Careful What You Think, Pervert! (My Dirty Thoughts Became Real)-Chapter 28: “You Don’t Get to Be Gentle With Me Anymore.”

Setting: After school.Location: The empty music room.Scene: A confrontation long overdue.

It starts simple.

Kazuki gets a text.

From Kokoro.

"Meet me. Music room. Now."

No emojis. No ellipses.

Just cold clarity.

His stomach flips.

Not in a good way.

4:21 p.m. – Music Room

The light filters in golden through the old curtains.

Dust hangs like lazy ghosts in the air.

Kokoro stands by the piano.

Not playing.

Just waiting.

She doesn't turn when he enters.

She says:

"Close the door."

He obeys.

The sound of it clicking shut is too final.

Silence.

Then:

"Do you know how long I've liked you?"

Kazuki flinches.

Kokoro's voice is even.

Not angry.

Not sad.

Just razor-sharp.

"Since second year. Since you tried to return my dropped notebook and accidentally fell into a bush and blamed it on gravity."

He remembers.

She smiles faintly.

"Stupid moment. But it was real. You weren't trying to impress me. You weren't pretending."

He opens his mouth.

She raises a hand.

"Don't. Not yet."

He shuts it again.

She walks to the piano.

Runs her fingers along the dust. ƒгeewёbnovel.com

"I watched you fall for Aya. I watched you fight it. Then I watched you fall again."

She turns to him.

And the pain finally shows.

"I stayed. Because I thought maybe... you'd notice me. Like really notice me. Without magic. Without fanservice. Just... me."

He looks down.

Her voice tightens.

"But then everything became about you. Your powers. Your panic. Your romantic tug-of-war. And I kept making space for you like a fool."

He steps forward.

She doesn't move.

"You're not a fool," he says.

"No?" she says. "Then what am?"

He hesitates.

She slaps him.

It's not hard.

But it's enough.

He doesn't react.

Just breathes.

She says:

"You don't get to be gentle with me anymore, Kazuki."

His chest aches.

"I never wanted to hurt you."

"And yet you did. Over and over. With your silences. With your almosts. With your inability to decide."

He whispers: "I didn't mean to—"

"That's the thing!" she snaps. "You keep doing things you don't mean to. And we're the ones bleeding from it."

The words slice through him.

She softens.

Finally.

And says:

"I wanted you to choose me. Just once. Out loud. Without the story forcing it. Without some magical accident. Just... because."

He looks up.

And says:

"I still might."

She laughs bitterly.

"Too late."

Then she steps past him.

At the door, she stops.

"Tell Aya I don't hate her. Tell her I'm just tired of sharing the emotional rent for your indecision."

And then she's gone.

Evening – Apartment

Kazuki enters to find Aya lounging in a hoodie.

She looks up.

One glance at his face tells her everything.

"...She let it all out?"

He nods.

Aya sighs. "Good."

He sits.

Staring at the floor.

"I think she's gone."

"She's not," Aya says.

"But she doesn't want me anymore."

"That's different."

He looks at her.

"Do you?"

Aya shrugs.

"Sometimes."

Ouch.

Then she adds:

"But I'm still here. Still making breakfast. Still slapping you when you're dumb. So yeah. I think I do. Just... not blindly."

She tosses him a drink.

He catches it clumsily.

Aya sips hers and says:

"You've got a power that makes your dumbest thoughts become real. Maybe it's time you think clearly on purpose."

He chuckles.

"Is that a thing?"

She pokes his head.

"It is for people who grow up."

Late Night – Kazuki's Room

He writes.

Not magic.

Not fanservice.

Just words.

"I hurt Kokoro.I might lose her.But maybe that's part of growing up—knowing not everyone you love waits for you to deserve them."

He closes the book.

And thinks, finally, without panicking:

"Aya. Kokoro. Me.We're not a triangle.We're three stories crossing paths."

And maybe...

Maybe it's okay if one of those stories ends.