19. Confrontation. (Please keep reading!)

For Tsukiyomi Jinguuji, spending a quiet weekend reading novels, with the added bonus of a paycheck, was truly a perfect delight. Even if Hoshino Mori Hoshino interrupted his peace, she likely wouldn’t stay long; just a little patience was needed, and once her interest waned, she would naturally depart.

But what if, in this situation, Sakurakouji Sazakura were to join in as well?

Hoshino Mori Hoshino didn’t know Sakurakouji Sazakura, so there was nothing to worry about on that front. The issue lay with Sazakura herself; just yesterday, the two of them had a minor spat on their way home because of Hoshino Mori Hoshino, and today, they met face to face.

The first thing to clarify was that neither Hoshino Mori Hoshino nor Sakurakouji Sazakura was Tsukiyomi Jinguuji’s girlfriend. Thus, he had no reason to feel trapped in a messy love triangle, no reason to feel guilty or anxious.

The boy could stand tall, calm and forthright.

—Or so it ought to be.

At least, this was the admonition Jinguuji gave himself deep inside. Yet, as he saw the smile on Sazakura’s face—one so unlike her usual self—his heart grew uneasy.

Hoshino Mori Hoshino, deep in the bookstore’s shelves, hadn’t caught Sazakura’s voice and so remained unaware of what was happening within the shop. She simply assumed the girl who had entered was an ordinary customer.

Jinguuji cast Sazakura a meaningful glance, preparing to walk toward Hoshino Mori Hoshino in the corner.

“Oh, Jinguuji, please attend to your customer first. I don’t mind waiting, I can be patient,” Hoshino Mori Hoshino said, her tone neither lowered nor raised, simply reflecting her gentle and amiable nature.

Such a normal sentence, yet in Sazakura’s ears, the meaning twisted dramatically.

This was a declaration of war!

This busty girl wanted a showdown!

Sazakura’s gaze sharpened immediately, but her target was not Hoshino Mori Hoshino—it was Jinguuji. In her amber eyes, it was as if blades were ready to slice the unsuspecting boy.

Jinguuji stood silently for a moment.

“Welcome,” he finally said.

But Sazakura ignored him entirely, smiling as she said, “Oh? You seem busy. Go attend to your customer first, then come talk to me. It wouldn’t do to disrupt your work.”

Jinguuji: “...”

With those words, Sazakura stood motionless, radiating an invisible aura of danger.

Hoshino Mori Hoshino was a clever girl; even while lingering in the corner, she sensed the shifting atmosphere and stepped forward to ask, “Jinguuji, do you know this girl?”

Sazakura said nothing, her gaze flicking toward Jinguuji, clearly curious about how he would reply.

Jinguuji hesitated for quite a while, unable to bear the thick, stinging tension any longer, and began to introduce them.

“This is Sakurakouji Sazakura, my classmate.”

Sazakura folded her arms and turned her head, her side ponytail swaying slightly.

“And this is the student council president of our school, Hoshino Mori Hoshino, upperclassman.”

Hoshino Mori Hoshino offered a friendly smile, taking in every nuance of Sazakura’s expression.

“That’s all,” Jinguuji said, stepping back.

If he ran out now, his wages for the day would surely be forfeited.

“Hello, Sakurakouji. Is this our first time meeting?”

Of course, it was Hoshino Mori Hoshino who greeted her first; as an upperclassman and the student council president, she was certainly more mature than Sazakura.

Facing her childhood friend’s ex-girlfriend, Sazakura couldn’t force herself to smile brightly, but before the older schoolmate, she managed to show proper courtesy.

“Hello, President Hoshino. You might not know me, but I know you.”

“That’s because I’m student council president, right? I appear in public more than most students. It’s a little embarrassing.”

“Did you come here specifically to see Tsukiyomi—Jinguuji?”

“Huh? Why do you say that?”

“Because isn’t it true that you and Jinguuji are dating? Everyone at school says so.”

Sazakura deliberately glanced at Jinguuji. Though she felt a bit dissatisfied, she knew she couldn’t just demand, “Why come see your ex-boyfriend after breaking up?” So she chose to just jab at her.

She often argued and bickered with Jinguuji, but she would never do anything that truly troubled him. Yet she wasn’t the type to stay silent either.

Unfortunately, Hoshino Mori Hoshino had no memory of ever dating Jinguuji, so Sazakura’s offensive was wasted, as if she were wrestling with empty air.

“Not at all. Jinguuji and I aren’t like that, and my visit today is purely coincidental. I didn’t know beforehand that he worked here.”

Hoshino Mori Hoshino wasn’t the sort of girl who refused to tell lies; at any rate, the suspicion of plagiarism could be set aside.

Jinguuji stood quietly by, his gaze flicking back and forth between Hoshino Mori Hoshino and Sazakura, afraid to speak.

Yet Sazakura was deeply dissatisfied with that answer.

The others at school didn’t know that Hoshino Mori Hoshino and Jinguuji had ever dated; rumors were all there was, never confirmed. But to Sazakura, Jinguuji had admitted it himself, and during summer break, she’d seen them kiss amid the crowd.

Recalling this, Sazakura’s feelings grew more complicated, blaming Jinguuji and struggling to understand Hoshino Mori Hoshino’s intentions.

This woman, clearly the ex-girlfriend, still clung to Tsukiyomi. How vexing.

“Actually, it seems Sakurakouji came looking for Jinguuji. I’m just a customer here to buy books, you needn’t mind me.”

“I’m here to buy books too, I don’t know him well.”

“Oh?”

As if to prove herself, Sazakura feigned a careful look and grabbed a book at random from the nearest shelf.

“Yes, I came just to buy this book. Mm-hmm! My friends all recommended it, they say it’s super moving.”

Both Jinguuji and Hoshino Mori Hoshino glanced at the book’s title and froze, exchanging a look subconsciously.

Hoshino Mori Hoshino could hardly hide her smile, seeming to see right through Sazakura, then fixed her gaze on the boy with a meaningful tone: “Jinguuji, see? It seems that high school girls these days are fond of reading.”

The boy looked at his childhood friend with a complicated expression. Who didn’t know she only read romance manga? She couldn’t possibly get through a book filled with nothing but words.

“I feel as though I could become friends with Sakurakouji.”

Sazakura blinked in confusion, glanced at the book in her hands—‘Forbidden Colors’—and tilted her head.

“What do you mean?”