Only when that group exited the store did I let out the sigh of exhaustion I’d held in the entire time.
“You should… be careful.” Yuna suddenly said that.
“I can tell.”
“She… really despises and looks down on all guys. She treats them like they only exist for their money.”
“I got that hint. But what about you? She seems like pretty bad news.”
“That’s just how she naturally talks and acts to just about any girl, even ones who are in her inner circle of friends. She’s got what I like to call extreme bitch syndrome. Despite that, she doesn’t actually do anything bad to girls. She just says whatever comes to mind completely uncensored without caring about other people’s feelings.”
“I’m honestly shocked you’ve been able to tolerate that type of person for an entire year. You’ve got the tolerance of a Buddha.”
“Haaaah. Tell me about it. But who am I to judge? I'm not much better than her. I just think foul-mouthed things instead of voicing them out loud like her. Maybe that’s why I’ve somehow gotten grouped together with them.”
“Or maybe she just rubbed off on you.”
“Maybe. I have to admit, your translation of what I really wanted to say to her was pretty spot on though.”
“Well, I have read that observation diary of yours after all.”
“Haha. That is true I guess. Uh… by the way…”
“What?”
“You have some nerve hugging me like that without warning and making yourself out to be my boyfriend.”
“They were eyesores, extremely annoying to listen to, and I wanted them to hurry up and leave.”
“Is that all?”
“Yeah. That’s it.”
“Don’t you think it’d be bad if Rosa found out?”
“She’d understand.”
“Girls get jealous easily though.”
“Maybe.”
“I’ll keep what happened just now between us and won’t expose you since you were just looking out for me. But… you better not try anything funny like that again. I’ll get mad next time, you got that?”
“Yeah, yeah. Hey, that dream you had. Don’t you think it’s strangely similar to what happened just now? In that dream of yours, did I hug you from behind?”
“Huh? Haha, wouldn’t you like to know?”
“Not really.”
“Well, since you helped me out just now I suppose I don’t mind telling you.”
She moved her mouth right beside my ear and whispered with her left hand obstructing the view of her lips from the side, “Sex was the correct answer.”
My heart stopped for a second and my body stiffened up.
She blew into my ear as she teased, “Just kidding~ you only hugged me the way you did just now.”
I turned toward her and stumbled back a short distance as I scrutinized the uncharacteristic expression on her face. The tip of her fingers covered the front of her mouth, but I could see the corners of a rare natural smile peeking out from behind them.
“Did you get excited for a second?” She tilted her head to one side and asked with a tinge of innocent curiosity visible in her eyes.
“No, I just had a micro heart attack. Are you picking up some bad habits from Rosa or something?”
“I’m not.”
“Hey, the reason you were so opposed to Rosa at the start, was it because you associated her as being similar to that girl from just now?”
“Hmm… maybe. That dream I had would certainly lead one to believe that is the case.”
“I see. You didn’t want Alicia to get stuck associating with someone like that the way you are now.”
“Probably.”
I see. It started to make sense.
“You really need to be careful now though. That girl is… bad news.”
“I admit, that was definitely a bit too impulsive of me. I’ve gotten too lax these days.” Considering how my girlfriend was an assassin, it was to be expected. I’d already gotten entangled with my fair share of women I considered dangerous. My danger instincts had grown a bit numb to them by now.
Dangerous women aside, had I unknowingly developed a case of white knight syndrome? Ugh, I can’t believe I pulled a stunt like that. The old me would have outright ignored it. I was starting to drown in regret when I seriously reflected on my actions.
I’m definitely not going to do anything like that again.
The two of us returned to facing the counter side by side when I opened my mouth and made a request, “Hey, please remind me to never do what I just did again.”
“Haha, sure. But I’ll be sure to use it as material for a story.”
“Can you not?”
“No way, there are people who eat up cheesy stuff like what you just pulled.”
“Spare me.”
“I won’t. I’ll write all about it down to the finest detail. Consider it compensation for me letting you hug me, not exposing your lie when you called me your girlfriend, and not blabbing about it to Rosa.”
“You’d frame it like that even when you benefited from it?”
“Benefited? Now I’m going to have to deal with those girls badgering me about it. I’ll have to explain that we broke up when I start seeing them again next semester and I’ll have to listen to them making fun of me for it.”
“Haaaah. Well, I guess you’re right. My bad, I didn’t really consider that far ahead. Keeping the lie going in front of them would be bothersome.”
“Hey…” she hesitated for a moment and didn’t immediately continue with what she wanted to say.
“What?”
“Uhh… this is just purely out of curiosity… but if you were to rank me among those four, who would you really rank the highest?”
“If we’re going by appearance alone, it’d definitely be that annoying girl.”
“Haha, I figured as much.” She didn’t sound the slightest bit surprised.
“However, if we factor in both personality and appearance, then go by overall scores across the board, you’d come out on top by a mile.”
“Uh… what’s with that evaluation? You’re just biased, aren’t you?” She didn’t sound even remotely convinced.
“Maybe.”
“Aren’t you a bit of a cop-out? Going by appearance, you didn’t say where I would rank among them. You’re probably just giving personality some unreasonable weight in your ranking instead of valuing them equally.”
“Well, you’re actually only 0.000001% behind first and currently in second place looks-wise among the group.”
“Liar.” She was truly a woman hard to please.
“Haha. Am I? If I said you were first in my books, appearance-wise, you wouldn’t have believed me and thought it was just some lip service, right? You, yourself, don’t think you compare to them, but I think you’re much more attractive than them. Ten times out of ten, I’d pick you to work with over any of those useless-looking girls.”
“Work with? That sounds like some cheap consolation prize. Who’d you rather have as a girlfriend?”
“As a girlfriend? Well, I think you’d be preferable to guys.”
“To guys? I asked who you’d prefer, not guys.” She was persistent and as peculiar as ever when it came to wording.
“I already have a girlfriend.”
“If you didn’t have a girlfriend though.” She really wasn’t letting me off the hook.
“I’d prefer the girl I rated as being number one in appearance.”
“Shallow.”
“Haha. Like girls are any better. If you had to pick between me and those two guys with money, don’t you think you’d pick the person with the greatest odds of success in life?”
“I wouldn’t even hesitate on who I’d pick.”
“Oh? Who would you pick then?”
“The most responsible guy who wouldn’t be easily deceived by any old random woman who bats an eye their way.”
“Who would that be?”
“None of the above.”
“Aren’t you a cop-out now?”
“So what? We’re both cop-outs.”
“If you had to pick out of the three though.”
“The guy I’ve been with the longest out of the three.”
“Oh? That’s pretty vague though. I don’t know whether you know either of the two those girls were with.”
She lightly elbowed me on the gut, “What happened to your ‘I already have a girlfriend?’”
“It’s purely in the interest of scientific research purposes.”
“Scientific research purposes? Sounds like a load of bull to me.”
“It’s the truth though, I’m conducting a very serious study that requires an answer to this question.”
“Oh? What’s the thesis statement for your research paper?”
“My coworker can’t possibly be crushing on a younger guy who already has a girlfriend, right?”
“Hahaha, that’s quite the thesis statement. But sorry to inform you, I’m not crushing on you.”
“Says the girl who jokes about that in a dream.”
“You’re still caught up on that? It was just a little prank.”
“Then consider my fictitious thesis statement payback for your little prank.”
“You’re so petty.”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
“Haha, you're welcome.”
With that, she returned to reading her book signaling the end of our little conversation.
Only when that group exited the store did I let out the sigh of exhaustion I’d held in the entire time.
“You should… be careful.” Yuna suddenly said that.
“I can tell.”
“She… really despises and looks down on all guys. She treats them like they only exist for their money.”
“I got that hint. But what about you? She seems like pretty bad news.”
“That’s just how she naturally talks and acts to just about any girl, even ones who are in her inner circle of friends. She’s got what I like to call extreme bitch syndrome. Despite that, she doesn’t actually do anything bad to girls. She just says whatever comes to mind completely uncensored without caring about other people’s feelings.”
“I’m honestly shocked you’ve been able to tolerate that type of person for an entire year. You’ve got the tolerance of a Buddha.”
“Haaaah. Tell me about it. But who am I to judge? I'm not much better than her. I just think foul-mouthed things instead of voicing them out loud like her. Maybe that’s why I’ve somehow gotten grouped together with them.”
“Or maybe she just rubbed off on you.”
“Maybe. I have to admit, your translation of what I really wanted to say to her was pretty spot on though.”
“Well, I have read that observation diary of yours after all.”
“Haha. That is true I guess. Uh… by the way…”
“What?”
“You have some nerve hugging me like that without warning and making yourself out to be my boyfriend.”
“They were eyesores, extremely annoying to listen to, and I wanted them to hurry up and leave.”
“Is that all?”
“Yeah. That’s it.”
“Don’t you think it’d be bad if Rosa found out?”
“She’d understand.”
“Girls get jealous easily though.”
“Maybe.”
“I’ll keep what happened just now between us and won’t expose you since you were just looking out for me. But… you better not try anything funny like that again. I’ll get mad next time, you got that?”
“Yeah, yeah. Hey, that dream you had. Don’t you think it’s strangely similar to what happened just now? In that dream of yours, did I hug you from behind?”
“Huh? Haha, wouldn’t you like to know?”
“Not really.”
“Well, since you helped me out just now I suppose I don’t mind telling you.”
She moved her mouth right beside my ear and whispered with her left hand obstructing the view of her lips from the side, “Sex was the correct answer.”
My heart stopped for a second and my body stiffened up.
She blew into my ear as she teased, “Just kidding~ you only hugged me the way you did just now.”
I turned toward her and stumbled back a short distance as I scrutinized the uncharacteristic expression on her face. The tip of her fingers covered the front of her mouth, but I could see the corners of a rare natural smile peeking out from behind them.
“Did you get excited for a second?” She tilted her head to one side and asked with a tinge of innocent curiosity visible in her eyes.
“No, I just had a micro heart attack. Are you picking up some bad habits from Rosa or something?”
“I’m not.”
“Hey, the reason you were so opposed to Rosa at the start, was it because you associated her as being similar to that girl from just now?”
“Hmm… maybe. That dream I had would certainly lead one to believe that is the case.”
“I see. You didn’t want Alicia to get stuck associating with someone like that the way you are now.”
“Probably.”
I see. It started to make sense.
“You really need to be careful now though. That girl is… bad news.”
“I admit, that was definitely a bit too impulsive of me. I’ve gotten too lax these days.” Considering how my girlfriend was an assassin, it was to be expected. I’d already gotten entangled with my fair share of women I considered dangerous. My danger instincts had grown a bit numb to them by now.
Dangerous women aside, had I unknowingly developed a case of white knight syndrome? Ugh, I can’t believe I pulled a stunt like that. The old me would have outright ignored it. I was starting to drown in regret when I seriously reflected on my actions.
I’m definitely not going to do anything like that again.
The two of us returned to facing the counter side by side when I opened my mouth and made a request, “Hey, please remind me to never do what I just did again.”
“Haha, sure. But I’ll be sure to use it as material for a story.”
“Can you not?”
“No way, there are people who eat up cheesy stuff like what you just pulled.”
“Spare me.”
“I won’t. I’ll write all about it down to the finest detail. Consider it compensation for me letting you hug me, not exposing your lie when you called me your girlfriend, and not blabbing about it to Rosa.”
“You’d frame it like that even when you benefited from it?”
“Benefited? Now I’m going to have to deal with those girls badgering me about it. I’ll have to explain that we broke up when I start seeing them again next semester and I’ll have to listen to them making fun of me for it.”
“Haaaah. Well, I guess you’re right. My bad, I didn’t really consider that far ahead. Keeping the lie going in front of them would be bothersome.”
“Hey…” she hesitated for a moment and didn’t immediately continue with what she wanted to say.
“What?”
“Uhh… this is just purely out of curiosity… but if you were to rank me among those four, who would you really rank the highest?”
“If we’re going by appearance alone, it’d definitely be that annoying girl.”
“Haha, I figured as much.” She didn’t sound the slightest bit surprised.
“However, if we factor in both personality and appearance, then go by overall scores across the board, you’d come out on top by a mile.”
“Uh… what’s with that evaluation? You’re just biased, aren’t you?” She didn’t sound even remotely convinced.
“Maybe.”
“Aren’t you a bit of a cop-out? Going by appearance, you didn’t say where I would rank among them. You’re probably just giving personality some unreasonable weight in your ranking instead of valuing them equally.”
“Well, you’re actually only 0.000001% behind first and currently in second place looks-wise among the group.”
“Liar.” She was truly a woman hard to please.
“Haha. Am I? If I said you were first in my books, appearance-wise, you wouldn’t have believed me and thought it was just some lip service, right? You, yourself, don’t think you compare to them, but I think you’re much more attractive than them. Ten times out of ten, I’d pick you to work with over any of those useless-looking girls.”
“Work with? That sounds like some cheap consolation prize. Who’d you rather have as a girlfriend?”
“As a girlfriend? Well, I think you’d be preferable to guys.”
“To guys? I asked who you’d prefer, not guys.” She was persistent and as peculiar as ever when it came to wording.
“I already have a girlfriend.”
“If you didn’t have a girlfriend though.” She really wasn’t letting me off the hook.
“I’d prefer the girl I rated as being number one in appearance.”
“Shallow.”
“Haha. Like girls are any better. If you had to pick between me and those two guys with money, don’t you think you’d pick the person with the greatest odds of success in life?”
“I wouldn’t even hesitate on who I’d pick.”
“Oh? Who would you pick then?”
“The most responsible guy who wouldn’t be easily deceived by any old random woman who bats an eye their way.”
“Who would that be?”
“None of the above.”
“Aren’t you a cop-out now?”
“So what? We’re both cop-outs.”
“If you had to pick out of the three though.”
“The guy I’ve been with the longest out of the three.”
“Oh? That’s pretty vague though. I don’t know whether you know either of the two those girls were with.”
She lightly elbowed me on the gut, “What happened to your ‘I already have a girlfriend?’”
“It’s purely in the interest of scientific research purposes.”
“Scientific research purposes? Sounds like a load of bull to me.”
“It’s the truth though, I’m conducting a very serious study that requires an answer to this question.”
“Oh? What’s the thesis statement for your research paper?”
“My coworker can’t possibly be crushing on a younger guy who already has a girlfriend, right?”
“Hahaha, that’s quite the thesis statement. But sorry to inform you, I’m not crushing on you.”
“Says the girl who jokes about that in a dream.”
“You’re still caught up on that? It was just a little prank.”
“Then consider my fictitious thesis statement payback for your little prank.”
“You’re so petty.”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
“Haha, you're welcome.”
With that, she returned to reading her book signaling the end of our little conversation.
