Weren’t You Only Using Me As A Stand-in? [152]

Location: Shuchi'in Academy Middle School.

Time: 4:00 p.m.

After the homeroom teacher finished speaking, the whole school began a thorough cleaning.

Shirogane Kei was assigned to clean the windows.

As she diligently wiped the glass panes, Fujiwara Moeha, who’d also been assigned to clean windows, moved closer: “Kei, will you be going to the fireworks festival this year?”

Shirogane Kei nodded. “I will.”

“That’s great! Come with us this year, okay?”

Fujiwara Moeha happily hummed a tune.

“Um…”

Seeing Moeha so happy, Kei found it hard to continue.

“What’s wrong?”

Fujiwara Moeha breathed warm air onto the windowpane, vigorously wiping away a mysterious stain.

Kei hesitated briefly before speaking, “Actually, there’s someone I plan to invite this year, so I might not be able to go with you guys, Moeha.”

“Going with family? You can bring Miyuki-senpai along too—my sister already knows him, after all.”

“Perfect, I also want to meet Miyuki-senpai.”

Finally managing to scrub the glass spotless, Moeha nodded in satisfaction, admiring her work.

“Not my brother. It’s a senpai.”

Fujiwara Moeha froze, like she’d been hit by a binding spell, standing utterly motionless.

A few seconds later, she slowly turned toward Kei, her movements as stiff and creaky as a rusted doll.

“This senpai you’re talking about… it couldn’t be Kitahara-senpai, could it?”

Kei slightly averted her gaze, unwilling to meet Moeha’s curious eyes, and gave a tiny, barely perceptible nod.

“Oh my god!”

Moeha immediately grew excited.

Gossip was human nature—especially when it involved a close friend.

“Kei, you’re so bold!”

Struggling to maintain her usual calm demeanor, Kei tried to clarify, “Don’t misunderstand. It’s just that Senpai introduced me to a great job, and I wanted to thank him properly.”

Fujiwara Moeha giggled slyly. “So, you plan on gifting yourself to him as thanks?”

“Moeha! What nonsense are you talking about? I already told you, it’s not like that with Senpai and I—”

Kei’s words trailed off as she suddenly recalled the evening she received her first paycheck.

A gentle breeze, rustling trees, and beneath the star-filled sky, he slightly raised an eyebrow, lips curving softly into a smile as he spread his arms and said:

"Just saying thanks is so insincere. How about a hug instead?"

Why had she impulsively hugged him then?

Not much time had passed since then, but Kei couldn’t remember clearly why anymore.

But she vividly remembered that moment, the nervousness of being held by Kitahara-senpai, the uncontrollable racing of her heart.

Like a flower blooming quietly in her heart—such a delicate feeling.

At that instant, Shirogane Kei had wanted to freeze time right there.

“Kei! Hey, Kei!”

Kei snapped back to reality. “Hmm? Ah, what is it?”

Moeha narrowed her eyes, voice firm: “Just now, you were thinking about Kitahara-senpai, weren’t you!”

Kei vehemently denied it. “How’s that possible? I was thinking about where to rent a cheap yukata.”

“You even want to rent a yukata?”

It would’ve been better if Kei hadn’t said anything.

Now, Moeha’s gaze became even stranger.

“You two wouldn’t be planning to slip into an empty grove, would you? After all, with yukata, you don’t need underwear, and pulling it open is super easy—”

Face flaming red, Kei hastily interrupted, “Stop, stop, stop! Moeha, just what are you imagining?”

Kei felt her friend’s head was entirely filled with dirty trash.

“I would never do something like that!”

At the very least, something like that has to wait until high school, right?

“I recently read a story where the main girl and guy went to a fireworks festival, and after separating, she got dragged into the woods by the second male lead—”

Kei’s eyebrows twitched slightly. “Is this from a manga?”

Why did it sound more and more like a hentai plot?

“No, it’s hentai—a doujin by Kashiwagi Eri-sensei.”

“Come to think of it, Kashiwagi Eri-sensei seems to have shifted from pure love goddess to queen of NTR recently.”

“Her recent works are all about how childhood friends lose to new love interests.”

Kei weakly rubbed her forehead. “You should stop reading those unhealthy things.”

“Lewdness is carved into human DNA. Besides, I don’t smoke, drink, or go clubbing—what’s wrong with being a bit lewd?”

“Another fun fact: girls are actually six times hornier than boys.”

“The hornier a girl is, the more estrogen she produces, improving blood circulation and making her skin better!”

Kei was speechless. “...Thanks for the random facts. But I didn’t need to know any of that.”

...

Watanabe High School, Year 1, Class 7.

“Wow, these shots are amazing! Such great vibes.”

“Marin’s cosplay is totally spot-on. Over two thousand likes in just one day!”

“Ahh, Marin, where did you find such a god-level photographer?”

Many girls surrounded Kitagawa Marin, who sat near the second-to-last seat by the hallway.

Listening to classmates praising Kitahara Takeru, Marin felt a glow of pride herself.

“Come on, Marin, tell me who your photographer is~!”

A twintailed girl sucking on a lollipop excitedly shook Marin’s arm.

“Alright, alright, I’ll tell you—just stop shaking me!”

If she shook any harder, Marin’s bra strap would slide off completely.

Marin discreetly adjusted the strap. “The photographer is Kitahara Takeru. Not only are his photos amazing, he—”

Hearing that the photos were taken by Kitahara Takeru, Watanabe Akari’s gaze shifted from her phone to Marin, lingering there for a long moment.

Ōhashi Natsumi elbowed Takamiya Saki, nodding discreetly toward Akari.

Seeing Akari’s expression, Saki sighed helplessly: “Akari, you still haven’t given up?”

Almost two months had passed since the mixer.

After so long, shouldn’t she have let go by now?

Was one meeting with Kitahara Takeru enough to be unforgettable?

“What do you mean, give up? Saki, what are you talking about?”

Akari pretended indifference, but her attention never left Marin’s side.

Someone else in the class shared Akari’s situation—Gojō Wakana.

Maybe it was his imagination, but ever since that last cosplay event, Wakana felt some kind of distance with Marin.

She was still kind to him, still treated him as her best friend, still stood up for him—but she no longer showed him how she looked in the clothes he made, and insisted on paying for every outfit. It felt like she was drawing a line between them.

“Marin, are you and Kitahara Takeru dating? It feels like there’s something going on~.”

The sudden question from another girl jolted Wakana out of his thoughts and sharpened Akari’s attention.

“Not yet.”

Both Wakana and Akari breathed a sigh of relief simultaneously.

“Not yet means it might happen soon?”

“Marin, tell us honestly—do you like him?”

The girls pressed further, their teenage curiosity boiling.

“Well...”

Wakana and Akari’s hearts clenched again.

“I think…”

Marin recalled what happened at the cosplay event, her cheeks blushing hotly. Without realizing, she squeezed her thighs tightly, rubbing them subtly.

“I probably do like him.”

Gojō Wakana stood stunned, as if struck by lightning. Everything around him turned distant.

He couldn’t understand.

Why had everything changed after just one event?

He clearly remembered before the event, when he asked Marin what her relationship with Kitahara was.

She’d replied sincerely, “Kitahara-kun and I are just friends.”

She hadn’t looked like she was lying then.

But now she was saying, “I probably like him”?

Just what had happened at that event?

Watanabe Akari sat like a frozen statue, radiating sadness that left Saki and Natsumi unsure how to comfort her.

They exchanged glances, filled with regret for organizing that mixer.

It was supposed to help themselves find boyfriends—but instead, their friend had fallen into a trap she couldn’t escape.

“Marin, will you invite him to the fireworks?”

“Of course!”

...

5:00 p.m., Toyogasaki Academy, club activities ended, students departing campus.

“Bye, Sawamura-san.”

“See you, Chino, Yukako, Mitsuki.”

Standing by her luxury car, Eriri waved goodbye to her friends and climbed in.

“You asked me to pick you up today? Weren’t you always against me picking you up?”

Sawamura Sayuri smiled at her daughter.

“Mom, help me order a yukata—the fireworks festival’s coming soon.”

“You’ve always hated yukata. Said they’re too bothersome to wear.”

“I suddenly felt like wearing one.”

Watching Eriri type away happily on her phone, Sayuri felt a pang of worry.

After meeting Watanabe Takeru, she had investigated him and discovered shocking truths:

His real name was Kitahara Takeru—and his real face was even more attractive. And worst of all, he had countless girls around him.

Sayuri desperately wanted to expose him. But seeing her daughter’s blissful smile, she couldn’t bear to shatter her dream.

“Eriri… do you like Takeru?”

Blushing slightly, Eriri whispered softly:

“I don’t just like him.”

“I really, really like him.”

No matter if it was love or deception, she’d already surrendered.

As long as Kitahara Takeru stayed by her side, nothing else mattered.

Sayuri gently hugged her daughter, her eyes growing sharp.

If she couldn’t tell Eriri the truth…

Then she’d make sure Kitahara Takeru could never leave her daughter’s side—even if it meant breaking his legs.

---

T/N: BRO IS SO COOKED also uhhh idk its been so long is anyone still reading this? if not ill just drop it