Chapter 565: That When Sincere, It Might Not Hurt You

Chapter 565: That When Sincere, It Might Not Hurt You

The window was open. Summer wind blew in—dry and stuffy.

Upstairs neighbors were renovating, the noise going from morning till night. On the next balcony, a couple argued while a child cried and fussed. On the street, car horns honked intermittently. Someone loudly celebrated winning the lottery while holding a bottle.

None of this concerned Kasumigaoka. She leaned on the windowsill. People couldn’t really understand each other’s joy or sorrow. She just thought they were noisy.

She hadn’t been to school for several days. Her new work was stuck, and the doctor told her to relax and rest.

Another gust of wind. The curtains fluttered, and a wishing tag hanging on the windowsill spun in the breeze.

The wish written on the tag was clear:

“That when sincere, it might not hurt you.”

Hey.

The person who made that wish was kind of a jerk, right?

Because… she had approached him fully prepared to be hurt.

…

Last year, on the awards night.

The star was Kasumi Utako-sensei. Judges praised her, crowds admired and envied her. Standing on stage, she smiled politely. Under the spotlight, she looked beautiful beyond belief.

Himekoji sat in a corner. Alcohol shouldn’t be touched by minors, but he took a sip anyway. It made him cough, his cheeks flushed.

“Hey.”

Someone called to him.

Somehow, without him noticing, the genius high school author, the Kasumi Utako-sensei, the belle of the ball surrounded by admirers, visited the corner where Himekoji sat alone. The girl stood before him, hands clasped behind her back, lively and pretty.

When Kasumi Utako-sensei winked and smiled at Himekoji, the noise of the entire gathering seemed to instantly fade away.

Himekoji frowned. He hated this feeling. Sudden quiet only magnified the irritation and loneliness in his heart.

“Hey, hey, hey\~\~”

Getting no response, Kasumigaoka persisted in greeting Himekoji. She tilted her head slightly, her long hair cascading down like a waterfall.

Himekoji turned his face away, refusing to look at her. His eyes stared blankly at an empty spot.

“Why won’t you respond?”

She was slightly persistent, and because she was a pretty girl, Himekoji didn’t know how to handle her.

He had a headache and warned her: “Stay away from me, or else…”

His words were cut off mid-sentence.

Himekoji’s eyes abruptly widened.

Kasumigaoka Utaha grabbed his collar, turning his face back toward her. Then, without warning, she bent down and kissed him.

Soft contact. A pleasant smell. Stunned, Himekoji could no longer avoid her gaze. His eyes met hers—serious and intent.

A brief, light kiss. As if it shouldn’t have happened at all.

“Oh, you finally bothered to look at me.” Kasumigaoka Utaha, letting go of his collar, pulled a chair and sat beside him. Her tone was casual and mysterious. “It’s rude to be distracted when someone’s talking to you.”

At that moment, Himekoji’s mind was blank. He couldn’t understand what was happening. What he thought was—

Was that forceful kiss supposed to be polite?

“Alright. Now you can finish what you were saying. Stay away… or else?”

“Or else…”

[Ding!]

[Make a choice!]

“Or else… this!” Himekoji grabbed the glass before him, tilted his head back, and drained it. He didn’t swallow the alcohol. Holding it in his mouth, he stood up. One hand pressed Kasumigaoka’s shoulder. The other wrapped around her slender waist. He moved in close, sounding his counterattack.

Himekoji pried Kasumigaoka’s lips open, forcibly feeding her the alcohol he held in his own mouth.

After a long time, they finally parted.

[Ding!]

[Quest Completed!]

Himekoji wiped his mouth and stood up, forcing calmness and indifference. “I warned you.”

He’d expected anger, shame, fury—yelling, insults, maybe even fists. But none of that happened.

“You do that often?” Kasumigaoka Utaha simply took a glass of wine, rinsed her mouth with it, and asked him out of curiosity, seemingly unfazed.

“Yes.” Himekoji nodded.

He couldn’t help glancing at Kasumigaoka twice. After being assaulted, her casual attitude was the first he’d encountered in his long career as a Pervert.

Oh. So she wasn’t a serious person either?

He thought so instinctively. Because thinking that made him feel a little better.

Besides, she’d kissed him first, hadn’t she?

“You do that often too?” So, to further lessen his own sense of guilt, Himekoji deliberately threw the question back at her.

“No. It’s my first time. By the way? It was my first kiss too.”

Not the answer Himekoji wanted to hear.

The hand holding his wine glass shook violently. He turned back, stunned and confused, looking at her.

If it was her first time… why do that?

Were first kisses really such a casual thing?

“Call it my thank you.” Kasumigaoka continued talking in ways Himekoji couldn’t understand.

“Huh?”

“For that Grand Prize.”

Slowly connecting the dots, Himekoji more or less understood what she meant by “thank you.” He shook his head. “That was something you deserved anyway.”

“No. Actually, your work was better. Even the judges thought so.”

“That thing didn’t belong to me.”

“Then what does?” Kasumigaoka leaned closer. That exquisite beauty gradually encroached upon Himekoji’s stiff face. He felt her breath. Their noses almost touched. “Or, to put it differently… What do you want to make yours?”

Himekoji didn’t want to admit he felt pressured, even intimidated. His heartbeat sped up. He leaned back as hard as he could.

“I don’t get what you’re saying! I told you, that thing was yours from the start!”

“And so are you.”

“Huh?”

“You always belonged to me too.”

“Are you kidding?!” That comment hit Himekoji as utterly absurd. He was so shocked he nearly fell off his chair.

His last shred of reason forced out a declaration—

“The Grand Prize was yours to begin with! Believe it or not, I don’t care! I don’t need your thanks! And I definitely don’t need that corny, cliché ‘offer myself to repay you’ nonsense!”

“Thanks? Oh no, this has nothing to do with thanks.” Kasumigaoka seemed to be on a completely different wavelength. Every word out of her mouth utterly surprised Himekoji. “It’s just a simple wish.”

“A wish? What wish?” Step by step, Himekoji let her lead him. Maybe he already felt something then.

“I decided I wanted it.”

“Wanted what?”

The debut chance after winning the Grand Prize? Royalties? A book signing event?

“I want you, Hime Hime-kun.”

“Wait! Hold on…!”

Before Kasumigaoka could kiss him again, Himekoji frantically dodged.

Kasumigaoka laughed at him. “Pfft. What’s this? I heard you boast the notorious title of Pervert? Looking at you now, it’s totally undeserved.”

“That’s because now I’m the one being targeted by another Pervert!” Himekoji also thought his reaction was pathetic. He tried saving face verbally and regain some dignity.

“Fine, fine. Here.”

Kasumigaoka handed him a paper slip.

Himekoji took it, baffled. He couldn’t help asking: “What’s this?”

“A Tanabata wishing tag. Even though today’s the Grand Prize award ceremony, it’s also Tanabata. Everyone made wishes, like wishing for their new book to sell well.”

“Oh.” Himekoji glanced at it twice, then set it aside. “I don’t believe in stuff like this.”

No god cared enough to listen to everyone’s small wishes. Besides, did something as pointless as ‘gods’ even exist?

“Sheesh.” Kasumigaoka walked over to him like she was dealing with a hopeless case. She ruffled his hair. “You have to believe.”

“Why?”

“Only those who believe get saved.”

Kasumi Utako-sensei gently tapped Himekoji’s forehead with her fingertip. The breeze lifted the ends of her hair. Softly, she smiled and said:

“So Hime Hime-kun… Believe me just this once—okay?”

In Himekoji’s memory… that was when salvation began.