I Was Possessed By An Unknown Manga

Chapter 180: Actual Love

Afterward, Ryuji went after the fleeing Yamaguchi.

Consequently, the disheartened trio of high school girls decided to leave, turning around abruptly.

“Wait a minute! What about all this food you’re leaving behind?”

Satoru, holding food in both hands, desperately tried to stop them, but as Ryuji left, Kobayashi, annoyed, waved her hand dismissively.

“You’ll have to take care of that yourself, Onii-chan. Let’s go, girls.”

“Bye-bye♪ It was fun~ Satoshi Onii-chan~”

“…Goodbye.”

The trio of high school girls left, leaving Satoru behind with a look of despair.

“I’m not named after Pallet Town or anything…”¹

Satoru became even more despondent upon realizing that his partner hadn’t even remembered his name correctly.

I, standing next to him, put my arm around the shoulders of Satoru, whose spirits were completely crushed.

“…Hey, cheer up.”

Someday, your match will appear.

At my awkward attempt at consolation, Satoru weakly nodded.

“…Thanks.”

Ah, the cruelty of youth!

Forge ahead! Momochi Satoru!

Until the day you find a girlfriend!

As if hearing a deep voice from a love comedy, Satoru and I shared a moment of male bonding.

“So, what exactly happened?”

One of the two who remained, the Class President, asked about the whole story.

“Well, you see…”

I was about to answer her question immediately but closed my mouth upon realizing there were still many onlookers around.

Partly because many of our schoolmates were mixed in among them.

“Can we move somewhere else to talk? There are too many eyes here.”

Then the Class President pushed up her glasses with her index finger and said, “Let’s do that. I know a good place.”

“Good. Satoru, let’s go.”

“…Where to?”

“Where else but somewhere with no people.”

I said that and forcibly helped Satoru up from the ground where he was slumped, and he reluctantly stood up.

So, we headed to a lookout tower rest area in a secluded corner of the film village, away from prying eyes.

---

“But, Hattori, why are you here?”

“Eh~ Are you asking that now? I feel left out.”

Hattori said so, munching on some french fries Satoru had bought, showing no signs of feeling left out.

A high school girl and french fries, quite a fitting combination.

“I said it’s fine for me to be here. After all, there’s nothing left to hide at this point.”

“True.”

By now, the chances were high that Ryuji and Yamaguchi’s love quarrel had become the talk of the town.

After all, our schoolmates were particularly crazy about gossip.

“So, can you now explain what exactly happened?”

I nodded to the Class President’s question and explained everything that had happened throughout the day without missing a single detail.

Including our big hunting plan to find a girlfriend for Satoru, who seemed particularly lonely this autumn.

After hearing everything, the Class President let out a deep sigh.

“Haah. It was really a silly reason to start a fight.”

“Hey, if you say that, even I feel hurt.”

Satoru, who was quietly listening due to his guilt, protested timidly, causing the Class President to glare at him sharply.

“Are you not going to be quiet?”

“Yes.”

As Satoru, who was essentially the cause of the fight between Ryuji and Yamaguchi, kept quiet, the Class President touched her forehead as if in pain and said,

“Honestly, there’s nothing we can do right now. This whole situation stemmed from their ambiguous relationship, so they should definitely sort it out this time. Whether they will date or not.”

Hearing this, Hattori asked with a surprised look,

“Eh, weren’t those two already dating?”

I asked incredulously,

“What did you hear earlier? They are just normal childhood friends.”

“Hehe… I was busy with the messenger at that time.”

Hattori said this with an embarrassed look and then clapped her hands as if remembering something.

“But before that, shouldn’t we eat the food before it gets cold? We haven’t had lunch yet.”

It was a bit abrupt, but her words reminded me of the hunger I had forgotten.

Gurgle!

Hearing the thunderous sound from my stomach, the Class President sighed softly and said,

“Yeah, let’s eat first. Unlike the person who bought this, the food is innocent.”

As the saying goes, ‘dumplings over flowers’—solving problems comes after filling the stomach.

Hearing the girls’ opinions, Satoru resignedly said,

“Go ahead, eat. If left, it’ll all be thrown away anyway.”

With the owner’s permission, we devoured every bit of the food Satoru had bought, right where we sat.

---

For me, Yamaguchi Maiya was a childhood friend, like family.

Someone who, without words, was always there.

It felt so natural since childhood that I never questioned it until middle school.

But it wasn’t so.

As I grew older and wiser, I naturally realized that to Maiya, ‘Sakamoto Ryuji’ was not just a childhood friend but someone she liked as a person of the opposite sex.

Even knowing this, I continued to pretend I didn’t know Maiya’s feelings.

I had Chiaki, whom I had promised to marry since childhood.

I was grateful for Maiya’s feelings, but I couldn’t accept her confession, so I never spoke of it.

I thought she would eventually give up on her own.

“Stupid Ryuji! How are you planning to apologize to Maiya now?!”

“Quiet. I’m thinking about it right now.”

Despite Chiaki’s scolding next to me as if it were her own business, I briskly retorted and continued to run.

In just that brief moment, I had run so far that I couldn’t even see a hint of her.

Huff, huff, huff, huff.

My breath quickly filled to the brim, and I stopped on the street, leaning on my knees to catch my harsh breath.

In just that moment, looking around, the streets were bustling with people, fitting for a famous tourist spot.

Finding Maiya in this crowd was like finding a needle in a desert.

“So, are you going to give up?”

This was the question from Mahes, who had been quietly observing with his arms crossed.

“No.”

But I shook my head firmly in response.

“Then get up, Ryuji. Surely my contractor isn’t tired from just that much running?”

“…Mahes, sometimes you’re too strict, you know.”

But still…

“This time, I can’t say I dislike it.”

As I said this, scratching my cheek, Mahes turned his head, saying, “Hmph, that’s more like my contractor.”

Tsundere-like guy.

“Well… I’ve rested enough.”

Thanks to the encouragement of the two honest-hearted people, I could gather my weakening spirit and stand up again.

And if it wasn’t just my feeling, my body felt significantly lighter than before.

“Could it be?”

I started to jog lightly.

It wasn’t an illusion; my physical abilities had definitely improved.

“Mahes, is this your doing?”

“…Seeing you like that was frustrating; I just helped a bit.”

Normally, he would take over my body, saying he was frustrated, but this was the first time he had only lent me strength, which honestly surprised me.

“Thank you.”

Not wanting to ramble, I ended with just one word of thanks and immediately used my enhanced abilities to climb up to the rooftop.

“Mom! Look at that guy! He’s like a ninja!”

“Wow!”

The people walking around naturally turned their attention to me.

But that’s none of my concern.

Quickly reaching the top of the tallest building around, I surveyed the entire film village with my enhanced vision.

From this position, I was sure I could find her.

Especially if it was Maiya.

And then…

“Found her!”

Spotting Yamaguchi running towards the Nihonbashi bridge near the lodging village, I started leaping from rooftop to rooftop.

Thud! Thud!

The scenery whizzed by rapidly.

Almost acrobatic in level, my drastically improved physical abilities, thanks to Mahes, made light work of this.

In fact, I was even amazed at myself for doing it.

“Ryuji! Apologize to Maiya first when you meet her! Otherwise, I’m cutting ties with you forever!”

“Even without you saying that, I’m going to apologize, so stop scaring me!”

To an outsider, I might have looked insane shouting at thin air, but I had no time to worry about that.

Then, I leaped from the rooftop onto the red-painted bridge.

“Maiya! Please listen to me!”

I shouted loudly.

Maiya, who was running ahead, turned around in the middle of the bridge.

Her face was wet with tears.

Following Maiya, Sasha arrived at the entrance of Nihonbashi and murmured in surprise.

“How?”

“Huff, huff. I can’t run anymore…”

Exhausted from the run, I left behind Kishimoto and Sasha and slowly approached Maiya, who was standing in the middle of the bridge.

“Don’t come any closer!”

But Maiya, still not appeased, retreated, shouting at me.

However, I ignored her words and continued to stride towards her.

And then…

In no time, I was almost face-to-face with Maiya.

Seeing her tear-stained face, I realized.

I had ignored my feelings for her, thinking I didn’t deserve to feel that way.

People passing by the bridge looked at us curiously, but none of that mattered now.

I bowed deeply to Maiya, expressing my sincere feelings.

“I like you. Will you go out with me?”