Tezuka pushed the blame for his insecurities on Chigi. He thought he might’ve had a chance to be with Fukumori and also to be the starter in the track and field club if it wasn’t for Chigira.
Fukumori explained that she never intended to use Tezuka before but she admit that it won’t change the fact that her actions did look like she used him.
Tezuka tried to stop her from pursuing Chigira further since she was already rejected back in junior high but Fukumori didn’t want to give up on Chigi. She said she can’t get over him. She shared how she kept tabs on Chigi even after graduating and kept looking for her chance to date him so she felt lucky when she met Maaya who might be able to help her see Chigira.
Tezuka asked if Fukumori plans on using Maaya but she explained how she just doesn’t know how to reach Chigi so she needs to grab any opportunity she can have. He couldn’t talk back about using people since he felt like a hypocrite considering he also kind of used Chigira to get closer to Fukumori before.
Fukumori still insisted that Tezuka helps her like how he did before but Maaya interrupted the two.
The two were talking in front of the cram school which is how Maaya overheard their conversation. She said she understands how Fukumori feels but she proudly told her that she’ll never hand Chigira over because she was his girlfriend.
Fukumori felt humiliated considering she was pretty open about her feelings without even knowing that Maaya was Chigi’s girlfriend. Maaya apologized that she just have a hard time telling people that she was his girlfriend but Fukumori told her that she should be confident about it since Chigira chose her. She told her to keep her chin up since it’d be rude to all the girls who were rejected if she doesn’t.
Tezuka ran after Fukumori and told her that she was free to love whoever she wants, but she shouldn’t get Maaya involved because Maaya was an important friend to him.
She asked Tezuka to forgive her for what happened before in exchange for her doing what he asked her to. He said there was no point in forgiving her since he wasn’t upset in the first place but Fukumori saw through his lie since Tezuka was an open book for her.
She asked if Maaya and Chigi’s relationship are doing good and Tezuka said it was so good the two will get married for sure. She also asked if Tezuka likes Maaya and he tried to deny it but Fukumori just commented about how both their love is unfulfilled.
Thankfully, she accepted how things turned out and thanked Tezuka for making her realize things. She told him that her actions before might’ve made him feel used but she wanted him to know that she really had fun with him. She bid her goodbye after that.
Maaya congratulated Tezuka for successfully dealing with Chigira’s ex. Confused by what Maaya said, he clarified that Fukumori and Chigi never dated. Maaya said she assumed they were since Tezuka said Chigi stole Fukumori from him and she only heard the 2nd half of the conversation earlier.
Tezuka explained the whole story which made Maaya finally relieved. Tezuka also apologized for using the wrong choice of words that cause her to misunderstand everything but Maaya said it was okay since the whole “Fukumori Incident” helped her recognize her own weaknesses and even experienced jealousy for the first time.
Tezuka praised Maaya for becoming stronger unlike him who still seems to be stuck in time. His expression reminded Maaya of how Chigira looked when they were talking about Tezuka so she asked him if there was still any chance of the two making up. Tezuka said it’d be impossible since his sick of being next to Chigi and he doesn’t wanna get hurt anymore whenever Chigi takes everything important away from him. He admitted that he was a bad person for thinking that way and then left.
Chigira came home from his part-time (only temporary for Maaya’s birthday) when he saw art supplies around his room (obv from his sister) and his yearbook sticking out of the shelf.
He checked it out of curiosity and saw stickers on Tezuka’s pic. He also saw a pic of them together in the track and field club which made him sad.
The next day, he handed Tezuka a paper bag in return for the favor he was asking (stories from junior high to tell to Maaya). Tezuka checked the paper bag and it was his track and field shoes that he bought together with Chigi before. He left that shoes when he left their club so he was shocked that Chigi kept them the whole time.
Fast forward to Maaya’s birthday, they headed to a hotel where Maaya thought they were gonna spend time at the hotel’s cafe for sweets and afternoon tea but it turns out Chigira literally booked a room to celebrate her birthday.
Oh no thats so good. Thank you for the chapter
Will be waiting for the next one🤍🤍🤍🤍