Weren’t You Only Using Me As A Stand-in? [114]

On the other end of the phone, when Kitahara Takeru heard Eriri crying, his voice immediately tensed with concern:

“Eriri, are you crying?”

“Please don’t cry! If I did something wrong, tell me—I’ll fix it, I swear.”

Hearing him speak with the same tender care as always only made Eriri feel worse.

The pain carved into her chest like a dull chisel—slow, cruel, and relentless.

“Watanabe Takeru, how long are you going to keep lying to me?!”

Tears streaming down her face, she shouted into the night wind.

“I know everything. I heard it all!”

“You’re incredible, you know that?”

“How exactly do you manage to divide your heart between two girls so perfectly?!”

Being sweet to her on one side, and dating Shijō Maki on the other—making both of them feel like they were in a lovely, exclusive romance.

And the worst part?

She’d been naive enough to believe it.

“It’s like… you soothe her one moment, and then turn around and soothe me the next. Aren’t you tired?”

Of course he was.

Every day, the moment he opened his eyes, it was nothing but replies and schedules. Either on a date or rushing to one.

Kitahara Takeru was exhausted.

But what choice did he have?

To keep her from drifting away, he had to keep the mask on—even if it wore him down.

He kept his tone light, puzzled:
“What do you mean, divide my heart between two girls? Eriri, what are you talking about? I don’t get it.”

Eriri wiped her tears hard, then cut to the chase:

“Drop the act, Takeru. I know you have a girlfriend.”

“…Girlfriend?”

Thanks to the heads-up he got from Kashiwagi Nagisa about Eriri confronting Maki, Kitahara was completely calm—he didn’t even pause.

And in a moment like this, the last thing he could afford was hesitation.

Hesitation means defeat.

“You’re still pretending?”

Eriri’s voice cracked in disbelief.

“What kind of man are you, Watanabe Takeru?”

“Cheating’s not enough—you don’t even have the guts to admit it!”

The evidence was right there, and he still wouldn’t confess. She was heartbroken, yes, but more than anything—she was disappointed.

She didn’t expect him to be such a spineless coward.

“If I did something, I’ll own up to it. But when did I ever cheat?”

Takeru spoke with total confidence. Not a hint of guilt.

Cheating?

Come on. That was such an underrating of his achievements.

Let’s talk facts: did he really only have two girls?

“…Who told you that, anyway?”

“Oh, so you’re not admitting it, huh? Fine! I’ll let your girlfriend say it for you!”

Seeing he wouldn’t come clean, Eriri turned on speakerphone and held the phone out to Shijō Maki.

What is happening…?

Maki felt her head ache. This whole thing was a mess—and all thanks to Nagisa and her damn “honesty.”

She actually understood why Kitahara wouldn’t acknowledge her as his girlfriend.

Because… they weren’t, really.

Takeru knew she liked Tanuma Tsubasa.

Back then, she’d claimed to be his girlfriend just to save face.

But now it was obvious Eriri wasn’t just some side fling—she was someone Takeru really cared about.

If they broke up because of her…

What was she supposed to do?

Sacrifice herself for his happiness?

No way. She belonged to Tanuma Tsubasa.

Or maybe… call her aunt, Shinomiya Kaguya? She was still sharp, even now.

Caught in all these swirling thoughts, Maki finally spoke:
“…Hello? Takeru? It’s me.”

On the other end, Kitahara didn’t flinch.

“Who are you?”

“…Shouldn’t I be the one asking that?”

Maki froze.

The voice that responded—it was low, magnetic, with a faint, smoky rasp. Mature. Nothing like the voice she remembered.

It was a good voice, no doubt. But it wasn’t his.

“…Hi. I’m Watanabe Takeru.”

Kitahara had already prepped for this. He knew exactly how to deal.

Maybe Maki had heard his voice before—but who’s to say he wasn’t using a fake tone back then?

When it came to voice acting, he had skills.

He could do youthful, husky, airy—even female voices if needed.

Back in the day, he once used this very trick to scam a kid out of his “Hellfire” account in a mobile game.

Maki squinted in doubt. “You’re really Watanabe Takeru?”

Same name… but didn’t sound like her Takeru.

How many people are named that, anyway?

“Looks like it’s just a case of same name, same surname.”

Kitahara had chosen the surname Watanabe precisely because it was among Japan’s top ten most common surnames.

There were over a million Watanabes in the country.

Sure, it wasn’t quite “Satō” levels of common—but yell “Watanabe!” on a busy street and at least three people would turn around.

Eriri sniffled. “Same name…?”

“Exactly.”

It was a flimsy excuse, sure—but not impossible.

“If you don’t believe me, Eriri, compare our phone numbers. They’re different, aren’t they?”

Kitahara had two phone numbers.

One from his original life.

And another he got after moving to Tokyo.

The one he gave Eriri was from Hokkaidō.

The one he gave Maki came later.

He’d gotten two numbers specifically to keep work and personal life separate.

He had thought about transferring Eriri and Kasumigaoka’s numbers to his “work” phone. But then he got lazy.

The relationships weren’t going to last that long anyway. Easier to just delete them later.

Thank god I didn’t change it.

Because otherwise… this whole thing would’ve fallen apart today.

Not that Kitahara cared about getting exposed—just not today.

He’d already lost Kasumigaoka Utaha.

If he lost Eriri now too, that would mean no more points or cash.

If he was going to lose them, he needed a replacement lined up first.

“Let me see.”

Maki pulled up the number Kitahara had given her and compared it with Eriri’s.

They were different.

Could it really be a mistake…? x2.

Eriri and Maki exchanged a look—and, for the first time, had the same thought.

“If you still don’t believe me, compare our photos. See if we even look alike.”

Kitahara’s voice was smooth as butter, calmly pulling them deeper into his logic.

Honestly, exposing the lie would’ve been easy.

All they had to do was copy Kashiwagi Nagisa and hire a private investigator.

Every falsehood he’d spun would come tumbling down.

But Kitahara was betting on it.

Betting Eriri wouldn’t investigate.

“Then—then what about the handkerchief I gave you? Why was it with her?”

Despite believing most of his story, Eriri still needed an explanation for that.

Because deep down, she didn’t want to believe that the Takeru she loved would betray her.

If you asked her who, besides her parents, loved her most in this world—

Without hesitation, she would say: Watanabe Takeru.

No one loved Sawamura Spencer Eriri more than he did.
(Kasumigaoka Utaha: Funny. That’s exactly what I said back in Chapter 4.)

Still, even if she trusted him, she needed to know.

Why was the handkerchief she gave him in someone else’s hands?

Handkerchief? What handkerchief?

Kitahara blinked.

Then, thanks to his nearly photographic memory—especially now, boosted by the system—he quickly recalled what she meant.

And immediately regretted everything.

Damn it…

He really hadn’t thought this through.

He hadn’t expected Maki to be carrying it around.

This is a mess.

He felt like one of those tragic romance dramas where a side character screws everything up with a plot twist from a random IKEA lamp commercial.

“Why aren’t you answering? Are you hiding something? I knew it—you’ve been lying this whole time!”

Kitahara’s delay sent Eriri spiraling again.

She was in full suspicion mode now.

At this point, every girl looked like she might have something going on with her Watanabe Takeru.

You couldn’t blame her.

The girl had been betrayed one too many times.

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T/N: HE DOUBLED DOWNNNNN WQAHRIHPFHAPS

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!