Don't Take His Kindness for Granted

--It had been three days since she had missed school.

 

(Well, there's nothing I can do about this.)

 

Shiho Shimotsuki was fed up with the stagnant situation.

 

She wanted to get the problem out of the way and get back to the romantic comedy that she was used to, ... but that hasn't happened yet.

 

(Well, it's okay, though, isn't it? Kotaro doesn't seem to have his feelings sorted out either.)

 

However, this period of stagnation is not all bad.

 

Especially for Kotaro Nakayama, it seemed to be a good pause period, and he looked much better than last week.

 

He is still awkward when talking to her face to face, but he is gradually recovering, so a little more patience is needed.

 

(It's frustrating... frustrating? Ah, I don't know, so it doesn't matter.)

 

I guess I wanted to say "frustrating", but I was spoon-fed the thought without knowing the words.

The reason I thought of difficult words was probably because I was in Japanese class.

 

"Be careful about this area on tomorrow's test~"

 

The mild-mannered, glasses-wearing Japanese teacher is gently telling them the scope of the test.

But Shiho hates studying, so she lightly ignored him.

 

 

(I'm going to be a wife in the future anyway, right? Studying is pointless.)

 

 

She is kind of a pompous girl, so her thinking is also optimistic.

She only gets serious when it comes to the people she loves, so she always deals with everything else as it comes.

 

(And anyway, ... tomorrow is the mid-term test, right?)

 

The Japanese teacher's words reminded Shiho of the test and she frowned.

She was not obsessed with the score, but she did not want to get a bad score because Kotaro Nakayama, who she loved, would not praise her for it.

 

Her parents pamper her even when she gets bad marks by saying, 'Shi-chan is a good learner, she can do it if she tries', but he is a bit harsh on her. No, to put it accurately, her parents are just a bit lenient, while Kotaro Nakayama is just a normal student.

 

(If it's just a little bit, maybe I'll study ...)

 

With that in mind, she tries to concentrate on her class, which is a rare occurrence for her.

She managed to put herself into the class, but by the time it was over, smoke was coming out of her head.

 

Shiho's eyes whirled around like a broken robot.

 

（Studying is not something a human being should be doing.)

 

Her head was hot. It was as hot like a game console that had been running for a long time. Incidentally, this is a side note, but every time a game console goes into thermal overload and turns off, Shiho has a habit of going crazy and hitting her cushions.

 

Anyway, she decided to cool her head down because it would be very difficult if her consciousness turned off like a game console.

 

(Let's take a break outside.)

 

It was only the second period and there was only a 10-minute break before the third period, but Shiho didn't care about that and went down to the entrance.

 

She was going to head to the back of the school building, her usual resting place, when an event occurred.

 

"......Oh?

 

She had just arrived at the shoebox.

 

"......Ah."

 

By chance, she ran into her.

She was a girl with trademark pink hair, and her name was...

 

“Kururi Kurumizawa-san?"

 

She let out the words that she had been reciting over and over in her mind for the past few days.

Then, she was instantly dismayed.

 

"Shi...Shimotsuki Shiho."

 

Shiho nodded her head lightly as she was called by name.

Now, at the same time she was thinking about what to do, she noticed that ... Kururi Kurumizawa was holding a letter.

 

Then she also instantly senses that she is in front of someone's shoebox.

 

"Why are you in front of Kotaro-kun's shoebox?"

 

So the dots are connected.

The question became a line, a connection, and she understood what she was trying to do.

 

She was usually a soft and bubbly girl who didn't think much about things.

But when it comes to Kotaro Nakayama, she is unusually perceptive.

 

Perhaps that is also the nature of the main heroine.

 

"Maybe that's a love letter in your hand ... and now you're trying to put a love letter in Kotaro-kun's shoebox?"

 

She told her and asked her what was going on.

But Kururi Kurumizawa was in such an impatient state that she didn't even need to ask.

 

Doubt turns into certainty.

Shiho Shimotsuki despised her.... with all her heart.

 

"Are you trying to take advantage of his kindness again?"

 

Shiho was the only one who absolutely could not forgive Kururi Kurumizawa's actions.

 

“No matter how unsettled your feelings are, don't take advantage of Kotaro-kun. Don't ... do the worst thing you can do, confessing your feelings and intentionally trying to get dumped."

 

Currently, Kururi Kurumizawa's love is wavering.

She is torn between Kotaro Nakayama and Ryoma Ryuzaki, not knowing what to do.

 

So she was trying to sort things out.

 

She was trying to shake off her feelings for Kotaro Nakayama by getting dumped on purpose.

 

However, Shiho Shimotsuki would not allow her to do so.

 

"Don't ... do such a thing, taking advantage of his kindness, knowing that he will get hurt."

 

She was more afraid than anything else that Kotaro Nakayama would get hurt...

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