As I Know Anything About You, I'll Be The One To Your Girlfriend, Aren't I? - Volume 1 Chapter 5.2

What Red Means to You 2

Suika’s PoV

“I’m the one who knows the most about him in the world.”

“How long was the smartphone lying on the roadside?”

“About two and a half hours ago, I suppose.”

“A person’s walking speed is about four kilometers per hour; Kuuya is a bit slower. Even if he started running at some point, considering his stamina, he couldn’t have kept it up for long. Subtracting that, and assuming he didn’t use any form of transportation, Kuuya should be within a ten-kilometer radius from here.”

“I agree. Here, take a look.”

Kujo-senpai took a tablet out of her bag and showed it to me. A map was displayed on it, with a circle drawn around our current location.

It was a ten-kilometer radius circle. This person had made the same estimate as I had.

“The problem is whether he took some form of transportation… There are no stations within this range, so it must be a bus or taxi. If Miyashiro-kun took one of those,”

“Taking a taxi is 100% impossible.”

“…Why?”

Asked in return, the answer was simple.

“Because I wouldn’t know about it.”

“If Kuuya had taken a taxi, especially if something about his condition seemed odd, there wouldn’t be a single driver in this town who wouldn’t contact me.”

“…What are you saying?”

“Regarding the buses, the stops within this range are these and these and these… Within the last two and a half hours?”

Considering the harsh temperatures and sunlight of this season, especially around the hot midday, many people would opt for buses to avoid walking.

If Kuuya was among them…

“Hmm…”

My phone rang. The caller was a familiar woman who runs a bakery with her husband in the shopping district.

“Hello, Suika speaking!”

“Suika-chan, long time no see~! Thanks for coming to the store the other day~”

“No, no, your new creation was delicious!”

“Right~! It’s my masterpiece, after all~! But sorry, let’s put that aside.”

The change in topic made me instantly grasp why the woman had contacted me. Because it was as I expected.

The timing of this call was too perfect to be mere coincidence.

“You see, just before noon today… around eleven, I guess, I took the bus, from Fujimi to Toka Mori. Then, I saw Kuuya-kun on the bus. It’s rare for him to use this route, so when I happened to catch his face, he looked really pale…”

“Whaaat…!”

“I wondered what happened… I thought maybe he was going to the hospital, but he got off at Rinkouzura, and there aren’t any hospitals around there… So I was wondering what happened. That’s why I thought I should at least let you know.”

“Thank you very much, I’ve been unable to contact Kuuya right now… It seems like Kuuya left his smartphone at home…”

Considering the situation was not yet confirmed, it wouldn’t be right to unnecessarily escalate things. Kuuya might end up troubled later.

Even though I knew it was wrong, I made a seemingly plausible conjecture.

“Ah! I understand, maybe he’s panicking, thinking he dropped his smartphone, and is searching for it.”

“Ah~, I see! So that’s it! But then he might still be looking for it now… It’s so hot outside, I’m worried.”

“I’ll go to the bus stop where Kuuya got off and hand it to him! Thank you very much!”

“No problem, see you~. Come to the store with him again~”

“Yes!” I replied as I hung up the phone and touched Kujo-senpai’s tablet.

“About an hour ago, Kuuya got off at a bus stop called Rinkouzura. That area doesn’t have stations or other bus stops nearby, so Kuuya’s current location is expected to be within a four-kilometer radius from there.”

“…Hey, your character was like how you were on the phone just now, right? But now you are… No, never mind that. Ado-san, you are,”

“In this town, the Ado family is somewhat well-known.”

I interupted before Kujo-senpai could continue.

“I’ve been making friends with many people since I was young, using that to my advantage. Not just in the town, but at school too. I made sure people remembered my face, made friends with them… and let them know what’s important to me.”

Conveniently, though I certainly wouldn’t say it’s a good thing, the fact that he was physically weak also worked positively in this situation.

No, saying it’s a coincidence would be wrong.

I utilized the fact that there are people who think, “He’s physically weak, so I’m worried about him.”

“I won’t say it’s as much as a mountain, but I receive a considerable number of contacts every day. Mixed in with various small talks, naturally, there are messages like, ‘By the way, I saw Kuuya-kun around this place at this time.'”

This is the first time I’m revealing this to someone else. But now, it’s necessary.

“It’s not just sightings. Rumors and various stories also reach me.”

I stated that clearly.

“As long as Kuuya is in a place where people can see him, he’s under my surveillance.”

By the hands of the townspeople, none of whom think they’re actually keeping watch.

“…You”

“I’ve intentionally created this situation, of course… To keep track of as much about Kuuya as possible, for that reason.”

A battle of oddballs, I wonder who comes out on top.

Kujo-senpai didn’t respond to my words but instead asked a question.

“…I want to ask. Hey, you once brought up a discussion during the sports festival committee meeting about changing the mixed-gender setup to separate genders, right? What about that?”

“Putting aside how you, who weren’t supposed to be there, know about its outcome… I heard from several sources that there were girls who liked Kuuya.”

“When you entered the library while I was studying there with Miyashiro-kun, what was that about?”

“It couldn’t possibly be a coincidence, could it?”

I had been checking on this person since around April. Despite being rumored to dislike people, she seemed to talk only with Kuuya, who sat next to her.

“A library committee member contacted me saying, ‘She’s unusually in the library… and she’s with a pretty senpai.'”

The people who contact me don’t necessarily think I’m dating Kuuya, but at the very least, they recognize that I have special feelings for him.

Kujo-senpai sighed deeply.

“I regret this. It’s highly regrettable… Women’s intuition is right, isn’t it?”

“What kind of guess?”

“That you and I are similar.”

Kujo-senpai muttered and sighed again. To her, I said,

“What you’re doing is very wrong. It’s a crime, and having someone like you sitting next to Kuuya is truly the worst.”

“You’re blunt.”

“Yes. But I’m equally, if not more, terrible. I’m not decent, not pretty. I’m scum, using people’s kindness for surveillance and manipulation behind the scenes.”

I extended my right hand to the person in front of me.

“Scum should work together for now. Let’s use each other effectively.”

“I intended that from the start. I’m the one who called you out, after all.”

“Ah, but please correct one thing.”

Holding her hand, I looked straight into her eyes, smiling as I said,

“When it comes to knowing the most about Kuuya in the world, that would be me.”

“Ah?”

“What is it?”

A gaze filled with hostility and malice flew towards me, and I immediately returned the same.

Under the bright sunshine, in a peaceful park, two good-for-nothing women were glaring at each other.

…The children who had been playing looked at us with frightened eyes. I’m sorry, we’ll move soon…

For now, the two of us headed to a nearby bus stop. The bus from here stops at the place where Kuuya got off.

“There’s something very important I haven’t asked you yet.”

Kujo-senpai posed that question to me.

“In the end, you do love Miyashiro-kun, don’t you?”

I think.

Ah, right. Except for my family, this is the first time I’m clearly putting it into words.

“I love him, more than anyone else.”

The summer’s heat was pouring down from above. Along with the piercing heat and pain, the sensation of voicing those words felt etched into me.

“…So. Well, I’m still superior.”

“What? In terms of years and seasons, we’re different.”

“All those years, and you’re still just friends in the end? Is that something to be proud of?”

“Coming from someone who can’t even be friends, even just sitting next to him, I can’t say much.”

“…”

“…”

While waiting for the bus, our conversation was somewhere between assessing the situation and provoking each other.

“…By the way, Miyashiro-kun can predict how other feels, right? Considering you’re always together, he must be completely aware of how you feel, isn’t he?”

“No, that’s impossible. Kuuya sees me only as a very caring childhood friend… Otherwise, we couldn’t have stayed so close, for so long.”

“…What do you mean?”

“…”

“Anyway, what you’re doing is strange, isn’t it? Despite being so obsessed with Miyashiro-kun, you never try to move beyond the childhood friend position… Honestly, at first, I thought you two were dating.”

With a calm tone, never looking directly at me, Kujo-senpai continued.

“You seemed perfect for each other, from any perspective. It was clear you understood each other. That’s why I don’t understand your risk management. If you have such a relationship, it seems to me the realistic risk to be wary of is not being rejected, but being stolen by another girl while you’re dawdling.”

I hesitated whether I should explain the situation to this person. Kuuya’s past isn’t something I should discuss with others based on my own judgment.

But the current situation might indeed be connected to that story… The slightly stiff expression on Kuuya’s face yesterday flickered in my mind, igniting a sense of urgency within me.

…This person next to me took the risk of her crimes being exposed to act in this manner. In that regard, I think she should be trusted, and perhaps I should disclose the information that needs to be disclosed.

─I’m sorry for doing this on my own.

While apologizing to Kuuya in my heart, I began to speak.

“It’s going to be a bit of a long story.”

“The bus will take a while to come anyway.”

“Right, then──”

As I spoke to her, I dove deep.

Sinking my consciousness into my own past.

tln : FINALLY , SUIKA BACKGROUND STORY IS EXPLAINED. ahh but iwonder why her aura is blue instead of red?