Head Over Heels From The Scarf I Lent Her Chapter 13

Tooru changed out of his school uniform after arriving home.
Right after school, he messaged Satsuki telling her to go over to his place.
He checked the mirror to make sure he was presentable and then the intercom rang. Right on time.

He walked over to the entrance and opened the door to be greeted by a gleaming smile.
Though, thinking about what happened in the afternoon still stings.

“Welcome, welcome.”
“I didn’t expect to be invited over…”
“Yeah, someone’s coming over today.”
“Someone is coming over?”

Satsuki tilts her head to one side, questioning what he meant. Reasonable, as Tooru hasn’t invited anyone over since the two of them met.
And since he lives alone, he used to invite Jun and the boys over to hang out and game, but that was a while ago.

Now that Satsuki is here, all they had to do was to wait for that person to show up.
They were sitting on the ground and chatting but before long, theintercom rang again. Satsuki got up to answer the door, but Tooru put a hand on her shoulder.

“I got it. Just sit and wait here.”

Satsuki quietly and obediently sat there, still wondering what was going on.
Then, Tooru retrieved his wallet and opened the door. He was happy to see that it was exactly who he was waiting for.

“Hey, how’s it going? I’m from Kanagi Locksmithing.
“Good afternoon. So, did you guys…”
“Yes, yes, it’s right here. That will be 2,000 yen altogether.”
“Alright.”

Tooru hands over the money and gets two keys in return—the original and a copy.
The locksmith counts the two 1,000 bills, bows, thanks Tooru for the business, then leaves.

After seeing the locksmith off, Tooru walks back to Satsuki with both keys in hand. He reaches into his bag for a kitty cat keychain and fixes it to the copy.
She was puzzled at first, but quickly understands the situation.

“Is that a…”
“Yep, a spare key. I called this morning and begged them to make one for me. Have this. If anything happens, you can always come over to my place.”

He takes Satsuki’s hand gives her the key; the key and keychain clink in her palm.
She looks at the key then looks up at Tooru. Satsuki squeezes the key tightly in her fist and brings it close to her chest.

“Thank you very much. I’ll keep it safe.”
“Good. Don’t go losing it, hey?”
“Absolutely. I’ll make sure it’s in my sight at all times!”
“Silly.”

Seeing her in high spirits, Tooru knew he made the right choice in calling the locksmith.
Not only would it be a ha.s.sle for her to go to the store every day, but now she could head over early to prepare for dinner or start on her homework.
She probably stays up late to study, judging by the dark circles underneath her eyes.

There was also the incident today to tell Satsuki.
Tooru knew he was about to rain on her parade, but he had to tell her about what happened at lunch.

“My sister did what…?!”

Seeing Satsuki gone pale made Tooru’s heart ache. But he had to tell her.
She and her sister live under the same roof. Amane would likely say something about it. If Tooru were to keep quiet about it, it would be even a bigger shock when Satsuki finds out.

Satsuki is trembling.
Tooru knew he had no choice, but he didn’t expect to the news to hit her so hard. It makes him realize just how big of an impact Amane makes in her life.

“Oh, but that confession thing was probably just a joke. That was just your sister’s way of getting at me.”
“I have to talk to her about it!”
“No way. You don’t know what she’d do to you.”
“But…”

The girl looks like she is about to cry.
Those tears are not out of concern for her own skin, but for Tooru. It’s written all over her face.
Seeing how much she worries for him only makes him feel bad for speaking up. Still—

Satsuki, with tears welling up, gets on her knees and looks up at Tooru.

“Once Amane has a target in her sights, she won’t stop attacking until she destroys you… I wouldn’t know what to do if you’re gone…”

Satsuki wipes the tears rolling down her cheeks. The image of her like that brings Tooru nothing but pain and sadness.
He reaches his hand out to wipe her tears and embraces her. Not necessarily out of romantic, but platonic love. He hugged her because he sees his friend cry, even if that friend is a girl.

“… Tooru…”

She cries out his name with her face buried in his chest.
She didn’t recoil away from his hold. Her arms hang down her side; she’s simply being embraced.

“I’ll be fine. So please, Satsuki, don’t cry.”

Only to have her bawl even harder. She grasps him so tightly enough to wrinkle his clothes.
Tooru thought about her pet.i.te body while hugging her.
Her small, delicate body carries such a big burden. She doesn’t tell him about it, but it is likely because of that Amane. It would not be such a stretch of the imagination to think Amane would be so dreadful to Satsuki.

Tooru could go kicking and screaming at Amane, but that would not solve anything.
What could Satsuki’s parents be thinking neglecting such a fragile young girl?

Whatever it may be, Tooru made Satsuki cry. It was much to his chagrin that he was powerless in helping her. He could only hug her closer to try to stop her tears.

It took a little time before Satsuki’s tears stopped flowing.
The tears are still pooled up in her eyes, but finally she had stopped crying.

Tooru consolingly strokes her back and looks at her. He is ready to bring her a damp towel, just in case her breaks into tears again.
Satsuki’s face was a mess from all that crying, but she begins to speak up.

“What do you plan on doing from now on?”
“Nothing’s gonna change. I don’t even know what she’s planning on doing.”
“Even with me?”
“Of course. You don’t have to worry about that.”

She looks relieved, if just a little. Seeing that, Tooru relaxes a bit too.
The support he has shown her so far was not because he wanted something for himself. It would be a better idea to cut her off completely if he wanted to save his own skin.

However, there is no way he would or could do that. Tooru has a strange feeling that if he did, he will never see her again.

Satsuki casts her gaze downwards and goes into thought. Then, she looks Tooru dead in his eyes.

“I like you.”
“…”
“I really like you.”
“…”

He keeps quiet to take in all that she has to say.

“Right now, I can’t tell if this is love or not, but I really do like you. So, please, don’t do anything to put yourself in harm’s way. I beg of you…”

She bows down but he holds her by her shoulders. Satsuki stops for a second before looking up at Tooru again.

“In that case, then please don’t beg. I’m doing this because I want to, not because you forced me to.”

Tears start to well up in Satsuki’s eyes again. Tooru wipes her tears with his handkerchief.

‘I really like you,’ her voice courses through his mind.

How should he respond to that? What should he do from now on?
The answer is simple. Just keep on doing as he did before. Satsuki would like nothing else.

“I’ll be fine. Nothing between us will change. It won’t hurt much more than getting stung by a wasp or something.”
“But isn’t getting stung a big deal?”
“Oh, is it?”

His joke got what he wanted—a slight chuckle from Satsuki.

“Oh, am I glad to see you smile again.”
“Ah…”

Satsuki squeezes her cheeks together and Tooru laughs too.
Smiles return to his apartment.

“Now, then, lemme help you out tonight.”
“Oh, but…”
“I feel bad for making you cook for me all the time. Now, let’s eat, even if it’s just what’s in my fridge.”
“… okay.”

Satsuki says with a smile. Her smile is more attractive than even her beauty.

While Tooru looks around in his refrigerator, Satsuki takes a hair tie from her bag and ties up her hair.

: // // // // // // // // // // // // ch013/ /next/