Chapter 21: Don’t Mock My Hobby

"Ha? Kitahara-kun really likes me? Then just now...?"

Hayami Rina raised her head in surprise upon hearing this, then became full of confusion and bewilderment.

She didn’t know what Kitahara Chiki actually meant.

If he liked her, then just accept! She had already delivered herself to his door so proactively—she wouldn’t refuse at all, whatever he wanted.

How could she still get a scolding?

She clearly hadn’t guessed wrong, yet it was as if she had committed some terrible sin, sinking into such an embarrassing situation.

Could it be that a writer’s way of thinking and psychology was different from ordinary people?

Hayami Rina’s head was spinning. She waited for Kitahara’s explanation.

On Kitahara Chiki’s side, having finally organized his words, he slowly spoke:

"Rina-nee, to be honest, I do have improper thoughts about you. In countless late nights, more than once I’ve fantasized about having a relationship beyond friendship with you. Using that to comfort my lonely, homeless heart."

"Ah? Kitahara-kun, you..." Hayami Rina covered her mouth in surprise.

Kitahara stopped her from continuing.

"Precisely because of this, Rina-nee, in my heart you are sacred, not to be profaned—like pure white moonlight. Today you shouldn’t have—at least you shouldn’t have used ’repayment’ as a way to make this feeling impure.

I helped you and Aya simply because I saw your lives were not easy and purely wanted to help. You can repay me through housework or other means, but the one thing you absolutely cannot do is involve feelings.

What I hope for is that our feelings slowly accumulate through ordinary life, and when the time is ripe, the relationship naturally happens.

This is the love I look forward to—not mixed with any transactional relationship, not influenced by any other factors.

Not like today!

Today’s behavior was dirty, something I despise!

Rina-nee, do you understand what I mean?"

"Phew"! It really hadn’t been easy for Kitahara to come up with such a reasonable explanation in such a short time.

After saying all this, Kitahara finally breathed a sigh of relief. At least for now he could smooth this matter over, and their relationship could remain unchanged.

Moreover, this explanation had another advantage—it left more room for future maneuvering.

Because with this set of words, he was now a pure-love advocate, able to use "feelings haven’t reached that point" to reject Hayami Rina’s advances at any time.

If "favorability" hadn’t reached 90 points, then "the time would never be ripe."

This way, Hayami Rina could only wait, because she had to respect Kitahara’s sincere feelings.

"I’m such a fucking little genius!"

Kitahara praised himself inwardly.

...

At this moment, after hearing Kitahara’s sincere explanation, Hayami Rina felt guilty in her heart. She finally understood how pure and innocent Kitahara-kun was.

He actually still believed in love?

Kitahara-kun was still like a student living in an ivory tower, holding beautiful aspirations for love.

And she was the object of his yearning.

Toward this barely-qualifying "confession," Hayami Rina didn’t feel particularly happy. On the contrary, she felt she wasn’t worthy—she didn’t deserve the feelings Kitahara-kun had given.

He was too pure, while she was so worldly.

"Kitahara-kun... maybe you should like someone else. I... I’m not worthy of you."

Hayami Rina retreated.

Facing an outstanding young man like Kitahara Chiki, a perfect marriage partner, she retreated. Compared to Kitahara’s purity, she felt she was filthy, intolerable.

But Kitahara didn’t think so. Hearing these words, Kitahara felt he had overacted, making this widow feel inferior.

"Rina-nee, don’t belittle yourself so much. You don’t know how beautiful you are. My whole heart is filled with you. Besides you, I (for now) won’t like anyone else."

"Really? Am I that good? Kitahara-kun, I’m a widow, you know!"

Hayami Rina still wasn’t confident.

Especially when she mentioned her status as a widow at the end.

Such a status was equivalent to a widow in this country—she was a widow with a child.

It wasn’t strange for her to be like this. Imagine—a widow like this, suddenly confessed to by a tall, rich, handsome man earning tens of millions a year.

And this tall, rich, handsome man was also a talented writer who graduated from a prestigious school.

Who would believe it? Who wouldn’t be dazed?

Comparatively speaking, being played by this tall, rich, handsome man and earning some money from him was more realistic.

This was exactly what Hayami Rina was thinking now.

A huge pie had fallen from the sky onto her head, and she didn’t believe it was real.

"Rina-nee, to be honest, I actually really favor your status. Don’t mock me for it." Kitahara smiled shyly.

"Ah? Kitahara-kun’s hobby is really that special? Sorry, I didn’t mean to mock. Kitahara-kun being able to speak so honestly—I admire that. I... I respect your hobby."

At this point, Hayami Rina’s mood was no longer so gloomy.

Moreover, she vaguely felt a hint of secret joy. She wanted to thank fate for arranging her and Kitahara to meet—she was simply too lucky.

"Yes, that’s right. I didn’t know I had this hobby before either. We’ve been neighbors for several years. At first, I didn’t have such thoughts about Rina-nee. It was after Mr. Watanabe passed away that, without realizing it, Rina-nee’s figure often lingered in my mind.

At first I resisted it, feeling it was disrespectful to you, Rina-nee. But when this love became too overwhelming, I couldn’t control it anymore.

Rina-nee, I really like you. I’ve never properly dated a girl. Please let my feelings remain pure, okay?

When the truly right time comes, I won’t resist—I’ll share the river of love with you."

Kitahara Chiki spouted nonsense with a straight face.

But at this moment, Hayami Rina bought it completely, because Kitahara’s explanation was self-consistent and had no holes to poke. She felt the facts were exactly as he said.

At this moment, she was surrounded by immense happiness.

Stepping forward, she gently crouched before Kitahara, her eyes full of tender love. Her eyes had already become misty:

"Kitahara-kun, I’ll listen to you. I’m so happy. Are we officially dating now?"

"No, I haven’t formally confessed to you yet, Rina-nee. You can look forward to it—it’ll be soon, I won’t make you wait too long."

Kitahara Chiki tightened his grip on the pillow in his arms.

"Wow, there’s even a formal confession. Kitahara-kun really pays attention to the process—not perfunctory at all. Then I’ll look forward to it with all my heart.

So, what about now, Kitahara-kun? Let’s continue the massage. Don’t worry, I won’t have any other thoughts—just purely helping Kitahara-kun relax."

"Uh... forget it. I don’t want to do it today. Rina-nee, go back and rest!"

"But..."

"Didn’t you just say you’d listen to me? Rina-nee, there’s plenty of time ahead. Let our feelings develop gradually, okay? I don’t like forcing things!"

"Mm!"