Real Intention and real intention (12)
Translator - Vodka
Unedited
Soju will be MIA for some time. So, expect unedited chapters until he returns.
"I am……I am!!"
She seemed to have decided on something, but it would seem she wasn"t able to put her words together, as she didn"t say any further.
I could see her gradually sinking expression, and then I understood.
Yuuto was looking at such a Shizuku with an expression filled with grief, while Kirasaka stared fixedly at her without any change in her expression.
I didn"t say anything to her, as I stood stock still.
Even if I decided to say something, I didn"t know what the right thing would be to say here.
How many times would it be now? The only sound that reverberated in this silent s.p.a.ce were the plants in our vicinity fluttering in the wind.
Every second felt absurdly long. I could even hear my own heartbeat.
I had thought that this situation would continue until one of had opened our mouths.
However, there was one person who made the first move.
"Before that, I want to answer the question that you asked me"
The one who broke the silence was Yuuto.
He conveyed his intention of answering the question that Kirasaka and I had posed to him before.
What wonderfully bad timing.
Shizuku seemed to have also been taken aback by his words as her eyes shot wide open.
Naturally, all eyes were on Yuuto now.
"To say the truth……I was rejected by Kanzaki-san when I had asked her out on the day of the amus.e.m.e.nt park "
He said these words with indifference.
He didn"t make up any excuses. He had just been straightforward about it.
I wasn"t surprised by these words, but I was unconsciously amazed by how composed Yuuto was, talking about all this.
In the first place, I had never confessed to anybody, so, I didn"t have the experience of being rejected. So, I couldn"t talk about the mental state of the person who got rejected, but it must have been painful and bitter. Painful and bitter feelings, as they befit such a situation, must have been swirling inside of that person"s heart.
Even when he had been rejected upon confession, he had remained composed while saying that he had been rejected.
I had a.s.sumed that he had failed when he confessed, but now, things were clearer than ever.
Kirasaka and Kaede were right. Yuuto wasn"t Shizuku"s target of affection.
If that was indeed the case, the answer was easy.
"The reason why I had lied to you, Minato, was because I wanted you to know"
"……wanted me to know?"
"That"s right. The fact that a person like me who really liked Kanzaki-san is here, and that you shouldn"t take for granted that Kanzaki-san will always be by your side"
……I couldn"t find a counter.
It was true that I couldn"t imagine Shizuku standing next to me as my lover.
However, it was also a fact that, unnoticed, I had taken her existence for granted.
Depending on what she had to say now, our relationship would largely change.
Until now, I had just been a spectator.
I had considered this to be someone else"s affair, and I had thought that I was only going to be a.s.sisting them until the very end.
Now that I noticed the actual situation, I realized that I was right in the centre of a relationship map, entwined in entanglement.
[TN - I am hoping Soju makes a quick comeback. I had to do a word-to-word translation above. Pretty sure it needs some edit]
He had made us dance on the palm of his hands
It was indeed as he had said. He made me contemplate Shizuku and my surroundings for the first time.
Did he lie about going out with Shizuku, because he predicted things would turn out like this?
As if to look away from him, I shifted my attention to Kirasaka.
What kind of expression was she making now, I wonder?
She was calm. Then, she looked over here.
Her pupils seemed to be asking Shizuku what she would do, now that she understood the current situation, and knew my answer.
Then finally, I shifted my focus on Shizuku, who was standing in front of me one more time.
She hung her head apologetically at Yuuto"s words.
This was Shizuku we were talking about. She had rejected him, but she must have been feeling apologetic about it, more so since Yuuto has been an acquaintance since middle school.
However, that applied to everybody.
"No risk, high return" was a pipe dream.
In reality, such a convenient development didn"t exist.
That was why, Shizuku wasn"t obliged to harbour feelings of guilt for turning Yuuto down, and Yuuto didn"t have the right to complain either.
Yuuto understood this. That was why, he must have been talking to me all this time while not saying anything to Shizuku, right?
As if to have noticed my gaze on her, Shizuku"s expression changed when she lifted her face.
Her pupils were mixed with anxiety and resolve.
She too must have resolved herself when she came here.
In which case, I had to be resolved too.
Not whether I would go out with her or not.
The resolve to stick to my thoughts.
As a result, I might not be able to able to answer her feelings.
However, I couldn"t lie to myself.
Shizuku knew that the best.
Even then, she was resolutely standing before me. She must have made a decision.
It wasn"t only me, but Kirasaka and Yuuto were waiting for her words too.
"I……to be honest, I might have thought that I could convey my feelings anytime. I had thought that it wasn"t the right time yet, that there should be a better time for doing this. Hence, I had been putting it off until now"
Shizuku spoke calmly. Everyone present had perked up their ears.
"Even then, things had changed compared to before, when we became second-year students. Although it was late, I had started to grow impatient when I looked at the changes around Minato-kun"
It was indeed like she said. After I had become a second year, the situation around me had suddenly changed.
Whether it was Kirasaka becoming my sitting neighbour, or my addition to the student council because of the student council president, or even ending up in the same cla.s.s as Yuuto and Shizuku, all of these had been happening at the same time.
Even now, the person himself couldn"t believe these sudden developments.
[TN - don"t think I need to append this note, but still, the "himself" above refers to Minato himself]
"Until now, I was the only one who understood Minato-kun……I should have been the only one looking at him, but then, more people had started looking at Minato-kun in the same way……"
"I understand, Minato-kun won"t lie to himself……so, you won"t answer my feelings"
Even then, she had put on a gentle expression as she talked.
That expression of hers was completely out of place. It didn"t match the situation at hand. The person who stood before me was the usual Shizuku.
"Even then, I want to convey a few words to Minato-kun so that you will look at me more so that you will know my feelings……"
Shizuku put her right hand on her chest and took a deep breath.
A genuine smile hung from her lips; not a trace of hesitation in it.
It was a beautiful and sweet smile that could captivate anyone.
"I love Minato-kun the most in the world……I love you very much. I have loved you until now, and will continue to love you forever…..!"
Author -
Finally, I was able to write Shizuku"s confession scene.
I couldn"t write about Shizuku"s holiday, because I thought it would be a spoiler.
I am extremely sorry.
I am thinking of revising and making appropriate corrections going forward.
There has been a sudden development in this chapter, but I hope you guys have enjoyed it, even if a little bit.
Translator -
I do hope that he had made the corrections. Otherwise, I am going to meet my demise, translating.