64 - The line between cheating and not cheating is not determined by the cheater (Patreon)

RAW

During the recess between the first and second period, as I predicted, boys are gathering in front of the classroom.
The boys are evenly divided between my class and the next class. That said, since there is only so much time for this recess, the teacher quickly disperse them.

“Hey, Kazuki, I'm... guh...”

But, Tadashi is in the same class as me and is near me, so he won't be dispersed. Nearby, he's spouting unspeakable things to me.

“You should quickly return to your seat.”
“I’m, I’m...!”
“Haa...”

......

After many such recess, it was time for lunch.
As I try to open my bento, the hallway becomes noisy. Just when I thought about what it was, Hiuri had come to our classroom.

“Kazuki-kun, let's eat together.”
“...Sure.”

I'm being showered with a lot of gazes though. Hiuri-san, I want your ability to ignore things too.
The boys are saying a lot of things in the hallway, but I can't make out what they're saying. But, it probably isn’t much different from what Tadashi said anyway.

By the way, that Tadashi, for some reason, goes out of his way to go to the hallway and look at me from there. Why did he mix in the crowd?

“You're the center of attention, Kazuki-kun.”
“That’s Hiuri's fault...”
“Fufu.”

In the midst of this, Hiuri is openly eating her food. What a strong mentality...
You’d think that if she has that kind of mentality, she might be able to do something about her problem with her parents, but her mentality here and the mentality she needs towards her parents are different, so it can't be helped.

Hiuri at home isn't as strong-willed as she is at school.

“That’s right, how about we go home together today?”
“Our houses are in a different direction though...”
“I'll be going with Kazuki-kun, so it's okay.”

I don't know what's okay.
Even now, some of the boys in the hallway are trying to grab me and are being stopped by others. I guess some of them couldn't stand the fact that Hiuri is coming to my house.

The fact they have morals and common sense even though they are so crazy about this is actually scary instead. Don’t groups like this usually become like a mob?

“Now that it’s come this far, I'm starting to enjoy myself.”
“Hiuri...”
“It’s funny how my words can change their reactions that much.”
“What a bad girl you are.”

Hiuri's bad side is coming out.
Hiuri likes being treated like a princess, and this is probably a form of being treated like a princess. It feels more like a queen than a princess though.

After chatting for a short while, we finished eating our lunches. However, Hiuri doesn’t leave the classroom.

“Are you going to stay here until next period?”
“Do you dislike it?”
“Rather than dislike...”

I'm bothered by their gazes, and the boys in the hallway probably haven't eaten their lunches yet, so I’m worried about them.
It's fine to chase after someone you like, but I wish you don’t do anything that can damage your own health... and you’re scary too.

“Rest assured. If something happens, I’ll call out to them and things will work out.”
“Hiuri, do you surprisingly like your position?”
“I'm happy that there's something I can do for you, Kazuki-kun.”

In the dream world, I do all kinds of things for Hiuri, but in real life I'm powerless, so I rely on Hiuri to help me.
Having Hiuri do things for me doesn’t happen often, so if I have to say whether I'm happy or not, I’m happy.

“Kazuki-kun always thinks of me and does a lot of things for me, right? So I want to return the favor... is that no good?”
“...It’s okay.”

Hiuri, who has a playful side, is cute. I can't refuse her.
Some of the boys collapsed after hearing our exchange just now. I wonder if they got done in by Hiuri's cuteness.

“How should I put it, it seems your doubts are completely blown away huh, Hiuri.”
“Rinrin told me that it's fine to act the same as usual.”

I have some doubts about this being the same as usual... but, well, I'm glad Hiuri isn't dragging herself along. Hayashi-san sure is good at controlling Hiuri's mental state...

If it were me, I wouldn't be able to calm Hiuri down that well, so I’m a little jealous. I wonder if the difference is in the amount of time we spent.

“Besides, once you become aware of your feelings, surprisingly, you can't control them.”
“I see...”

Hiuri blushed when saying that.

If someone looks at us from the side, they won't believe that she isn’t my girlfriend, since her reaction is so cute. Her movements are many times more like my girlfriend than I imagined, so I have a hard time dealing with them.

I spent my lunch break chatting with such Hiuri.
By the end of the lunch break, the boys in the hallway had assimilated into the floor.

......

After school.
Hiuri had invited me, so I was waiting in the classroom when Hayashi-san came instead of Hiuri.

“Yahho─, boyfriend-kun. Are you happy?”
“Hmm...”
“Oops, you’ve just been rejected, so I shouldn’t ask if you’re happy, sorry.”

When I was at a loss for words, Hayashi-san guessed it.
The other boys are jealous of me, but since Hiuri has turned down my confession, I feel a little uncomfortable when asked if I'm happy.

“I'm having Hiu-chan wait a little bit─. I just want to talk to boyfriend-kun for a bit.”
“That's fine, but... so you still call me that.”
“But wouldn’t it be weird if I changed what I call you with that atmosphere? I think ‘boyfriend-kun’ is more fitting instead, right?"

In fact, it would be unnatural if Hayashi-san suddenly changed the way she called me in that situation. Many of the boys seem to think Hiuri and I are already dating, and in that sense, she  can't change the way she calls me.
I'm a bit troubled because I couldn’t become her boyfriend though...

“Then, boyfriend-kun.”
“Yeah?”

Hayashi-san let out a serious aura.
I feel the same atmosphere as when I talked with Hayashi-san before.

“About the last time we talked, boyfriend-kun seems know about Hiu's family situation, right?”
“I guess so.”
“But you see, the reason Hiu turned down your confession was because she didn't want boyfriend-kun to know about her family situation... don't you think that's a contradiction? Could it be boyfriend-kun doesn't know about Hiu's family situation?”

...This is troubling.
At that time, I answered Hayashi-san's questions honestly without thinking about anything in particular, but to think a contradiction would arise here.

I know about Hiuri's family circumstances. That's because Hiuri in the dream told me about that.
But, Hiuri in real life never told me about her family circumstances. Therefore, from Hiuri's perspective, I still don't know about it.

“...No, I know. Both Hiuri's mother and father.”
“Then there's no reason for Hiu to refuse your confession, right? Maybe you were a stalker?”
“There’s no way I am. In the first place, Hiuri is sensitive to those kinds of things.”

Hiuri, who has been confessed to by many people and lives under the constraints of her parents, is exceedingly more sensitive to the gaze of others. If someone tries to stalk her, she’ll find out right away.

“I was told about that by Hiuri, but... she doesn't know about it, or rather, she doesn't remember it...”
“Eh, did you use hypnosis...?”
“No, no! It's not like that.”

Explaining that is really hard.
The fact that Hiuri told me about it is the truth, and there's basically no way for me to find out about her family's circumstances other than having Hiuri tell me about it, but Hiuri in real life hasn't told me...

Should I talk about the dream? But if I do that now, it might have the opposite effect, or maybe it will deepen her doubts...

“It seems true that boyfriend-kun has feelings for Hiu, so there's no reason for me to force you to tell me, but...”
“It makes you curious, right? I understand that too, but... it's a little difficult to explain.”

Even if I don't tell a single lie, it’ll only sound like a lie. Even if I talk about it here, it’ll just sound like an excuse.
Even though I didn’t do anything wrong, I don't want her to look at me like I did.

“When you say it’s difficult to explain, do you mean it’s difficult to put it into words? Or do you mean that I won’t believe you?”
“The latter, I guess.”

If this is the usual, Hayashi-san would trust me and stop the conversation, but this time Hayashi-san seems to be digging deeper as well.

“...Then I’ll believe whatever you say from now on. Will you talk to me about it?”
“It will probably sound like an excuse.”
“It's okay. I’ll believe you. Of course, I won't tell Hiu.”

She looks at me with very serious eyes that are not typical of Hayashi-san.
Would a third party believe about the dream if I haven’t told the person involved herself... I wonder if I will lose Hayashi-san's trust...

While I’m worrying about that...

[Kyuuuuun!]

Encouragement came from Muu.
I guess you can call it encouragement, or rather, telling me to hurry up. It’s true that there's no point in worrying about it.

“I got it. This is not a lie, okay?”
“Yeah.”

I tell Hayashi-san about the dream. And that, I told Hiuri about it in the past and she didn't believe me.
Hayashi-san listens to this story seriously.

“It really sounds like a lie, but...”
“Well, that's true, but...”
“Isn't there some kind of proof that even I can understand? Is it difficult because it's a dream?”

Proof, huh... If I had that, I could explain it even to Hiuri, so I want it too...

“Hiuri’s mental state has been stable, I guess saying that isn’t enough.”
“.........Certainly. I guess it’s the truth.”

So using this works. I can't use it when I explain it to Hiuri, but this proof can be used for Hayashi-san, who is often with Hiuri.

“I'll be the one to explain it to Hiuri, so I'd appreciate it if you could keep it a secret.”
“Okay─. Leave it to me.”

It didn’t go smoothly, but I succeeded in getting Hayashi-san to believe the dream. I was relieved because I couldn't afford to lose Hayashi-san's trust since she also acts as a buffer between me and Hiuri.

“Then it's a secret between you and me.”
“That’s... I guess it is.”

Hayashi-san said that with a certain meaning.
At the same time, a voice echoed from the entrance of the classroom.

“Kazuki-kun... you seem to be getting along well with Rinrin...”
“Hiuri!?”
“Yahho─ Hiu-chan. Our talk is over─.”

Hiuri was standing at the entrance to the classroom. She was supposed to be waiting in the next class, but maybe she came here because we took too long.

“Kazuki-kun, so you’re fine with Rinrin...”
“No, no, wait a minute!”

I follow Hiuri as she returns to the next class.

Hayashi-san is grinning, so I think she did it knowing this would happen. What a bad personality.

────

Previous | Next