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 - 9

Chapter 9: The Next Day at School

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The next day, I went to school. Since Jujoji had stayed over in my room yesterday, we ended up going to school together. We parted ways at the shoe lockers. It seemed she had some business in the staff room. I changed from my sneakers into my indoor shoes and headed toward my classroom… Class 2-3.

“Ichika, morning! It was lonely without you yesterday!”

The moment I stepped into the classroom, a guy with light-brown mushroom-cut hair threw himself at me in a hug. His name was Musashi Momose. We had known each other since middle school, close enough that I could call him my best friend. The only thing that bothered me a little was how touchy he was, but I chose to think of it as a sign of affection.

…That said, being hugged by a guy was still gross, so I shook my body and quickly pried his arms off me.

“Knock it off. Let go. You’re making a big deal out of me missing just one day.”

“Sorry, sorry. But it’s rare for you to skip school. You got perfect attendance in middle school, and you hadn’t missed a single day in high school until now, right?”

“It was because of the heavy rain the day before yesterday. I got soaked in that and ended up catching a cold.”

“Ahh… yeah, that makes sense. I pedaled my bike home while getting completely drenched too.”

I didn’t tell him anything about Jujoji. She probably wouldn’t want people spreading around that she’d been dumped by her childhood friend and cried her eyes out. That was a secret just between her and me. While chatting idly with him, I headed to my seat. Mine was the very last seat by the window. About half the class had already arrived.

“Still, that’s too bad. If you’d kept it up, you would’ve had perfect attendance in high school too.”

“Even if I got perfect attendance, it wouldn’t give me any advantage for college or job hunting. I don’t really care. Oh, right! Did any assignments get handed out in today’s classes?”

“…No, I don’t think so.”

Musashi answered after pretending to think for a moment. If there had been any assignments, I had planned to finish them now before morning homeroom, but if there weren’t any, there was no need.

“I see. Thanks.”

I sat down, took my textbooks out of my bag, and transferred them into my desk. In the middle of that, I casually looked out the classroom window. In complete contrast to the day before yesterday, the sky was clear. The sun shone brilliantly overhead.

In another half month, it would be July. The height of summer. While I welcomed the arrival of summer, the thought of that heat returning made me a little fed up. I was born in summer, but I actually didn’t like the heat very much. I stopped looking at the sky and lowered my gaze. The schoolyard, which had been muddy and soaked from the heavy rain, had already dried completely. In one corner, the sports clubs were doing their morning practice. What dedication.

Shifting my eyes from the yard to the main gate, I saw a stream of students arriving at school. And among them… I spotted a certain person.

Reiji Senkawa. Jujoji’s childhood friend, the guy who had hurled cruel words at her and dumped her the day before yesterday. I didn’t know the details of what had happened between Senkawa and Jujoji. But it probably hadn’t been Jujoji’s true wish for things to end in a fight like that with her childhood friend.

It wasn’t like I was trying to get the two of them back together or anything. But couldn’t they at least return to being friends? Jujoji had taken care of me while I was sick. I wanted to repay that kindness, and since I myself had once had a terrible falling-out with my own childhood friend, I hoped the two of them could make up.

I considered whether there was anything I could do. For example, removing the cause of their fight and mediating between them… something like that. Of course, not right away. That would be after Jujoji’s emotional wounds had healed.

Senkawa, who had been walking across the yard, called out to a blonde girl walking a little ahead of him. Chatting amiably, the two of them entered the shoe lockers together. After watching that, I turned my gaze back and spoke to Musashi.

“Hey, Musashi. Do you know Reiji Senkawa from the class next door?”

“Senkawa…? Oh, you mean the guy who’s Futaba-chan’s childhood friend?”

Musashi said that with a look as if he’d just heard a name he didn’t like.

“Do you hate Senkawa or something?”

“Of course I hate him. Just being the childhood friend of our angel Futaba-chan makes him enviable enough. And besides… haah…”

He slumped against the classroom wall as if completely deflated.

“And besides… what?”

“I think… This is just my hunch, but I think Futaba-chan likes him.”

“…So basically, you’re jealous.”

“Shut up! Yeah, maybe there’s a little jealousy… just a tiny bit… but that’s not the only reason I don’t like him!”

“Then what is it?”

“It seems like Futaba-chan’s been making pretty serious moves on Senkawa, but he acts like it’s a nuisance. Can you believe that? Being liked by a girl that cute? I can’t believe it…”

“…That still sounds like jealousy.”

“It’s not jealousy! I’m saying this because I feel sorry for Futaba-chan! If you’re a man, show some guts and accept a girl’s feelings head-on!”

Musashi passionately argued while slamming both hands down on my desk. His voice was so loud that several classmates turned to look at us. I quickly waved at them and said, “It’s nothing,” to make them lose interest. Thankfully, Jujoji hadn’t returned from the staff room yet.

“Alright, calm down. …Is there anything else you know about Senkawa?”

“…You’re asking an awful lot about him. Did something happen between you and Senkawa?”

“…A little. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t ask why.”

“Hmph, fine. Senkawa, huh… His grades and athletic ability are about average. He’s fairly good-looking, and… how do I put it? He’s the ‘ore-sama type,’ you know? That kind of personality is apparently popular with girls, so he’s pretty well-liked.”

“I see…”

“The ore-sama type.” It was a term you often heard in shoujo manga, but put another way, it meant he was self-centered. From what I’d heard of his conversation with Jujoji the day before yesterday, he did seem to have a rather troublesome personality.

“…Maybe I’ll try talking to him.”

After school, I decided I would try to get Senkawa to talk. If I didn’t first hear the reason the two of them had fought, nothing would begin.

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