章 265: Underhanded Plan
(Words: 2291)
"Chifuyu?"
Walking beside her, Sasaki noticed her strange behavior and spoke up in concern.
He gently brushed aside her silky bangs, placing his palm on her forehead with a worried expression:
"Are you feeling unwell? Should I take you to the hospital with me?"
The tall figure that loomed over her, along with the subtle scent of laundry detergent that clung to his clothes, filled the air around Chifuyu as she wrinkled her delicate nose slightly, taking in the comforting scent.
To be honest, she loved the feeling of being cared for like this, but...
Her eyes dimmed, and she pressed her lips together before responding to Sasaki, her mind only half-focused on the conversation.
"No, I'm fine. I was just thinking about something."
Sasaki didn't pry further, assuming she was worried about Takagi's grades.
So, he reassured her with his usual gentle demeanor.
"Don't worry about Takagi so much. He's already making progress. It'll take time, but he'll get there."
"Mm, mm~"
Hearing her distracted replies, Sasaki took her hand and began walking toward her house, adding a subtle hint of advice.
"If you think he's not improving fast enough, maybe keep an eye on him more closely."
"Make sure he's not distracted by anything other than the football club—like video games, manga, or anything else. If he's into that stuff, it's no wonder he's not focused on studying."
Although Chifuyu had heard the phrase "all play and no work," but her understanding of boys was limited, so she hadn't really thought in that direction before.
Now that Sasaki brought it up, it made a lot of sense to her, and she instinctively wanted to pull out her phone to ask Takagi.
But the boy stopped her.
Seeing her confused expression, he smiled and explained:
"What good will his answer do right now?
You need to find out for yourself, and stop him if necessary.
What if he just brushes you off?"
Though she wanted to defend Takagi-san, Chifuyu didn't have the confidence to argue, so, she bit her lip and nodded in agreement.
"Alright…"
"But how am I supposed to figure out what Takagi-san's hobbies are?"
Walking down the street, Sasaki heard her words and turned to her speaking as if it were the most natural thing,
"Just follow him after practice.
If he's really into something like that, he'll probably head to a bookstore or somewhere similar after school."
"That's when you can either stop him or gently remind him of what's important."
Chifuyu nodded thoughtfully, mentally storing Sasaki's advice.
They then moved on to casually chatting about the events of the day, most of which seemed like trivial matters to Sasaki.
But for someone like Chifuyu, such gossip, especially the rumors surrounding Sasaki, was far more intriguing.
And with the main subject of those rumors walking right beside her, she couldn't resist asking him.
Sasaki, seeing no need to hide the truth, candidly told her about the incident with the three boys yesterday.
"Eh?!"
"So it was really you who fought them, Fuyumi?"
Sasaki smiled at her surprised expression.
"Is that so shocking?"
Chifuyu had seen him fight before, so she wasn't too surprised by his abilities.
What surprised her was his reason for fighting.
He had gotten into a fight with classmates over a girl he didn't even know... Wasn't that a bit much?
And this afternoon during tutoring, it seemed like Fuyumi and Serizawa-san were getting along quite well...
But the most puzzling part was, why didn't Fuyumi ask the club leader for help with tutoring?
Why Serizawa-san instead?
Wouldn't Otome-san mind?
Chifuyu wasn't the most perceptive when it came to matters of the heart, but being a girl, her basic instincts and intuition were sharp enough.
Throughout the afternoon, she had felt that Fuyumi and Serizawa-san were perhaps a bit too close for mere classmates.
This was why, after Sasaki had left, she quickly followed him.
She felt a duty to look out for him—for her friend's sake, of course.
Holding Sasaki's hand, Chifuyu shook her head slightly before asking, as casually as she could:
"F-Fuyumi, you and Serizawa-san seem to get along really well~"
Sasaki had expected her to ask about this eventually.
So, he replied in a casual tone without changing his calm expression,
"Hmm? Didn't Yukiha mention it to you?"
"We're sort of in a relationship now."
?!
Chifuyu blinked, waiting for a moment to make sure she hadn't misheard.
When she realized she hadn't, her eyes widened in shock.
"B-But, you... Fuyumi, aren't you with...?"
Turning his head slightly, Sasaki smiled at her words and nodded.
"Yeah, Otome and Yukiha are both my girlfriends."
???
Chifuyu tilted her head, her mind filling with question marks.
Sasaki spoke so naturally and openly about it that she wasn't sure if she was misunderstanding or if something was seriously wrong.
"But... that's cheating, isn't it?"
"Of course cheating is wrong."
Just as Chifuyu was about to feel relieved, Sasaki continued,
"But I'm not cheating. Otome gave me permission to date others."
????
The girl's head felt like it was spinning, questions popping up in her mind like weeds.
She stared blankly at Sasaki, her brain almost short-circuiting.
Seeing her bewildered expression, Sasaki chuckled and brought Rinka into the conversation to back up his claim:
"Last week, Otome told Rinka..."
After listening to his explanation, Chifuyu still found it hard to believe that there could be girls so... lenient.
"Otome-san... the club president might have been joking, Fuyumi. How could you take her seriously?"
"I didn't intend to at first, but it just happened with them.
After that... well, I couldn't exactly act like it never happened, could I?"
Since Sasaki had decided to confess, he wasn't planning on hiding anything, so he subtly hinted that he had other partners and had already been intimate with them.
Although Chifuyu was a bit slow in matters of the heart, she wasn't completely clueless.
She could tell what he meant.
"Fuyumi, do you… have other girlfriends?"
"Mm-hmm~"
"…"
Seeing how casually he admitted it, Chifuyu didn't even know what to say.
Her face scrunched up, her expression a mix of emotions she couldn't quite name.
"And do they… know? Does President Otome know about them?"
"They do… apart from Yukiha and my fiancée, the others are aware of my relationships, and they've all accepted it."
Chifuyu's mental image of Sasaki was rapidly changing, and once again, she couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
"F-Fiancée? Fuyumi, you have a fiancée too?!"
As they slowly climbed the stairs leading to the overpass, Sasaki held her hand and explained,
"It's an arrangement made by my grandfather and the Miyajima family…"
Sasaki jusr gave a concise explanation of the situation between his family and the Miyajima family.
After all, he wasn't too concerned about whether Chifuyu fully understood the complexity of his family dynamics.
What mattered was that he conveyed the right emotions—one of helplessness and being trapped in circumstances beyond his control.
After hearing the story, Chifuyu understood that this marriage arrangement wasn't something Sasaki had any control over.
But even putting aside the arranged marriage, it didn't change the fact that her good friend was a bit of a player.
Her feelings of confusion were written all over her face as she asked again, "Does President Otome know about all this?"
Scratching his face, Sasaki rarely showed a hint of awkwardness in front of the girl as he replied,
"Uh, I haven't exactly found the right time to tell Otome about that."
"I didn't take her words seriously at first, but things have already happened, so now I'm just going along with it."
"But since Otome said what she did, I think she's at least mentally prepared for something like this."
"I think there's a good chance she'll accept it."
Seeing how calm Sasaki was, the girl couldn't help but feel that something was off.
Normally, someone juggling multiple relationships would be terrified that their girlfriends might meet and cause a huge argument. But Fuyumi…
Her confusion was apparent on her face, and Sasaki could see it clearly.
Sensing that she had many unanswered questions, he gently squeezed her soft hand and met her gaze, asking:
"Chifuyu, are you wondering why I don't seem nervous?"
"Why I'm not worried about balancing multiple relationships?"
"Yeah…"
"It's because I don't hide my intentions.
If they ask, or if the timing feels right, I tell them upfront that I'm seeing other people."
Looking down into Chifuyu's eyes, Sasaki continued:
"Just like today, did I hide my relationship with Yukiha from you?"
"No, because I didn't think there was any need to. I genuinely care for her, and naturally, I don't want to keep our relationship in the dark."
"I know that being open about this might hurt Otome and Yukiha."
"But if it's going to hurt them either way, why would I deliberately cover up this relationship and make Yukiha even sadder?"
Recalling what he had said earlier, apart from his fiancée and Yukiha, others knew he had a lover. Tsukimi Chifuyu asked thoughtfully:
"Is it because of Fuyumi's honesty that they accepted he had a lover?"
"Hmm~ That's part of the reason, I suppose... But mainly because I genuinely like them, so I didn't want to lie."
Sasaki nodded, then suddenly switched topics and asked:
"Chifuyu, could you accept Takagi having another lover?"
"Huh?"
Caught off guard by the question, Tsukimi Chifuyu froze for a moment.
Then she lowered her head, her voice becoming as muffled as a little pig just waking up.
Her voice was soft, but given their current proximity and Sasaki's sharp hearing, it wasn't difficult for him to hear her clearly.
"This question... Um, I still hope that Takagi-san would only like me... I don't want him to have anyone else…"
Not surprised by her response, Sasaki smiled and patted her silky hair, responding.
"Then, Chifuyu, you better keep a close eye on Takagi~"
However, instead of the expected confidence and assertiveness, the girl bit her lip in anxiety and responded softly.
"Mm~"
Seeing her lack of confidence, Sasaki stopped in his tracks, let go of her hand, cupped her soft cheeks in his hands, and looked into her uneasy eyes with a sigh.
"What are you worrying about, silly?"
"Trust between lovers is something you give to each other.
Even if you don't trust yourself in some areas, you should trust Takagi."
"Unless you've joked with him, like Otome, saying something like 'You can find someone else,' have you?"
"No, no~"
With her cheeks squished into a pout, Tsukimi Chifuyu shook her head firmly.
When she was with Takagi-san, she was always too nervous to even talk much, so how could she make such a bold joke?
Sasaki dropped his hands and knocked lightly on her forehead.
"Then that's it. If you haven't joked like that, what are you worrying about?"
"You care so much about Takagi, even tutoring him with so much effort.
He must appreciate it.
Having such a thoughtful girlfriend, he'd treasure you too much to ever do anything to hurt you.
You've got to have faith in your boyfriend."
Although her forehead hurt a little from the knock, Chifuyu didn't complain.
Feeling comforted by her good friend's reassurance, she giggled with a silly, innocent smile.
'What a fool~'
Seeing how she genuinely believed his words, a slight sense of guilt welled up in Sasaki for misleading this innocent fool.
Well...he wasn't entirely wrong in what he said, just not entirely right either.
Trust in a relationship is important, of course.
But on top of that, it's also crucial to have confidence in oneself.
Being in a relationship means attracting each other.
While trusting your partner, you also need to be confident in yourself, knowing exactly what makes you attractive to them, and maintaining or improving that trait.
This helps maintain a long-lasting relationship.
Trusting blindly isn't wrong, but it's an extreme choice.
The more you trust, the more it will hurt when an unexpected betrayal happens.
So, based on that logic, Sasaki's words of encouragement to Chifuyu weren't completely right.
To truly comfort her, he should have complimented her beauty or praised her figure, which would have been the correct approach.
But Sasaki, being a little mischievous, didn't do that.
After all, what he wanted was for this idiot Chifuyu to accept his "harem" arrangement and stay with him.
Since he had already admitted he was a scumbag, boosting Chifuyu's confidence wasn't something he could afford to do.
Raising her self-esteem too much might lead this simple-minded fool to think the issue lay with others and not with her.
While the chances of Chifuyu reaching this conclusion were extremely low, they weren't non-existent.
To play it safe, Sasaki refrained from praising her or boosting her confidence.
Instead, he had her choose to trust Takagi.
To trust in Takagi's feelings for her.
As long as her feelings for Takagi ran deep enough, when she eventually discovered his infidelity, the emotional damage would be severe.
After they broke up, her self-doubt would deepen.
She'd question whether it was her lack of charm, her inability to attract Takagi, that led him to cheat.
She'd wonder if her personality was too dull, causing him to look at other girls.
And that's when Sasaki would step in, offering comfort, praising her, telling her how wonderful she was…
Then it would be all too easy to win over this naive Chifuyu.
It had to be said... This plan was underhanded… but Sasaki didn't believe he was doing anything wrong.
Compared to the filthy tactics of others, he considered his methods to be fairly honorable.
After dropping Chifuyu off at her house, Sasaki took a car to the hospital.
.
.
.
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