The Talk

[Yuito's POV]

"Whoa, it sure is getting dark quick when it's winter." Marin said while adjusting the scarf on her neck. It was my scarf which I gave to her halfway through our date because she felt cold as the sun went down.

She buried half her face in the scarf and took a deep sniff of my scent. She smiled a perverted smile while her cheek heated up in an obvious shade of red in the frigid air.

I didn't know what kind of perverted thoughts my scent put in her head but she looked adorable. I grabbed her hand tighter and played with her long, manicured fingers.

I did not have any fetish for hands but Marin had very pretty hands. She could be a hand model or something even if she was not as beautiful as she is.

Although she did not have big and lewd assets like Sumire, or a perfect figure like Komi, she had prettier hands and feet.

It was not as outwardly impressive as huge breasts or fat ass but it definitely held an undeniable charm that could capture any men's attention.

"Did you have fun?" I asked while we walked hand in hand under the setting sun. It had become rather cold now that the sun was not shining down on us.

It was quite concerning that this was only the start of the winter. Soon it will get even colder and start to snow.

"Yeah. I always have fun when I'm with you." she said while getting a little closer to me. She was too short to even rest her head on my shoulder so she just leaned on me.

Our date consisted of just walking around the city while getting food and visiting a flower garden. So it was nothing extravagant but the way she always smiled and laughed made me feel like I took her on an extraordinary date.

"Me too." I said while leading her to a park where I used to run with Kurumi every morning. I led her to one of the elevated spots to watch the sunset.

We sat on a bench as we watched the sunset. We leaned against each other and shared our warmth when the sun was no longer able to give us any.

We sat there for a while and watched the sun slowly set into the western horizon. There was a romantic atmosphere between us but that set along with the sun.

When the sun was no longer visible. I became serious and tense as I was finally prepared to talk about Komi to Marin.

She seemed to sense my mood as she pulled away from me and looked at me with odd eyes and eyebrows that raised a question.

"Yuito?"

"I have something to tell you. Something that would surely make you mad and hate me for a while." I said, the edge of my voice was a warning to her.

She paused and gave me a deep look while biting her lips.

"What is it?"

I opened my mouth to speak but no words came out, only a puff of hot smoke. My heart tightened inside my chest as I lost the start of what I was about to say.

I closed and opened my mouth like a fish out of water before I grit my teeth.

Was I trying to avoid it? Was I really that afraid after all the talk about accepting that I was a scumbag? Was I hesitant to face the consequences now?

'Hell no.'

"I kissed Komi!!" I did not intend to shout but it came out that way.

A deep silence heavier than the cold air descended between us as Marin looked at me with wide eyes. She opened her mouth to say something but closed it again.

Her eyes blinked sharply in confusion as she instinctively moved away from me. I winced.

"What?"

"Yes. I like her." I said with a heavy sigh. My first words seem to have stolen all the intensity of my next word as it came out rather weak.

"I'm a scumbag, I know but I like her. But I also love you." I said in quick succession as she moved further and further away from me on the bench.

"What do you mean, Yuito?" she asked and the crack of her voice put a crack on my courage.

It made me want to just laugh out and say that it was a prank, a big joke. Then apologize to her for my twisted sense of humor.

But I didn't do that.

"Listen." I said and grabbed her hand while turning towards her. I made sure she wouldn't be able to run away before I finished explaining myself.

"Remember when you fell sick and you stayed at my house? It happened during that time..." I began and started explaining to her everything that happened.

How Komi and I had that accident because I can't keep it in my pants. How I learned Komi had romantic love for me.

How I rejected her love and tried to trick her at first.

How the idea stuck in my head from then on and how I couldn't just push her away either since I was one of her only friends.

"My heart is not cold enough to stay unfazed when a girl was loving me with all she had." I told her.

I was not speaking in a way that would favor me. For all the scum that I am, I was honest and told her the truth.

I made it clear that it was because I was selfish and did not want Komi to be with another man. I also mentioned a bit about Tsukimi and my twisted determination to never lose someone again because I was hesitant to do something.

I asked her not to hate Komi and that it was not her fault for falling in love with me as the only man in her life. I said all the fault was on me, I gave her innocent heart the idea, I should've been careful with how I behaved with her.

Then I finally said I could love them all. All three of them.

"Yuito." She spoke after I finished explaining it to her. Her bangs were covering her eyes and I couldn't see them.

"Let me go." She said and tried to pull away from my hands.

No. Never.

"No." I said, my voice was like a sword, it was brave and demanding.

"I said let me go." Her usually high-pitched voice was two octave lower.

"I can't"

"Yes you can. You should've prepared for this when you decided to ack like some kind of harem protagonist." She said again, her voice cried, "Let me go."

"I won't."

"You have no right." She pulled hard but it was nothing with my strength. "Shameless bastard."

"You can hate me but you can't leave me."

"I can and I will." She stood up and became violent as she tried to pull away. She struggled and scratched my hand with her nails.

I used a bit of strength and I pulled her towards me before I hugged her tightly.

"Let me go!!" She screamed and beat me.

"I love you."

And that was the magic word because she stopped instantly. I could feel her body tremble in my arms.

A long silence stretch between us as emotions went out of control. And she was the one to break the silence.

"That's not fair." She said, her tone was unintentionally loving. Then to my complete and utter surprise, she hugged me back.

"I can't even be mad." she said while rubbing my hair.

"Asshole," called me names but I still held her tight. My face was buried in her navel.

My heart sang in relief when she finally calmed down. I loosened my hug to look up at her and when I did, I saw that she had tears in the corner of her eyes.

But then she smiled.

"You are so troublesome sometimes. If you were going to be like this anyway, you should've told me from the start and accepted Komi's love from the beginning."

She rubbed my hair and she giggled when she saw my dumbfounded expression.

"She was heartbroken you know." she said, leaving me confused due to the amount of layers behind those words.

"What?"

"No offense but you were only Komi's first friend but I am her best friend. Do you really think she would be able to keep what happened between you two from me?" she said with a knowing smile.

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