After Distancing Myself From the Childhood Friend Couple Who Looked Down on Me, I Started Interacting With a Small Animal-Like Beautiful Girl

–––I’m so irritated.

During the break after the third period, I sighed as usual while leaning on my desk, and peeked at my neighbor through the gap between my arm and hair. The guy sitting next to me isn’t here because he went out into the hallway with that guy with the red perm a while ago.

Imagining the two of them still talking now, the heaviness in my chest thickens and spreads again.

It’s been like this since this morning.

The other day, Yoshizaki didn’t seem well, so I asked if something was wrong, but he just said it was nothing. The back of him leaving the classroom was something I could have chased after if I wanted to, but for some reason, I couldn’t move from that spot.

It seemed like Yoshizaki was avoiding me, and it made my heart ache just a little.

Just because Yoshizaki talked about the situation with his childhood friend doesn’t mean he will share everything. The difficult and troublesome aspects of human relationships.

So even though I accept that there’s nothing I can do about it, I can’t shake the feeling that I’m being kept in the dark, and I face Monday without understanding why it bothers me.

As soon as I entered the classroom, I saw Yoshizaki and the red perm being held by him.

“…Tch.”

I unconsciously click my tongue.

The irritation isn’t just because Shirou was holding Yoshizaki’s hand.

When I asked the two of them what they were doing while strong emotions were welling up inside me, he called Yoshizaki by a nickname while explaining the situation. Affectionately, “Yuki.”

No, what? Yuki, huh?

Or rather, when did they get so close?

The emotions that had been smoldering within me have been quietly burning ever since.

Even now, when I think that Yoshizaki is still being called by that nickname because of his red perm, my heart starts to thump.

Is it really possible to become that close in such a short period of time? But that guy looks like a total player, and he seems like the type to get close on a whim. So, forcibly… no, but if that’s the case, Yoshizaki wouldn’t make such a soft expression around anyone other than Kubo.

In other words, there was something between the two of them that brought them closer together all at once.

So, what was the trigger?

Like when they got close, did they have something in common with their favorite things?

While my thoughts were swirling around, I suddenly realized.

I still don’t know much about Yoshizaki…

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“I’m sorry, I have plans with Shirou today.”

The words Yoshizaki said when he turned me down earlier are auto-playing in my mind.

I sat on the stairs of the second school building and opened the bag of curry bread I bought at the school store. The scent of the spices tickled my nose, but my mood didn’t lift much.

“…”

The rustling sound of carrying the bag echoes on the stairs.

When I was with Yoshizaki, there was always conversation, but now there isn’t any. There were times when I declined to be alone or when I was told that he would eat with Kubo. Even at those times, I remember the moments spent with him and feel a bit unsatisfied, but now that feeling has intensified.

Even though I know he wasn’t there, seeing that naturally empty space makes my heart ache.

The fact that he is now with that red perm, that he was calling him by his first name, and what they are talking about.

I can’t help but worry about various things.

At the same time, multiple emotions are coiling within me, tightening deep in my chest.

I was the one who became friends with him first.

Why have they gone from being called by a nickname to being on a first-name basis in such a short time?

Even during the break after class, I mostly just talk with him.

Seriously, why…

“It’s unfair.”

The hand gripping the bag tightened, and the filling of the half-eaten curry bread was about to spill out.

Hastily trying to put my mouth there, I suddenly stop moving.

What did I say?

“…Was I jealous?”

I can’t believe that I was able to envy someone so strongly.

I couldn’t notice it because I hadn’t really paid much attention to my surroundings. When Yoshizaki called my name, I was envious of the red perm who called him by his nickname.

So, why did I think that?

This answer surprisingly came out quite smoothly.

…Because I wanted to call Yoshizaki by his first name, and I wanted him to call me by my first name too.

Even though he was my classmate, it felt like that newcomer had gotten ahead of me, and it seemed like he had become Yoshizaki’s special one, which I hated.

“That’s strange…”

As I mutter and place my hand on my chest, I can feel the heartbeat.

I feel like I’m a bit faster than usual.

Since getting involved with Yoshizaki, I haven’t been myself… no, I’ve been discovering new sides of myself. I’m surprised every time, but I don’t think it’s bad.

Even knowing that I am this greedy.

I want to know more about Yoshizaki.

I want to try calling him by his first name. I want him to call my name too.

More than now… more than that red perm, I want to be closer to him. Not just “friends,” but a special relationship that goes beyond that.

Here, at last, I realized the true nature of the discomfort I felt about my “friend” relationship with Yoshizaki.

There is only one relationship that lies ahead. I have always secretly wished to be that way with him.

I had long since stopped seeing Yoshizaki as a “friend.”

“–––I like him.”

It takes shape and spills out as words.

I look down, pressing my hand against my chest to hold back the heat that spreads to my cheeks in an instant.

Even without touching, I could tell my heart was beating faster and faster, whether I liked it or not.