The Heroines Want to Confess.

Chapter 111: Why Not Me?

The rain was getting heavier and heavier.

If this kept up, it would be hard to even go home.

Honestly, even if he got soaked in the rain on the way back, it'd still be fine—he wasn't afraid of catching a cold.

Recently, the cherry blossoms had nearly all fallen, and Sakurai Saki's pollen allergy had gotten a lot better.

An Esper being allergic to pollen was already embarrassing enough, catching a cold on top of that would be totally disgraceful.

"Shirogane, how are you getting home later?"

"I brought a raincoat and an umbrella." Shirogane looked out the window. "But I'll probably have to skip my part-time shift today."

In this kind of weather, working until night was unreasonable. If the rain got even worse, going home might become impossible.

Sleeping overnight at the convenience store? Uh… better not. Shirogane didn't find that place particularly comfortable.

"Hmm? You guys still haven't left?" Shinomiya Kaguya walked in through the door.

Looks like today's plan titled [Operation Date Between Hayasaka Ai and Sakurai Saki] wouldn't be carried out after all.

Just as the name suggests, the plan was for Hayasaka to prolong Sakurai Saki's study session, letting him get caught up in a romantic atmosphere before the exam, thereby weakening his exam performance!

It was a wicked strategy that Ojou-sama Kaguya originally didn't plan to use—but unfortunately, Sakurai Saki's provocative remarks had angered her.

'Hmph, I'll let you hang out with your girlfriend all day and see how well you can still study!'

"Guys, wanna play a game?" Fujiwara Chika was trying to entice them into playing.

She looked no different from the little match girl right now.

Big brothers and sisters, please, buy a matchstick from me!

Little match girl Chika: (˚ ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ )づ♡

Sadly, no one paid her any attention.

So, little match girl Chika-chan lit a matchstick named Sakurai Saki.

"Saki-kun~ play with me~ I beg you~"

(இ﹏இ`｡)

Too shameless, Chika-chan! You actually used the ultimate puppy-eyed clingy act!

Sakurai Saki had no choice, he sat down next to her.

"Alright."

"Yay~!" Secretary Fujiwara gleefully spread out the UNO cards.

"You're about to get trapped here, and you guys are still playing games?" Shinomiya Kaguya just couldn't understand.

First, she didn't get why Fujiwara Chika wanted to play games at a time like this.

Next, she didn't get why Sakurai Saki actually agreed?

The relationship between those two was seriously too good.

Hayasaka, your hair is turning green!

"You guys go ahead and play. I'm heading back first." Shinomiya Kaguya didn't want to get caught in the rain, even though she had a private car to pick her up.

"I'm heading back too," Shirogane Miyuki said.

His house might be leaking—better check it out. If he got home too late, it might already be flooded.

After speaking, the two of them began preparing to leave the student council room.

"Umu, we'll head back later too." Sakurai Saki said while pulling out his phone.

He sent a message to Miku, telling the quintuplets to go home on their own—the lesson for today would be moved to their house.

Honestly, he didn't really want to do that—teaching at school was more convenient. But hey, the rain today was just too much.

"Let's start the game."

UNO is a card-matching game, consisting of four colors and ten numbers. Players must play a card with the same color or the same number. For example, if Chika plays a red 4, Sakurai Saki must play a 4 or a red card.

Two-player UNO actually wasn't all that fun.

But Sakurai Saki almost never turned down Fujiwara Chika's requests.

"Saki-kun~" Chika played a red 6. "If I win, I'll tell you a secret!"

She'd heard some rumors today—someone said that Hayasaka Ai and Sakurai Saki were officially dating now.

But Chika was too shy to ask directly.

"Umu, fine." Sakurai Saki nodded. "But I won't lose."

Sakurai Saki—a stubborn straight guy with an intense will to win.

Getting him to give up was nearly impossible.

Ten minutes later, Chika-chan started to get annoyed.

"Why won't you just let me win!"

(｡•̀ ⤙ •́ ｡ꐦ) !!!

Chika was speechless.

Would it kill you to let me win just once?! Saki-kun, you're seriously such a brute who doesn't know how to read the mood!

"If you really want to tell me a secret, you can just say it directly." Sakurai Saki didn't understand why she had such a strong desire to win or lose.

Were there really people out there who didn't want to lose even once?

It was honestly hard to believe that someone like that could be liked by girls.

Those words were Sakurai Saki slandering himself.

Precisely because Sakurai Saki had never lost to Chika, he became even more unwilling to lose.

Think about it simply—if you've already lost 99 times, of course you'd want to win just once. Conversely, if you've already won 99 times in a row, then of course you wouldn't want to lose.

"Someone said you and Hayasaka-san are dating," Chika mumbled.

If that were true… what was she supposed to do?

She'd been secretly liking him for almost a year now…

Chika couldn't imagine herself liking anyone else.

She didn't want to give up, but if Sakurai Saki really was already with Hayasaka Ai, then retreating seemed like the only choice she had left.

Sakurai Saki put his cards down.

Although he knew this topic would come up sooner or later, he didn't expect it to come this quickly.

Since he had already chosen between the two, there was no need to keep "leading on" the other.

Even if he was a scumbag, he couldn't let things remain ambiguous.

"…Rumors spread fast, huh." He didn't answer directly.

"So… it's true?" The deck in Fujiwara Chika's hand slipped and scattered all over the floor.

Her mind was a complete mess.

"Let's just say it is." Sakurai Saki didn't dare look her in the eye.

He knew saying that would make Chika sad, but even more than that, he didn't want to keep stringing her along.

He was already dating a girl, and to still keep Chika in the dark—Sakurai didn't want to do that.

A moment later, the sound of crying came from beside him.

Chika's sobs mixed with the sound of the falling rain.

"She confessed first, on the last day of Golden Week," Sakurai Saki turned his face slightly to look at her.

The whole scene fell into silence—only her crying remained.

Sakurai Saki took out a handkerchief and wiped her tears.

"Why are you crying so much? If you cry like this, you're gonna make me want to cry too," Sakurai Saki said gently.

Chika didn't reply. She tried her best to hold back her tears, but no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't stop.

"I… I'm not good enough?" Her voice was already hoarse.

"Of course you are, why would you even ask that? I like you. If you had confessed to me, I would've said yes," Sakurai Saki said gently.

"Then…" Chika wiped her tears and asked, "why wasn't it me?"

"Because she confessed first. I didn't want to let her down."

Chika went silent. A long time passed—

"I like you, Sakurai Saki."

Her voice grew quieter, to the point that Sakurai Saki could barely hear it—

"I've liked you for a really long time…"

Sakurai Saki stayed quiet for a few seconds, then he responded—

"I like you too, Fujiwara Chika. I've liked you for a really long time."

After saying that, he shook his head. "No… even now, I still like you."

"Maybe five years from now, I'll still like you."

Fujiwara Chika turned to look at him, and on her tear-streaked face bloomed a smile.

"So… we've been secretly in love with each other, huh~"

"That's amazing," she murmured.

"So you liked me too~ I never knew."

"Eh…" Chika wiped her tears with the sleeve of her uniform. "This should be a happy thing, so why am I crying?"

"That's so strange."

So knowing the feelings of the one you've secretly loved all along… was actually something so painful?

How strange… shouldn't I be smiling right now?

"I like you, Sakurai-san. Can you give me an answer?" Fujiwara Chika forced a smile at him. Her eyes were red, and that usual brightness in her expression was completely gone.

"This is my confession! Just like Hayasaka-san, this is the heartfelt feeling of a maiden, Sakurai-san."

She pleaded earnestly: "Please… can you give me an answer?"

Sakurai Saki didn't know how to answer.

If this was going to make a girl cry like that… maybe it'd be better to just be a scumbag.

"Chika, I like you too…"

As soon as he said that, before Chika could react, he leaned in and kissed her.

The taste of tears mingled with the feeling of happiness spreading through her heart—Chika slowly closed her eyes.

If only I had confessed earlier, how wonderful that would've been.

Why didn't I?

Regret surged in her mind endlessly. Chika's tears kept falling, drop after drop landing on the scattered UNO cards.

A few minutes later, the two of them ended their first kiss.

Chika gently touched her lips and recalled the sensation—

"Saki-kun… as I thought, I still don't want to give up…"

Sakurai Saki stretched and stood up, smiling as he said,

"But I already have a girlfriend~ Chika."

In truth, he didn't really want to let go either.

"I can wait."

Sakurai Saki walked toward the floor-to-ceiling window.

He turned around to look at her and asked, "Wait for what?"

"I'll wait for you to break up with her, wait for you to love me. If not in one year, then I'll wait three years. If not in three years, I'll wait a lifetime," Chika declared stubbornly.

Sakurai Saki didn't respond.

He stepped up to the floor-to-ceiling window.

"Chika, I have a secret I want to share with you too."

Chika looked toward him.

Sakurai Saki leaned back against the glass, smiled, brought his hands together as if in prayer, then slowly closed his eyes.

"Right now, the sky is about to clear~"

As soon as he said that—

The clouds parted, and brilliant sunlight shone through the window, bathing Sakurai Saki in light.

Under Fujiwara Chika's astonished gaze, Sakurai Saki spoke, his voice tinged with guilt—

"Sorry I've kept it from you for so long… but the truth is, I'm someone with a superpower."

Fujiwara Chika blinked, then wobbled and collapsed onto the sofa, fainting.

"Chika!" Sakurai Saki cried out in panic.

He rushed over and held her in his arms.

A few minutes later.

Chika slowly opened her eyes in his arms. "Saki-kun~ I just had a nightmare… I dreamt you had a superpower."

As soon as she finished, she noticed the student council room was shining abnormally bright.

"Are… it looks like… this isn't a dream."

Compared to being rejected earlier, this… this was even harder for Chika to believe.