Chapter 30

After that, Akira slowly told me about Haruka.

Akira said he had been popular since he was young and became conceited. She was the first person to turn him down. He was so frustrated by this that he pursued her fiercely.

She wouldn’t look at him for half a year, but after Akira desperately tried to gain her attention, she agreed to go out with him in the end.

He said Haruka was an excellent cook, family-oriented, and a flawless type of person. He was planning to propose for her hand in marriage after he graduated college, but the accident made that impossible.

Unable to accept reality, he was stuck in the past. The presence of Mr. Masuda was the one who was always by his side and encouraged him through it all . . .

The more I listened to him, the more my heart ached as I realized that Akira had suffered much more than I had imagined.

“When Tooru said he registered me on the Real Love app again, I was fed up. I’ve told him so many times that it’s no use, because no one would ever top my girlfriend. But he said ‘It’ll definitely work out this time!’ and pestered me so stubbornly that I had no choice but to meet up . . .”

“. . . And that’s when you meet me when I crossdressed.”

Akira nodded at my words.

“At first I wasn’t interested at all. I’ve seen so many girls who sent heavily edited photos, so I honestly didn’t have high hopes and thought that this would be another disappointment . . . But when I saw you in the flesh, you almost took my breath away.”

Akira’s monologue continued.

“Well, I noticed right away that you were a guy, and you were there with someone so I knew you were probably just messing around.”

“Huh?! You noticed that I was a guy from the start?!”

“Well, I noticed it pretty early . . . The words you used and the way you walked was pretty obvious.”

When he told me all that, I couldn’t retort. That’s right, even if I looked like a girl on the outside, it wasn’t like I was acting like one.

“If you knew, you should have told me sooner.”

“No, I just thought maybe you were someone who did that as a hobby . . .”

“Of course not!”

“Haha, well . . . I could have let you go just like that, but it was an unusual thing to happen and I was curious.”

“Curious, you say . . . But still, why did you do things like that at the hotel?”

“It’s a bit embarrassing to talk about this, but until I meet you, Ha— Watase, I couldn’t get an erection. But that time, I had a feeling I could do it.”

Wait, wait, did he say he felt like he could do it?! Well, he surely didn’t end up doing it all the way, but still . . .

If anything, he was really into it at that time!

“Why did you even think you could do it with a guy? I don’t get it.”

“I wonder why . . . Even though you spoke rudely, were a shorty, and didn’t have enough sex appeal.”

While casually dissing me, his chilly fingertips caressed my cheeks. The melancholic expression on his face clashed so much with his words that I didn’t know what to say.

“At first I was just curious about you, but then why . . . did I come to like you this much, I wonder.”

His muttering as though mocking himself. He could have been talking to himself. But, it clearly reached my ears.

So, Akira . . .

“—likes me . . .?”

I had hoped that Akira would also feel the same way, but this was the first time I had heard it clearly spoken in words, so it suddenly made me feel a bit nervous.

“Ha— Watase, I didn’t mean to hurt you. It’s true that I was first interested in you because of your resemblance to Haruka, but I’ve never tried to replace her with you. I know it’s too convenient to ask you to believe me, but—”

“. . . It’s okay, I believe you.”

The moment I said that, Akira, who was starting to look down, raised his head as if he had been slapped. His black eyes opened wide, and his face slowly broke into a broad smile, perhaps feeling relieved.

“To be honest, I knew it already. That you never meant to hurt me. Mr. Masuda also told me about it . . .”

“Tooru did? Tch . . . That damned nosy guy . . .”

“But, I’m glad that I could hear it directly from your mouth.”

I intertwined my hand with the fingers that were gently caressing my cheeks. I liked it when his fingers caressed me like this. He also teased me pretty often, but these long and strong fingers taught me about a world that I never knew before.

I wasn’t a substitute. From the very start, Akira was looking only at me, and me alone—

When I thought about that all over again, a fond feeling welled up inside me that I couldn’t stand it, and I hugged Akira. He couldn’t react to it fast enough, so we both lost balance and fell onto the bed.

“Ouch . . . Hey, you should have told me if you want to jump at me—”

“Akira, I like you.”

Without waiting for a reply, I touched his cheeks with both hands and kissed him. Seeing Akira, who widened his eyes in surprise and froze in place, felt so refreshing and funny that I couldn’t resist bringing our lips together again and again.

I thought that a kiss would satisfy this feeling, but it wasn’t enough at all.

The more I touched Akira, the more I desired him stronger and stronger. As I was puzzled because it was the first time in my life that I had such an urge, Akira let out a breath.

“Good grief, don’t be so greedy.”

“Sorry . . .”

“You don’t have to apologize. Anyway, what are you going to do?”

“Huh?”

“Look, that’s what this place is for, right?”

Akira smirked while stroking my hips. After realizing what Akira was trying to say, though a bit late, my face started to become hot as if it was on fire.

“Haha, after all that erotic kissing you just did earlier, you’re not going to say no, are you?”

“. . . You already know the answer . . .”

At once, the atmosphere of the room was filled with something sweet. I was hesitant to convey it with words, so instead of replying, I kissed him again.

That was the signal.

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