Weren’t You Only Using Me As A Stand-in? [56]

The moment Aki Tomoya looked toward Kitahara Takeru—Takeru spotted him, too.

To be more precise, he saw the two girls beside him: Sawamura Spencer Eriri and Kasumigaoka Utaha.

His heart gave a violent thud.

His entire body stiffened, just a little.

Of all people, them?!

Takeru was baffled—Was Chiba the only place left to go or something?

Thankfully, his ability to recover was top-tier. In the blink of an eye, he calmed down.

Right now, he wasn’t wearing makeup. He was using his real face.

Neither Utaha nor Eriri had ever seen this version of him, so they probably wouldn’t recognize him.

Yeah, should be fine.

I’ve got the upper hand.

“Megumi-san, are those your friends? They keep staring over here.”

Megumi was still gently dabbing matcha powder from his hair with a handkerchief. At his question, she turned her head slightly to look.

Her eyes lit with surprise.

“Oh, Aki, Sawamura-san, Senpai—you’re here too?”

Megumi hadn’t expected to run into the trio either.

“...”

Aki Tomoya looked like he’d just watched his wife run off with another man.

Never in a million years did he imagine that, while he was out gathering reference material with Kasumigaoka Utaha, his heroine would get swept away by some white-haired delinquent who had popped up out of nowhere.

(Kitahara Takeru: Excuse me? Rude.)

He hadn’t even started dating Megumi, but here he was, already getting a taste of NTR.

Honestly, Tomoya felt like he might be the only man alive to suffer something like this.

Should I just dye this hair yellow and commit to the role? Takeru thought, catching Tomoya’s frozen expression.

If he were the villain of a romcom, or one of those infamous yellow-haired NTR guys, this would be his cue to say something vague and ambiguous—to stir the pot, blur the lines of his relationship with Megumi, and let Aki misunderstand.

Maybe Aki would throw a punch, and he could fall dramatically to the ground, pull up the car-buying app “DongCheDi,” and get Megumi to take care of him while he “recovered.”

But unfortunately, I have white hair.

There were some lines Takeru refused to cross.

Not even once.

Because the first time was always the start of the slippery slope.

Like cheating. Once you did it once, it was easier the next time, and the next, until you weren’t even yourself anymore.

Besides, this was Aki Tomoya we were talking about—not some wealthy villain. He probably didn’t even have that kind of money. No thanks.

“...He’s…?”

Aki finally spoke, squeezing out the words like they hurt to say.

Compared to Utaha getting close to some other guy, he found it way harder to stomach seeing Megumi with someone else.

“He’s—”
“I’m—”
“Kitahara Takeru. A special scholarship student at Seijō Gakuen. Admitted at the top of his class. A Tokyo boy who could get into Todai on academic merit alone.”

Three voices spoke nearly in unison.

The first was Megumi—she was about to introduce Takeru to the group.

The second was Takeru—trying to intercept and prevent his real name from being revealed. He’d changed his surname, sure, but not his given name.

Still risky.

He didn’t want to take any chances, so he jumped in, ready to lie about his full name too.

But then—Kasumigaoka Utaha ruined it.

Damn it. How does she even know?!

Takeru was honestly shocked.

It’s not like he was some celebrity, right?

“...Takeru?” Eriri’s ears perked at the name. Her eyes narrowed as she started scrutinizing him more carefully.

She used to treat this guy as a joke.

Now she wasn’t so sure.

Takeru’s nerves began to buzz.

He was confident in his makeup skills—he was practically world-class. No way they'd recognize him.

But no matter how he changed his face, he couldn’t change his height or his build.

What if Eriri picks up on something?

Right now, his entire mindset could only be described as guilty conscience in full bloom.

“Tomoya-kun,” Utaha said sweetly, fanning the flames with a mischievous smile. “You’re standing in front of someone whose academic prowess surpasses mine. A genuine genius—on par with Shirogane Miyuki, heir to the Shijō family.”

Truth be told, even Utaha had been stunned to see Megumi with Takeru.

“Smarter… than Senpai?” Aki’s voice quivered with disbelief.

Utaha just smiled.

But there was a trace of bitterness in that smile. And loneliness.

“Tomoya-kun, maybe in your eyes I’m a genius. But at Seijō—and Sōbu High—geniuses are a dime a dozen.”

Different education systems bred different types of people—and different worldviews.

Utaha’s worldview had long since outgrown Tomoya’s.

Public schools were government-funded, open to all, mixed in quality and background.

Private high schools, on the other hand, were funded by corporations, foundations, or the elite themselves. And the quality of education was vastly superior.

“Being a genius is just your ticket to get in the door.”

Takeru gave Utaha a surprised glance.

Setting emotions aside, this woman… was shockingly clear-eyed.

“Aki-kun,” Takeru said suddenly, startling Tomoya, “may I call you that?”

“Wh-what is it?”

Sure, everyone was technically equal these days. But deep down, people always kept track—of where they stood, where others stood. They adjusted their posture accordingly.

Even if Takeru hadn’t achieved much yet, he already stood apart from the average.

Standing across from him now, Tomoya could feel that inferiority creeping in.

“You don’t have to be so nervous,” Takeru said gently, not a trace of arrogance in his tone. “I know what you’re thinking, but don’t worry—there’s nothing going on between me and Megumi-san. We just happened to bump into each other.”

Which, to be fair, wasn’t really a lie.

They had run into each other—triggered a system event, and that was that.

“I see…”

Tomoya forced a smile. But he clearly didn’t believe it.

No way it was that much of a coincidence.

Worse, Takeru’s calm and courteous tone made him feel even more humiliated—like the guy didn’t even consider him competition.

“The movie’s about to start. Megumi-san, shall we?”

Takeru saw that Tomoya wasn’t buying it, so he didn’t bother explaining further.

I’m not Utaha or Eriri. I don’t owe you anything, bro.

“Tomoya, Sawamura-san, Senpai—I’ll see you later.”

Megumi stood up, gave them a polite nod, and turned to leave with Takeru.

Takeru was momentarily stunned by how decisive she was.

“What is it, Kitahara-kun?”

Megumi tilted her head when she noticed the look on his face.

“I thought you were going to turn me down,” Takeru admitted honestly.

He’d only asked to be polite.

He was already bracing himself for rejection.

“Why would you think that?” Megumi gave him a puzzled look.

Because Aki Tomoya is the one you like, Takeru thought silently, glancing at her system profile.

If it had been Utaha or Eriri in this situation, he knew he would’ve been the one left behind.

Just like today’s other plans had gone up in smoke.

“Thank you, Megumi-san.”

Takeru didn’t explain any further—he just looked at her sincerely.

Her choice to stay with him meant he didn’t have to find out what it felt like to be abandoned twice in one day.

“?”

Megumi tilted her head in confusion again.

“Kitahara-kun, you’re really weird.”

…

Not far away, Aki Tomoya stood rooted in place, watching the two figures walk off into the distance.

His heart felt like it was being carved apart with a blunt knife.

And his fists were clenched tight.

---

T/N: heh i love NTR

This is a fan translation of 不是说只拿我当替身的吗？by 雪碧加冰. All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!