Darkness hung over the deserted path.
Thunder rolled off in the distance.
The relentless rain showed no sign of stopping. A downpour drenched everything.
The sudden storm concealed the tears sliding down the girl's cheeks, as well as the boy named Watanabe Takashi.
By the time Eriri came to her senses, Takashi was already gone.
Eriri still stood in place.
Drenched by the rain, her gaze was empty and unfocused, like an abandoned rag doll—broken, soulless.
"He was unlucky to fall for girls like us."
Rain soaked her kimono. Standing in the downpour, Utaha said those words and then quietly left.
Her steps were slow and heavy.
Her mood matched her soaked clothes.
Did I hurt him again...?
The brief sparkle in her eyes had vanished again, leaving behind a lifeless void.
Like a walking corpse, she headed home.
"Eriri."
Tomoya hadn't left either.
He walked up to Eriri and softly called her name.
Eriri's lifeless eyes turned to him.
"Tomoya."
Her voice, like it had been scraped by sandpaper, emerged hoarse and painful from her throat.
"Do you know what my biggest mistake is right now?"
Her voice trembled slightly, like the last leaf of autumn.
"It's meeting you."
"Why did I have to meet you?"
Tomoya hung his head, his body trembling in the rain.
"Why did I fall for you?"
"How I wish I had never met you."
Whether it was water or tears trailing down his cheeks, Tomoya stared at Eriri: "You regret it?"
"Yes."
Letting the relentless downpour strike her body, Eriri was about to leave, just like Takashi and Utaha had.
Her wooden clogs splashed through puddles with every step on the stone path.
"Let's not see each other anymore."
That sentence from Eriri made Tomoya tremble even harder.
He understood better than anyone what it meant.
And he understood how serious Eriri was.
"You're cutting me off for Watanabe Takashi?"
Tomoya clenched his molars. "Ten years of friendship—does that really mean less than a guy who just showed up six months ago?"
Eriri walked into the rain without looking back. "Yeah. I don't want to be your friend anymore."
She kept walking forward, never turning her head.
"Eriri, even if you hate me now, Watanabe Takashi isn't coming back."
Tomoya shouted at her, trying to vent all his pain and frustration.
Eriri paused for a moment—but then kept walking forward, whispering to herself: "I'll bring him back."
Her voice was quiet.
In the pouring rain, Tomoya didn't hear her.
But Eriri didn't care.
She hadn't meant for him to hear it anyway. That line was for herself.
No matter what it took, she would bring Watanabe Takashi back.
…
"I've already broken up with Eriri. Uncle, come pick her up."
After leaving the forest path, Takashi didn't go far. He stood nearby, watching and secretly following Eriri.
This wasn't lingering feelings.
It was simply because he had taken Eriri out—he had to make sure she got home safely.
As for Utaha?
Takashi simply thought: Whoever brought her, takes care of her.
"I'm already at the park entrance."
Eriri's father's voice came through the phone.
He already knew that Takashi planned to break up with Eriri.
Because Takashi had discussed it with the Sawamura couple.
Just as he was about to hang up, Eriri's father suddenly asked again, "Is there really no possibility between you and Eriri?"
"Uncle, forgiving someone's mistake isn't something you do once."
"Every time I remember it, I'll have to forgive her all over again."
It's like when your girlfriend chats intimately with another guy—even if she deletes the messages in front of you, every time she picks up her phone afterward, you'll wonder if she's chatting with someone else again.
Same principle.
As the third party, Takashi had witnessed everything between Eriri and Tomoya. He had also been abandoned by Eriri.
Every time she didn't pick up the phone, he'd suspect she was with Tomoya.
After all, they'd liked each other for ten years.
Ten years!
Eriri was only sixteen.
Which meant Tomoya had been by her side for over half of her life.
What's the difference between that and family?
Just imagine—if he stayed with Eriri, he'd probably still have to see that "ex-husband" of hers every day. How suffocating would that be?
Could he really get her to completely cut ties with Tomoya?
The answer was no.
Don't be fooled just because Eriri chose him this time. Chose him over her childhood friend.
That was only because this happened during the height of their love, the honeymoon phase.
What about after that? During the cooling-off phase? Would she still choose him?
It wasn't that Takashi didn't trust Eriri—it's that he didn't trust human nature.
And besides, he'd only beaten Tomoya once. Not for life.
If he could steal Tomoya's girl, Tomoya could steal her back too.
Takashi didn't want to live in constant anxiety, eventually driving himself mad.
The best option was to stay away from people who drained his mental energy.
"Uncle, I can play the role of Watanabe Takashi—but more than that, I want to be Kitahara Takashi."
"I understand."
Eriri's father understood what Takashi meant.
Rather than being a boy who did everything Eriri wanted, he preferred to be his own person.
"Let's catch a game sometime."
That wasn't just small talk.
Though he was disappointed that Takashi wouldn't be his son-in-law, it didn't stop him from admiring the boy.
"Sure."
Takashi agreed without hesitation.
In his mind, Eriri's father was just Eriri's father. Eriri was Eriri.
Just because he broke up with her didn't mean he had to break ties with the whole Sawamura family.
That's not how it works.
"By the way, who's your team?"
"Manchester United. Ten-year fan."
The moment soccer came up, Eriri's father perked up.
Takashi: "...I support Manchester City."
Eriri's father: "My phone's out of battery. Bye."
Damn!
Of all the people I could've met who share my interests—it just had to be a local rival.
Who could understand this, seriously?
"The sky in Manchester is really blue."
Right before the call disconnected, Mr. Spencer heard Takashi's last sentence. It left him fuming.
Just as he was about to call that brat back for a serious talk, Sayuri nudged him. "Our daughter's here."
He looked up.
And when he saw Eriri walking toward them in the rain like a ghost, he cursed Takashi a thousand times over in his heart.
That's my daughter you're dating.
You chase after her, win her heart, and then break up with her—leaving us, her parents, to comfort her.
Takashi, you really are the morning sun and the evening gloom rolled into one.
Mr. Spencer stepped out of the car with Sayuri, sharing an umbrella as they hurried over to Eriri.
"Eriri, what's wrong? Why are you out here alone? Where's Takashi?"
They both understood the situation perfectly well, but they still had to follow the formalities.
Sayuri had barely mentioned Watanabe Takashi's name when the tears Eriri had tried so hard to hold back returned in full force.
She threw herself into Sayuri's arms and wailed uncontrollably. "Dad, Mom, Takashi broke up with me!"
"He doesn't want me anymore."
"What should I do?"
Even though she had already made up her mind to win him back, Eriri was at a complete loss.
Seeing their daughter cry like that, the Sawamura couple couldn't help but feel deeply distressed.
If Takashi didn't have support from Yozakura Hitomi and Kamikawa Narii, with what he did today, he wouldn't be walking out of the Sawamura household in one piece.
…
Not far away—
Takashi watched as Eriri got into the car. After that, he didn't look again. He turned around and left.
Walking down the street, he blocked and deleted every single method of contacting Eriri.
Because of the rain, the fireworks festival had been canceled.
Girls returning from the canceled festival filled the streets, still wearing their summer yukata and carrying mats and parasols.
Honestly—
Takashi had never understood the difference between parasols and umbrellas.
He found a public restroom and removed his makeup inside, revealing the handsome face that could practically be used as an adjective.
Takashi raised an eyebrow, and the boy in the mirror did the same with a cheeky smirk.
"So handsome."
Just as he turned to leave, he caught sight of Megumi standing a short distance away, the corners of her lips curling into a barely noticeable smile as she looked at him.
Takashi: "…What a coincidence."
"Yeah."
"Heading back?"
"Sure."
Megumi opened her folding umbrella, and Takashi stepped closer. "Let me. I'm taller."
Megumi looked up at how her height barely reached his chest, then handed him the umbrella.
Sharing one umbrella, they left Makuhari Seaside Park before the road got too crowded.
Walking along the main road, most of the people they passed were disappointed festival goers.
"Kato, how did you recognize me?"
Takashi finally couldn't hold it in and asked.
He'd thought his disguise was flawless.
Not like Tequila Girl, who could be seen through at a glance.
"Kitahara-kun's makeup skills are top-tier, but your height and build don't change. You're actually easy to recognize."
Megumi stepped carefully around a puddle as she explained.
"That's it?"
"And Kitahara-kun has a very nice scent."
"Scent?"
He'd lost count of how many people had said that he smelled good.
Yet he'd never worn perfume—he shouldn't have any scent at all.
It never happened before.
'Wait a second, could it be…?'
A light bulb went off in Takashi's mind.
He opened his system panel, navigated to his personal attributes, and looked at his only maxed-out charm stat, and the passive skill he'd gained: Freya's Allure.
It was only after gaining that skill that people started saying he smelled nice.
He hadn't paid much attention to it before, since looks were the least remarkable of his many strengths.
Well—mostly because the skill came with only a note, no detailed description.
Did it activate just by thinking about it?
He tried it and, to his surprise, a line of text appeared:
Freya's Allure: "Scent is a powerful carrier of human memory. Scents imbued with special, unforgettable emotional fragments increase sexual attraction and emotional intensity.
People may fall in love with the boy's lips, his nose, his eyes, and eventually the entire person.
(P.S. The scent adapts based on who you interact with. It works on men too.)"
Damn!
This was more effective than any love potion!
If Medea had this back in the day, Jason would've never left her!
Well, guess being Tokyo's most devoted lover no longer fits.
From now on, call him Tokyo's own Yang Guo.
"I wasn't totally sure at first. What convinced me Watanabe Takashi was actually Kitahara-kun was the time I saw you at the sink with Kasumigaoka-senpai sneaking a kiss."
What Megumi said made Takashi a little embarrassed.
Though really, it wasn't sneaking a kiss.
It was just him getting taken advantage of by that black-stockinged temptress.
"You saw that? Are you some kind of ghost? Invisible to everyone else?"
"Yes. No one else sees me—because I'm so plain."
"Plain?"
When Megumi said that word, Takashi noticed a faint expression on her usually composed face, something between helplessness and frustration.
"I guess I'm decently pretty. My grades are average—not great, not terrible. I'm not in any clubs, I've never been a class rep. I have friends, but not many."
"Maybe it's because I lack any defining traits. Whenever we go out as a group, I'm the one people forget. Even at family dinners, they forget I'm there. It's like I don't exist."
Megumi spoke word by word, weaving her story.
It wasn't a tale of superpowers or bullying—just the quiet story of a girl who was always overlooked because her presence was too faint.
"Then I met Aki-kun. He told me I wasn't ordinary at all, and even said things like he wanted me to be the heroine of his game."
"But even though he said I wasn't ordinary, he always overlooked me."
"I thought I'd always be that way—until I met Kitahara-kun."
"Even with amazing girls like Kasumigaoka-senpai and Sawamura around you, Kitahara-kun still always noticed me."
"Even if you tricked me into eating matcha, and you're a total flirt with constantly changing girlfriends—just having someone who actually sees me, who doesn't ignore me, that makes me really happy."
As she spoke, Megumi couldn't help smiling slightly.
The more Takashi listened, the more convinced he became—this was a confession, wasn't it?
"This might sound narcissistic, but… did you fall for me?"
"You don't have to worry, Kitahara-kun. I won't fall for you—ever."
"Uh…"
Her response left Takashi unsure whether to feel relieved or disappointed.
"Can I ask… why not?"
"Kitahara-kun, you're too flashy."
___
Valid reason ngl.
___
20 Advanced Chapters available on p@ tr eon (.) com/HalflingFics
Also, please point out my mistakes in the comment, thank you!
Don't forget to leave a review too~
Check out the other translations too
___