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“Has it been about two weeks since we last talked face-to-face like this? Have you been well?”
Who’s she trying to fool?
I swallowed the words that came to my throat and forced myself to say something else instead.
“…I realized.
“Of course. There’s no way I wouldn’t notice you, Koyo-kun. Absolutely not.”
For some reason, Mio puffed out her chest proudly.
She seemed to be implying that it was only natural.
As for me, I’m not happy about it at all, and I would have preferred it if she hadn’t noticed me and just ignored me.
Perhaps that feeling showed on my face, because my words came out unintentionally harsh.
“… Doesn’t that mean you weren’t paying attention to the conversation? You had so many friends there, and you were all chatting so happily.”
Inwardly, I rarely say anything sarcastic, but Mio is an exception right now.
Even if it’s the old Mio, I don’t think this Mio would listen to me properly.
Without saying it outright, I wanted to tell her to forget about me and go back to her group, but
“Hm? That’s right. Because I’m not interested in those girls at all. It’s a waste of my time to even think about them.”
Mio said this in a carefree manner.
“Huh?”
From Noble mtl dot com
“I mean, those conversations are so boring. They’re just killing time. Cheating, heartbreak, and unrequited love – it’s all just because those girls can’t judge men properly. They pretend to sympathize with the girlfriend who’s upset about her awful boyfriend, but they’re really just making fun of their friend for continuing to date such a guy. That girl is so stupid, right? Do you think that’s interesting?”
Mio stretched lazily as she added that if she kept listening to such conversations, her personality would become really bad.
“Eh, but weren’t they just worried about their friend?”
“If they were really worried, they wouldn’t be talking about it so loudly in the hallway. They would use a messaging app to talk to her privately, or they would talk to her discreetly. The fact that they’re not doing that means that they see the girl who got cheated on as inferior to them, as someone they can look down on. But they don’t want to be obvious about it, so they’re subtly trying to show off that they know about it, to satisfy their own egos.”
“…Wow.”
“You’re a loner and a boy, Koyo-kun, so you don’t understand this scary side of girls.”
Mio shrugged.
As I listened to her, I felt a sense of genuine revulsion.
I had simply thought that they were worried about their friend, but I had no idea that there was such a dark side to it. Honestly, I didn’t even want to know.
It seems that I had been unconsciously believing in the goodness of people more than I thought.
Mio let out a small chuckle as she saw my horrified expression, and said,
“By the way, this is all a lie. I just made it up when you asked me, Koyo-kun. It’s a story that I came up with.”
“Whaaat!?”
What the heck?
The sudden change in the conversation made me cry out in surprise.
“See, you believed me again. You’re twisted, Koyo-kun, but you’re also surprisingly naive. You don’t doubt other people, especially when it comes to yourself. You just believe them right away.”
“Guh…”
I had no words.
It’s true that I had believed everything Mio had said without question.
Even though she had just told me about that conversation, it was strange that we were even talking like this in the first place.
Before I knew it, I had been led around by Mio’s pace. It made me feel incredibly frustrated.
“I like that about you. I think it’s one of your good qualities. I pointed it out, but I don’t want you to change it. I’d rather you stay the way you are.”
“…I’m definitely going to change it.”
“Ahahahaha. I thought you’d say that. You really are twisted. Well, good luck. You’ve only just started to socialize, so I don’t think you’ll change anytime soon.”
With that, Mio waved her hand and turned to walk towards the stairs.
Her sudden movement made me instinctively turn my back on her and ask,
“Where are you going?”
“Where? I’m going back to Kijima and the others. We still have lunch. Or would you like to come with me? I wouldn’t mind introducing you as my boyfriend. It would be a great way to establish our relationship.
Who’s your boyfriend?
I wanted to say that, but I swallowed those words down too.
If I said that, it felt like I’d be playing right into Mio’s hands.
Besides, it was more convenient for me to just let her go without saying anything.
But the fact that I called out to her, and my current state of mind, proved that Mio had me wrapped around her finger.
“I’m not going. Even Kishima wouldn’t be happy about it.”
“Thats true. He hates you, Beniyagou. Even back in middle school, he’d often look at you with obvious disgust.”
That was true.
Even though we had pretty much stopped talking at the end of third year, I was still Mio’s ex-boyfriend.
There was no doubt that he, the man who had been instrumental in making Mio popular, would not be happy with my existence.
Even now, after moving on to high school and most of the students changing, I’m sure strongly he’d rather keep the fact that Mio’s ex-boyfriend was attending the same school a secret… Well, though he’s not telling her that, given how the airhead Mihara has already let it slip.
Or maybe he figured that I’d end up as a loner again in high school, so it wouldn’t be a problem. That seemed more likely.
As I thought about this, a small “tch” echoed through the hallway, where no one else was present besides us.
“Jeez… He’s so annoying. He’s been following me around ever since high school started, treating me like some sort of sacred object. And he’s made sure to secure a good position for himself. He’s so gross. I want to crush him as soon as possible.”
“Mio…?”
What was she suddenly talking about?
From the flow of the conversation, she seemed to be talking about Kishima, right?
“Well, I’m not going to do it yet. There’s still something I need to learn from him. In a way, he’s like my creator. I won’t be satisfied until I’ve properly taken him down, as a way of repaying him. I won’t be satisfied until I’ve made him regret what he did to Mio.”
“What are you talking about…?”
“What am I talking about…? Just confirming my goal. Other than dating you, that’s all I have to do at this school.”
“Goal…?”
“Yep. And that is…”
As she said that, I looked into Mio’s eyes as she turned around, and I was horrified.
Revenge.
She said it so simply, as if it were nothing.
Her dark eyes reflected no light.