Author Note: This is their conversation from when she was saved to when the two parted ways.
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Side: Eihashi Reika
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I am walking back home on the road that has already gone dark……..And this is the first time since I was born that I walk home together with a man who is not my family.
With that said, the man walking beside me is not my boyfriend but the man who saved me from being picked up by a malicious group of frivolous men while others turned a blind eye to, the model who has become famous recently, Kamishiro Kousei…….or the person that I think is him.
The reason why I am not sure that it is him is that the person himself denied that he is Kamishiro Kousei.
Since he doesn’t admit that he is Kamishiro Kousei, I am troubled about what to call him. Right now, the only thing I can think of is the Karaage bento he handed to me when he saved me so I am calling him the Karaage Hero inside my mind.
“Um, Kouse……Karaa……Uhh, why did you save me?”
“Nn? What do you mean?”
I was in doubt. No matter how famous a model he has become lately, the men back then were not likely to know about him. Above all, it was 3 against 1.
I was being surrounded. Moreover, the people around me were pretending not to see what was happening. However, he alone decided to help me.
“Uhm, you know that it might be dangerous for you to save me but you still did it anyway right, why did you do that?”
“You are asking me why but……you were in trouble right?”
“So you saved me simply because of that………”
“Yeah, thinking about it now, it certainly might be dangerous…… Still, when you see someone being persistent when a cute girl already turned them down……how should I say this, you can’t just leave it alone right?”
“No way……! No, I do think that there are people who think like you but I don’t think that many people can act the way you did.”
“Really?”
He muttered so but to be honest, I was kind of hoped for such a reply from him
I was confessed to by many people from many grades at school. Apparently, my natural appearance is making me popular.
However, all of the confession I received was because of my appearance, not what I am like inside. After all, the people who confessed to me were the people that I have never talked to before.
I am already tired of the word [Love at First Sight]. Besides, if someone cuter than me appeared, won’t they just cheat on me? How can I believe in the word [I will protect you no matter what] when the person saying that to me is someone I’ve never even talked to before?
There are people who look at me like they have ulterior motives and I have heard that there are people who think that it is their honor just by being able to associate with me too.
When I got picked up earlier, I saw a person from the same school as me walking nearby as well but he immediately went off somewhere as if to escape. I really started to think that no one is seeing me as who I am.
That is why I was hoping to hear him say that he saved me with no particular reason behind it.
Perhaps I wanted to think that there are people out there who would help me out of goodwill without any ulterior motives.
In the end, he gave me the answer I was hoping for. Even though I might have put him in danger back then, I still ended up feeling happy about it. I am aware of how shameful this is.
“……I am really sorry for getting you involved back then……”
“Hmm? Was that something you need to apologize for?”
The apology was nothing but a self satisfactory act. I am sorry that I involved him in danger and I am sorry that I involved him in my selfishness. Still, the second meaning of that apology wouldn’t be able to reach him.
“Hmm…..I don’t know what Eihashi-san is thinking about right now but, it was not because Eihashi-san’s will that you got picked up, and it was my own will that I decided to help you right.”
“Your…..will?”
“That’s right. I don’t think that this will be the case but if those playboys were to hold a grudge against me, it would be my responsibility to deal with. I will not blame someone else for that. Well, I don’t think that I will meet them ever again though.”
“…..you really are a kind person aren’t you.”
“Hmm….a kind person huh, it was on the spur of the moment……at the very least, I don’t think that I am a kind person you know.”
He is already different from the people I have known until now when he saved me from those men even though it was a 3 against 1 situation, if he thinks that he is not a kind person then I think I can say that there is no kind human being left in this world.
Well, if I say that to him, I’m sure that he will deny it again and dismiss the conversation. He might have a reason he doesn’t want to admit that he is Kamishiro Kousei as well.
As we continued to walk and have such a conversation, we already arrived near my house before I noticed it. It shouldn’t be dangerous anymore from here so I decided to say goodbye to him.
…..However, for some reason, I still want to talk with him more. Have I……just become his fan…..?
“It is right down this path. Um, honestly, thank you very much!”
“Well, it’s dangerous for a girl to walk alone at night so be careful from now on okay. Ehashi-san is a beauty so you have to be even more careful.”
I am often praised for being cute or beautiful but this is the first time someone praised me so naturally like that and I don’t feel uncomfortable hearing it.
I can understand that he doesn’t want to flatter me but simply state his mind.
That is why I decided to ask him one last time.
“……Yes……..Uhm! You are actually Kamishiro Kousei-san right?”
“No, you have the wrong person.”
…..Fufu. Certainly, I got to know about Kamishiro Kousei only this morning. That’s why I might really be making a mistake here.
But the feeling I have right now…..The feeling that I want to talk more with him, the feeling that I want to know more about him surely is not a mistake.
Whether he is Kamishiro Kousei or not, I want to meet up and talk with him again!
This feeling that welled up inside me……..I swear with my Fan Soul that I shall see it through!