After Distancing Myself From the Childhood Friend Couple Who Looked Down on Me, I Started Interacting With a Small Animal-Like Beautiful Girl - Chapter 28

[Daiki’s Side]

“Yuki! Hey…”

As soon as the fifth period ended and the break time began, I turned to the direction of the voice I heard and saw a classmate with dark red-dyed hair. The timid face of the person being spoken to by that classmate also came into view.

The person next to him, Saitou Ino, is also staring at the two of them intently.

How many times today have I seen Yukito with Yokokawa?

“Isn’t it unusual to see Yokokawa and Yoshizaki together?”

“Aren’t their appearance and vibe completely different? But they’re talking normally.”

“When did they become friends?”

“Hey.”

While secretly eavesdropping on the whispers of the girls nearby, I feel a crackling irritation inside me, as if a fire is sparking.

In my increasingly heated mind, I was slightly but firmly convinced of myself.

So that’s what the call from him last week was about.

After realizing that it was a baseless assumption to think that Yukito knew the situation, Yokokawa must have talked about the matter with Yuika. My childhood friend, who has an excessively generous heart, forgave Yokokawa and tried to figure out how far Yuika and I had gone for Yokokawa’s sake.

Seriously, he’s still as much of a pushover as ever.

As the number of times I tap my toes on the desk increases, the pace of the rhythmic “ton, ton, ton” sound also quickens.

I thought he called because he was feeling lonely after leaving the group and me, his childhood friend. I was thinking that, due to our long-standing friendship, it would be okay for him to come back here again.

“…I’m tired.”

A low, murmured whisper escapes.

He was always like that.

Yukito is disturbingly kind. If he calls it a virtue, then it is a virtue.

But the warm side he shows really gets under my skin.

Before I could even remember, I had a well-balanced combination of looks, intelligence, and athletic ability, which drew attention from those around me. Even during middle school, I was always surrounded by people and was popular enough to receive chocolates every year on Valentine’s Day.

Serika was just as popular, but in her case, it felt like people were drawn to her mainly because of her looks. She had already developed well before entering junior high school.

In contrast to us, my other childhood friend had a much more timid look on his face, just an utterly plain presence with no notable features. He was the kind of pathetic guy who seemed more suited to reading books in the corner of the classroom, someone who wouldn’t be recognized by anyone if he weren’t by my side or Serika’s.

He himself thought that thanks to me and Serika, he was able to interact with people to some extent, and he even laughed and said thank you for letting him join the circle.

Indeed, Yukito has low communication skills. But once I talk to him, I can have a normal conversation, and because of his personality, he doesn’t come off as bad. Maybe because of his easy going atmosphere, he would even listen to the troubles of my classmates who were close to me. It seems like Serika also went to him for some kind of advice.

I had a faint feeling that although he was very aware of his low communication skills, he was naturally building relationships without even realizing it. The reason I didn’t say it was because I thought it would be boring if Yukito realized that he could get by just fine without me or Serika.

He can’t do without us childhood friends. I have to instill that in him so he doesn’t drift away.

I will make him aware that he is such a pathetic person that he can’t build proper human relationships without his childhood friend, making it so he can’t leave even if he wants to.

Yukito is inferior in everything, and next to him is me, who excels in many things.

People around us naturally compare me to Yukito and end up praising me. Even though we are childhood friends and on equal footing, I realize the overwhelming difference between us, and my evaluation goes up while the way people look at Yukito decreases.

The moment he is convinced that I am the one who has rightfully risen to the top.

Each time, I was so intoxicated that my whole body tingled.

The relationship between me and Yukito must be one of superiority and subordination.

The feeling close to a sense of mission became even stronger due to a certain event.

“Ootomo-kun, you and Yoshizaki-kun are childhood friends, right? So, um, could you ask Yoshizaki-kun if he has someone he likes?”

The one who was blushing and looking around was a classmate from my first year of middle school, a girl so cute that she ranked among the top in popularity in our school. Of course, I had already established a friendship with her, and we were particularly close among my female friends.

With a smile the likes of which I had never seen before, she said this.

“Yoshizaki-kun listens to even my small worries properly. Being with him really puts me at ease… and somehow, it just feels nice.”

I couldn’t believe it.

The fact that the plain-looking guy next to me, who is always at the closest distance among the boys and is popular with both men and women, is chosen instead of me.

The guy who was always below me has finally surpassed me for the first time.

…–––Don’t mess with me.

Don’t mess with me, don’t mess with me, don’t mess with me, don’t mess with me!!

With emotions on the verge of exploding, I desperately forced a smile and whispered to that girl to lower the image of the person and directed her to look at me. It didn’t take long for her to start being aware of me.

Later, she confessed her feelings to me, but there was no way I would accept the affection of someone who chose Yukito even once.

Since that day, the way I treated Yukito changed significantly. The familiarity of childhood friends had vanished, and I continued to treat him sometimes like a servant, sometimes like a tool for stress relief.

Serika also unintentionally started teasing Yukito along with me, which was quite convenient. There were times when she tried hard to get along with me, but thanks to that, Yukito couldn’t find a single thing he was good at.

He has to be under me.

And yet, this time, he’s getting along well with Saitou Ino and building friendships with others too.

I was so frustrated I couldn’t stand it.

During the sixth-period class, while I was secretly browsing SNS with my phone on silent mode, a message notification appeared on the screen.

The sender was “Yui”… it was Yuika.

<I want to go on a date after school today.>

Next, a stamp of a rabbit looking up with big eyes is also sent.

Since we went to karaoke together, Yuika has completely fallen for me. Since breaking up with Yokokawa, her enthusiasm has been seeping through even in her messages.

<I thought so too. Where are we going?>

It’s almost like we’re dating.

Looking at the chat screen filled with sweetness that makes it hard to believe it started with cheating, I feel my heart filled.

After finishing the conversation with Yuika and returning to the chat list, I noticed an account with the message count still displayed in double digits.

…Is it about time?