As I Know Anything About You, I'll Be The One To Your Girlfriend, Aren't I? - Volume 1 Chapter 5.10

What Red Means to You 10

Kuuya’s PoV

◇◆◇

Under the red sky, her voice resonated well.

“Thinking you’re being spoiled by kindness, what a huge misunderstanding, Miyashiro-kun.”

“Kujou-san?”

With her arms crossed below her chest, Kujou-san spoke in the same tone she used when she explained a math problem.

“You said using red felt cold, right? That it made you feel cold.”

“Kujou-senpai…? What are you…?”

Ado-san raised her voice in confusion. However, her gaze quickly returned to me.

The considerate, deep friendship she has always shown me. Ado-san has always directed that kindness towards me.

“You see, Miyashiro-kun, that’s totally absurd. Not scientifically or anything, but just in terms of the situation. It’s impossible for you to feel that way.”

“…What do you mean?”

I asked, and Kujou-san replied in her usual airy tone.

“I’ve always been providing you with useful information, haven’t I? So, I thought I’d do the same today.”

Then, Kujou-san told me.

“In reality, you’ve always been in contact with red. Just disguised on the surface as green, but deeply, deeply red. So, what’s the big deal about coming into contact with red now?”

“Ha…?”

Kujou-san didn’t address me, who didn’t understand the meaning of her words, but someone else.

“Hey, Ado-san. Miyashiro-kun has always been near something much more dangerous, hasn’t he?”

“…Senpai, what are you”

“I’m exposing it. Pretending to be a friend while being near you, when in reality, you, Ado-san, have been madly in love with Miyashiro-kun as a man.”

“…”

At Kujou-san’s words, Ado-san showed no sign of agitation. It was too perfect, a terribly controlled response.

“Kujou-senpai, now is not the time for such strange misunderstandings.”

“It’s also not the time for you to be blabbering excuses. Shouldn’t you stop? Saying things like let’s go eat, I’m by your side, you’re not alone. Is that what you really want to say to him?”

It’s not, right? She continued in a provoking tone.

“Aren’t you furious?”

“About what…”

“Miyashiro-kun has always been obsessed with the red of another woman, not you.”

“…”

At that word, …Ado-san clearly bit her lip.

Kujou-san continued.

“A woman with the highest level of possessiveness like you, it’s impossible for you not to be furious. Your guts must be boiling, always have been since long ago.”

“…”

“Isn’t it about time you made him understand? If things continue this way, you’ll just lose him forever. Have you thought about what your best move should be?”

Ado-san kept silent, looking down.

“…Kujou-san, Ado-san has always been very kind to me, since forever. But,”

“It appears green to you, doesn’t it? When you ‘see’ it with your eyes. The color of friendship,”

“…You knew?”

Did Ado-san tell her?

“What if all of that was just an act born out of ridiculous effort and obsession?”

“…Ado-san has been with me ever since I became able to ‘see’ colors, since I returned to this town. For three, four years. During that time,”

“Continuously controlling her movements in front of you to the extent that she deceives your eyes, is that realistic? Right, it’s not realistic. …But she’s made it reality, that troublesome woman has.”

It’s ridiculous, isn’t it?

Saying so, Kujou-san laughed complexly. It was a smile that couldn’t easily be understood whether it was about who or what.

“Ridiculous, ridiculous, oh, ridiculous. Hey, …I’ll be quiet now, so please continue.”

“…─”

Taking a step back, Kujou-san then…

And then, Ado-san, who had been silently looking down, …my childhood friend who has always been by my side, lifted her face.

“Su, ”

“Kuuya”

I was at a loss for words. Because there was someone I had never seen before standing there.

It meant that she was no longer anyone I knew.

It also meant that I didn’t know anyone else like her.

“Kuuya”

“…Ah”

As she approached me step by step, I instinctively stepped back.

It was her eyes that made me do so.

They were dim. Deep, bottomless, looking like the entrance to something that would be the end if drawn in.

Who is this? Who exactly is this person?

In my confusion, my body, just seeing her silhouette, blurted out reflexively.

“Su, i, ka…”

“Yes.”

She probably smiled, I think. Her eyes narrowed, her mouth split like a crescent moon.

Can people smile like that? Beautifully, adorably, as if committing a sacrilege.

Instinctively focusing my consciousness, I “saw” her.

“…Ha”

The familiar green was nowhere to be found, ──my entire field of vision was dyed in deep red.

“Na, …Ah, …Ah”

The mist rising from the woman approaching me was too dense, covering everything else in the world that should exist.

Only she, the source of it, was clearly visible in the red scenery.

My perspective dropped a level. It seems I’ve fallen to my knees.

What is this, what, what is this? I’ve never seen anything like this before.

“…?”

There was a clinking sound.

I felt no sensation of the glass shard I thought I was gripping tightly in my hand. I must have dropped it. Probably, it’s rolling on the floor. Covered in the mist, I can’t see it well.

“Kuuya”

For the third time, she called my name and picked up the glass shard, bringing it back into my world.

Ado-san firmly grasped the sharp, gleaming shard in her hand.

“…Ah, Ah”

In front of me, with my eyes wide open, blood dripped down.

“We match now.”

Without showing any sign of pain, she said that.

Then, Ado-san threw away the glass shard and leaned over me, sitting on the floor.

Her bloodied right hand, the deep red hand of Ado-san, caressed my cheek.

And she asked only one thing.

“Is it cold?”

“…That is”

While being asked, what I thought in my head was simple.

…What exactly had I been seeing until now?

Red is, …it was such a color.

“If you don’t know, please say so. I can provide as much as you want.”

Blood from her hand continued to wet my cheek.

“There’s an infinite amount. Women of Ado are… that’s the kind of beings we are. …Hey.”

I love you.

The words spoken while piercing me with those eyes felt like they were stabbing something inside me.

“…No matter how many years it takes, I will definitely make you mine. Absolutely, definitely.”

The lips that uttered those words, their redness, was strikingly captivating.

“If there’s a red for you, …I hope it’s my red.”

Ado-san pressed her lips against mine.

In the world dyed in red, her red lips were… very hot.

◇◆◇

Kujo’s PoV

I must have accumulated good deeds. It must be so.

Alone, I walk through the path between the groves, the same path I ran down while provoking Ado-san.

Leaving the two on the rooftop, I decided to go back alone.

…Ado-san is like me. Sticky, heavy-hearted, and a coward.

She needed a push to take a step forward… And so did he. That couldn’t come from within them; they were waiting for it to be provided from the outside.

Well, well, well.

Isn’t that good enough!

After all, it’s like this. They settled where they should have.

“Hm…”

My phone vibrates. A message from my sister. She’s prompting me for ice cream.

…After all, I’ve been raised in a warm, happy family. Though I sometimes feel lonely due to differences in values with society, I don’t have traumas like Miyashiro-kun, nor do I have the determination like Ado-san, who has always been by his side.

When Miyashiro-kun is saved, when he is rewarded, it should be Ado-san. No matter how you think about it.

The two of them ended with a happy kiss. …Though it was covered in blood, they must be happy.

Exiting the path, I step onto the main street. I hesitate for a moment about taking the bus but decide against it. I’ll walk.

“It’s not about being flashy, in the first place.”

I mutter to myself. Not about the bus, but about that incomprehensible thing called love.

Getting caught up in feeling smitten or swollen with affection for someone else, losing oneself. That’s not my style.

So it’s fine, and I’m not really bothered.

Not at all.

“…Ah”

I pass by a rather large, countryside-like game center.

If we came to a place like this together, what games would we play? Would we get excited about winning or not winning prizes, or get a little serious about competitive games?

“…Ah”

I pass by a slightly stylish, nationwide chain cafe.

I know he likes sweet things unexpectedly. I’m not against them either, so would we order different cakes and share them, trying each other’s?

“Ah, …uh”

My home is actually not too far from here. So, I often use this road.

I always made hypothetical plans as I passed by.

Convenient, impatient, and happy, my delusions.

My hopeful, flower field-like hopes, I cherished them.

“Ah, …ah”

I’m such an idiot, really.

Idiot… idiot.

“Ah, ah, ah…ah…──────Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!”

…Idiooottttt!!!!!

Everyone’s an idiot! Everyone in the world! All of them, this and that, everything and everyone is an idiot!

“Uuuuuuuuhhhh…! Aaaaaahhhhh!! Aaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!”

Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn!!

My face is a mess, drenched with tears that keep falling, blurring my vision.

“I, I, I don’t know!! About that!!”

That Miyashiro-kun had such a past, that Ado-san had been bravely facing it and persevering from a long time ago.

How could I know, after all, about something like that.

“I don’t know! I don’t know! …────I l-li-like youuuu!!”

I have no heavy past, no built-up bonds either.

But I like him too. The boy in my class who I met in the art room, who sat next to me, whom I could talk to only once every ten days.

It may not be fate, but it was serious. Even now, I still do.

“Aaaaaahhhhhhhhh!! Uuu, uuu, uuuuuu!! Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!”

So, seeing him kiss another girl was super annoying!

I didn’t want to see it, and I didn’t want to know that they would probably date afterward!

Drivers passing by look shocked at me crying and walking.

How surprised humans are… Wondering what’s wrong with that crazy crying girl, thinking if I’m stupid.

The mean me always watched others being swayed by their emotions, thinking, “Humans are so silly.” I believed I was different.

Ah, but congratulations to me.

I’ve joined the human side.

Hey, everyone, how do you manage to lead a normal life while being so disturbed? It’s amazing… How do you do it, tell me later.

Can I do it?

Right now, I feel like I can’t at all.

“I r-really do!! I l-like youuuu!! Idioootttt!!”

Screaming, I walk.

The red of the evening was very beautiful.

TLN : F*CK YOU AUTHOR, REALLY F*CK YOU. F*CCKKKKKKK WHY DID YOU WHY!  I CAN’T GUYS, I CAN’T BEAR TO READ THE EPILOGUE. AHHHHHH WHYY