Yandere? Menhera? Bring It On, If You're Confident That I'll love You For Who You Are - Chapter 19

Because of my indecisiveness, I don’t hold a grudge.

I stretched out, breathing in the fresh air.

Under the still strong sunlight, the leisure sheet laid out to protect from the direct heat of the ground was lined with countless paper cups and lunch boxes, with several PET bottles lined up as well.

“It feels like it’s been a while since we’ve had a meal together, just the two of us.”

“That’s true.”

I sat down on the leisure sheet.

Packed into the containers was a suspiciously large amount of simmered dishes, enough to make one wonder if even one or two people could finish it all.

Kanade had a somewhat pained expression on her face, but it was fleeting.

“Wow, this sure looks delicious. You really went all out again.”

“Hehe, right? I put extra effort into it today.”

The dishes packed to the brim in the containers included vegetable stir-fry, meat rolls, and fried chicken. The spread of the meal contained all of my favorites.

Unable to contain my hunger, I reached out with my chopsticks towards the simmered dishes.

“Hey~! You have to say ‘itadakimasu’ before you start, remember?”

“Alright, alright. Itadakimasu, and…”

I joined my hands together half-heartedly and then reached once again for the fried chicken Kanade had prepared, bringing it to my mouth.

“Mm! Delicious!”

“Really? That’s great. I was nervous because it’s been a while, but it seems to have turned out well.”

The taste was so spot on that I couldn’t help but express it, and Kanade smiled innocently.

Honestly, it was delicious, incomparable to the convenience store bento and hospital food I usually ate.

“Man, it’s been a while since I’ve had something this good. I’ve been mostly eating convenience store food and dining out lately.”

“I thought so. That’s not good, you know? You have to cook for yourself properly. Minato, it’s not like you can’t cook, right?”

“Well, I had initially intended to, but cooking after returning from school isn’t so simple.”

I answered Kanade’s exasperated look begrudgingly.

Now that my parents were gone, Rio and I alternated household chores and laundry day by day, but neither of us had cooked at all this past week.

Initially, when we had just moved in, Kanade helped out, but the last person to have turned on the stove in our kitchen was likely her.

“Really now… But, at least I’m relieved. Minato, you seem totally fine.”

“The rumors? What, even you were needlessly worried about me?”

“Honestly, yes. I understand that Minato is that kind of person, but I still worry.”

Kanade looked at me with a somewhat clouded expression.

At this point, my own intuition was telling me.

It seems our pleasant time is coming to an end.

“Hey, Minato. Those words from that time… can I say them now?”

“That time?”

“Do you ‘hate’ us?”

Her question was exactly the same one I had asked her on the first day of the new term.

“I said it before, right? Even if I’m told anything, I will never acknowledge it. That hasn’t changed and I have no intention of changing it. But I wonder about Minato.”

Her cheerful tone was there, but her eyes were clearly trying to probe my true intentions.

“Relax. I don’t hold a grudge or anything. It’s just that I haven’t forgotten what you two did to me, that’s all.”

“Is that different from holding a grudge?”

“Even though I may not look it, I’m indecisive. I just haven’t been able to completely cut myself off.”

Along with a light-hearted tone, I spoke the unvarnished truth.

There was no resentment or revenge towards them, nor the strength to forgive them.

I couldn’t make the choice to hate and detest them.

It’s just that, and nothing more.

That’s why I had no choice but to choose to overcome it all with ‘power’…

“I really like that about you, Minato-senpai.”

Her voice was so faint, I wasn’t sure if I could hear it or not.

I had long been aware of her presence.

The voice carried an unprecedented amount of resentment and intimidation, and Kanade naturally stood frozen on the spot.

As if to mock her, the rooftop door was soon released.

“Because, it can’t be helped, can it? The person in front of you is the true mastermind who manipulated your uncles to lay hands on Rio-chan, all to hog Minato-senpai’s love for herself.”

The bombshell declaration from the junior with the innocent smile—Hina—left Kanade unchanged in expression, merely trembling slightly as she observed Hina.