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 - 30

Chapter 30: A Day Off Without Futaba

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“Mm? Is it morning already…?”

Saturday. The chirping of small birds outside the window slowly pulled my consciousness to the surface. The same worn-out ceiling as always came into view.

“What time is it…? My phone, my phone… Huh, 11!? You’ve got to be kidding me!?”

I fumbled around by my pillow for my smartphone to check the time. The screen displayed “11:03.” It was less morning and more midday. It was Saturday, so there was no school. I didn’t have to worry about being late or anything like that, but I still couldn’t hide my shock at the fact that I had slept in until 11.

Because usually, Futaba would come to wake me up. But no matter how much I looked around the room today, I couldn’t see her anywhere.

Why isn’t she here today?

Could it be that she’d grown sick of me and abandoned me…? Or maybe she got into an accident on the way over…? Dark clouds gathered in my heart.

“Oh, right. Futaba isn’t coming today…”

That was when I remembered what Futaba had said yesterday: 『I’m sorry. I have some family business tomorrow that I absolutely can’t miss, so I won’t be able to take care of you, Ichika-kun…』

Sure enough, my brain didn’t function well right after waking up. I couldn’t even immediately recall something that had happened just a day ago.

“I see. So Futaba isn’t coming today…”

I looked around the room again. Indeed, there was no one here but me. I finally felt the reality that Futaba wasn’t around.

Come to think of it, ever since that incident at the beginning of June,I feel like we’ve always been together the entire time.

Weekdays, weekends, at school, even when going out somewhere.. We were almost always together. Today was the first time we’d been apart for more than a day.

“So that’s it. Futaba isn’t here… Haa…”

I said it out loud once more and felt my spirits sink. Being with Futaba had become that natural to me.

“But this is bound to happen someday. I need to make sure I’ll be okay even if Futaba isn’t around.”

I couldn’t just sit around feeling down. Someday, the relationship between Futaba and me would come to an end. Right now, I was accepting her doting care in order to help heal the wounds in her heart. Once her emotional scars healed, this relationship would be over. I’d been completely dependent on Futaba, but for the day that time came, I had to train myself so I could return to living alone at any moment.

“Come on. I’m just going back to how things were a month ago. That’s easy, right?”

Up until a month ago, I’d been living alone just fine. I was only going back to that. Even if she wasn’t here, I’d prove that I could live on my own. With that resolve, I started moving.

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“There should still be some frozen food and cup noodles left…”

First, I needed to fill my stomach. Holding down the belly that was practically shouting, “Feed me already!” I rummaged through the freezer. I was pretty sure there was still some frozen food I’d bought earlier.

“Oh, there it is. Fried rice, huh? Well, this’ll do.”

I dug the fried rice out of the freezer, emptied it onto a plate, covered it with plastic wrap, and heated it in the microwave. Six minutes later, I carried the thawed fried rice to the table and began to eat.

“Thanks for the meal. Mmm…”

It wasn’t bad. Frozen food had improved so much lately that it was almost on par with what you’d get at a restaurant. But compared to the fried rice Futaba made, something was missing. That was strange. I distinctly remembered saying a month ago, “This is good. Frozen food these days is just like what you get at a restaurant!” while eating this very same dish.

It seemed my taste buds had completely grown accustomed to Futaba’s homemade cooking.

“Phew, thanks for the meal.”

I put my hands together after finishing the tasteless breakfast though time-wise, it was more like lunch. It felt so lonely. Maybe it was because I was used to eating with Futaba. Her smiling face floated into my mind.

“No, no, what am I getting so depressed for just because Futaba isn’t here for one day!?”

I hurriedly tried to pump myself up after slipping into a sentimental mood. If this kept up, I’d be in trouble. After that, I spent some time doing laundry and cleaning my room, but I finished quickly. By around 1 p.m., I had absolutely nothing to do. As a student, this would’ve been the perfect time to review my lessons, but I wasn’t in the mood. Instead, I lay down on my bed and started scrolling through my phone. But as expected, all that filled my mind was Futaba.

Whenever I had free time before, I’d chat about trivial things with her. Time with her was so fun that it passed in the blink of an eye.

“Ahh… Futaba. FutabaFutabaFutabaFutabaFutabaFutabaFutabaFutabaFutabaFutabaFutabaFutabaFutabaFutabaFutabaFutabaFutabaFutabaFutabaFutaba…”

I was completely in a state of “Futaba withdrawal.” Without her, I felt lonely. It was the first time I realized I was this much of a lonely person.

“Futaba…”

…Fine. I’d admit it. Until now, I’d thought I was just starting to see her as a member of the opposite sex. But if the symptoms were this severe, it went far beyond simply being aware of her.

That’s right. At some point, I have fallen in love with Futaba.

But at the same time, I felt despair. Because these feelings would never come to fruition. I’d taken on the role of her fake boyfriend to drive away the guys who kept hitting on her. No matter how charming Futaba was, if I—the fake boyfriend—started making moves on her, it would defeat the entire purpose. I’d be betraying her trust.

I didn’t want to do anything that would hurt Futaba. I never wanted to see her sad face or her pained expression ever again. To become someone who hurt her… That would make me no different from Senkawa or Hachioji. I didn’t want to become the same kind of person as them.

“What am I supposed to do…?”

The right answer was probably to keep these feelings locked away in my chest. But they were growing heavier and bigger with each passing day, and someday, they might explode.

“Ahhh! Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”

I writhed in anguish on my bed.

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“…ka-kun! …Ichika-kun! Please wake up! It’s morning!”

“…Mm?”

On Sunday morning, I woke to someone calling my name. It seemed I had fallen asleep at some point. When I opened my eyes and sat up, I saw the face of the person I had longed for all day yesterday.

“Futa…ba?”

“Yes. This is your Futaba Jujoji. I’m sorry about yesterday. Were you okay on your own?”

“Futaba… Futabaa…”

Seeing her face, I felt my heart relax. Just having her there brought me this much peace.

“Oh my, what’s wrong? Were you that lonely while I was gone?”

“Huh? Ah, yeah…”

I noticed a bit of moisture gathering at the corners of my eyes and hurriedly wiped the tears away.

“…Almost there, I’d say.”

“Huh?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Breakfast will be ready soon, so please go get dressed first.”

With that, Futaba returned to the kitchen.

…I might already not be able to go on without her, but my feelings…

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