I Confessed To The Crossdresser

Episode 76

Rival (5)

Far from hating her, she had a lot of love for her sister.

“Not at all.”

Leto gave a rough answer as if he was annoyed. Apparently, there seem to be many misunderstandings accumulated between Bona and Bernie. Just looking at Bona’s expression, it doesn’t seem that she hated her sister, Bernie, at all. Rather, she appeared worried that their sisterhood would fall apart, just like Bernie.

“Tell me in detail.”

“Your sister……”

This time Leto decided to answer Bona’s question without hesitation. Senior Jimbo and I hurriedly covered his mouth. Unlike Leto, who was speechless, it was clear that Senior Jimbo and I were thinking the same thing.

“Bona, why don’t you meet your sister? It’s best if you hear it yourself. That would be more concrete.”

“…….”

Bona hesitated upon my suggestion.

“Don’t tell me you don’t like Bernie?”

“No way!”

Then why are you hesitating so much?

“Well, I’m embarrassed.”

An unbelievable word came out of her mouth. At that moment, not only me, but even Senior Jimbo and Leto’s jaws instinctively widened.

“Crazy.”

“Is that Bona?”

“I get it.”

Only Vivian, who heard of the situation from her earlier, nodded in understanding. There are times when Bona Bellion can get shy.

“There are still ghosts here, aren’t there? It could have possessed Bellion’s body……”

“I already sealed everything back then.”

Senior Jimbo responded to Leto’s words. Bona made an upset expression, questioning what the two men were saying.

“My sister has always been in first place. Her face is also pretty and she has always been perfect. That kind of expectation from my sister ended up towards me, but I’m in last place. Does that make sense? How can I look at her face when I’m such an embarrassment?”

“How ironic.”

Leto murmured in amazement. Anyway, this made it clear that Bernie and Bona were thinking of each other. I thought it would all be solved if I made them talk without having to worry any further.

In my head, I’ve already imagined the sisters meeting, talking affectionately, clearing up the misunderstandings and becoming closer. We would see the sisters who have gotten close and bless them, and the case closes. Contrary to my expectations, however, Bona was reluctant to meet her face-to-face even though she cared about what Bernie thought. 

“I can’t meet her! How am I supposed to meet her? What if Bernie sees me in person and becomes disappointed? I’m sure she’ll ask about the family and my academic life, but I haven’t achieved anything! The house still expects a lot from me, but when they saw my test scores, my father became furious!”

“That’s because you’re in last place.”

Leto added that she was in last place.

“Yeah, because I was in last place! I don’t care if my father discards me from the family for that reason or whatever, but I’m scared if Bernie finds out.”

What kind of childhood did these sisters spend together to love each other so much? What was more surprising was seeing Bona uttering these words with complete sincerity.

“Not to mention academy life! I’ve only become close to you guys recently, but before that, I lived a very dissolute life. Don’t the other classmates hate me?”

“We don’t particularly like you either.”

“Leah Arsene, do you even like me? Why do you argue over everything?”

She eventually exploded at Leto’s words and was prepared to grab him by the collar. As the two of them growled, Senior Jimbo, who had been watching them quietly, separated them in time.

“I didn’t want to get involved in this, but I’ll say something since I feel sorry.”

Senior Jimbo looked down at Bona with a nonchalant look.

“Your sister isn’t embarrassed by you nor does she hate you. So it would be best to meet and talk.”

“But if we meet and talk, things might change.”

“So you’re not going to meet her? Fine, I don’t care if you guys meet up or not. It’s up to you.”

Senior Jimbo’s tone was harsh, unlike when he was friendly. No matter how much he disliked bothersome things, I wondered if it was fine to be so harsh. People might think that Bona had committed such a big sin against her seniors.

“What Senior Nimbo said is right. No one should solve your issue.”

It was the same for Leto. Originally, he always bickered with Bona, but today it seemed a little excessive. If it were someone else, their words might have stung them, but it wasn’t for Bona. Rather, she stared at them sharply, saying ‘If you don’t want to help, go away.’ At this rate, won’t the relationship between the three of them be even wider than that between Bona and Bernie? I was worried.

How did this happen?

“I don’t know why you guys are being so insensitive.”

Then Vivian, who had been listening to us all along, said something.

“No matter how much it is Bona’s problem, you should know that it’s hard to solve it alone. It was the same when I was bullied by my classmates or Reze. If I had been alone, I would have never been able to solve it, and I would continue to be suffering from the pain until now. Bona’s case isn’t like mine, but she’s struggling in her own way, so what’s wrong with helping her?”

Vivian spoke calmly, but they were deep words.

“Especially when it comes to family relationships that are complicatedly intertwined, how do you think Bona feels? I think I understand why Bona is afraid. So I want to help her, and I hope that things work out between her and her sister. But instead of being considerate of Bona, why are you being mean? I find Leah and Senior Jimbo rather strange.”

The atmosphere became solemn at Vivian’s words which accurately pinpointed facts. Bona, who had no opinion, simply looked at Vivian without saying a word. I tried to smile and grab the hem of Vivian’s shirt, but it was futile. Vivian, who was very angry, couldn’t stand it, he grabbed Bona’s hand and disappeared.

“W-wait…Vivian!”

Regardless of what Bona said, Vivian dragged Bona away. So only me, Senior Jimbo, and Leto remained in front of the library. The two remained still, perhaps reflecting on their actions swept away by emotions. It remained the same when I left to grab my things from the library. The two of them stayed quiet. Even after coming out with my things, the two of them stood blankly with their heads lowered.

“Don’t worry. Bona doesn’t take it to heart. If you sincerely apologise, Bona will understand.”

Anyway, I tried to console them, but it didn’t seem to work. It was pitiful to see the two men struggling to walk back to the dormitory.

“……Damn it. I was mean.”

Leto, who finally uttered the words, blamed himself.

“I also said something harsh unlike usual.”

It was the same with Senior Jimbo. It was my first time seeing the two of them down like this.

“Just……What happened to you guys?”

They looked at each other at my question. It was clear that something must have happened. And it didn’t take me a few minutes to notice that it was about me. Senior Jimbo and Leto’s eyes fell on me. I couldn’t hide my astonishment as soon as that feeling turned into certainty. Currently,  these two men were feeling envious and jealous of none other than Bona.

All because of the meaningless answer that I liked Bona.

“You said you liked Bellion more than me.”

Yeah, I get that Leto is like that, but what about Senior?

“…That. I was a little jealous, too.”

“That was just a meaningless answer to your strange question!”

Why did you ask me that question all of a sudden?! Do you like me or him? What a ridiculous question.

“If you ask who do I like more, how should I respond? It’s hard to answer, so I just brought up Bona……”

This led me to another fact. This incident was my responsibility. The two men’s expressions became grim after hearing my explanation.  I guess they finally realised that they took out their anger on the innocent Bona. Clearly, it was Bona, not these two men, who deserves to be given roses. 

“This won’t do. Let’s all apologise to Vivian and Bona together tomorrow.”

The two nodded sullenly. I didn’t even know when these two men had become so insecure. It was completely dark now, and we had to return to the dormitory. Senior Jimbo said it was dangerous for two girls to go alone and so accompanied us to the entrance of the dorm.

Leto looked at Senior Jimbo with a knowing gaze, and so did Senior Jimbo. I thought it was going to be quiet again, but the two continued to argue. Bona’s problem was Bona’s responsibility, but it seemed necessary to settle the relationship between the two first. Their useless quarrels and competition were what led to this.

“Stop fighting!”

Eventually, when I said something, the two guys’ mouths closed.

“Bree.”

Senior Jimbo called in a slightly bitter tone.

“What?”

“I was completely wrong, and I admit that. But why don’t you rethink about sharing a room with Leah Arsene?” 

Senior Jimbo now openly showed his reluctance with Leah Arsene.

“You know that we can’t change roommates.”

“But……”

“Thanks for the advice, but I don’t think it’ll be easy!”

When I spoke firmly, senior stood there as if he was dumbstruck.

“Anyway, thank you for taking us back. See you tomorrow then, Senior.”

I bid him farewell politely and went straight into the dormitory. Not knowing that Leto, who followed behind me, smirked at Senior Jimbo. Senior’s crumpled face contrasted with Leto’s cheerful expression, indicating that he had won. Glancing at Leto, I saw him raise a finger at Senior Jimbo. 

At first, I thought he was cursing, so I glared at him fiercely, but only later did I realise that it meant something else.

1 win. It meant that he won the first round.