Oregairu: My First Masterpiece, Your Lie in April Chapter 59: Utaha Kasumigaoka

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Fate, as the dictionary puts it, is "the developnt of events beyond a person's control, regarded as determined by a supernatural power."

The mont Oikawa realized he'd already t Utaha before…

…it felt like his heart stopped for two seconds, then suddenly kicked back to life.

They stood on opposite sides of the street. The red light had less than ten seconds left, yet to Oikawa, it seed to drag on forever.

Across the road, Utaha Kasumigaoka—

She wore a white strappy dress, cinched at the waist with a blue ribbon. Her bare arms were pale and smooth, almost like porcelain.

The smile on her face was like a spring breeze brushing gently across his chest. When their eyes t, she raised both hands and waved energetically, as if saying:

"Oikawa-Senpai, I'm here!"

Most girls, dressed like that, would go bare-legged to keep a pure, innocent look.

But Utaha wore black stockings.

In Oikawa's imagination, that combination should've clashed.

On her, though, it carried a strangely alluring charm.

Especially paired with her impressive figure… it stirred thoughts he probably shouldn't be having.

Oikawa couldn't quite tell— Was it just the filter he'd placed over her in his mind, or was she really this captivating?

"Captivating" almost felt like it carried a hint of sothing improper.

But he couldn't think of a better word for the girl standing in front of him.

The countdown ticked away.

"3… 2… 1…"

Utaha had been about to cross over to him, but when she saw him already striding toward her, she stopped.

Instead, she simply stood there.

Hands behind her back, wearing a gentle smile, watching him co closer.

Her heart was racing.

No, more than that. She felt so nervous she almost wanted to turn and run.

With every step Oikawa took toward her, that urge only grew stronger. It made her realize she wasn't nearly as bold in real life as she was online.

'Should I run? Do I run? Ah… too late now.'

Looking at his face up close—

The face she'd imagined so many tis, pieced together from faint reflections in glass—

None of those imagined versions ca close to the real thing.

"Senpai… you're so tall!"

The words slipped out before she could stop them.

The mont she said it, she froze.

Then ca the overwhelming regret.

She'd rehearsed this eting hundreds of tis in her head.

"Oikawa-Senpai, we finally et."

"Senpai, you didn't pretend not to see this ti."

"Senpai, it's nice to et you."

Anything would've been better than, "Senpai, you're so tall!"

If only ti could rewind five seconds. Just five.

"Shouldn't it be 'you're so handso'?"

Oikawa's earlier stray thoughts vanished completely. He smiled and held out his hand.

"I'm Oikawa Tōru. Nice to finally et you, even though you never told your real na."

The tension in Utaha's chest lted away.

She placed her hand in his without hesitation.

"Senpai, it's nice to et you."

"My na is Utaha Kasumigaoka."

Utaha Kasumigaoka?

The mont he heard it, sothing clicked hard in Oikawa's mind.

That's why she looked so familiar.

Why had Utako Kasumi always felt oddly familiar to him.

Because "Utako Kasumi" wasn't just a pen na, it was kinda her na.

Everything suddenly made sense.

"Senpai… even if you're trying to take advantage, don't you think you're being a bit too eager?"

Utaha glanced at their hands. They'd been holding on for nearly a full minute. A faint blush crept onto her cheeks, and even her voice trembled slightly.

"I'll report you for harassnt, you know. Do you really want headlines like 'famous author arrested for indecent behavior'?"

Her words sounded like a threat, but her face was still lit with a soft smile.

Damn.

Even like this, Oikawa found her ridiculously cute.

Was this the power of contrast?

"Here. A gift for eting in person."

"A signed copy of Your Lie in April, with a personal ssage."

Oikawa finally let go of her hand and handed over the prepared book.

"What a coincidence. I brought you the sa kind of gift."

Utaha took out her own novel, Koisuru trono, the one that had won her the Silver Prize.

"Looks like we're pretty in sync."

They exchanged smiles and swapped their gifts.

When Utaha opened the book, she saw his signature on the title page, along with a handwritten note. {"A single encounter, gentle as golden winds and pure as jade dew, makes all other etings pale in comparison."}

A smile tugged at her lips before she could stop it.

She snuck a glance at Oikawa, then quickly lowered her head again.

People always tend to idealize soone they've never t.

The first ti she'd talked to him, Utaha had been full of irritation. She thought he was arrogant, an overconfident nobody who insisted on arguing with her.

But as they kept talking…

She slowly realized he wasn't nearly as annoying as she'd imagined.

In fact, she'd learned a lot of writing techniques from him. And he never held anything back. Whether it was her or soone in their group chat asking about writing, he always answered in full, without reservation.

Little by little…

As their conversations grew deeper, she found herself more and more interested in him.

To Utaha, Oikawa was… strange.

Sotis he was lively and unpredictable. Other tis, oddly reserved.

But one thing was certain.

He was absolutely a pervert.

In the group chat, he made the most risqué jokes.

He'd toned it down a bit after winning the Dengeki Bunko prize, but when it ca to chatting with her, his true nature still slipped through.

Utaha had assud that eting him in person would be disappointing.

The real Oikawa couldn't possibly live up to the version she'd built in her head.

At least, that's what she'd believed. Completely.

But now…

It seed like the version in her imagination wasn't as perfect as she'd thought.

…

"A single encounter, gentle as golden winds and pure as jade dew, makes all other etings pale in comparison.…"

Utaha murmured softly, hugging the copy of Your Lie in April to her chest like it was sothing precious.

This ti, she raised her head openly and looked at Oikawa.

But when her gaze fell on her own book, Koisuru trono, she suddenly felt a trace of embarrassnt.

Her inscription read:" Isn't all of beauty really just a mirror of yourself?"

It was adapted from a line in No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai: "Isn't all of humanity really just a mirror of yourself?"

She had altered it slightly.

But… it felt a little cliché.

Compared to his line, hers seed almost plain.

Not just a little worse.

Much worse.

"I like it."

Oikawa closed the book and looked at her seriously.

Utaha's voice dropped. "But it's not that good. It even feels kind of cliché."

"It doesn't have to be amazing. If it's sothing you gave , then as long as I like it, that's enough."

Utaha tilted her head up slightly.

In his eyes, she saw sothing bright, like sunlight at noon.

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.

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