The moment Takashi saw how emotional Umaru was, he knew he'd made the right choice by coming.
From the moment she stopped replying to his messages this morning, he had sensed something was wrong.
A girl who always replied in seconds—even when chatting with close friends—would never ignore his messages without a reason.
Some guys (not naming names) might try to comfort themselves with things like "maybe she's busy" or "maybe she fell asleep."
To those guys, Takashi could only say: "Don't be stupid, bro."
If she really wanted to talk to you, she'd send at least one reply, no matter how tired she was.
If she couldn't, she'd at least let you know she was going to sleep.
Ghosting you out of nowhere? That's not busyness. That's prioritization.
Whether she replies instantly, leaves you on read, or ignores you entirely—it all depends on who you are to her.
That's why Takashi had rushed out on his bike halfway through class.
And it turns out—he was absolutely right.
Takashi opened his hands. "What girlfriend?"
"You think you don't have one?"
Furious, Umaru pulled out her phone and showed him the photo of him hugging Yasuraoka Hanabi.
"Who's this, then?"
Takashi glanced at it and replied calmly, "Yasuraoka Hanabi. So what?"
"If you're not dating, why were you hugging?!"
Her voice now carried the sharp tone of a wife questioning her cheating husband about the mistress.
Takashi rubbed his clean-shaven chin and studied Umaru up and down without answering.
As a seasoned playboy, he knew not to play by her rules.
If you answer every question, you're letting the girl take control—and you'll end up getting toyed with forever.
"What are you staring at?!"
Umaru was in a terrible mood, and her voice was sharp and forceful.
But her voice was naturally soft and sweet—like a cute little tigress pretending to be fierce.
To Takashi, it sounded more like she was pouting.
God, she's too cute.
Even with a mask covering half his face, Umaru could still spot the crescent shape of his eyes when he smiled.
And the moment she saw it, she knew he was smiling.
How dare you laugh?!
Seeing Takashi still smiling, Umaru's bottled-up emotions crashed like waves.
Her tears began to fall uncontrollably.
She used to live happily in her own little world, always smiling.
Then he showed up—and now she couldn't stop crying.
And he always loved making her cry.
Trying not to let him see her cry, she turned her head to look at a tree, wiping her tears with her little hand.
"What are you laughing at?"
Her voice was thick with snot, full of frustration and grievance.
But Takashi was thinking, how can someone look so beautiful even when crying?
Why was Takashi such a playboy?
Well, when other guys saw a girl cry, they'd hand over their bank passwords and house deeds just to comfort her.
Takashi, on the other hand?
He wasn't even trying to comfort her—he was still admiring how pretty she looked while crying and even wanted to watch her cry longer.
Of course, watching was one thing—but it was also time to say something nice.
Takashi gently pulled Umaru into his arms and teased her softly: "I'm not smiling, but you're definitely crying."
"You are smiling!!!"
His arms were warm and firm, wrapping her like he wanted to melt her into himself.
Their heartbeats matched, their breathing intertwined—and in his tight embrace, all the emotional defenses Umaru had built since morning finally crumbled.
Girls are weak to hugs.
Even someone as tough as Hitomi always wanted to be held tightly after they were done.
"And I'm not crying either!"
Umaru buried her face into Takashi's chest, but her hands still pushed hard against him—like she wanted him to let go.
But Takashi knew this was not the time to let go.
Instead of releasing her, he held her even tighter.
"I'm not in that kind of relationship with Yasuraoka Hanabi."
Takashi didn't bother to argue about such a pointless thing. Instead, he brought the topic back on track and started explaining.
Umaru, however, didn't calm down at all—in fact, she struggled even more.
Because she remembered that this warm embrace she was in had been enjoyed by another girl just yesterday.
Takashi ignored her resistance.
No matter how she fought back, she couldn't break free. He continued, "Including yesterday, I've only met that girl twice in total."
He stated the number of encounters first to make it clear he hadn't been dating Yasuraoka Hanabi for long like the media suggested.
And to set up the explanation that followed.
"The first time was at the Tokyo Pet Expo. A friend of mine took a liking to her and asked me to get her contact info."
In fact, Takashi had already contacted that one senior guy—what's his name again—to erase the CCTV footage from that time.
(Nakamikado Haruhito: You wanna die?!)
Just in case someone had backed up the footage, Takashi still didn't admit that Yasuraoka Hanabi was the one who approached him first.
"There's nothing between us. Look."
Takashi said as he pulled out his phone and openly showed the chat to Umaru.
"See? She asked to meet up, and I didn't even reply."
Okay, he forgot to reply—but that still counted, didn't it?
Umaru stopped struggling and quickly peeked at the messages from his arms.
Just like he said—no reply.
Everyone knows chat logs can't be faked. Once you see that kind of proof, you kind of have to believe it.
"The second time was yesterday. She said she's been a fan since Koshien, and since I wasn't replying to her, she waited at the school gate for hours after dismissal—like past 6 p.m. Tell me that's not a textbook obsessive fan."
Without hesitation, Takashi labeled her a stalker fan.
And honestly? Everything he said did sound just like one.
With that image planted in Umaru's mind, Yasuraoka Hanabi had basically become a sasaeng fan in her eyes.
"She wouldn't stop clinging to me yesterday, even tried crawling into my arms. I couldn't shake her off."
"Some tabloid must've snapped that shot of us struggling, which is what led to the photo you saw."
Takashi's explanation was solid. Umaru couldn't find any flaws—at least not for now.
Even if she did, Takashi would be ready to patch things up on the fly.
"I'm even starting to suspect the tabloid was hired by Yasuraoka Hanabi herself. She probably used this to boost her own fame."
"Think about it—what are the chances?"
"A paparazzi just happens to show up while we're struggling, just happens to get the shot, and the next day it's trending everywhere."
"There has to be someone pulling strings behind this. I don't buy it for a second."
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