My Beautiful Man (Utsukushii Kare)Ch1.10 - He is Beautiful

Translator: White Lotus

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Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

In the third year of high school, Hira was assigned to a different class than Kiyoi and Shirota.

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Additionally, Kiyoi and Shirota were put in separate classes, and after school, Hira frequently observed Kiyoi returning home with his new pals. Hira was by himself as usual, but since he’d always been alone, it might be considered that everything was in order.

Although Hira was content that his last year of high school had started off peacefully like a tranquil sea, he still yearned to return to his sophomore year, to the time when he could see Kiyoi every time he went to school.

Naturally, Kiyoi never called or texted Hira. And even if he died, Hira wouldn’t dare to contact him. The fact that Kiyoi’s class was at the end of the corridor made the possibility of them occasionally running into each other incredibly slim.

Perhaps they wouldn’t have any more opportunities to see each other alone. Before he realized it, he once again found himself wishing for a sickeningly sweet couple on the train to explode.

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So, on Wednesday, the last week of April, when he bumped into Kiyoi at the entrance after school, Hira was so excited by Kiyoi’s fleeting glance towards him that he almost felt as though he had been flying to heaven. Kiyoi placed the shoes he had in his hand back into the shoe box, and Hira, as if in a dream, followed him to the music room.

Hira was able to meet him only once, in April. It also happened only once in May. In June, just as Kiyoi was about to cast a glance his way, a girl from the same grade showed up and wrecked everything, and then their summer vacation got under way.

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――I wonder when we’ll see each other again.

――I don’t know if I’ll ever get to see you again.

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Being excruciated by undue expectations and melancholy, Hira ran between home and cram school to prepare for the entrance exam while listening to the cacophony of cicadas. He intended to enroll in a university in Tokyo. Given that it was within commuting distance of his house, Hira didn’t think there would be any dramatic changes.

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Hira once again went to the fireworks event where he had been given an order to occupy a spot last year, thinking that he might be able to see Kiyoi; however, other than just experiencing anthropophobia, it was all for naught. Last year, later on, he was sent to a restaurant to reserve seats shortly after the fireworks event started, and as a result, he was not able to see the fireworks properly, but this year he finally got to see them. The massive, luminous flowers were blooming in the night sky. Yet Hira wasn’t particularly happy; instead, he felt so strongly the absence of Kiyoi that he wished the summer vacation would end soon.

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After the summer break, when the long-awaited day finally arrived, something unexpected happened at school. n42CPy

“Hey, hey, did you see that thing about Kiyoi-kun?”

“I saw it. It was amazing!” n0uxoc

Hira picked up his imaginary machine gun for the first time in a long while, thinking that someone must have written something again about Kiyoi; however, this time he was wrong. What got the attention of the girls was the fact that Kiyoi was featured as a model in a fashion magazine, and upon learning this, Hira immediately went straight to the bookstore after school. 

Unable to wait until he got home, Hira flipped through the magazine in front of the store and confirmed that it was indeed Kiyoi inside. It was a special edition entitled [Coordinated Outfits for Holiday Dating], and Kiyoi appeared in it as a boy on a date. YSwg6u

This magazine wasn’t the organizer of the contest, and then again, Kiyoi didn’t make it to the top three, so why in the world would Kiyoi appear in the magazine? Hira was intrigued, but Hira had heard rumors that a talent agency had taken a fancy to Kiyoi during the contest, so Kiyoi was now a talent affiliated with that agency. When he went through the agency’s website, Hira was thrilled to see a picture of Kiyoi among its talents, along with many other famous actors and celebrities.

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We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

           ――I wanted to be inside the TV when I was a kid. l7WGCn

           ――It must be fun. There’re so many people, and they’re all smiling.

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As Kiyoi’s exposure in magazines increased, the slander that had previously subsided on the Internet began again. However, the newly enrolled first-year girls formed a fan club for Kiyoi, while some girls in the same grade counteracted it, making Kiyoi even more popular than before, like an idol, and causing more and more commotion.

Occasionally, when they crossed paths in the corridor, Kiyoi was surrounded by a large group of people as before and was unable to even look at Hira; instead, he would simply walk away. There were no more secret meetings between the two. IU6fcL

There was loneliness.

However, Hira also felt this was the way it should be. dRPoG1

Kiyoi was more suited to smirking icily in the center of the crowd than getting involved with a guy like him who was at the bottom of the pyramid. In the deserted music room and after-school classroom, spending time alone with Kiyoi seemed like a delusion, and as Hira was feeling lonely, he gently placed his hand over his mouth.

His lips still remembered the warmth of Kiyoi’s hand. He had long, slender fingers, and his nails were even more perfectly shaped. Precisely because it was a time that felt like a dream, it was so vividly etched in Hira’s heart. 2X0 4f

          ――Gross.

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Those thin, beautifully shaped lips with a light smile gave off the impression that they were belittling other people. Whenever he passed by Kiyoi, who was surrounded by people, Hira would touch his lips as he recalled the Kiyoi that only he knew. OmTAsp

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The day of the graduation ceremony was very cold, and it had been snowing since the morning.

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Even though it was obvious from the beginning that he had intended to enter the entertainment industry, Kiyoi unexpectedly applied for admission to a university in Tokyo. It seemed as though he had been advised that rather than decide the future when they were still teenagers, it would be ideal if it were feasible to balance both career and academic pathways.

During the boring graduation ceremony, Hira kept staring at the small head of Kiyoi, who was standing far in front of him. When he thought that today was the last day, he couldn’t waste even a single second.

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After the graduation ceremony, Hira asked his parents to go back first on the pretext that he had a class farewell party. Although this was not a lie, Hira didn’t intend to attend that party either. For a guy at the bottom of the pyramid, attending a farewell party had little significance.

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Kiyoi was surrounded by a lot of girls. Many of the first-graders were sobbing, but Kiyoi seemed to respond indifferently to them without even offering a word of consolation, just like his usual style.

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Hira signed his name on the class autograph card and as he didn’t intend to talk to anyone else afterward, he chose a more secluded spot to sit and just watched Kiyoi from a distance.

Once he had dealt with all the girls, Kiyoi declined the invitations of his classmates to hang out with them and walked away alone. In the face of the girls who stubbornly kept pestering him, Kiyoi simply said, “How persistent!” and turned around. For a moment, Hira felt Kiyoi glance at him. PRGJz0

After walking through the school gate, Kiyoi made his way to the back of the school building, where no one was around. As soon as he reached the shaded place behind the emergency stairway, Kiyoi finally turned around to look at Hira.

“Stalker.” AjDHlB

Looking at Kiyoi’s icily smirking face, an incomprehensible feeling welled up inside Hira. As it had been a long time since he and Kiyoi had been alone face-to-face like this, Hira thought that such an opportunity would never come again.

“Sorry.” Eujrlv

“I don’t mind.”

The conversation came to an end at that point. Kiyoi wasn’t particularly vivacious, and Hira wasn’t much of a talker either. The two of them had nothing to talk about even when they met alone, and to be more precise, it appeared as though the words were drops of rain falling slowly. JrjdYd

Yet Hira was already very satisfied with this. Even if they didn’t engage in lively conversation, he recorded that shiny brown hair, that long, slender neck, and those delicate fingertips in his eyes, his heart, and his camera. Just that alone made him incredibly happy――

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At this moment, Hira felt terribly impatient. hsgfRq

Knowing that it would be their last meeting, Hira felt the need to say something.

When he thought this was the last time, the words seemed to have flown somewhere in the distance. BzdVAd

“Kiyoi――”

“You――” 9jGvl8

Both of them spoke at the same time.

“I’m sorry, what is it? Please say.” rY3dP7

Hira asked, leaning forward slightly in order not to miss a single word Kiyoi said.

“What do you mean what is it……you…” zb20JK

“Yes?”

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“Don’t you have something to tell me?” AjbiIv

Hira blinked, confused. Tell him? Something to tell him? It was too sudden, which caused Hira to become very anxious. After noticing that Hira was desperately thinking of what to say just by seeing his face, Kiyoi turned his face away.

“Forget it.” jAZkl0

On Kiyoi’s side profile, a hint of gloominess could be seen. Ah, what on earth should he have to say? Hira wondered.

As Hira couldn’t resist cursing himself, Kiyoi looked over at him. Then he took a step forward. On the second step, he stepped into a small puddle, splashing the water, and with the third step, the last distance between the two disappeared. fEBlvd

When the other’s lips suddenly touched his own, Hira couldn’t even close his eyes.

Their lips met for just a moment, and Kiyoi immediately backed away. zpnD8f

“Kiyoi?”

Hira looked at the other with his eyes wide open. w4Ojps

“Then, see you.”

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After saying those words, Kiyoi immediately turned around and walked away. cpTj2P

Hira simply remained there in a state of bemusement as he watched Kiyoi’s back recede into the distance.

The color of the summer uniforms was white. For winter, the uniform color was navy blue. Hira was able to spot him at a glance, even in the midst of the crowd of people who were all wearing the same uniform. Never once had he been mistaken. When Kiyoi turned the corner of the school building and was completely out of sight, Hira literally lost his strength. As he sank to his knees and hit the ground, his upper body instinctively slumped forward. 0fWVHD

His hands touched the ground, making a distinct sound of water splashing as they dipped into the puddle.

It was the puddle that Kiyoi stepped on just a moment ago. fIqBd3

Until recently, it was a puddle of water that reflected the figure of Kiyoi.

As Hira bent down in a prostrate position, his forehead and fringe were drenched in muddy water. The coldness of March’s water seeped in. EUo57h

         ――Then, see you.

They were simple words of goodbye. It hurts. It hurts so bad. It was as though you were gripping a razor-sharp knife with your own bare hands. And yet, since these words came out of Kiyoi’s lips, he could never forget. Whether it was flowers, poison, or a knife, he had no choice but to embrace the things given to him by Kiyoi. qVnKEF

A weak, raspy sound came out of his throat, and the moment his body swayed, his cell phone fell from his pocket directly into the puddle of water. Ah, he needed to pick it up quickly. If not, it would be ruined.

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But he no longer had the strength to pick it up. 08HntT

Because he would never see Kiyoi again.

In that case, not to mention his cell phone, Hira thought it would be better if the whole world would just break into pieces. 5NQWd0

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Translator’s Note: Finally, the first chapter has been completed. The next chapter will be “Bitter Sweet Loop,” which will depict the university lives of Hira and Kiyoi. I sincerely hope you’re all enjoying this book. I appreciate you all for reading this far. XOXO  PCD8xo

Thanks to Neoday, Adele & Horse for the kofis (*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡