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 - 37

Chapter 37: The Two Who Became True Lovers

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I confessed my feelings to Futaba, and she accepted them. The two of us went from fake lovers to real lovers.

…That said, did anything drastically change after we became real lovers?

Not really.

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Time passed, and it became July. At the beginning of June this year there had been a little rain, but overall it had been such a stretch of clear weather that it almost felt like the rainy season had skipped us entirely.

“Well, shall we go?”

“Yes♪ It’s our first time going to school since we became a couple.”

“Here.”

“Fufu. Then excuse me.”

Futaba and I left the apartment room together and headed to school. As usual, I offered her my left arm, and she clung to it. That was our basic style whenever we went out.

“It’s getting hot…”

“Yes. I don’t really like the heat, but I’m looking forward to going to the beach or the pool with you, Ichika-kun♪”

She formed a fan with the palm of her hand and fanned some air toward her neck. Even though it had just turned July, the signs of summer heat had already begun to appear. The blazing sun shone brightly down on us. This summer was likely going to be as hot as usual.

“Morning.” 

“Good morning.”

“Oh, morning you two.” 

“You’re lovey-dovey again today.”

When we arrived at school, we exchanged greetings with our classmates.

…Although Futaba and I had officially become lovers only yesterday, we had already been pretending to be a couple for about half a month, so our classmates were used to it by now. They no longer reacted with excitement to our every little action like they had in the beginning. If anything, they seemed to think it was only natural for us to be flirting with each other.

Even though we were technically a brand-new couple, they treated us like some long-married pair. I parted from Futaba for the moment and headed to my seat. My desk was the one in the very back by the window. As soon as I sat down, Musashi came over. He sat down in the empty seat in front of me and started talking.

“Man, you two are already flirting with each other first thing in the morning.”

“Yeah? Jealous of how close Futaba and I are?”

Smiling at his teasing, I responded with some bragging of my own. Musashi opened his mouth in surprise.

“…What’s up with you, Ichika? When I said something like that before, you made a slightly troubled face. But today you answered with a refreshing smile.”

As expected of my best friend. Since we had known each other for so long, he noticed even the small changes in me.

…Actually, there was one clear change inside me from before and after Futaba and I officially started dating. It was the state of my heart. Before, I had been troubled about my relationship with Futaba. I felt unsure about developing feelings for her while I was only supposed to be her fake boyfriend, and I thought it might end up hurting her. Even though I understood that I had to act like a boyfriend so others wouldn’t get suspicious, there was still conflict inside me.

Also, because we were in a fake relationship, I was essentially deceiving Musashi and our classmates. That guilt made me feel awkward even when they congratulated us. But now we were real lovers. The lie had become the truth, and the worries that had been lingering in my heart disappeared. That was why I could now accept the words of my friends and classmates with confidence.

“Man, Ichika, you look like you’ve finally cleared your mind.”

“My worries are gone. I’ve decided something. I’m going to make Futaba happy.”

“I don’t know what happened, but that’s good. Take good care of our idol, Futaba-chan!”

“Of course!”

I nodded confidently at my friend’s words.

“…By the way, Ichika, if you had worries you should’ve talked to me. I’m your best friend, right?”

After saying that, Musashi looked at me with a slightly resentful gaze. It seemed he was upset that I hadn’t shared my troubles with him despite us being best friends. I appreciated the feeling. But that had been a kind of worry I couldn’t tell anyone about. The same went for the fake relationship. I truly felt sorry toward him about that.

“Ugh… It was a problem I couldn’t really talk to you about. You know… the kind of trouble that comes with having a girlfriend.”

“Damn it, now you’re bragging! I want a girlfriend too! Give me some of your luck with girls, Ichika!”

“What the heck is ‘luck with girls’!? Hey, don’t cling to me! It’s hot!”

“I’m gonna absorb your lady luck!”

Musashi tried to hug me in a joking way, so I hurriedly pushed his hands back.

…This friend of mine was definitely a good guy, but could he please do something about all the physical contact? I managed to stop his nonsense, but the scuffle made me sweat a little.

“…Man, it’s seriously hot. When do they turn on the air conditioning again?”

“I think it’s when it goes over thirty degrees.”

“It’s definitely already over that…”

“Let’s open the window.”

Musashi opened the nearby window. A lukewarm breeze flowed in from outside. We could physically feel it. The season of summer had arrived.

“It’s already summer.”

“Yeah.”

That scorching summer would come again this year. But for some reason, my heart felt excited. Even if the heat was like hell, Futaba was with me. A summer spent with the girl I loved…

Just thinking about it made me look forward to it.

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~another side ???~

“Finally reached my target amount! Now it should be fine if I stay there for at least summer vacation, right?”

Somewhere, a girl was grinning while looking at the screen of her banking app on her smartphone. She had been working part-time for the past few months, saving money so she could go to a certain place this summer.

“It’s been since elementary school since I last went to that town… I’ll be able to see you soon, Ichika.”

The girl reminisced about her childhood memories as she checked the date on the calendar hanging on the wall and murmured.

“…You haven’t forgotten about me, right? After all, we’re childhood friends and the only one who can save me is you, Ichika.”

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