Chapter 15: Troubles from the Cousin

Quillan deduced that if Norika Harada had broken down in tears, it meant this matter was bound to be a major hassle!

Truth be told, this had nothing to do with him in the first place. However, the only reason he was staying over at her place now was that he had agreed to help her by acting as her fake boyfriend—meaning...

Down the line, this situation might very well drag Quillan into it as well. Therefore, Quillan felt it was necessary to have a proper talk with Norika!

However, given that Norika was still fuming, Quillan didn’t feel like giving her a warm shoulder only to get a cold shoulder in return. So he decided to take his shower first. The bathwater in the bathroom was already drawn, and after enjoying a comfortable shower, Quillan conveniently threw his own change of clothes into the washing machine along with Norika’s remaining unwashed laundry before heading over to her side.

Seeing Quillan fresh out of the shower, Norika suddenly winced nervously and demanded, "Hey! You... why didn’t you even say a word after finishing your shower? You pervert, you didn’t use my towel, did you?"

"I have my own towel in my suitcase!" Quillan shook his head. Seeing that Norika’s mood seemed to have improved quite a bit, he lifted the blanket and crawled right into bed.

Taken completely by surprise, Norika scrambled out from under the covers. Pointing at Quillan, she covered her chest with one hand while covering the bottom of her bathrobe with the other, asking in utter shock, "Quillan, what do you think you’re doing?"

"My apologies, Miss Harada..." Quillan smirked and said, "I’m really not used to sleeping on a tatami futon, so I have no choice but to sleep on the bed!"

"B-But this is my home, isn’t it?" Norika questioned indignantly: "Student Quillan, aren’t you taking things a bit too far? It was bad enough that you deliberately pranked me earlier, but now you’re kicking me off my own bed to sleep on the tatami?"

Lying comfortably on the bed, Quillan looked at Norika with a completely content expression and said, "I didn’t want to do this either, but Miss Harada, after hearing about my predicament, you were the one who invited me over to spend the night. Besides, I’m not here eating your food and staying under your roof for free—I still have to play your boyfriend! To put it plainly, Miss Harada, you hired me to come here, so it’s only right that I get the bed!"

Left with no counterargument, Norika could only let out a cold huff and reluctantly got off the bed to sleep on the tatami futon.

"Actually, Miss Harada..."

Quillan rolled over, propping himself up at the edge of the bed to look at Norika, and asked, "The reason you got so upset earlier was actually related to that arranged matchmaking thing, right?"

"Th-That... How do you know about that?" Norika looked at Quillan uneasily, muttering to herself: "I... I’m pretty sure I never mentioned that to you?"

Nailed it!

Quillan’s expression shifted as he pressed further: "Please answer me honestly, Miss Harada. Did something change regarding that situation? If there’s been a shift, your original plan might not work anymore, and it might even pose a risk to me, right?"

Having things laid out so bluntly by Quillan, Norika knew she couldn’t hide it any longer. She had no choice but to spill the beans, saying solemnly, "Actually, I never had the chance to tell you earlier, Student Quillan... but the matchmaking partner my family arranged for me... is my cousin!"

"Your cousin?" Quillan was left speechless. He had heard before that cousins were allowed to marry in Japan, but he hadn’t expected it to actually happen right before his eyes...

"Yes!" Norika nodded and continued, "How could there be any romantic love between my cousin and me? That’s why I’ve always been strongly against this marriage. In fact, my parents aren’t entirely keen on it either, but..."

"Because of you, right, Teacher?" Quillan helped finish her sentence: "Miss Harada, ever since you were young, you’ve been unwilling to interact with boys. You even specifically chose an all-girls school to work at after growing up, never getting along with the opposite sex..."

"You’re right!" Norika looked at Quillan in surprise and asked, "Student Quillan, how do you... seem to know everything?"

Is that really so hard to guess?

From their very first meeting, Quillan could tell that a woman like Norika Harada had a very strong self-defense mechanism. Moreover, she didn’t seem to have a shred of experience interacting with the opposite sex, let alone romantic experience.

That was likely why her parents were in such a hurry, going so far as to arrange her cousin as her matchmaking partner—simply out of fear that she would never get married!

However... what did any of this have to do with Norika losing control of her emotions tonight?

Quillan was still a bit puzzled. Knowing Norika’s personality, she certainly wouldn’t answer willingly if asked directly. Thus, Quillan could only keep up his bluff: "Of course I know, because I deduced all of this! In fact, I can even deduce why you cried just now..."

"You..." Norika stared at Quillan in sheer disbelief: "Do you mean to tell me you even know my cousin is coming to Tokyo?!"

Quillan was dumbfounded. Before he could even start bluffing, Norika had blurted out the reason herself!

So the reason behind her emotional breakdown was that her cousin was coming to Tokyo!

Still, wasn’t Norika’s reaction a bit over the top? Bursting into tears and losing control just because her matchmaking partner was visiting Tokyo to see her?

Just how much did she despise this cousin of hers!

Shaking his head after getting to the bottom of things, Quillan felt that his homeroom teacher was truly... hard to describe!

Even though she was already twenty-three years old, she behaved entirely like an overgrown child. What was baffling was how someone like her was actually a homeroom teacher at a high school!

"I’ve already explicitly told Father and Mother about this!" Norika said with a troubled frown, seeking Quillan’s counsel: "So, the fact that I claimed to have found a boyfriend and want to call off the matchmaking with my cousin is something he should already know. Yet under these circumstances, he still insists on coming to Tokyo, which means..."

"Miss Harada, you mean..." Quillan took over her train of thought: "You think your cousin coming to Tokyo means he hasn’t given up on the marriage, so he’s coming over to verify or expose your lie?"

"Exactly!" Norika expressed her concern anxiously: "If it were just my father and mother, you might still have been able to help me fool them, Student Quillan. But if my cousin comes, then... he will definitely find a way to blow our cover!"