CM Chapter 43

Chapter 43 – The So-called Girlfriend

Chapter 2, Part 9.1

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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The next morning, Minato was dropped off in front of the cram school as promised.

“I’m sorry for the suddenness. But I had a great time.”

“No, thank you. If there’s another chance, I’ll take you around and treat you to a meal.”

“Sounds great. I’m looking forward to it.”

Waving at each other, Minato watched as the taxi with Yoshiharu inside disappeared from his sight. Using the crutch he was holding somewhat apologetically, Minato stepped into his workplace.

He had noticed that the pain in his ankle had almost completely disappeared that morning.

After finishing breakfast, he quickly returned to his apartment to pick up some necessary materials for the day. He was able to climb the stairs almost without any trouble. Although he didn’t find the documents he was looking for, just being able to do that much eased his mind considerably.

If things worked out, he thought he should return the crutch soon. After thinking about it, he wondered what Ogiwara would do in that situation.

In truth, the only time he could think leisurely was before work started. He couldn’t find the documents at his desk either, so he spent some time searching, but wasn’t able to find them and felt at a loss.

Just before lunch break, it suddenly came to him. He realized that the night before, he hadn’t reviewed the documents. They must be in the living room of Ogiwara’s apartment.

If he knew where it was, he could go pick it up, so he called a taxi as soon as his break started. Thanks to having remembered landmarks while looking out from the passenger seat, he was able to reach the apartment building without knowing the exact address.

Walking briskly toward the apartment, he felt a slight pain in his ankle. Since he wasn’t using the crutch, he changed his walking posture to avoid putting too much weight on it. He took the elevator, and when he arrived at the door to the sixth-floor apartment, he couldn’t help but feel exasperated with himself.

Minato didn’t have the key to this apartment. Because he’d been coming and going with Ogiwara every day, he had forgotten this fact.

As he reached for the doorknob and pondered, a voice called out, sounding curious.

“Who is it? Is there something you need?”

When he turned around, he saw a young woman. Minato unconsciously held his breath.

She appeared to be in her late twenties, her face was somewhat youthful with neatly done makeup, and her bright hair was curled at shoulder length. She wore a clean, simple pantsuit and had a puzzled expression, as if she didn’t understand why Minato was there, staring at him intently.

“Ah, um…”

Minato gently let go of the doorknob, realizing he must look suspicious. Then, he understood the meaning of her words.

“I’m sorry if I’m mistaken… but are you Minato-sensei… ? The tutor from when Koushi was in high school?”

Before he could think about it, Minato nodded in response to her question. Hearing the way she called Ogiwara by his first name, without honorifics, the excited feeling he had the previous night began to fade.

“I see. Okay, understood. Since you’re here, I guess it’s a forgotten item? I’ll open the door, please come in.”

Smiling brightly, she unlocked the door and let him through.

After thanking her, Minato hesitated before stepping inside. He rushed to the living room to grab the documents, which were casually placed on the table. While checking the documents, the woman, who had gone into the bedroom, poked her head out. Minato hurriedly lowered his head in greeting.

“I’m sorry for not introducing myself earlier. I’m Hosokawa Minato, a tutor at the cram school. Recently, I’ve been using this room without permission. I apologize for the inconvenience, and I’ll make sure to thank and apologize to you properly later.”

“I’m Nakamori Yuki. I’m a photographer’s assistant. You don’t have to worry about the room. As for the thanks and apology, I’ll collect them from Koushi. It’s rare for him to ask for something like this, so just that is actually kind of fun.”

Her bright, carefree laugh was so infectious that Minato couldn’t help but smile.

This woman is Ogiwara’s girlfriend. She had probably known him much longer than Minato and likely understood him more deeply.

“More importantly, I’m lucky to have met you here, Minato-sensei. Koushi didn’t want me to meet you, so I thought I’d never get to see your face.”

“…Ogiwara-kun didn’t want to?”

“Yeah. He told me to stay away from here so I wouldn’t bother you. …Oh, and please don’t tell Koushi you met me here, okay? If he finds out, he’ll definitely get mad.” She said it with a pleading tone, and Minato was left confused.

“He’s going to get mad? But this is your apartment, right?”

“Yeah, but I said he could use it whenever he wanted. Please, just keep it a secret from Koushi!”

With her head deeply bowed, Minato couldn’t refuse. He promised to keep quiet and quickly decided to head back to work. He could no longer tolerate being in that situation.

“Oh, let me give you a ride. I’m driving!”

“No, thank you. I’ve got a taxi waiting for me, so I’ll just accept your kind offer in spirit. Well, then, I’ll be on my way.”

He politely bowed and rushed out of the entrance, as if fleeing.

While he had been careful about his ankle on the way there, he pushed it a little harder on the way back. In the taxi, his ankle began to throb painfully.

It felt as if a sharp wedge had been driven into the lightness he had been feeling.

After finishing his last class of the day, Minato watched as all the students who had come with questions left. He then turned his gaze to the whiteboard, which he had just cleaned. On the glossy white surface, Nakamori Yuki’s carefree smile from earlier that day at the apartment building appeared to linger in his mind.

―――I’ll collect them from Koushi.

―――I said he could use it whenever he wanted.

While riding back to the cram school in the taxi, Minato realized something. It was a fact so glaringly obvious, something he could only laugh at, in a way that he had never thought about before.

One of the most notable changes in Ogiwara since moving into that apartment had been the reduction of physical affection—there was no longer any intimacy, and the level of skinship had significantly decreased.

If Minato hadn’t brought it up, Ogiwara wouldn’t have tried to rest in the same bed. That meant, perhaps, he hadn’t felt the desire to do so in that room. To put it bluntly, maybe Ogiwara didn’t want to share his lover’s bed with Minato in that way.

If he was just taking care of Minato because he felt responsible for his injury and being kind—if that’s why he was borrowing his lover’s room—then everything seemed to add up.

Minato exhaled quietly and began inspecting the classroom. He adjusted the desk, picking up any trash that caught his eye.

The warmth and excitement that had been in his chest until the lunch break had completely vanished. It might be more accurate to say that the feelings of being overwhelmed had returned to normal.

At the beginning, Ogiwara had clearly told him that it was ‘just convenient’. He hadn’t even tried to hide the existence of his lover.

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*Translator’s Note: Or maybe he just didn’t wanna do it because of your ankle, Minato-sensei, and that he felt guilty??? -K

Next update: 2026.09.07

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