Chapter 37 - The Current Situation of the Protagonist and the Former Mob Heroine
The vibe between us was so relaxed, it felt like we could just chat forever. But, since I wanted to get to the reason I'd brought her here, I decided to just cut straight to the chase.
“Mogami-san, aren’t you interested in Sanada at all?”
“Eh? Why are we suddenly talking about Sanada-kun??”
She tilted her head to the side, still holding her glass of milk tea. Her expression was full of genuine puzzlement. It didn’t seem like she was just pretending to be clueless. It seemed like she genuinely, from the bottom of her heart, had no idea why I'd brought him up.
"I mean, you just had that whole conversation with him earlier, no?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"...You seemed a little angry at him, Mogami-san."
“Of course. I mean, why would a complete stranger suddenly ask whether you and I were dating? It didn’t make any sense to me.”
Yeah. I don't get it either. Of course, I'm not talking about Sanada's psychology. I can read his simple ‘rom-com protagonist’ brain like an open book. What I mean is… the one I don’t get… is you, Mogami-san.
“I just don’t want him making fun of you like that. Because, you see… if you, Sato-kun, were to ever dislike me because of something like that, I think I’d be too shocked to recover.”
“Well, there’s no way I’d ever dislike you, Mogami-san.”
“—Fuhih! A-ah, please forget that just now. That laugh came out weird…!”
Mogami-san frantically tried to hide her mouth with her hand, but her cheeks were bunched up, so it was obvious she was grinning.
Her emotions were always easy to read. And yet, that made her all the more confusing. I know that sounds like a contradiction, but it's the truth, which is what makes this so frustrating.
“I clearly remember you saying that you wanted to thank Sanada back before summer break started.”
"Mhm. I did."
“Back then, when you tried talking to him, he ignored you. Do you remember what I told you at that time?”
“Of course. I’d never forget anything you say, Sato-kun.”
Mogami-san nodded firmly, without a hint of hesitation. Then she repeated my words word for word.
"You're just not at the level where Sanada would stop for you, or atleast, not yet."
Yeah. That's right. Back then, I'd deliberately confronted her with that cold, hard fact to make her understand where she and Sanada really stood.
“And then you also said, ‘Are you okay ending your story as just a mob heroine, Mogami-san?’ right?”
So she remembered that part, too. Hearing it again, it really did sound cruel. But I still had to say something like that since I really wanted her to get fired up. I still remember that I’d said it knowing full well she might come to hate me for it.
"You've changed so much compared to back then. I mean, today alone, Sanada came up to talk to you twice. Before summer break, he wouldn't even respond when you tried to talk to him, but now it's different."
First, let me just lay out the premise. And based on that, I'll analyze the current situation.
"I'd been operating under this assumption: 'Mogami-san was determined to change, all so that Sanada would finally notice her.'"
So, let me summarize this clearly.
[Premise]
- She wanted to become someone valuable enough to make Sanada stop and notice her.
- But if she stayed as a 'mob heroine,' she'd never be able to do that.
- So she resolved to change and spent her whole summer working hard.
[Current Situation]
- Her efforts paid off and she’s no longer someone anyone can just casually call a mob heroine.
- She did become someone valuable enough for even Sanada to approach himself first.
- However, Mogami-san doesn’t seem to think much about Sanada at all.
In short, the input didn’t match the output. Just what kind of changes happened to the black box in the middle of her heart?
“Let me be honest with you, Mogami-san. I’d been under the impression all this time that you liked Sanada.”
I was done beating around the bush. So I said it outright, just to clear up any possible misunderstanding between us. The moment the words left my mouth, Mogami-san immediately responded.
"—But I don’t?"
She didn’t sound upset. There was no ‘I can’t believe you’d think that,’ not even a ‘You’re awful for not understanding how I feel.’ None of those emotions were there at all. This could only mean one thing. Mogami-san just doesn't have any emotional reaction to any situation involving Sanada.
“I’ve never once said I liked him.”
She said it super casually, as if she was just correcting a piece of wrong information. Like saying, "Actually, today’s weather forecast doesn’t predict rain, just cloudy skies."
Listening to her, all I could do was silently take a sip of my coffee.
(That confirms it. Mogami-san… doesn’t feel anything for Sanada.)
In other words, to her, Sanada held no value. The supposed protagonist of this world, was, to her, just another background character among many.
And so, everything had been completely reversed. Their positions from before and after summer break... had been totally flipped―.
