reality and hurriedly looked around. Luckily, no one heard her, but in this quiet space, even a normal whisper would sound very loud.

I picked up my pen to ask her if we should communicate by writing, but Ayai was already getting impatient and glancing at my face... then she dragged the chair she was sitting in toward me.

Our shoulders touched. A sweet scent wafted from her hair, gently caressing my nostrils. I froze instantly, and Ayai whispered as if breathing into my ear:

--Can you do this...?