Even if the situation had become quite complicated, the development turned out to be fake, so it was okay.
There was also one thing that Kazuhiro was really grateful for. It was kind of bizarre to think of it this way, but the three girls would meet with Kazuhiro in different settings.
Kazuhiro would meet Sanae during work, Takana at home, and Saotome in school. Since Kazuhiro would meet these girls during different times of day, the development was still salvageable.
There should be no problem with him meeting the three of them at the same time, turning into a complete harem hell.
Wait, if the whole thing was fake, they wouldn’t fight over him, right?
Still early in the morning, Kazuhiro sat in the classroom while resting his chin on his hand propped up on the desk, pondering these problems.
“Morning, Kazuhiro!”
Hearing his name called, Kazuhiro turned his head.
He immediately felt a force against his back, something really soft.
“Waaaaaaaaaaa!”
The person who hugged him was no one other than Saotome.
Not to mention, she appeared along with a super stunning look.
To be exact, she didn’t change her appearance much. She took off her glasses, decorated her pony tail with headwear (instead of a simple rubber band) and dressed into her tidy school uniform in a slightly different fashion. These small changes made her look both chic and cute.
“Who… who is she? Do such a cute girl exist in our school?!”
“Kazuhiro! Please introduce her!”
Having seen the stunning beauty who made her sudden entry, all the boys in the classroom were stirred into a frenzy.
“S-she is Hoshikawa! Hoshikawa!”
“Kazuhiro, don’t speak in such an unfamiliar manner. ‘I’ thought we had agreed to be in a first-name basis?” Saotome, who had turned off her hugging mode, was smiling as she tilted her head.
“Yeah… sorry about that. Sao… Saotome.”
Kazuhiro did not recall about being in first-name basis, only that he must pretend to be her boyfriend.
That’s why he had to play along with her.
It couldn’t be helped that they call each other by first name. Still, it was pretty embarrassing to call a girl by her first name.
Takana was the only exception. Kazuhiro had known her long before she became a women, so she didn’t count.
“Saotome is so cute!”
“Did you change your style?”
Not only was male members of the class interested, but the girls were also curious about Saotome’s transformation.
Miki, from yesterday’s incident, was also part of the crowd.
“Of course, since Kazuhiro said that he likes girls who are good-looking.” Saotome said with a mortified expression. Her face was turning red.
“It is as I suspected, that Saotome was a jewel yet to be polished, the kind of jewel that would become brilliant after polishing!”
“Tell us. Who confessed first?”
Saotome (and Kazuhiro) was soon surrounded by the girls in their class.
Love affairs were definitely a topic that girls were most interested in.
“‘I’… ‘I’ confessed first. He caught my attention since long before, and ‘I’ always thought he was a gentle person… a fantastic man.”
“Oohh! Saotome, you are quite the daring one!”
“So the way that you behaved yourself before was not you at all?”
Upon hearing Saotome’s response, the girls were becoming more and more excited.
“Everyone, do not be fooled by her!” Kazuhiro desperately shouted in his mind.
This girl was indeed constantly hiding her true self. Nevertheless, the current Saotome was far from being the real her.
The real Saotome was a girl who was extremely cunning and deceptive! She was the same as the kind of fraud organization who would use recording tapes of other people’s embarrassing secrets to extort to its advantage.
Even when she referred to herself, she would never use such words like “I”[1].
“Hmmm. Yagimoto is indeed a kind and gentle person.”
“Actually we were all worried about Yagimoto-kun. He was so kind to every one of us. He should also be in a relationship with one of the girls.”
“Yeah. Yagimoto is a gentleman, and always carries on in a low-key fashion.”
Chiang!
The undeniable truth was unfolded in front of Kazuhiro.
Because he was afraid of being hated by girls for being too clingy, he chose to conduct himself in such a low-key fashion.
If he had been more aggressive, he would have gotten a girlfriend ages ago!
These furious thoughts could only be hidden in the deep recess of his mind.
If he screamed these inner thoughts out by accident, he could have ruined all of his efforts up to now. Moreover, that would be really disrespectful toward Saotome, who was currently his girlfriend, though not for real.
“Yagi, you have to treasure Saotome-chan.”
“Uh-oh, after all you just got a girlfriend.”
“For the sake of your boyfriend, you strived to become more beautiful. That’s the way to go!”
Yagi, Yagimoto… even though quite a few girls were familiar enough with Kazuhiro to call him by those names, the only one who would call him “Kazuhiro” was Saotome.
Among the girls’ banter, class began, and soon it was time for lunch.
Although Kazuhiro cooked for himself, he did not have the motivation to get out of bed early and make his bento. That was why he ate at the school cafeteria during lunch. As he was about to head toward the cafeteria like usual…
“Kazuhiro, ‘I’ made the bento for you. Do you want to eat together on the roof? Saotome said as she stopped in front of Kazuhiro.
She carried a small, cute bag in her hands.
“Eh? Ehh—”
Suddenly, whistles resounded the entire classroom.
“That won’t do. This is Yagi and Saotome’s sweet lunch time!”
“Don’t disturb the couple! Go for it, Saotome!”
The girls formed a defensive line with their bodies, blocking the boys who wanted to make a fuss.
“Thank you, guys. ‘I’ owe you one.” Saotome bowed, and held on to Kazuhiro’s hand.
Compared to yesterday’s Sanae, Saotome’s hand felt warmer.
Because Saotome wouldn’t let go of his hand, Kazuhiro was led all the way to the rooftop.
This was a venue that had a panoramic view. It was also a windy place, and even the coming of spring could not help that fact.
Calling the rooftop a place where only those in the know knew of its goodness was not quite accurate. In fact, this was a secret hideout only because of the lack of visitors who would frequent this area.
“There is no one here. We can relax.”
Saotome spread out the picnic mat that she brought along, and promptly sat on it.
No longer using “I” to refer to herself, it looked like had Saotome cast off her fake shell.
“Why are you standing there like that? You can sit down.”
It was quite awkward to remain in a standing position, so Kazuhiro decided to obediently sit down beside Saotome. The picnic mat was really small, and a small lapse in concentration could result in a knee clash with the other occupant of the mat.
“Ah…”
Saotome cried out softly, and curled up her body.
“Oh, I am really sorry.”
Kazuhiro maintained more distance between them and sat down again. As a result, half of his body rested on the hard, cold concrete floor. It wasn’t a comfortable position.
“You were very enthusiastic to hug me and hold my hand earlier. Why are you hesitating now?”
“I don’t mind touching others… but this kind of contact is not okay…”
Kazuhiro half-joked half seriously struck up the conversation, but Saotome replied in a serious tone.
It looked like even though it was only an act, he needed to be careful not to touch Saotome too much, and maintain a certain distance in order to not touch her.
“Here you go, your bento.”
“Oh, right. Thanks for the meal.”
Kazuhiro opened the bento box.
One of the boxes contained white rice, and the other had a fried egg with vegetables, dry-braised prawn, and mini-tomato salad. These were Kazuhiro’s favorite food.
“You eat in the school cafeteria every day, and often order Chinese food, right? I guessed that you would like these. Am I right?”
She had investigated this far?
It… couldn’t be that?
That she was actually in love with me, and being a fake boyfriend was just a pretext.
“Delicious! Did you make these by yourself? For me?”
Surely a girl wouldn’t spend this much effort only for a fake boyfriend?
There was no one on the roof. If she was acting, there was no audience.
Without a doubt, this was—
“I wanted to investigate about what kind of food a boy would like, and then experience the happiness when he dug into the food with a satisfied expression. That’s why I already looked into everything when I chose my fake boyfriend.”
Saotome’s attitude was quite different than when she was in the classroom. Her tone was cold.
“… So this is all fake?”
“Of course.”
Her reply was icy, as icy as if she just poured a jug of freezing water on Kazuhiro’s overheated head.
Right, good to know.
Kazuhiro would not ever expect anything out of this relationship again. His hypothesis, that perhaps she asked him to be her fake boyfriend while actually being in love with him, was just a fantasy.
After all, God liked to make him miserable, to play cruel pranks on him.
“It is really delicious. Thank you.”
That was true.
“We need to be a couple in reputation, so the first thing that we have to do is act like one in class. We need to convey the idea that we are a lovey-dovey couple. That is why I made the bento. It is an essential part of dating.”
“I was really surprised by your act. Isn’t it overkill?”
Kazuhiro decided to hide the fact that he felt good after being hugged by a girl from behind. It was kind of embarrassing as well.
“Was it really overkill?”
“Even if some couples become idiotic when dating and no longer care about what other people think, Hoshikawa-san…”
“Saotome.”
“Ah?”
“Please call me Saotome. I can easily switch from I and ‘I’, but you probably can’t do the same as well as I can. You have to get used to calling me by my first name, or else you could make a mistake someday.”
“Ok… so, Saotome.”
“What?”
Kazuhiro mustered his courage and called out her name, but Saotome replied in an uninterested manner.
“Until yesterday, you were a plain girl, who did not gather any attention from others. You suddenly became so daring today, doesn’t it seem unnatural?”
“When girls fall in love, they would naturally become daring, no?”
“But such a tremendous transformation! This is not a manga.”
“Oh... so my performance was unnatural... it seems that I still need a lot of practice.”
The expression on Saotome’s face was not a wry smile, but rather one of self-derision.
“Whatever. The only way forward is keep up the daring act. If I suddenly become shy, it could appear even more unnatural... ah!”
Out of the blue, Kazuhiro recalled an important matter.
“If we are already dating...”
“Pretending to date each other. Don’t make a mistake on that.” Saotome shook her fingers at Kazuhiro as she corrected him.
“Since nobody knew of our secret, everybody would think that we are a real couple, right?”
“Yeah, that’s true. So?”
“That is to say, I am no longer single, and I am no longer in the potential boyfriend candidates list of any girl in our school. As long as we pretend to date each other, I won’t find myself a girlfriend. Is that true?”
“Lol. You just found out?” Saotome said with a treacherous smile, and her hand slowly moved toward the hidden recording pen.
“Sigh... If I had known, I wouldn’t have agreed to your request...”
Kazuhiro had just found out that he could have easily gotten a girlfriend if he had been a little bit more aggressive, and the ironic thing was that he was only able to find out precisely because he became Saotome’s fake boyfriend.
“Why not give it up?” Saotome suggested as she nibbled on the bento, which was one size smaller than Kazuhiro’s.
“Can I ask you a question? Why do you want to have a fake boyfriend?”
Given that this was a goal that required meticulous planning, she couldn’t have just decided to do this without reason.
As a fellow actor, who was coerced into the role, he had the right to know why.
Saotome’s face was shadowed by a veil.
“I won’t force you to spit it out. However, it would be easier for me to cooperate as well if I just know more about it. At least, don’t I have the right to know how long do we have to keep up the act?”
If the reason was simple, she would have explained earlier. The fact that she didn’t talk about it at first meant that it was hard to talk about it, or that she never intended to share her reasons. If that was so, it was best that he didn’t pursue too deeply.
“Fine, I’ll tell you. It’s only fair that you know.” Saotome closed the lid on the bento box, and stood up slowly.
“I am a professional.”
She spoke in a resolute, clear voice.
“Professional... what?”
It couldn’t be... some sort of dating agency?
That couldn’t be... that sort of thing didn’t exist.
“I am an actor, a professional voice actor. I have three fixed shows every week.”
Even if Kazuhiro was only a casual gamer, he played video games and watched anime during leisure time. He has never heard of the name Hoshikawa.
Such a name would draw his attention immediately.
“I used a stage name, such as ‘the travel of smiling forest’, ‘dear baby’, and ‘curious experiments’.”
Saotome proudly counted out her stage names, and the programs that she participated in.
Kazuhiro has never heard of these programs.
“One of them is a late-night family show. The other two are educational shows. It’s normal that you haven’t heard of them.”
Indeed, those shows also needed voice actors.
Though, it was a serious waste of talent.
Recently, female voice actors who have only started to gather some popularity would show their faces in public, trading for jobs like gravure models or singers.
If only Saotome was willing to take off her glasses, she could have found herself loads of jobs with her pretty face, such as those shows that hardcore anime fans loved.
“Previously I only participated in child educational programs, but my agency wanted me to gain some experience, and asked me to challenge myself in characters that correspond to my age. Then, I would have a much higher chance of encountering male voice actors. Thus, I need to be familiar with dating and relationships.”
“So I'm just for target practice?”
“Yeah. I don’t want to give up this job. That’s why I need to work harder and overcome all obstacles.”
A gust of wind passed by, sweeping up Saotome’s hair as she looked to the sky.
She looked even more stunning than yesterday.
“Right. If that’s the situation, it can’t be helped. I have to help you, and I already promised... I am full, thank you.”
Kazuhiro closed the lid on the empty bento box.
“Anyways, why do you hide your face by wearing glasses? For your performance?”
Even if that was for her performance, wouldn’t it be really painful to hide her true self every day?
“I... I do voice acting for a living. That’s why...”
Saotome’s voice differed from her icy attitude earlier. Her voice was stiff.
“Because... because I rely on my voice to get a salary. Of course I can’t let other people hear my voice so easily.”
Saotome explained as she put her hands on her waist.
“Sure, don’t worry about it. You don’t have to get so worked up…”
Her explanation was quite forced, and Kazuhiro could see that she pretended to be calm and collected. It looked like there was more to it than her short explanation.
Kazuhiro had no plan to investigate this matter further.
One of Kazuhiro’s principles was not forcing girls to do things that they didn’t want to do. Actually, it was more accurate to call it his habit.
“In conclusion, there is no set time limit on this fake relationship, and this won’t end until you become well-accustomed to the whole dating thing, right?”
“Hmm, right.”
“......Ok. I will humor you until then.”
Kazuhiro was a good guy through and through.
When a girl was in trouble, it was his duty to help her.
“Thank you very much. You can also think of this as practice. After I graduate from this training session, I will also help you to find a girlfriend.”
“Ah... that is kind of you.”
It didn’t occur to Kazuhiro that the end of their contract was not the end of their relationship, at least in reputation. In order for him to successfully find a girlfriend afterward, he had to make it so that he cleanly terminated their relationship.
“It was I who dragged you into this. After this is over, I will be the villain and ‘dump’ you. You will be troubled if you get the reputation of a playboy, right?”
“I don’t want to be a playboy, but it’s also not the best idea for you to act as a frivolous girl.”
“Doesn't really matter. Then—”
Then, Saotome’s expression changed. Her eyes were moist, and her arms were held on her chest. She stared intensely at Kazuhiro.
Kazuhiro’s heart started to beat violently.
Saotome has morphed from a scheming, devious girl to a maiden in love.
“Poor Kazuhiro-kun, please let ‘me’ comfort you.”
Her face came very close to Kazuhiro's, so close that he could feel her breath on his face.
“This is not sympathy. ‘I’ have liked you since a long times ago, but you always had others, so I could only give up... but... but ‘I’ could not erase you from my mind no matter what ‘I’ do! ‘I’ love you! ‘I’ love you so much, Kazuhiro-kun!”
Saotome’s raw romantic emotion flooded into Kazuhiro’s chest.
His mind was in turmoil, as if he was pounded by a humongous force. He was about to explode.
“... Afterward, a girl like this might appear for real?!”
Saotome suddenly reverted from maiden-mode to normal. She laughed happily.
“You... don’t scare me like that!”
Saotome was the real thing. Her voice acting skills were that of a professional. Even though Kazuhiro knew this was all an act, he was still swept up by the mode, almost believed that the whole thing had been real.
“I don’t intend to be in a relationship anytime soon, and I don’t care if others call me bad names behind my back.”
“Even if you don’t need a boyfriend, you still need to interact with female friends! I don’t really want to resort to this to ruin another person's reputation.”
Although they were not a real couple, they still had tons of problems to resolves afterwards.
In a genuine romance, one wouldn't think about the various problems that would follow the breakup before it even began.
Even if the situation had become quite complicated, the development turned out to be fake, so it was okay.
There was also one thing that Kazuhiro was really grateful for. It was kind of bizarre to think of it this way, but the three girls would meet with Kazuhiro in different settings.
Kazuhiro would meet Sanae during work, Takana at home, and Saotome in school. Since Kazuhiro would meet these girls during different times of day, the development was still salvageable.
There should be no problem with him meeting the three of them at the same time, turning into a complete harem hell.
Wait, if the whole thing was fake, they wouldn’t fight over him, right?
Still early in the morning, Kazuhiro sat in the classroom while resting his chin on his hand propped up on the desk, pondering these problems.
“Morning, Kazuhiro!”
Hearing his name called, Kazuhiro turned his head.
He immediately felt a force against his back, something really soft.
“Waaaaaaaaaaa!”
The person who hugged him was no one other than Saotome.
Not to mention, she appeared along with a super stunning look.
To be exact, she didn’t change her appearance much. She took off her glasses, decorated her pony tail with headwear (instead of a simple rubber band) and dressed into her tidy school uniform in a slightly different fashion. These small changes made her look both chic and cute.
“Who… who is she? Do such a cute girl exist in our school?!”
“Kazuhiro! Please introduce her!”
Having seen the stunning beauty who made her sudden entry, all the boys in the classroom were stirred into a frenzy.
“S-she is Hoshikawa! Hoshikawa!”
“Kazuhiro, don’t speak in such an unfamiliar manner. ‘I’ thought we had agreed to be in a first-name basis?” Saotome, who had turned off her hugging mode, was smiling as she tilted her head.
“Yeah… sorry about that. Sao… Saotome.”
Kazuhiro did not recall about being in first-name basis, only that he must pretend to be her boyfriend.
That’s why he had to play along with her.
It couldn’t be helped that they call each other by first name. Still, it was pretty embarrassing to call a girl by her first name.
Takana was the only exception. Kazuhiro had known her long before she became a women, so she didn’t count.
“Saotome is so cute!”
“Did you change your style?”
Not only was male members of the class interested, but the girls were also curious about Saotome’s transformation.
Miki, from yesterday’s incident, was also part of the crowd.
“Of course, since Kazuhiro said that he likes girls who are good-looking.” Saotome said with a mortified expression. Her face was turning red.
“It is as I suspected, that Saotome was a jewel yet to be polished, the kind of jewel that would become brilliant after polishing!”
“Tell us. Who confessed first?”
Saotome (and Kazuhiro) was soon surrounded by the girls in their class.
Love affairs were definitely a topic that girls were most interested in.
“‘I’… ‘I’ confessed first. He caught my attention since long before, and ‘I’ always thought he was a gentle person… a fantastic man.”
“Oohh! Saotome, you are quite the daring one!”
“So the way that you behaved yourself before was not you at all?”
Upon hearing Saotome’s response, the girls were becoming more and more excited.
“Everyone, do not be fooled by her!” Kazuhiro desperately shouted in his mind.
This girl was indeed constantly hiding her true self. Nevertheless, the current Saotome was far from being the real her.
The real Saotome was a girl who was extremely cunning and deceptive! She was the same as the kind of fraud organization who would use recording tapes of other people’s embarrassing secrets to extort to its advantage.
Even when she referred to herself, she would never use such words like “I”[1].
“Hmmm. Yagimoto is indeed a kind and gentle person.”
“Actually we were all worried about Yagimoto-kun. He was so kind to every one of us. He should also be in a relationship with one of the girls.”
“Yeah. Yagimoto is a gentleman, and always carries on in a low-key fashion.”
Chiang!
The undeniable truth was unfolded in front of Kazuhiro.
Because he was afraid of being hated by girls for being too clingy, he chose to conduct himself in such a low-key fashion.
If he had been more aggressive, he would have gotten a girlfriend ages ago!
These furious thoughts could only be hidden in the deep recess of his mind.
If he screamed these inner thoughts out by accident, he could have ruined all of his efforts up to now. Moreover, that would be really disrespectful toward Saotome, who was currently his girlfriend, though not for real.
“Yagi, you have to treasure Saotome-chan.”
“Uh-oh, after all you just got a girlfriend.”
“For the sake of your boyfriend, you strived to become more beautiful. That’s the way to go!”
Yagi, Yagimoto… even though quite a few girls were familiar enough with Kazuhiro to call him by those names, the only one who would call him “Kazuhiro” was Saotome.
Among the girls’ banter, class began, and soon it was time for lunch.
Although Kazuhiro cooked for himself, he did not have the motivation to get out of bed early and make his bento. That was why he ate at the school cafeteria during lunch. As he was about to head toward the cafeteria like usual…
“Kazuhiro, ‘I’ made the bento for you. Do you want to eat together on the roof? Saotome said as she stopped in front of Kazuhiro.
She carried a small, cute bag in her hands.
“Eh? Ehh—”
Suddenly, whistles resounded the entire classroom.
“That won’t do. This is Yagi and Saotome’s sweet lunch time!”
“Don’t disturb the couple! Go for it, Saotome!”
The girls formed a defensive line with their bodies, blocking the boys who wanted to make a fuss.
“Thank you, guys. ‘I’ owe you one.” Saotome bowed, and held on to Kazuhiro’s hand.
Compared to yesterday’s Sanae, Saotome’s hand felt warmer.
Because Saotome wouldn’t let go of his hand, Kazuhiro was led all the way to the rooftop.
This was a venue that had a panoramic view. It was also a windy place, and even the coming of spring could not help that fact.
Calling the rooftop a place where only those in the know knew of its goodness was not quite accurate. In fact, this was a secret hideout only because of the lack of visitors who would frequent this area.
“There is no one here. We can relax.”
Saotome spread out the picnic mat that she brought along, and promptly sat on it.
No longer using “I” to refer to herself, it looked like had Saotome cast off her fake shell.
“Why are you standing there like that? You can sit down.”
It was quite awkward to remain in a standing position, so Kazuhiro decided to obediently sit down beside Saotome. The picnic mat was really small, and a small lapse in concentration could result in a knee clash with the other occupant of the mat.
“Ah…”
Saotome cried out softly, and curled up her body.
“Oh, I am really sorry.”
Kazuhiro maintained more distance between them and sat down again. As a result, half of his body rested on the hard, cold concrete floor. It wasn’t a comfortable position.
“You were very enthusiastic to hug me and hold my hand earlier. Why are you hesitating now?”
“I don’t mind touching others… but this kind of contact is not okay…”
Kazuhiro half-joked half seriously struck up the conversation, but Saotome replied in a serious tone.
It looked like even though it was only an act, he needed to be careful not to touch Saotome too much, and maintain a certain distance in order to not touch her.
“Here you go, your bento.”
“Oh, right. Thanks for the meal.”
Kazuhiro opened the bento box.
One of the boxes contained white rice, and the other had a fried egg with vegetables, dry-braised prawn, and mini-tomato salad. These were Kazuhiro’s favorite food.
“You eat in the school cafeteria every day, and often order Chinese food, right? I guessed that you would like these. Am I right?”
She had investigated this far?
It… couldn’t be that?
That she was actually in love with me, and being a fake boyfriend was just a pretext.
“Delicious! Did you make these by yourself? For me?”
Surely a girl wouldn’t spend this much effort only for a fake boyfriend?
There was no one on the roof. If she was acting, there was no audience.
Without a doubt, this was—
“I wanted to investigate about what kind of food a boy would like, and then experience the happiness when he dug into the food with a satisfied expression. That’s why I already looked into everything when I chose my fake boyfriend.”
Saotome’s attitude was quite different than when she was in the classroom. Her tone was cold.
“… So this is all fake?”
“Of course.”
Her reply was icy, as icy as if she just poured a jug of freezing water on Kazuhiro’s overheated head.
Right, good to know.
Kazuhiro would not ever expect anything out of this relationship again. His hypothesis, that perhaps she asked him to be her fake boyfriend while actually being in love with him, was just a fantasy.
After all, God liked to make him miserable, to play cruel pranks on him.
“It is really delicious. Thank you.”
That was true.
“We need to be a couple in reputation, so the first thing that we have to do is act like one in class. We need to convey the idea that we are a lovey-dovey couple. That is why I made the bento. It is an essential part of dating.”
“I was really surprised by your act. Isn’t it overkill?”
Kazuhiro decided to hide the fact that he felt good after being hugged by a girl from behind. It was kind of embarrassing as well.
“Was it really overkill?”
“Even if some couples become idiotic when dating and no longer care about what other people think, Hoshikawa-san…”
“Saotome.”
“Ah?”
“Please call me Saotome. I can easily switch from I and ‘I’, but you probably can’t do the same as well as I can. You have to get used to calling me by my first name, or else you could make a mistake someday.”
“Ok… so, Saotome.”
“What?”
Kazuhiro mustered his courage and called out her name, but Saotome replied in an uninterested manner.
“Until yesterday, you were a plain girl, who did not gather any attention from others. You suddenly became so daring today, doesn’t it seem unnatural?”
“When girls fall in love, they would naturally become daring, no?”
“But such a tremendous transformation! This is not a manga.”
“Oh... so my performance was unnatural... it seems that I still need a lot of practice.”
The expression on Saotome’s face was not a wry smile, but rather one of self-derision.
“Whatever. The only way forward is keep up the daring act. If I suddenly become shy, it could appear even more unnatural... ah!”
Out of the blue, Kazuhiro recalled an important matter.
“If we are already dating...”
“Pretending to date each other. Don’t make a mistake on that.” Saotome shook her fingers at Kazuhiro as she corrected him.
“Since nobody knew of our secret, everybody would think that we are a real couple, right?”
“Yeah, that’s true. So?”
“That is to say, I am no longer single, and I am no longer in the potential boyfriend candidates list of any girl in our school. As long as we pretend to date each other, I won’t find myself a girlfriend. Is that true?”
“Lol. You just found out?” Saotome said with a treacherous smile, and her hand slowly moved toward the hidden recording pen.
“Sigh... If I had known, I wouldn’t have agreed to your request...”
Kazuhiro had just found out that he could have easily gotten a girlfriend if he had been a little bit more aggressive, and the ironic thing was that he was only able to find out precisely because he became Saotome’s fake boyfriend.
“Why not give it up?” Saotome suggested as she nibbled on the bento, which was one size smaller than Kazuhiro’s.
“Can I ask you a question? Why do you want to have a fake boyfriend?”
Given that this was a goal that required meticulous planning, she couldn’t have just decided to do this without reason.
As a fellow actor, who was coerced into the role, he had the right to know why.
Saotome’s face was shadowed by a veil.
“I won’t force you to spit it out. However, it would be easier for me to cooperate as well if I just know more about it. At least, don’t I have the right to know how long do we have to keep up the act?”
If the reason was simple, she would have explained earlier. The fact that she didn’t talk about it at first meant that it was hard to talk about it, or that she never intended to share her reasons. If that was so, it was best that he didn’t pursue too deeply.
“Fine, I’ll tell you. It’s only fair that you know.” Saotome closed the lid on the bento box, and stood up slowly.
“I am a professional.”
She spoke in a resolute, clear voice.
“Professional... what?”
It couldn’t be... some sort of dating agency?
That couldn’t be... that sort of thing didn’t exist.
“I am an actor, a professional voice actor. I have three fixed shows every week.”
Even if Kazuhiro was only a casual gamer, he played video games and watched anime during leisure time. He has never heard of the name Hoshikawa.
Such a name would draw his attention immediately.
“I used a stage name, such as ‘the travel of smiling forest’, ‘dear baby’, and ‘curious experiments’.”
Saotome proudly counted out her stage names, and the programs that she participated in.
Kazuhiro has never heard of these programs.
“One of them is a late-night family show. The other two are educational shows. It’s normal that you haven’t heard of them.”
Indeed, those shows also needed voice actors.
Though, it was a serious waste of talent.
Recently, female voice actors who have only started to gather some popularity would show their faces in public, trading for jobs like gravure models or singers.
If only Saotome was willing to take off her glasses, she could have found herself loads of jobs with her pretty face, such as those shows that hardcore anime fans loved.
“Previously I only participated in child educational programs, but my agency wanted me to gain some experience, and asked me to challenge myself in characters that correspond to my age. Then, I would have a much higher chance of encountering male voice actors. Thus, I need to be familiar with dating and relationships.”
“So I'm just for target practice?”
“Yeah. I don’t want to give up this job. That’s why I need to work harder and overcome all obstacles.”
A gust of wind passed by, sweeping up Saotome’s hair as she looked to the sky.
She looked even more stunning than yesterday.
“Right. If that’s the situation, it can’t be helped. I have to help you, and I already promised... I am full, thank you.”
Kazuhiro closed the lid on the empty bento box.
“Anyways, why do you hide your face by wearing glasses? For your performance?”
Even if that was for her performance, wouldn’t it be really painful to hide her true self every day?
“I... I do voice acting for a living. That’s why...”
Saotome’s voice differed from her icy attitude earlier. Her voice was stiff.
“Because... because I rely on my voice to get a salary. Of course I can’t let other people hear my voice so easily.”
Saotome explained as she put her hands on her waist.
“Sure, don’t worry about it. You don’t have to get so worked up…”
Her explanation was quite forced, and Kazuhiro could see that she pretended to be calm and collected. It looked like there was more to it than her short explanation.
Kazuhiro had no plan to investigate this matter further.
One of Kazuhiro’s principles was not forcing girls to do things that they didn’t want to do. Actually, it was more accurate to call it his habit.
“In conclusion, there is no set time limit on this fake relationship, and this won’t end until you become well-accustomed to the whole dating thing, right?”
“Hmm, right.”
“......Ok. I will humor you until then.”
Kazuhiro was a good guy through and through.
When a girl was in trouble, it was his duty to help her.
“Thank you very much. You can also think of this as practice. After I graduate from this training session, I will also help you to find a girlfriend.”
“Ah... that is kind of you.”
It didn’t occur to Kazuhiro that the end of their contract was not the end of their relationship, at least in reputation. In order for him to successfully find a girlfriend afterward, he had to make it so that he cleanly terminated their relationship.
“It was I who dragged you into this. After this is over, I will be the villain and ‘dump’ you. You will be troubled if you get the reputation of a playboy, right?”
“I don’t want to be a playboy, but it’s also not the best idea for you to act as a frivolous girl.”
“Doesn't really matter. Then—”
Then, Saotome’s expression changed. Her eyes were moist, and her arms were held on her chest. She stared intensely at Kazuhiro.
Kazuhiro’s heart started to beat violently.
Saotome has morphed from a scheming, devious girl to a maiden in love.
“Poor Kazuhiro-kun, please let ‘me’ comfort you.”
Her face came very close to Kazuhiro's, so close that he could feel her breath on his face.
“This is not sympathy. ‘I’ have liked you since a long times ago, but you always had others, so I could only give up... but... but ‘I’ could not erase you from my mind no matter what ‘I’ do! ‘I’ love you! ‘I’ love you so much, Kazuhiro-kun!”
Saotome’s raw romantic emotion flooded into Kazuhiro’s chest.
His mind was in turmoil, as if he was pounded by a humongous force. He was about to explode.
“... Afterward, a girl like this might appear for real?!”
Saotome suddenly reverted from maiden-mode to normal. She laughed happily.
“You... don’t scare me like that!”
Saotome was the real thing. Her voice acting skills were that of a professional. Even though Kazuhiro knew this was all an act, he was still swept up by the mode, almost believed that the whole thing had been real.
“I don’t intend to be in a relationship anytime soon, and I don’t care if others call me bad names behind my back.”
“Even if you don’t need a boyfriend, you still need to interact with female friends! I don’t really want to resort to this to ruin another person's reputation.”
Although they were not a real couple, they still had tons of problems to resolves afterwards.
In a genuine romance, one wouldn't think about the various problems that would follow the breakup before it even began.
