HGJM 08

Chapter 08…

Where Jealousy Leads
After leaving the sweets shop and walking for a while, I tried to pull my hand away, but—

“Hey, were you jealous?”
He asked me in a sweet, spoiled tone completely different from the way he’d talked with Yua.

On top of that, he was holding my hand firmly so I couldn’t escape.

“…Huh?”
“I mean, didn’t you get jealous seeing me talking so happily with Yua?”
Still holding my hand tightly, he peered up at my face from below.

“…Huh? Wait, Ruka, don’t tell me you did that just to make me jealous…?”
When I asked, Ruka grinned and nodded eagerly.

“…Private Ruka has the mind of an elementary schooler, huh?”
“…What?”

“Look, I’ve said this so many times already—I don’t like you as a romantic partner. Got it? That’s why I don’t get jealous.”

“Are you… saying that for real…?”
For just a moment, the strength in Ruka’s grip on my hand loosened.

“I’m serious. It’s been, what, about a month? I’ve been saying this the whole time, haven’t I?”
When I said that a bit sharply, Ruka fell silent.

“And besides, that girl Yua—don’t you think it’s unfair to her? She must have worked up the courage to call out to you. And then you just left her hanging like that? I think that’s the lowest. Instead of getting jealous, I think I might have actually started to dislike you a little…”

I realized right away that I’d gone too far.

But it was already too late.
And for some reason, I couldn’t stop myself.

“I mean, for someone with such a good body, you’re weak at arm wrestling, and when I get mad and hit you, it actually lands…”
“That’s just because Risa-chan, you’re a black belt in aikido and karate…”

“I like guys who are handsome, perfect, and strong enough to protect me if something happens. That’s the type I fall for. Which is completely different from you, Ruka.”

I didn’t know why words that hurt Ruka so much kept spilling out one after another, but before I realized it, I had said them all.