Chapter 26

“Your fever has gone down, huh?”

Mr. Masuda’s clear voice echoed in the quiet room. I couldn’t even lie because my mom had exposed my feigning illness earlier, so I just nodded my head as I sat up.

“You don’t have to sit straight like that, I’m not here to lecture you. You know I don’t like formalities, don’t you?”

Mr. Masuda spoke in a troubled manner and moved to sit next to me. The bed creaked from his weight.

“Anyway, you should come to school. Kazuki is worried about you.”

“He’s complaining every day when you don’t come to school, Watase”, he added. I could easily imagine how Kazuki was doing at school.

That reminded me, I had received several messages from Kazuki. He also called me several times, but I didn’t have the energy to talk to anyone, so I ignored them all. That might have caused Kazuki to be even more worried.

Come to think of it, what about Yuki? I wondered if Yuki was going to school properly.

All of a sudden, I was curious.

But, Yuki’s household was pretty strict about such things, so unless he had a fever as well, they would surely tell him to go to school.

Yuki was also a diligent student, so he probably would never skip school.

It would be awkward to see Yuki again and to be honest, I felt scared to do so.

But I also couldn’t let things stay like this forever.

“Alright. I’ll make sure to go to school tomorrow.”

“I see! That’s great . . . I’m sure he’ll be happy, too.”

Mr. Masuda stood up with a deeply relieved look on his face. I wondered if he was leaving already. That was what I thought, but apparently I was wrong.

He stretched, sat back on the chair attached to the desk, sipped the tea my mom had prepared earlier, and then exhaled.

What, so he still had something to say?

When I wondered, Mr. Masuda dropped the tone of his voice slightly and started to talk.

“Well, I’ll put a stop to the teacher-like talks here . . . I have one other reason for coming here today.”

“In fact, this is the main reason.” The way he said that, along with a mysterious look on his face had me guessing that it wasn’t a very pleasant topic. I hurriedly straightened my posture on the bed.

“To tell the truth, there’s something I want to confess to you, Watase . . . You know the app called Real Love, right? Actually, it was me who registered Akira on that app.”

“. . . Excuse me?”

I sounded dumbfounded. Confession?

Wait, wait. Before that, that app was . . .

I didn’t know what to think.

I never thought I would hear the words ‘Real Love’ come out of Mr. Masuda’s mouth in this situation. It was a complete surprise to me.

I was puzzled as to why he suddenly revealed this, but Mr. Masuda ignored me and kept on continuing his confession.

“I think you already know this, so I’m going to be frank. Ever since Haruka passed away, Akira was always depressed . . . He was like a cripple. I couldn’t stand to see him like that . . . So, I decided to register him on that Real Love app, to help take his mind off of her death.”

“. ..”

“Then, I saw the name Haru. I exchanged some messages randomly, but the moment I saw the picture that was sent, I thought ‘this is it!’. So, I started approaching you on my own without asking Akira first—”

“Wa- wait a minute! So, the one who exchanged messages at that time wasn’t Akira?”

“Mhm, that’s right.”

I felt dizzy when he just confirmed that so casually. I had thought that it was weird that someone good-looking like him was looking for girls on a dating app. So it was because Mr. Masuda was behind it!

Well, I guess I wasn’t one to talk, since Kazuki was also the one who exchanged the messages for me.

However, the fact that Akira met me in order to drown out his feelings of loss for Haruka, meant that in the end, I was really a substitute for her after all.

“It’s not like that, listen to me until the end.”

He must have seen right through me. Mr. Masuda ran a hand through his hair and let out a small sigh.

What did he mean that it wasn’t true? Akira didn’t register by himself, and it was Mr. Masuda who brought us together. It was the same thing in the end. Moreover, if Mr. Masuda was even involved in it, it made it even worse.

“Maybe that was what triggered it . . . but he was smiling. He said that you were completely different from Haruka, but you seemed interesting so he wanted to see you again. Though, I thought I was going to fall out of my chair when I heard that you were actually a guy.”

Saying that, Mr. Masuda sipped his tea with a wry smile.

“Both me and Akira never intended to hurt you, Watase. I just wanted Akira to smile.”

Mr. Masuda sincerely lowered his head to me, saying that he had hurt me as a result and that he was sorry.

“Akira wasn’t searching for some semblance of Haruka in you. After all, she was the total opposite of you, Watase . . .”

“So, please forgive Akira if you can.”

After saying what he wanted to say, Mr. Masuda left.

Not knowing what I should feel, all I could do was stare at his back as he left—

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