2.2
THAT NIGHT, Karuizawa called me while I hung out in my room. Even though we had just exchanged information, it still caught me off guard. The moment I picked up the phone, she got right to the point. “I have something to ask you.”
“If I can answer it, then sure.”
“Satou-san confessed her feelings to you, didn’t she?”
That blindsided me. How did Karuizawa know?
“A lot of girls in class already know, just so you’re aware.”
“Good lord. Teenage girls are faster than the internet. Who’s your source?” I asked.
“What do you mean, ‘who’? Satou-san said so. She told me in advance that she was going to confess to you,” Karuizawa replied.
Was this like insider trading or something? No, something seemed off.
“Is that why you looked over at me this afternoon?”
“You noticed?”
“It shouldn’t matter who confesses to whom. Why pay attention to that kind of thing?” I asked.
“Because that’s just how girls are. It’d be a pain to for us to compete after the fact, right?”
Was this kind of like wanting to write your name on your possessions? Guys did similar things, if not in exactly the same ways. Even so, this didn’t make sense.
“It’s not a competition,” I said. “Even if you all have your heart set on the same person, won’t the end result be the same? Why do you care if someone makes a declaration?”
“It’s entirely different. People will be super turned off if you suddenly proclaim that you’re going out with someone. It’ll make you look really pathetic. Anyway, I don’t care about that. It’s…whatever. What I want right now is your answer,” she replied.
As if this wasn’t nerve-racking enough already. “My answer to her has nothing to do with you.”
“Well, I guess that’s true. But it’s not like it isn’t my business at all, right? I mean, you threatened me. You made me do all kinds of things for you. The girls’ information network is pretty wide, and I don’t want lots of rumors floating around. Every time I get myself involved in something for you, it puts me at risk. Understand?”
In other words, Karuizawa wanted to make sure I wouldn’t tell Satou anything about her if Satou and I started dating. Or maybe she was afraid that I’d stop protecting her if I only cared about Satou? It was clearly eating at her, but I was still missing something. Karuizawa was a logical person, contrary to her outward appearance and mannerisms, but she was pushing too hard this time.
“Well, you don’t need to worry about it,” I said.
“Does that mean you’re thinking about going out with her?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You are, though. You didn’t say that you were turning her down. Ew! I can see right through you. You’re happy Satou confessed to you, because now you’re just going to go dream up some naughty, perverted stuff. Guys are so gross,” she said.
This was nuts. Karuizawa was like a parent raving about their kid becoming an Olympic athlete one day just because they took first place in one little competition. “Well, even if guys are perverts, I don’t have any feelings for Satou,” I replied.
“Okay then. Prove it. What’s your reason for refusing her?” she asked.
“Prove what? She didn’t even confess her feelings to me. She just said she wanted to start out as friends, and we exchanged phone numbers.”
“I see. So, it was like that.”
Why did I have to talk to Karuizawa about this stuff? It was incredibly embarrassing.
“I didn’t need to respond to a confession. It just ended with us exchanging contact information.”
“Hmm. Well, I suppose we can leave things at that for today,” she said.
Karuizawa was acting like a condescending spymaster. Since I had her on the phone right now anyway, I decided to confirm something. “Manabe and those other Class C girls haven’t tried anything with you since we were on the cruise ship, have they?”
“No. It’s okay, at least for now.” Karuizawa’s voice got low. She didn’t want to think about that incident.
“I’ve taken countermeasures, but in the event something does happen, let me know right away. Even if someone tells you not to say a word. I’ll make sure it’s resolved,” I told her.
I heard Karuizawa hold her breath over the phone. Had I been too bold?
“I see. I know that if I’m not useful to you, it’ll be bad for me,” she replied.
To survive at this school, Karuizawa needed to keep her current social standing. To do that, she had to conceal the truth of her past. Manabe and her friends didn’t really know that truth. The problem was Ryuuen pulling the strings from behind the scenes. I might have to confront him at some point, and that time was most likely nigh.
“Anyway, back to our earlier topic. What do you plan to do about Satou-san? Since you exchanged contact information, it’s possible things could move to the next level, right?” asked Karuizawa.
“I’m putting things on hold. I mean, I don’t know Satou. She may not even call.”
“So, if Satou-san pursues you or tries to cling to you, you’ll dump her?”
“What do you mean, ‘dump’? All we did was exchange numbers. It’s not like I’m going to go call her myself.” I didn’t have the guts to just ask Satou out on a date, or to make a romantic confession.
“I suppose.” Karuizawa seemed mollified.
“Karuizawa.”
“What?”
I wasn’t sure whether I’d reach her before she hung up, but she replied when I called her name.
“Make sure to erase records of our calls from your phone.”
“Yeah, I’ve already been doing that. Emails, too.”
“Just as expected.” Karuizawa knew how to handle herself.
“If that’s all, I’m going to hang up,” she said.
“Sure.” With that, the call ended.
To be honest, I wanted to say one more thing, but decided not to. Talking about what was to come would just put pressure on Karuizawa, anyway. I figured she would be able to handle herself to some extent.
I didn’t want to tell her about the potential danger we faced. Not yet.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login