Chapter 433: It’s Pervert-kun’s Fault

The bus swayed again as it turned the next corner.

There were no more free hand straps left to grab onto.

Himekoji saw Yukinoshita sway a little unsteadily, so he thought about giving her the hand strap he was currently holding.

Then, just as he started to move, he suddenly felt a strong tug on the corner of his shirt.

Looking down instinctively, he saw a clean, pale, small hand clutching tightly to the hem of his shirt.

It was Yukinoshita. When Himekoji looked over, its owner seemed a bit embarrassed and turned her face away.

But her grip didn’t loosen; it remained tight.

Was she using his shirt hem as a hand strap?

Wouldn’t this seem overly intimate?

These kinds of thoughts flashed through his mind, making him feel a strange, awkward, fuzzy feeling.

Without realizing, his tone sounded stiff when he spoke.

“H-here…”

He let go, offering up the hand strap he’d been holding.

“It’s unnecessary, this is fine.”

Yukinoshita’s reply was something Himekoji hadn’t expected.

“I wouldn’t want to have to hold you up later if you end up unsteady.”

Fortunately, she added this explanation right after.

This reason was quite solid.

Himekoji thought about it and realized she was right. He couldn’t give the hand strap to Yukinoshita only to end up falling onto her when the bus swayed…

So he nodded, silently agreeing to this arrangement.

Himekoji held the hand strap; Yukinoshita held onto him.

Outside, the rain pattered down.

The hum of the bus speeding along the road, the honk of cars speeding past, the drumming of rain on the windows, and the noisy chatter of passengers all filled the entire cabin. Yet, despite all these different sounds, every time the bus swayed, Himekoji could still clearly hear the soft sound of breathing coming from beside him.

That breathing was very quiet and dignified, yet somehow, it somehow seemed incredibly loud to Himekoji, drowning out all the surrounding noise.

That was why he couldn’t help but notice it.

Since squeezing onto the bus, the distance between him and Yukinoshita had been this close, this tight.

This excessive closeness had definitely crossed the safe boundary between normal classmates. Of course, there was no helping it; the bus was just that crowded right now.

…

“Probably tomorrow, unpleasant rumors will start spreading at school?”

Finally, Himekoji couldn’t hold back his worry and brought it up.

“Hm.”

Yukinoshita, however, seemed rather indifferent, only nodding faintly.

“Don’t just go ‘hm’… Let’s come up with a proper solution, alright…?”

Himekoji forced a wry smile and continued,

“Honestly, you didn’t have to step in and help me… Really, I’ve gotten you caught up in this for nothing.”

Only when Himekoji said this did a ripple show on Yukinoshita’s usual cool expression. The girl frowned slightly, seeming displeased.

“So, are you blaming me?”

Her tone was cold and sharp.

Himekoji hurriedly denied it.

“No way! That’s not what I meant! It’s just… you really could have completely gotten off the hook…”

“That is Pervert-kun’s own fault.”

Yukinoshita suddenly stated it firmly at that moment.

“Huh?”

Her tone allowed no argument, making Himekoji pause.

Only after that did he hear her explanation.

“If you had chosen to stand by earlier, then of course, I could have done the same. But…”

The hand holding his shirt hem tightened its grip.

The bus swayed and rocked. In Himekoji’s vision, the voices and scenery around him suddenly seemed to blur and fade, becoming indistinct, distant, unimportant.

Only Yukinoshita at the center of his sight became clearer and clearer.

The next moment, Yukinoshita lifted her head. Himekoji’s gaze collided with hers unexpectedly.

“If you don’t want others to help you, then don’t go helping others on your own initiative.”

Himekoji heard an unexpected remark from Yukinoshita.

His body jolted.

He started to wonder—

Had he helped anyone?

Had he ever actually helped anyone?

Wasn’t his life so far just one long story of causing trouble for people?

He knew Yukinoshita must be referring to what happened during the school trip.

But, that kidnapping incident… it was, in the end, his fault to begin with…

He was only making amends. He was only fixing things. He was only frantically cleaning up the mess left behind by that terrible System.

So yeah… he had never truly helped anyone…

Not causing trouble for others, not creating problems for everyone – that alone was the thing he most wanted to do, had been trying to do, and still hadn’t managed to do.

Himekoji’s life, even today, was still a tangled mess.

…