Chapter 210: Kana Arima is a Foolish Woman (4000 words) (Patreon)

In the world…

No…

This might well be the worst confession of all time, at least as far as Kana Arima was concerned.

Because…

"What do you mean, 'Mai, Sakiko, Mutsumi, Hatsune'?!!!"

Kana Arima threw her arms out wide, shouting until her voice cracked.

And honestly, what Minami Yuji had just said was enough to make anyone shout themselves hoarse.

When other people confessed, they looked sincere and chose every word carefully, never daring to say anything weird.

But Minami Yuji?!

Wasn't all of that weird?

And he'd said it while counting the names off on his fingers, one finger at a time.

The worst part was how sincere his face looked while he did it.

That only made her angrier.

But…

Kana Arima quickly huffed, swept a glance over Minami Yuji, and said right out, "A-anyway, you don't have to worry about my feelings and tell me jokes like that. I'm not that nervous."

Right. In her mind, saying something like that meant Minami Yuji was doing what he always did, simply trying to ease her nerves with a joke.

He was always like this, fretting over the strangest things.

But still—

This time she was serious!

Her mind was already made up. She didn't need that kind of pointless reassurance from Minami Yuji.

"But I wasn't trying to reassure you, Kana. I'm serious."

"Yeah, yeah, you weren't reassuring me, you're serious… Huh?"

Her voice, which had been agreeing without thinking, ground to a halt.

Only now did Kana Arima register what Minami Yuji had actually said.

Those big round eyes turned on him in disbelief.

"You… wait a second. What did you say?"

"I said I'm not trying to reassure you, Kana. Everything I'm saying right now comes from the heart."

He still made no attempt to hide anything. Minami Yuji's candor was frankly terrifying.

…Kana Arima.

Silence.

A long, long silence!

That dead stillness from before came crashing back.

The smile slowly drained from the girl's lively, pretty face.

Those wine-red eyes narrowed with real pressure, leaving only a thin slit.

She just stared straight at Minami Yuji.

She kept staring for what felt like three or four minutes.

Only after confirming that his expression hadn't changed in the slightest did she finally speak.

"Yuji, what you're saying is that it's not just me. You also want to date Toyokawa, Sakurajima, Wakaba and Misumi and the rest of them at the same time… right?"

This time, her voice had none of the bright, adorable energy she'd used earlier to liven up the mood.

In its place was a nearly level interrogation.

And faced with a question this heavy with pressure from the girl,

Minami Yuji's answer still didn't change. "Yeah. That's right."

Watching him nod lightly in front of her, Kana Arima's cherry-pink lips twitched.

He hadn't even changed his expression…

She took a deep breath, tilted her head back, and asked again in a steady voice, "Yuji, do you even know what you're saying?"

Right.

Did Minami Yuji actually know what he was saying?

Saying that out loud was the same as saying, "I want to build a harem," wasn't it?

"I do."

"Haah…?"

Another answer she hadn't expected. Kana Arima let out a heavy sigh.

Her wine-red eyes turned away.

Her feet were planted in the groove beneath the metal railing.

Her upper body leaned over the top of the rail.

Only the top half of her face showed.

The night wind carried her voice away until it was barely audible.

"Why would you tell me something like this?"

There was no mockery in it, and no blame.

What replaced them was simple incomprehension.

Because she truly couldn't figure it out.

If Minami Yuji really wanted a so-called "harem,"

there was no need to tell her any of this. Wouldn't it be better to just keep it hidden?

Wait until she'd accepted his confession,

then coax her a little as her boyfriend, feed her some sweet words, and finally spring it on her as a done deal, "act first, report later."

By then, she'd have to agree whether she wanted to or not, right?

After all…

"In Yuji's eyes, I've always been that easy, dumb girl, haven't I?"

Kana Arima sighed again.

She knew her own personality.

She might call it a sharp tongue hiding a soft heart,

but at the end of the day she was just plain soft-eared, always weighing other people's words when it came to big decisions.

And to that, Minami Yuji nodded without a moment's hesitation.

"You really are. All it takes is a little kindness, Kana. Be nice to you, chat with you a bit and hit it off, and you immediately get carried away and lose your head…"

He was only halfway through when he suddenly sensed something was wrong.

Because Kana Arima wasn't saying anything.

She'd just been listening to him, silent for a moment, and then she moved.

She threw herself into his arms.

Her slender fingers clutched his collar.

And for the first time in front of Minami Yuji, she screamed until her voice broke.

"If that's how it is, then why would you—"

"Why would you tell me all this?!!!"

"Just lie to me like you always do! Sweet-talk me! Wouldn't that have been fine?!"

"Don't you think… this is too cruel?!"

Her head, buried against his chest, lifted.

Minami Yuji saw it clearly.

Those crystal-clear eyes were wet with tears.

Under the glow of the night lamps, a glimmer of light shone through them.

That light looked so brilliant, and so fragile.

Yes! Wasn't all of this too cruel?

Eight full years.

From the time she was small and adorable to the more grown-up girl she was now,

she had watched over Minami Yuji for eight full years.

Through those eight years, she had risen and fallen with his every mood, every single day.

She'd been waiting the whole time for one answer from Minami Yuji.

But…

"You're awful! This is just too awful!"

Her hands pounded hard against his chest.

Crystal tears slid from her eyes and wouldn't stop.

She never could have imagined that the confession she'd longed for all this time would come true like this.

If she could have chosen,

she'd have preferred that Minami Yuji not tell her any of this.

Just lie, deceive her, say he liked only her… that would have been enough.

That way,

even if Minami Yuji turned out to be a playboy later, she could have comforted herself: at least when he confessed to me, he really did like only me.

A thought like that was probably pathetic.

For a famous actress, you could even call it simping.

But… if it was Minami Yuji, she'd have accepted it gladly.

Yet Minami Yuji wasn't willing to put on even the slightest show.

Did he think her feelings were cheap?

Did he think she'd bite the hook obediently even without the show?

He wasn't even going to humor her?!

She accused him, as if venting all the grievances she'd stored up over eight years.

Her petite body trembled in his arms, overwhelmed by emotion.

And that was when

Minami Yuji spoke.

"Maybe you really are easy to handle, Kana, but I've never thought your love was cheap."

Kana Arima liked him.

Minami Yuji had known that for a long time.

Back when they were kids, she'd often come looking for him at [Ichigo Pro] on her own.

Or now, having fully joined [Minami Pro]…

this girl had always expressed her love in the most direct, even unguarded way.

That was exactly why Minami Yuji had made his decision earlier.

If he couldn't choose, then he'd simply take them all.

But Minami Yuji also knew

this road was hard to walk.

Extremely hard!

Just as Kana Arima had said, Minami Yuji could have calmed her with smooth talk today, then strung several girls along behind her back, flirting this way and that with the others to raise their affection…

Once everything was a done deal,

with the girls' personalities and his own methods, getting them to let go would be next to impossible.

But Minami Yuji hadn't even considered it.

Because—

"I think you have the right to know all of this, Kana."

Minami Yuji's voice was steady.

Hiding it and then deceiving her… was undoubtedly easy to do.

For Minami Yuji, with his Acting LV9, it was practically effortless.

But… what then?

Even if Kana Arima said yes today,

what would happen afterward?

Once you tell one lie, you have to patch it with countless more.

And the bond between a man and a woman isn't just a rush of hormones.

A relationship built on trickery and deceit could never go far.

So even though others would see confessing everything to Kana Arima as deeply unwise, even thankless,

Minami Yuji had his reasons for doing it, not just for now but for everything afterward.

In his arms, Kana Arima's trembling had stopped completely.

Under Minami Yuji's gaze,

Kana Arima wiped away her tears and lifted her head.

"A-and if I say no?"

She asked the Minami Yuji before her slowly.

"I might feel regret, but I would never feel remorse."

Yes.

Minami Yuji might feel regret, but never remorse.

Because this was the choice he'd made.

He had to bear the consequences of that choice,

even if the result turned out unsatisfying, even bitter.

That was simply how life was.

Kana Arima went quiet.

Because she could feel that Minami Yuji wasn't joking, and had no intention of defending himself.

To this young man, wrong was wrong and right was right.

She could feel that he'd said all this with tremendous resolve.

She lifted her head and slowly looked at Minami Yuji.

His expression was as calm as ever.

Just like back then…

when Minami Yuji had stood against her mother, Ayaka Arima, over Kana's sake.

And he'd been only eight years old then.

Eight, and he'd already had the courage to face her mother head-on.

And now…?

He'd summoned his courage once again.

Even if that courage was a little… um… aimed in the wrong direction.

But…

Kana Arima felt that maybe she ought to answer that courage.

"…"

Silence.

A long, long silence.

Yet watching the silent Kana Arima, Minami Yuji's expression still didn't change.

After all, just as he'd said,

he didn't regret it in the slightest.

Given another chance to choose, he'd still tell Kana Arima what he thought.

And so about three minutes passed, or maybe five.

Minami Yuji finally heard Kana Arima's voice.

It was so faint it seemed the wind might swallow it at any moment, yet her tone was utterly firm.

"If she were an ordinary girl, after hearing the person she likes say all this, she'd surely be disgusted."

Right. If an ordinary girl had heard Minami Yuji's words, she'd probably find them absurd and loathe him completely.

And unfortunately…

"I'm just that kind of ordinary girl."

Kana Arima pressed her lips together.

Right. Setting her celebrity status aside, she was just an ordinary girl.

She was happy because of the person she liked, and upset because of the person she liked.

So—

"I really, really hate you, Yuji. I hate how you finally let me see a sliver of dawn, and then just reached out and snuffed it. Do you even know what you're saying?! A harem or whatever… how could any girl be willing to accept that?!"

She murmured it, her hand gripping his collar tightening as her voice grew more agitated.

"Idiot! Dummy! You've watched way too much anime!"

So that's how it was.

Hearing this, Minami Yuji sighed inwardly and closed his black eyes.

He'd actually anticipated this result all along.

After all, just as Kana Arima said,

reality isn't a novel, and it certainly isn't an anime.

A scenario like "you're all my wings" was far too hard to pull off.

No matter which girl it was, none of them would likely accept it.

However—

"But I hate myself too. I hate the me who, even so, can't hate you at all, Yuji!"

Kana Arima's voice rang out again.

It made Minami Yuji's already closed black eyes fly open in disbelief.

He looked down at Kana Arima against his chest and found her looking right back at him.

And what astonished him even more was, without a doubt, the emotion held in those wine-red eyes.

A heat like the sun's…

Even Minami Yuji, whose mind was usually so calm, felt a surge of warmth boil up in his chest for no reason he could name.

"Because…"

"I'm… just a lowly, dumb girl, you know."

Tears clung to the corners of her eyes, yet the corners of her lips curved upward.

"As long as Yuji likes me…"

"I'm already really, truly happy."

Yes…

Kana Arima felt she really was a dumb girl.

A dumb girl so hopelessly in love with Minami Yuji that even when he said something that awful, she couldn't make herself cut ties with him for good.

So—

There was no hesitation.

No dithering.

Meeting Minami Yuji's slightly startled gaze,

she rose onto her tiptoes.

Lifted both arms.

And then—

Fervently.

Like the sun.

She kissed him.

Minami Yuji could feel her speaking.

Even though the touch of her cherry-pink lips told him she had no time to speak at all.

But those scorching crimson eyes, rising with the kiss, clearly said it.

—This is my answer.