Mash-Up: I'm Not A Substitute

"Don't touch me!"

On the train, a fair-skinned, blonde-haired girl with clear blue eyes slapped away the hand of a black-framed glasses-wearing boy.

"If you don't want to come, you don't have to. It's not like I forced you."

Hearing these familiar words, the married men nearby all gave Takashi schadenfreude-filled glances.

After all, they'd all been through the same thing.

Women were truly cunning creatures.

The shyness, introversion, and modesty they showed before dating had deceived countless men.

"Eriri, can you be reasonable? I was just suggesting—"

"Reasonable? I'm here to date you, not to listen to your reasoning."

Before Takashi could finish, Eriri's soft pink lips curled into a cold smile, her aggressive aura pressing down on him.

Takashi shut his eyes, rubbing his temples with his fingers as he let out a weary sigh.

He realized there was no reasoning with women.

Yet, he couldn't just ignore her either.

If you didn't coax your girlfriend when she was angry, by the next day, she'd be your ex-girlfriend.

'Is this what dating is supposed to be?'

Takashi didn't understand why he was involved with a girl who couldn't even control her own emotions. He was even considering breaking up… wait.

Takashi suddenly realized something was off.

"When did we start dating?"

He didn't recall accepting her confession. Nor did he remember confessing to her.

Wasn't he just a stand-in?

When did this turn into a relationship?

"You scum—" Eriri stopped mid-sentence, suddenly realizing something.

That's right. She and Takashi were just in a simple employer-employee relationship.

She had gotten too deep into character.

Just now, she had actually started thinking of herself as Takashi's girlfriend.

The men on the train who overheard their conversation looked at them in surprise.

It felt like these two youngsters were playing some kind of new game.

Takashi quietly observed Eriri.

He was just playing along with her role-playing, but she had fully immersed herself in it.

Not only had she gotten lost in character, but she was even trying to drag him into it with her.

He had even started considering how to break up with her.

"…Setting aside the fact that we're not actually a couple, shouldn't you still be coaxing me?"

Eriri resorted to a classic female tactic—shamelessness.

Wow. So she failed to manipulate him into taking their relationship seriously, and now she was just throwing facts out the window?

Takashi felt that his reluctance to get a girlfriend had at least fifty percent to do with Utaha and Eriri.

Both of them were incredibly difficult to handle.

Every time he played along with them, any thoughts of romance vanished.

Eriri knew she was in the wrong, but she was too embarrassed to apologize properly. 

So instead, she tilted her head to the side and muttered under her breath, "I'm not the kind of person who makes unreasonable demands. Just coax me a little, and it'll be fine."

Takashi: "?"

Excuse me, you said you're not what?

Girl, you can lie to yourself all you want.

But why are you trying to lie to me too?

Do you even believe what you're saying?

Also, didn't he already try to coax her?

He had been doing so since before they got on the train.

Takashi was speechless. But he understood—this was just how tsunderes were.

They would never admit defeat, even if it killed them.

Adjusting his mood, Takashi asked softly, "Are we heading straight to Akihabara later, or should we grab dinner first?"

He had calculated that by the time they reached Akihabara, it would be around 5:30 or 6:00 PM.

Which was right around dinnertime.

"I'm fine with either. You decide."

Eriri fidgeted with her fingers, sneaking a glance at Takashi.

When she noticed he was looking back at her, she quickly turned away.

Takashi knew—this was her roundabout way of admitting she was wrong.

Tsunderes were like that.

Even if they knew they were wrong, you'd never hear a single "I'm sorry" from them.

No wonder tsunderes always ended up as losers in love.

"Then let's eat first. BBQ or Chinese food?" Takashi pulled out his phone, searching for a well-rated restaurant he hadn't tried before.

"You decide."

Eriri glanced at Takashi's left hand, which was hanging down.

His fingers were long and slender, with clearly defined knuckles and elegant contours.

She especially liked his hands.

They were the kind of hands she could never quite capture in her drawings.

Takashi never understood why she liked holding hands so much.

To Eriri, interlocking fingers was an intimate gesture—a way of expressing deep affection.

It symbolized two people who truly loved each other.

It also carried the hope of a love that would last forever.

That was what she wished for.

After hesitating for more than a minute, she swung her hand casually, "accidentally" brushing the back of his hand.

Takashi looked at her.

Noticing his gaze, Eriri turned her head away, biting her lip slightly.

She pretended to focus intently on the passing scenery outside the window, but everyone could tell her thoughts weren't on that at all.

'Would it kill you to be a little more honest? At this rate, how are you ever going to get the guy you like?'

Takashi sighed at her tsundere behavior.

Acting as if nothing had happened, he naturally took her hand, tilting his head slightly as he showed her his phone.

"What do you think about this place?"

This time, Eriri didn't resist.

She leaned in, her head nearly touching his as they softly discussed what to eat.

She was a tsundere, but she wasn't stupid.

She knew Takashi was giving her an easy way out.

He always did.

No matter how unreasonable she was, how much she threw tantrums, he never got mad.

As long as she turned around, Takashi would always be there behind her, never leaving her behind.

Eriri admitted it—she was like a spoiled little girl around Takashi.

She relied on the fact that he liked her.

But so what?

The one being spoiled always had the upper hand.

In front of him, she could be willful, reckless, and act however she pleased.

Because she knew—Takashi would accept all of her.

'If only you had appeared earlier, Takashi.'

Eriri lifted her head slightly, gazing at the boy whose face resembled that of her childhood friend.

If Takashi had been her childhood friend, they could have grown up together, gone from childhood friends to lovers, from school uniforms to wedding attire.

But unfortunately, reality didn't allow for "ifs."

Sometimes, she had to admit—timing was everything.

If she had met someone at a different time, maybe things would have ended differently.

It wasn't that Takashi wasn't good enough.

He had simply arrived too late.

Takashi noticed her staring and raised an eyebrow. "Why are you looking at me like that? Have you fallen for me?"

"Tch, don't flatter yourself. Who would fall for you?"

Even though Eriri realized she was beginning to have feelings for the boy in front of her…

Would she ever admit it?

Of course not.

If she admitted it, she wouldn't be Eriri Spencer Sawamura.

"You're just a substitute I hired, nothing more."

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Check out the other translations too: [Mash-Up: Anything For Money]

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