CM Chapter 26

Chapter 26 – My Benefactor

Chapter 2, Part 1.2

Novel Title: ひとりじめ (Completely Mine)

Author：椎崎 夕 (Shiizaki You)

Illustrator：小山田 あみ (Oyamada Ami)

Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)

Protagonists: 細川 湊 (Hosokawa Minato -MC) & 荻原 浩志 (Ogiwara Koushi -ML)

*Please read at knoxt.space, the original site of translation. TQ*

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Facing him directly, with no choice but to acknowledge him after his self-introduction, Minato forced a smile. Ogiwara looked down at him, his cheek slightly twisting in an unreadable expression.

“Excuse me, do you two know each other? Hosokawa-san and Ogiwara-san?”

“My benefactor. He was my tutor when I was in high school.”

The blunt tone and expression with which he addressed him were both reminiscent of ten years ago yet subtly different, leaving Minato unable to look away.

“So the man Nana is meeting for matchmaking is Hosokawa-sensei?”

“Yes! What a surprise, such a coincidence!”

Her excited voice didn’t seem to please Ogiwara. He glanced at her briefly before returning his sharp gaze to Minato. The faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips was far from joyous—it radiated displeasure.

“Ogiwara-san, are you done with work? If so, why not join us for tea?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re in the middle of a matchmaking meeting.”

“But it’s been so long since you two reunited. Wouldn’t it be fine if the three of us had tea? I hear the lounge here serves excellent tea.”

“You really are…-“

Ogiwara scolded her, half-exasperated. The unexpected turn of events left Minato feeling deeply uncomfortable and flustered, so he interrupted in a rushed tone.

“-I actually have something to attend to after this. I’ll have to excuse myself.”

“But Hosokawa-san…”

“I’ll pass on the message as discussed earlier. Thank you for today.”

Minato intentionally softened his smile, and she seemed to take it as a thoughtful gesture. Blushing faintly, she gave Minato a small nod. As for Ogiwara, though his gaze was sharp as needles, he didn’t try to stop him.

Yet somehow, even on the limousine bus heading to the station, Minato couldn’t shake the sensation of his piercing gaze lingering on him.

***

The timing couldn’t have been worse.

Back in his apartment, sitting on the sofa with a freshly brewed cup of coffee, Minato let out a small sigh.

It felt surreal, as if he had been in a dream. Was that really Ogiwara?

As far as he knew, neither Ogiwara nor his family had any particular ties to this area. None of the universities he had aimed to attend were nearby. In fact, in the past ten years, Minato hadn’t seen him or heard any news about him even once.

And yet…

Noticing that the room had grown completely dark, Minato turned on the lights and saw that it was already past 8 PM. Disappointed at how long he had been lost in thought, he quickly prepared and ate a simple dinner. At that moment, his phone rang. It was his friend Nagashima.  

“How was the matchmaking meeting?”  

That was the first thing Nagashima asked when Minato picked up, and it drained the energy from his body. Minato recalled that he had complained to this friend about it on the phone last week.  

“She turned me down. Said she couldn’t get married because she’s in love with someone else.”  

“What? Is that even allowed in a matchmaking setup?”  

“She directly apologized during the meeting. She even mentioned how she wore a formal kimono in hopes that her crush might see her in a different light.”  

“That’s ridiculous!”  

Nagashima’s voice, which had been somewhat lighthearted, turned abruptly irritated. Minato chuckled softly at his friend’s predictable reaction.  

“She probably got pushed into it and didn’t want to refuse outright. If she’s going to dress up, it makes sense she’d want her crush to see her. Besides, I wasn’t serious about it either, so it’s fair.”  

“How is that fair? You should be angry! You could at least file a complaint and have them introduce someone decent next time!”  

“And what would that accomplish? It’s not like women are an option for me, anyway.”  

“Are you sure about that?”  

The skeptical tone in Nagashima’s voice made Minato frown in confusion.  

“Eisuke, what are you trying to say?”  

Although they rarely met in person after graduating from university—perhaps once a year—they still frequently kept in touch through calls and emails, sharing updates and venting about their daily lives. Nagashima wasn’t one to beat around the bush, making his vague words all the more puzzling.  

“Well… to be blunt, you’ve never actually had a proper romantic relationship with a man, have you? And you’ve never tried dating a woman, either, right?”  

Nagashima hit the nail on the head. Over the past ten years since starting his job, Minato had grown close to several people but had never been able to feel anything more than platonic affection for any of them. As for women, the idea of dating one hadn’t even crossed his mind.  

“I know you’re not the type to date just anyone on a whim, but are you really sure women are completely out of the question? Could it be that I influenced you into thinking that way?”  

“…Eisuke?”  

“Sure, you had a crush on that senior in college, but what if it was just a passing phase? If I hadn’t butted in back then, maybe you’d be living a normal life now—falling in love, getting married, and becoming a suburban dad.”  

Hearing Nagashima’s words, Minato wondered if that was why his friend had been so concerned about him for all these years.  

“That’s not it. I mean, even if a high school girl loosened her collar in front of me or a female colleague got drunk and clung to me, I wouldn’t feel a thing.”  

Minato casually brought up past incidents, and there was stunned silence on the other end before Nagashima shouted.  

“Minato! Where did you even learn to phrase things like that?!”  

“Koumoto-san says stuff like that all the time. And besides, you hear this kind of thing on TV and in movies.”  

“Yeah, but you’re not supposed to say it! Dammit, that old man Koumoto has been teaching you all the wrong things!”  

“I think Eisuke’s stories are way more graphic, though.”  

Minato pointed out, but Nagashima brushed it off, grumbling complaints under his breath.  

As Minato prepared his bath, he realized he hadn’t mentioned running into Ogiwara at all.  

Ten years ago, he had confided in Nagashima about what had happened. Since then, Nagashima had avoided mentioning Ogiwara’s name. Minato, picking up on it, had refrained from bringing it up as well. By now, it was an unspoken rule between them.  

…How was his right knee doing now? Nana had said that he was working at that hotel, but what exactly was he doing for a living? Was the camera he carried just a hobby? In high school, he hadn’t shown much interest in photography. When had he started? And why?  

Why had Ogiwara stopped him and called out?  

―――My benefactor. He was my tutor when I was in high school.

Of all things, why say that? Then again, Minato thought he understood. It meant that, to Ogiwara, what happened ten years ago wasn’t that significant.  

But for Minato, it was something he hadn’t been able to forget—not then, not now.  

Suppressing the rising turmoil in his chest, Minato tried to calm himself the way he had learned over the years.  

It was nothing more than a random twist of fate. They wouldn’t cross paths again after this. There was no way this encounter would lead to anything.  

Shaking his head to banish the lingering thoughts, Minato tried to focus on pushing away the feelings that surged and swelled uncontrollably.  

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*Translator’s Note: Well, of course Ogiwara wouldn’t be happy. Minato pretended not to know him and he also went on a blind date. Lol. -K

Next update: 2026.08.23

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