Weren’t You Only Using Me As A Stand-in? [137]

Once Katsura Kotonoha had steadied herself, Kitahara Takeru let go of her wrist and casually grabbed onto a hand strap above.

“Morning.”

“Good morning, Kitahara-kun.”

With a simple greeting exchanged, Kitahara didn’t say anything further. He lowered his head and started fiddling with his phone.

Kotonoha looked at the boy standing before her—white shirt, black slacks, short silver hair, a black earring. His face was clean-cut and handsome, his figure tall and lean. He looked exactly the same as the last time she saw him.

And yet, something about him felt… different. Kotonoha couldn’t quite put it into words, but Kitahara seemed more magnetic than before.

He’d always drawn attention, but now just standing there was enough to make him look like he was lit by a spotlight. Curious glances kept drifting toward him throughout the train car.

Kotonoha even caught whispers from a nearby group of girls in Sakuragaoka Academy uniforms.

“He’s so hot!”
“His legs are longer than my will to live~”
“When I get a boyfriend, I want someone like him!”
“Who knew a buzzcut could be this sexy?”

And more of the same.

Kotonoha didn’t try to force conversation.

For one, she wasn’t good at starting small talk.
More importantly, just standing quietly beside him, just being with him like this—even without speaking—was already enough for her.

Neither of them spoke for the entire ride.

Only after they got off at the same station did Kotonoha finally break the silence.

“Kitahara-kun, I haven’t seen you lately. Did you start commuting earlier?”

“No.”

Yawning, Kitahara swiped his card at the turnstile. “I bought a motorcycle recently. Unless it rains, I probably won’t be taking the train anymore.”

“…I see.”

Kotonoha stopped walking, staring blankly at his retreating back as he strode ahead.

So I won’t be able to commute with him anymore?

They went to different schools already. They barely saw each other as it was. And now, even the few precious moments they had together each morning were about to be taken away?

As that thought settled, a quiet sadness began to well up inside her.

She stood amidst the bustling crowd, cars rushing past in front of her, traffic lights flashing nearby. The city of Tokyo buzzed with life all around her—and yet, for some reason, it felt like she was standing alone in the ruins of a deserted city.

“Kitahara-kun!”

Just as Kitahara was about to leave the station, Kotonoha finally found the courage to call out.

He turned around. “What is it?”

Kotonoha stepped toward him and stopped in front of him, raising her tear-glossed eyes. “I still want to commute with you. So… could you please keep taking the train?”

“I refuse.”

As if she’d expected that answer all along, Kotonoha stared at him stubbornly. “If you say no… then I’ll expose what you’ve been doing.”

“Kitahara-kun, I doubt you want everyone at your school to know that you’ve been selling yourself.”

“…Are you threatening me?”

Kitahara’s gaze turned cold, eyes narrowing like a venomous snake lurking in the dark.

“I’m sorry, Kitahara-kun. I just… don’t know how else to stay connected to you.”

She bowed deeply as she spoke.

“You won’t let me visit your school. You barely reply to my messages. You won’t even let me request you.”

“If we stop commuting together, we’ll have no connection left. I don’t know any other excuse to see you.”

Kitahara’s gaze softened. He raised a hand to his chin, thoughtful, as if pondering something.

Then suddenly, he asked, “Do you like me?”

“W-what?! No, I—of course not!”

Kotonoha flushed bright red, like a little girl caught in the act of hiding a secret.

“I want the truth. But if you want to lie, that’s fine too. Your answer just determines how I’ll respond.”

His voice was calm—eerily calm. It didn’t sound like a boy asking if someone liked him; it sounded more like a scholar conducting a clinical experiment.

She stayed silent for a full minute.

But under Kitahara’s piercing gaze, Kotonoha found she couldn’t lie. She lowered her head.

“…Yes.”

“I see. Then, second question: what is it you like about me?”

Kitahara gave a nonchalant nod, as if checking off a box, and continued his questioning.

“Before high school, I had no free time at all. Every day was packed—ballet, piano, ikebana, calligraphy, kendo… Anytime classmates invited me out, I had to say no because of cram school. Eventually, they stopped asking.”

“To everyone else, I became that girl you couldn’t approach. No one wanted to be friends with me.”

Kitahara interjected, “If your parents hadn’t restricted you, and someone invited you, would you have gone?”

“Yes.”

Satisfied, he nodded. “Go on.”

“Once I entered high school, my mom stopped interfering. I finally had the freedom to make friends. But I was shy. I’d never interacted with anyone outside my family. So… I still didn’t make any friends.”

“Until this term, when Saionji-san started talking to me. She became my first real friend.”

“She introduced me to the person I’m dating now—Itou Makoto.”

“Do you like him?” Kitahara asked suddenly.

Kotonoha hesitated for a second, then slowly nodded. “…I do.”

“Is that so?”

Kitahara stepped forward, closing what little space remained between them. He bent down slightly, his face mere inches from hers. He leaned in so close it was like he was about to brush against her.

With a mischievous arch of his brow, he asked a question straight out of a melodramatic script:

“Then between me and your boyfriend—who do you like more?”

They were too close. So close Kotonoha could see every detail of his face clearly—yet even so, she couldn’t find a single flaw.

Her cheeks began to flush violently.

“Kitahara-kun, don’t…”

She placed her hands on his chest, trying to push him away.

Just then, her eyes darted past his shoulder—and she suddenly froze, panic spreading across her face like a frightened rabbit.

Kitahara followed her gaze with a confused look.

There, stepping out of the station with wired earphones in, dressed in a Sakakino Academy uniform, was a boy with delicate features, yawning as he tapped his transit card.

Kitahara immediately understood. “Itou Makoto?”

“Y-yeah. What do I do?” Kotonoha asked, panicked.

“That’s easy.”

Her eyes lit up with hope. “You have a plan?”

“You just have to tell me: between me and him, who do you like more? And I’ll help you.”

A sly smile crept onto Kitahara’s face.

There was a wicked pleasure in it, as if he were savoring the mischief to come.

“Kitahara-kun, you—!”

Kotonoha bit her lip hard, eyes brimming with tears. She looked just like a girl who had been bullied.

“...Kotonoha.”

That sudden, gentle use of her name made her heart skip a beat.

“Tell me—between me and him, who do you like more?”

His eyes were burning with heat, his breath fanning across her cheeks. Their body heat intertwined, indistinguishable.

Their gazes locked. His irises were like a clear summer sky—and within them, she saw herself reflected.

And in that moment, she fell straight into those eyes.

“…You.”

---

T/N: DID HE FINALLY FALL INTO THE DARK SIDE YES JOINNNNN ME

This is a fan translation of 不是说只拿我当替身的吗？by 雪碧加冰. All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!