CM Chapter 44

Chapter 44 – Things Coming to an End

Chapter 2, Part 9.2

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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Once things tipped in that direction, there would never be a day where Minato would be rewarded. He had known that, so he had desperately tried to suppress his feelings so as not to be more carried away by Ogiwara than he already was.

To that end, he had intentionally kept a distance between them.

But still.

“…I’m completely beyond help, aren’t I?”

What Yoshiharu knew was only the version of events from Minato’s perspective, so it was naturally skewed in a way that suited Minato. The ironic part was that Minato had taken it all too seriously and, because of the kindness shown to him, had started to harbor strange hopes.

“It was already too late.” Minato quietly thought to himself.

Now, he realized. It had gone too far, and he had already tilted too much toward Ogiwara to turn back. If he stayed any closer to Ogiwara, he surely wouldn’t be able to endure it.

It would be an even more disgraceful scene than the one from ten years ago…

The nails dug into the palm of his clenched hand. Even the pain, which should have been certain, now felt distant.

***

If human feelings have an expiration date, the courage one gathers to act is surely as short as sashimi left out in the sun.

The very act of gathering courage requires a push that is often not there. They say to seize the opportunity when it presents itself, but if you miss it, things can quickly lose momentum.

Exhaling softly, Minato turned his attention to the bustling crowd.

As usual, Ogiwara had come to pick him up, but this time, surprisingly, Ogiwara had suggested stopping by somewhere. He told Minato to wait in the car while he would be back soon, but when Minato found out they were heading to an electronics store, he insisted that he had some shopping to do as well. After agreeing to the condition, Ogiwara led him through the store, and now Minato sat on a bench in the waiting area, waiting for him to return.

As he breathed out in boredom, the image of Ogiwara’s girlfriend from the lunch break flashed in his mind.

She was an elegant, beautiful woman. Her casual use of Ogiwara’s first name carried an intimacy that was so natural it seemed to overflow from every word.

If they stood together, they would surely make a perfect couple. She seemed a few years older than him, but for someone like Ogiwara, perhaps that would be a good match. He thought this rather calmly, then found himself laughing at his own foolish elation from last night to today.

…Given that Ogiwara’s feelings for Minato didn’t exist, confessing would be pointless. With the end of their current relationship in sight, there was no need to subject himself to the misery of a confession. But as soon as he thought that, a sense of discomfort crept into his thoughts.

―――Otherwise, it’ll never end.

―――There’s no point in keeping your pride in front of someone like that.

“Ah… right.”

The voice of Yoshiharu echoed in his ears, reminding him. It wasn’t to fulfill anything but to bring it to an end that his friend had suggested he confess. Instead of just waiting for things to end without saying anything, Yoshiharu had advised that if Minato laid everything bare, he would be able to move on. After hearing that, Minato had likely thought it would be better to never have to go through these feelings again.

Knowing that the impulse wouldn’t last long, Minato stood up, determined to find Ogiwara. He guessed he might be in the camera section, so he made his way through the aisles of display shelves, eventually hearing a familiar voice.

“…You don’t have to worry, I’ll be moving out of that apartment soon. I’m not planning to stay there forever, and it’s about time, anyway.”

The moment Minato realized it was Ogiwara, it wasn’t his feet that reacted first, but his ears. Squinting, he saw the tall figure through a gap in the high shelf, with his back turned and a cellphone pressed to his ear.

“I don’t want to be completely disregarded either, so it’s time to put an end to this. —I’ll never let this person go. This person’s mine, after all.”

The last words Ogiwara spoke were full of a gentle, affectionate tone.

—Hearing him speak like that to her, the courage Minato had gathered in that moment shattered quietly into pieces. The voice seemed to tell him that he would never be the one, and with bated breath, all he could do was silently retreat.

“…Sorry, I must’ve kept you waiting for a while.”

How long had he been sitting there in a daze? As he slowly lifted his face to the familiar voice, his eyes met Ogiwara’s, standing in front of him.

“Minato-sensei? Is something wrong?”

“…Sorry, I was spaced out. Is it over?”

“Yeah. Shall we go home?” Saying that, Ogiwara reached for Minato’s shopping bags. Despite his refusal, Ogiwara didn’t listen, and in the end, Minato ended up following him to the car, with Ogiwara’s hands full of bags.

“Your ankle looks a lot better. You didn’t have any trouble today without the crutch?”

“Not at all. The pain’s gone, so I think I could go back to my apartment today.”

The pain that had appeared after walking around without the crutch during lunch break yesterday had completely subsided by morning, so Minato decided to stop using the crutch outdoors today. He thought Ogiwara, who had been so worried this morning, would be reassured by that.

“No, you can’t. Just to be safe, let’s take it easy until you return the crutch.”

“…Got it.”

The usual retort Minato would give didn’t come out this time. Perhaps sensing something off, Ogiwara glanced sideways at him from the driver’s seat.

“You’re going to return the crutch the morning after tomorrow, before work, right? If we leave two hours earlier, we should make it in time, so I’ll have the car ready then.”

“That’s fine. You have work too, and you’ve already been driving me around, so it’s been a burden. My foot’s healed, so I can go alone.”

“That’s a pretty big crutch, so it’s dangerous to carry it and get on the train. But considering what you did for me ten years ago, it’s nothing. Please don’t worry about it.”

When he was spoken to so firmly, there was no response left for Minato. He offered a brief thanks, and despite the gentle tone, he felt that the voice was like an ultimatum.

―――I’m not planning to stay there forever, and it’s about time, anyway.

―――I don’t want to be completely disregarded either, so it’s time to put an end to this.

The words Minato had just heard echoed continuously in his mind. Each of them connected the scattered facts together.

“I see. So that’s what it was…” He finally thought he understood the reason for Ogiwara’s change.

In Ogiwara’s mind, everything had already been settled. Minato didn’t know when or what had caused it, but Ogiwara likely planned to end things soon.

A cute girlfriend and a convenient toy didn’t even need to be weighed against each other. Minato’s injury would soon heal, so before his precious girlfriend grew tired of him, Ogiwara had decided to end things, to keep her from slipping away. That was what it came down to.

―――I’ll never let this person go. This person’s mine, after all.

Ogiwara’s voice resounded again deep in Minato’s ears. The faint echo of that kind, almost heartbreaking tone made the last remaining pieces of Minato’s courage pop and vanish, and he felt it fade into the distance.

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*Translator’s Note: From Ogiwara’s conversation just now… I think everyone hearing the English version would have already guessed that ‘this person’ that he was talking about means Minato-sensei, right? But if you hear the Japanese version, it’s easy to misunderstand that Ogiwara was probably talking about his girlfriend who was on the phone with him. It’s a spoiler at this point, but I don’t care, because that’s just the thing about language translation. Not everything can be brought across similarly. So, I’m sorry about this. No can do… -K

Next update: 2026.09.08

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