It Turns Out That I Have a Fiancee, but She Is the Famous “Villainess” of the School. What Should I Do?

Kiryu’s cold eventually went away within a day.
Just in case, Kiryu took the next day off as well (I offered to take care of her but she sent me to school telling me that I shouldn’t skip school again.), and then came today, Friday.

“How’d it go? Were you alright?”

“Over.
It was just a cold.
Oh, pass the soy sauce.”

“Cool.
I’m glad you’re fine.”

“I really am happy.
It’s all because of you, Higashi Kujo-kun, you know? Thank you.”

Kiryu smiles as she puts her chopsticks to the grilled fish.
Holding a bowl of rice in her left hand, she squeezes her cheeks in delight.

“Delicious! I knew my cooked rice would taste good!”

“I guess.
I would like to say that it’s the triumph of the ingredients… but Kiryu’s cooked rice really is delicious.
“

I don’t know what the difference is, but I think it tastes better when Kiryu cooks it than when I do. 

I think it’s just my imagination, but Kiryu, who was overjoyed about this, was very enthusiastic, saying, “I’ll cook the rice myself from now on!” Well, it’s better to have her cook it well, thereby I can enjoy it more. 

“But you’re still mildly sick.
Take a good rest tomorrow and the day after, okay?　Don’t go out too much.
Do you have plans to go somewhere though?”

“I don’t have any special plans for tomorrow or the day after.
I don’t really go out much.
I don’t have friends.”

“Another painful thing to poke at… come to think of it, what have you been doing on your days off so far?”

“I read books or lessons, I guess.”

“Lessons? What for?”

“Nothing now.
I had piano, violin, and English conversation lessons until junior high.”

“Heeh… And what about the rest of the time? I know you read a lot, but don’t you watch TV?”

“I’m mostly reading.
I don’t watch much TV… I watch the news and movies I like, but that’s about it.”

“Dramas?”

 

“I’m not interested.
I don’t mean to say it’s not interesting… Um, I don’t like waiting a week for each episode you see.
I want to know the rest of the story right away.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Also…”

Saying that, she stares off into the distance for a bit.

“I didn’t have any friends to talk to about the drama with.”

“What’s with all the self-deprecation stories lately!?”

“I’m kidding.
Well,  I will never miss all the buzz if I didn’t watch the drama, would I?　Because I never was in the buzz to begin with!” 

“Come on!”

“Oh, but then again, in a way, you become the center of the conversation! In a bad way, of course.”

“You….”

Kiryu giggles at the sound of my reply.
She’s developing a good character, really.

“But that’s also why I’m grateful to you, Higashi Kujo-kun.
We can talk every day like this.”

“Well, we live together.”

“I used to think talking to people like this was a waste of time…”

“It isn’t a waste of time…”

“It’s no use.
All they do is direct their malice at me.
Wouldn’t it be more beneficial for us to stay out of each other’s way?”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.
Maybe that’s part of what drew me to reading.”

“Because books don’t swear?”

“Because books represent a beautiful world.
That’s why I’m a big fan of happy endings!　A story has to have a happy ending!”

“Come to think of it, what kind of books do you read Kiryu?”

I understand happy endings, but there are many genres of them.
There are mysteries, historical fiction, and so on.

“I’m a sucker for happy endings.
So it’s a given that I’m a fan of romance novels.
Well, I can read anything… but I still like romance novels the best, and I prefer the sweet ones!”

“Seriously…?”

That was the most un-Kiryu-like reply I’ve heard of.

“What?  I’m a seventeen-year-old girl too, you know? I have a yearning for love.
Every time I read those books, I think, ‘Oh, how I wish I could have such a wonderful love life!’”

“ ‘Love is a disease! It’s a waste of time!’ is what I expected you to say.”

“I wouldn’t say that.
I am a realist.
If you meet someone you like, you will fall in love with them, and it would be strange if you didn’t.”

As if everything she said was normal, she took a bite of the grilled fish.
Seeing Kiryu’s face break into a smile to the taste of the fish, I remember.

“Speaking of which, in our first meeting I remember you saying something like, “I would like Prince Charming on a white horse.” right?”

“I’m sorry about what I said back then.”

“I’m not blaming you, but… I kinda feel bad about that, when I think about it.”

“Feel bad? Why?”

“Because you wanted to have a “great love life,” didn’t you? If you get married like this, you can’t have a love… but can you? You said it was okay to have an affair but…”

“I did say that but… but there’s no way I will do such a thing.
That’s so dishonest”

“Well, I’m not going to either…”

“I told you, I’m a realist.  Although I overreacted to the word ‘fiancee’, I’m still the heiress of the Kiryu family.
It’s not like I can get a strange son-in-law.
So at the very least, I’m sure I would have at least had an arranged marriage, if I did not have a fiancee.
Free love is totally out of the question.”

“I see.”

Honestly, if some guy came into Kiryu’s house and said “Yo! I’ll have the pleasure of taking this lady~” Gounosuke san wouldn’t hesitate to take him across the path to the Aokigahara forest.

“But then again isn’t this , at best, a post-college thing?”

“I guess.
At least, I don’t think I would have a marriage interview in high school.”

“When I think about it, I still feel sorry for you, you know.
You could have at least fallen in love in high school properly.”

I don’t know if the girl who longs to be in love knows anything about love, let alone marriage, but from what I’ve heard, she probably had no interest in men, and at such a young age, she’s a bride-to-be…

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

I noticed that Kiryu was puffing up her cheeks and staring at me in dissatisfaction.
I don’t really know what to make of it, but it’s kind of cute…

“Do you really dislike having me as a fiancee that much?”

“Wa?”

Why? Is this because I felt sorry for you?

“Because… haven’t you been implicitly telling me to ‘fall in love’ with someone else for a while now?”

“That’s not what I meant..”.

But when you look at it… well, if you ask me it sure doesn’t sound like that.

“Really? It sounds like you want me to have a ‘great love life’ with others.”

“It’s not that I want you to… it’s more like I feel sorry because you’re unable to.”

“Fuu~n? Are you really okay with me having an affair with someone else? I can leave you alone and make out with someone else and have a ‘nice romance’ with them?”

“…”

Kiryu? Leaving me and having “nice romance” with someone else?

“Hmmm…”

“I-It’s just a joke! I’m just kidding, so please stop making that scary face, okay?”

“Eh? I had a scary face?”

Well… to be honest, there’s no doubt I was feeling a bit ‘annoyed’.
I’m not sure if it’s a romantic feeling or not… How do I say this? It’s like the feeling of having a good friend taken away from you.

“Don’t worry, okay? I have no intention of falling in love with anyone else.
I’m crazy about you.”

“Your life is full of lies, that’s for sure.”

“I’m not lying.
I’m your fiancee and you’re my fiancee, right? Even if that’s not the case, you’re the boy I’ve talked to the longest.
Well… maybe crazy is an overstatement, but the longest is still the longest, right?”

“I am honored.”

“Mo~~.”

Smiling, Kiryu puts down her chopsticks.

“When you looked so angry earlier… I was scared, but was also kinda happy…”

“Is that so?”

“If you were like  “I don’t really care.” it would feel a bit hard for me I think.”

“I don’t think you don’t matter to me…”

I sure I won’t be able to think of her as ”someone I don’t care about” anymore.

“Thank you.
That means a lot.”

“Happy to please.”

“As I said before, you’re the one I’ve spent the most time with… and will continue to be that way.
You are the boy who knows me the best… but I’m sure I’m not the girl who knows you best.”

“Well, I guess.”

Ryoko, Tomomi and Mizuho know me better than you do. 

“But that’s kind of frustrating, isn’t it?　So–

–Can you tell me more about you?”

“You hate losing, don’t you..”

“That’s right.
I’m surprised at myself.
I’m pretty competitive, aren’t I?”

“A villainess who hates to lose.
Destroying all kinds of people with no hesitation.”

“I guess you could say that.
So here’s a question from the person who despises losing.
Who is your favorite actress?”

“You wouldn’t know because you dont watch TV.”

While having such trivial conversations, Friday night passed by.