Mash-Up: I'm Not A Substitute

Takashi covered his ears. "Keep your voice down. I don't have Alzheimer's."

"Alz-what?"

Akari blinked her large, expressive eyes, the kind that could easily land her a beauty brand endorsement.

Takashi didn't feel like explaining something so basic and just gave her an awkward yet polite smile.

"Are you looking down on me, Takashi? What's with that smile?"

Akari stepped forward aggressively, stopping just two steps away, tilting her head up and glaring at him with clear dissatisfaction.

She was too close. Takashi could distinctly smell her perfume.

The scent wasn't unpleasant. At the very least, he didn't dislike it.

It was quite nice, but he had no desire to be entangled with an airheaded, flashy girl who dressed revealingly but had nothing going on upstairs.

"Order number 35, your food is ready."

Just as Takashi was contemplating how to get rid of her, the cashier called out his number.

"My food is ready. Excuse me."

He nodded politely but distantly at Akari, then picked up the fully loaded tray and headed toward where Nagisa and Maki were seated.

From a distance, Takamiya Saki watched. "A date? Judging by their uniforms, they seem to be students from Shuchiin Academy."

Ohashi Natsumi also analyzed the scene. "But which one of them is Kitahara's girlfriend?"

"Hm?"

Saki looked at her in surprise.

"I remember at the last group meetup, you seemed really into him. Didn't you say you were going to pursue him? Why aren't you all over him now?"

"Not just into him—I super, super, super, super like him."

Natsumi corrected her seriously before gazing at Takashi with a lovestruck look.

"I'd do anything to be his dog."

Saki gave her a stare like she was looking at a complete degenerate.

She knew Natsumi was into that kind of stuff, but she didn't expect her to be this far gone.

"Too bad, he ignores me."

That day at the group meetup, they had exchanged contacts.

That very night, Natsumi started messaging Takashi.

But her messages were like pebbles sinking into a deep lake—Takashi never responded.

No, to be precise, he never even opened them.

The messages remained marked as [unread].

More brutal than reading and not replying was not reading at all.

Because that meant he had no intention of talking to her in the first place.

He never answered, but he frequently updated his status.

Every few days, he would post pictures of flowers, the sky, the ocean—the kind of photos middle-aged people liked to take. Selfies were rare.

He never blocked her from seeing them.

To him, she was probably as insignificant as a pebble on the side of the road.

At that moment, Natsumi abandoned her plans to pursue Takashi.

Even if you're a desperate admirer, you should at least be given the illusion that if you try hard enough, you might get somewhere, right?

But Takashi didn't even give her that much.

"Huh. I thought he was the kind of guy who was gentle and kind to all girls."

Saki turned to glance at Takashi again.

His easy going personality made it seem like he had a good relationship with everyone, but he never got too close to anyone.

He wouldn't initiate intimacy, but he also wouldn't outright embarrass people.

"Akari, if he's your target, I'd advise you to give up."

Saki noticed that Akari's gaze had been following Takashi the entire time, so she offered some advice as a friend.

Someone that rational wasn't suited to be a romantic partner.

"What are you talking about, Saki?! I don't like him."

Akari suddenly seemed flustered, as if she had just realized what she was doing.

"The one I like is the Tenjin"

"I'm just annoyed that he never replies to messages. We clearly know each other, but when we meet in person, he acts like I'm invisible."

If Akari wanted to deceive herself, Saki wasn't going to argue.

…

Takashi set the tray down on the table. "Sorry for the wait."

"You're quite popular, Kitahara-kun." Nagisa smiled at him playfully.

"Hmph!" Maki scoffed. "He's just taking advantage of his good looks to deceive those shallow girls who only care about appearances."

"All style, no substance."

Wait, was she always this sharp-tongued?

She certainly didn't act this way when she talked to him before.

"If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."

He had apologized, bought the food—his job here was done. Time to slip away.

"Go, go, go!" 

"Here, Maki, let me feed you. Ahh~"

Maki raised her hand to shoo him away, but Nagisa was quicker, stuffing a spicy chicken wing into her mouth.

Effectively shutting Maki up, Nagisa turned back to Takashi as if nothing had happened.

"Kitahara-kun, you ordered so much food. We won't be able to finish it. It'd be a waste, so why don't you sit and eat with us?"

Then don't order so much in the first place.

Takashi politely declined. "No thanks, I already ate. I really have to go."

He had zero interest in sitting with them.

Even though he was confident in his disguise, what if Maki somehow saw through him?

Takashi was a cautious person.

Any risk of exposing his identity had to be eliminated before it even had a chance to grow.

Nagisa twirled a lock of her hair around her finger, pouting. "Kitahara-kun, is this really how you apologize?"

Takashi: "?"

"With that kind of attitude, I can't forgive you. I might have to call the police."

"Eh? Wait, wait, wait! Didn't you just say—"

"What did I say? Do you have proof? Any witnesses?"

Nagisa blinked mischievously.

"But I bet the security camera captured you harassing me."

She pointed at the camera near the entrance, kindly reminding him.

"You're such a baby!"

Nagisa cupped her face in her hands. "Changing the rules on a whim is a girl's privilege."

Yeah, Takashi believed that.

Just like how girls would always ask about your exes, claiming they didn't care, only to start an argument when you actually answered.

Women were all liars.

"So, Kashiwagi-san, what do you want?"

Seeing as he had nothing urgent to do next, Takashi simply sat across from Nagisa.

"You know my name?"

Nagisa tilted her head in curiosity, scrutinizing him.

She was sure she had never introduced herself.

'Damn it!'

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Check out the other translations too: [Mash-Up: Anything For Money]

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