Does This Love Suit Your Taste? - Volume 1 Chapter 6.5

Duel 5

Sigh, I’ll be blamed again.

Once again, the hero appears, and I’m cast as the villain.

I no longer have the strength to flee into that crowd of people.

In fact, I can’t even manage to walk. All I could do was sit there cross-legged and hang my head.

I can’t protect the Maison or even myself—I’m all alone.

—Why does it always end up like this?

Then, a girl appeared.

“Rira! You were here! We need to escape quickly——”

“No! Let go!”

“Ah, wait…!”

“Toui-kun!”

Shaking off Kazama’s helping hand, the one running towards me against the stream of people at the entrance was Shirahime, whom I had lied to about not coming here.

“Gee… I won’t care if you get scolded!”

Kazama must have wanted to avoid getting caught up in the lecture too, as he left Shirahime behind and departed the dojo, leaving just me and Shirahime.

“You… why are you here? I told you not to come to the dojo. And you should run away too. If you stay here, you’ll get scolded as well.”

“Obviously, I’d realize something was up with all this commotion. You’re the one who went off to duel on your own, Toui-kun! Besides, that doesn’t matter now! Are you hurt?”

“It’s nothing serious… but hurry up and run away before—”

“Kiminami! You again!”

While we were talking, the teacher finally arrived. It’s that Kondo.

He starts yelling as soon as he sees me.

“I heard it from Kazama! It seems you got into a fight with a Senpai! How many times do I have to get angry at you before you’re satisfied? Enough is enough——”

“It’s not his fault!!”

A high voice echoes throughout the dojo. At the same time, I was embraced tightly.

The sensation was comforting; it felt like it filled me up to the depths of my heart.

——This feeling, I’ve felt it somewhere before…

(TN: Chapter 5 part 1.)

Shirahime is holding me tightly, not letting go as if protecting me.

“Shirahime… This guy is a delinquent causing trouble in our school. Why are you defending him?”

Shirahime let out a defiant “nngh!” and hugged me even tighter.

“He was only protecting me! Instead, it was Toujouin-senpai who caused the commotion by dragging Toui-kun into it! If you’re going to be angry, be angry at him!”

“Even if you say that… Kiminami was caught causing trouble right now.”

“He’s not at fault! I’m telling you!”

Shirahime’s firm and clear stance was surprising.

I think it was extremely rare for S-Hime to show such defiance to anyone other than me.

“Hmm… If Shirahime goes so far as to say that, well, maybe it really is the case…”

Then the teacher, perhaps unable to speak strongly to the usually well-behaved Shirahime, backed down.

“Alright, I’ll let it slide this time. Be grateful to Shirahime, Kiminami.”

The teacher left with those words.

Even if I say I’m not at fault, probably no one would believe me, but having Shirahime say it makes the persuasiveness skyrocket, and it’s incredibly reassuring. If

I had been alone like before, I wouldn’t have been able to deal with this situation.

It’s because I was with Shirahime that I was able to overcome this.

After confirming that the teacher was gone, Shirahime reached out her hand to me.

“…I told you that you shouldn’t go. Idiot.”

“Sorry…”

“Let’s go to the infirmary… I saw you getting hit with the wooden sword many times. I’ll treat you.”

“I’m fine, it’s not that bad… Doesn’t class start now?”

“Sure. How about we both skip the class together?”

“Shirahime…”

“Can you stand?”

“Somehow…”

Taking the hand offered by Shirahime, I staggered to my feet.

Each step still sent a stingign pain through my leg, and other areas where I had taken hits throbbed with pain.

“…Sorry, I accepted the duel with Tojoin on my own. Thanks for sticking up for me.”

When I apologized, Shirahime let out a slight smile and easily forgave me, saying, ‘Don’t worry about it’, and then pulled my hand as we left the dojo.

“But don’t do anything reckless like this again. You’ll get on the teacher’s radar too.”

“It’s Toui-kun who’s being reckless. Normally, nobody would take on such a disadvantageous fight head-on. Besides, Toui-kun did nothing wrong. You said the same to me before, in the gym storage. If getting on the teacher’s radar is what it takes, then I don’t mind being a delinquent too.”

“You…”

“I mean, didn’t you fight him for me?”

“Well, yeah… but it’s not like I did it to make you owe me anything.”

“Hehe, I know.”

Shirahime, walking ahead of me, doesn’t look back; I can hear her laughter, but I can’t see her expression.

However, the warmth of Shiraime’s hand, leading me, was palpably comforting.

“Toui-kun”

“What is it…”

Suddenly turning around, Shirahime grasps both of my hands and stretches up on her toes, facing me.

——Mmmmfh.

It was a short kiss. After the kiss, Shirahime continued to smile while looking at my face.

It was different than usual. What Shirahime’s lips had captured was not my lips but my cheek.

“…a cheek kiss doesn’t really count as proof, does it?”

“It’s different, this is a reward.”

“…A reward?”

“Thank you for helping me, Toui-kun. I was really happy.”

“W-well, it was nothing…”

Shirahime thanked me and smiled without any hesitation. Lately, she’s been smiling like this more often.

She’s annoying, but when she’s honest, her smile is a little cute.

“…Could it be, you wanted to be praised? Geez, you’re so greedy.”

“I-I didn’t say that!”

No, nope, not cute at all.

***
TN: Text

Ichigo-chan’s Question Corner ♡

Cet amour vous convient-il?

Q1. Please tell us your birthday and blood type.

A. My birthday is February 14th. I was born on Valentine’s Day. My blood type is O!

Q2. What are your hobbies?

A. I’m hooked on reading manga at Toui’s house. You see, Toui has a ton of manga!

Q3. Where do you think your charm point is?

A. Ah, I don’t have anything like that… after all, I’m not cute.

Q4. Please tell us about the type of boy you like.

A. Oh…♡ Someone who is cool, reliable, fashionable, and hardworking… Eh, does it sound like I’m revealing who I like…? Uhhh… Please keep it a secret!

Q5. Lastly, please say a word to Toui-kun.

A. Eh, you’re asking me that now!? Uh… um… Ah, right. I spilled juice on the manga I borrowed the other day.

Sorry☆