After Being Dumped With the Insult, “You’re So Clingy!” and Finding Her in Despair, I Kept Encouraging My Beautiful Classmate and as a Result, That Beautiful Girl Started Directing Her Heavy Emotions Toward Me Instead, but Since I Like Emotionally Heavy Girls, It’s No Problem - 23

Chapter 23: I Agreed to Pretend to Be Her Boyfriend ~ My Classmates’ Reactions

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“All right, the door’s locked…”

“Shall we head to school, then?”

It was Tuesday morning. I twisted the doorknob a few times to make sure it was locked. The moment I put the key into my wallet, Futaba wrapped herself around my left arm. Her hair swayed softly, and the sweet scent of a girl’s shampoo drifted to my nose. That sweetness stirred my heart.

“Hehe♪”

“Um… Futaba?”

I was confused, not understanding why she had suddenly clung to me. Perhaps noticing my expression, she puffed her cheeks slightly in displeasure.

“You and I are lovers, you know? Linking arms is perfectly normal, isn’t it?”

“O-Oh. So that’s what this is about.”

Yesterday, Futaba and I had made a certain agreement. To drive away the guys who kept approaching her, I would pretend to be her boyfriend. This seemed to be part of that plan.

“But do we really have to go this far?”

“We do! If we don’t make it this obvious, some people won’t understand that we’re dating.”

“I-I see.”

As someone who had never been popular, it didn’t fully click for me, but if she said so, then it must be true. I decided to obediently follow her lead.

“Yes. So I’m going to hold on even tighter. Squeeze~♡”

“U-Um…”

“I’m counting on you, my boyfriend♡”

Saying that, Futaba pressed her body closer to mine and clung to my arm with even more strength than before. A girl… And not just any girl, but an unbelievably beautiful one like Futaba, was pressed up against me. That fact alone was overwhelmingly stimulating for someone like me who had zero romantic experience. My heartbeat sped up so much that even I could clearly feel it.

No, no. What am I doing? I’m supposed to be Futaba’s boyfriend right now.

I had volunteered myself, saying I would grant any of her wishes. That meant I had to properly fulfill my role. I shook my head and desperately chased away those flustering emotions swirling in my mind.

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With our arms linked, we walked down the path to school. As we drew closer, the number of students on the road steadily increased.

“Hey, isn’t that Jujoji-san from year two?” 

“You’re right. Is that her boyfriend next to her?” 

“No way! I was totally aiming for her…” 

“So it’s true she’s not dating Senkawa.”

Those kinds of whispers reached my ears as we passed by. Futaba wasn’t just admired in our class, she was known throughout the school as a beautiful girl. Naturally, when someone like her walked arm-in-arm with a guy, it would become the talk of the students.

Was I being seen properly as her boyfriend? I tried to walk with my chest out so I wouldn’t look uncool, but inside I felt uneasy. From what I had overheard, though, they did seem to recognize me as her boyfriend.

“Hehe♪ This is going well.”

In contrast to my nerves, Futaba wore a composed smile.

…If nothing else, she really had nerves of steel. I honestly admired that about her. Meanwhile, I was a bundle of anxiety inside. We passed through the school gate and onto the grounds. At the entrance, we changed from our outdoor shoes into indoor slippers, and still with our arms linked, headed toward our classroom. I placed my hand on the classroom door.

A moment of tension. How would our classmates react?

…No matter what kind of reaction we received, I had to play the role of Futaba’s boyfriend. It wouldn’t all be positive reactions. There were bound to be negative ones too. But I had accepted this role knowing that. This wasn’t like yesterday.

After taking one deep breath, I braced myself and opened the door. The classmates inside turned toward us all at once, their eyes locking onto the two of us with our arms linked. The once noisy classroom instantly fell silent. They stared at us with curiosity filling their eyes.

“Uh… does this mean Jujoji and Kokonoe are dating?”

With everyone watching us closely, a male student who happened to be nearby threw that question our way.

“Y-Yeah. That’s right.”

“Yes. Ichika-kun and I are in a relationship♡”

In order to drive away the boys approaching Futaba, we had to openly appeal our relationship to those around us. So answering like this was part of my role. Following my lead, she also declared that we were dating. The next moment, the classroom erupted like boiling water.

“Hey, congrats! A couple from our class, huh?” 

“Futaba-chan, congratulations!” 

“Kokonoe, you’re amazing! You won over our idol Futaba-chan!” 

“…Now that I think about it, those two have been together a lot lately. If they were dating, that makes sense.” 

“Honestly, I think Kokonoe-kun is better than Senkawa-kun.”

…It was a little unexpected. Futaba was practically the class idol. Even if it was fake, I had become her boyfriend. I had expected jealousy or bitter remarks. Instead, what flew at us were words of celebration.

“Ichika.”

“Musashi…”

Musashi stepped forward slowly from the back of the classroom and approached us. His eyes were red, and he looked on the verge of tears.

…Musashi had secretly harbored feelings for Futaba. I knew that because he had told me himself. Right… No matter what the others said, I couldn’t blame him if he resented me.

“…I thought something was off. Yesterday your lunches were exactly the same, and there’s no way someone as bad at cooking as you could suddenly make something that perfect. Now the mystery’s solved. …Futaba-chan made it for you, didn’t she?”

“…Yeah. I’m sorry for lying. I apologize.”

“No, I’m not angry. …I’m just sad. I thought you were my best friend. But you kept something like that from me… that’s cold, man.”

“It’s just… I knew how you felt, so I couldn’t bring myself to say it. I’m really sorry.”

“Yeah, I did kind of like Futaba-chan. So yeah, I’m frustrated. But more than that, I’m happy my best friend found someone. Make Futaba-chan… No, make our idol happy. If you two are happy, then that’s enough for me!”

“Musashi… Yes. I promise.”

…He was truly a good friend. Not only did he forgive me, he even celebrated us. A wave of guilt washed over me for deceiving such a friend. Somehow suppressing that feeling, I fulfilled my role as Futaba’s boyfriend.

Choosing Futaba over my best friend… Before I realized it, Futaba had become that important to me. It was at that moment that I first truly became aware of it.

“Anyway, you two should stop standing in the doorway and come in already. You’re blocking the entrance.”

“Oh, sorry.”

When a nearby male student pointed that out, I turned around to see other classmates stuck behind us, unable to enter because of us. Still linking arms with Futaba, we stepped into the classroom. As we did, she clung even tighter and leaned further into me as if to deliberately show it off to everyone else.

“Woo! Woo!” 

“Congrats!” 

“Futaba-chan’s so cute!”

Cheers of celebration rang out from our classmates as they watched her. Surrounded by their voices, we made our way to our seats. The fact that our classmates had accepted our relationship, and that (for now) I was successfully fulfilling my role as Futaba’s boyfriend…

At those two facts, I quietly let out a breath of relief.

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