After Distancing Myself From the Childhood Friend Couple Who Looked Down on Me, I Started Interacting With a Small Animal-Like Beautiful Girl - Chapter 31

I wonder what time it is now.

I open my smartphone while lying on my bed in my room. The current time is 9:34 PM.

The date remains today. It didn’t cross over to the next day at all.

“…It’s still today.”

The moment I muttered to myself, the vividly remembered event flowed through my mind as if it were the umpteenth time.

The blood coursing through my body is boiling, and heat is gathering in my face.

I couldn’t help but dive face-first into the pillow.

“~~~~Eek…!”

The excitement I tried to keep to a minimum ended up showing in my restless legs.

I think it’s strange that I can’t control my emotions this much, but I also think it’s inevitable that it turned out this way.

Because something like that happened with the person I first realized I liked romantically.

After school, I kind of… that, I really messed up.

Following the sudden appearance of that red perm, even Kubo, who is close to Yoshizaki, started calling him by his first name. Seeing that happen right in front of me, I lost control out of frustration and jealousy at being one-upped.

It’s only natural that Yoshizaki would be troubled as he knew nothing, and when he asked why I suddenly got angry while we were walking together to the station, I told him.

He has the right to know because he calmed down someone who got angry for no reason. But saying something like this will only make things worse for him.

Although I was conflicted, my feelings for the former were stronger, so I confessed that I was envious of that red perm and Kubo for being so sly.

Looking back on it again, it’s really embarrassing.

To show such disgraceful behavior in front of Yoshizaki. I, who don’t care about people’s opinions, am actually concerned about how I appear to him.

I wonder what Yoshizaki would think if he heard someone honestly admitting to being jealous. He would definitely be troubled by it. But I also want him to be troubled.

I tried to push down my disorganized emotions and head towards the station.

“Wait…!”

He grabbed my hand and said with a red face.

“I want you to call me whatever you like, Saitou-san… I want to call you by your first name too, Saitou-san.”

As long as it’s not a problem, Yoshizaki adds quietly.

The tremor in his voice, the way he grips my hand a little tighter, conveys his tension to me.

Even so, I can’t believe it’s real. It’s just too convenient.

Because just now, it was like I was exposed that I was jealous.

“…Is it really okay?”

Yoshizaki nodded slightly.

His usually unreliable eyes were now completely serious, and I finally realized it wasn’t a dream.

“Then, I want to call you Yuki-chan.”

“Chan…?”

“You told me to call you whatever I want… If you don’t like it.”

“Oh, no, no. I was just a little surprised, but I don’t hate it at all.”

“Is that right? Well then, Yuki-chan.”

“…Yeah.”

When I said the name only I was allowed to call him, he gently squinted his eyes and smiled at me.

Just that alone made the jealousy I had towards that red perm and Kubo fade away, and my heart became filled with a warm, fuzzy feeling.

Wanting to feel more, I step closer to Yoshizaki… no, to Yuki-chan.

“Call me. Call me too.”

“Ah… –––Ino, san.”

While bringing the hand that isn’t holding mine to his mouth, Yuki-chan calls my name.

Thump, my heart raced.

My cheeks gradually warm up, and I can feel my lips naturally curling into a smile.

“It would have been fine to just call me by my name.”

“Th-that is… It’s still a bit of a high hurdle, I guess.”

“Still means that someday you will call me by my name.”

“Huh?! Ah, no…!”

Yuki-chan’s flustered state is so cute that I can’t help but chuckle.

It was just a bit of mischief, but someday I’d like to be called without the “san” too.

“…Someday. Someday, can I call you without ‘san’?”

This time, it was my turn to be flustered by Yuki-chan’s words, which had turned even redder than before.

I poked it just a little, and I got completely counterattacked.

Yuki-chan’s eyes were staring at me while feeling somehow feverish, and my body temperature rose as if affected by him.

That’s unfair. That’s cheating.

“…Yeah. I will be waiting.”

My face must be completely relaxed. I thought.

People who know me would probably say in unison, “Did you really make that face?”

I can’t remember the last time I felt my facial muscles working this much.

But I think it’s cruel to tell someone not to laugh.

The first person I fell in love with always gives me words that make me happy.

Even on the train ride home, even after getting home, even while eating dinner, even while taking a bath, that incident was constantly on my mind.

At dinner, I used to put so much mayonnaise on my favorite fried chicken that it would get completely covered, and my mom would scold me, saying, “You’re wasting it, you know?!” And I got scolded. It seems I was more excited than I thought.

The feeling of floating lightly still continues.

Remembering the moment we became close enough to call each other by our first names, I feel like I’m about to soar to the heavens.

–––Ino-san, see you tomorrow.

Remembering Yuki-chan who saw me off saying that, I tightly hugged the cat-shaped cushion.

Just hearing my name called, I am overwhelmed by a wave of emotions that is beyond words.

Thinking that the same phenomenon will continue from tomorrow, I felt like screaming.

It’s already night, and it would disturb the neighbors, so I won’t do it.

“…Come to think of it, my hand was grabbed.”

I suddenly remembered and glanced at my right hand.

It was the first time Yuki-chan had touched me, and the first time I had been touched by someone of the opposite sex other than my father. Relatively thin and pale, but definitely bony hands.

If it were the old me, I would have shaken him off with enough force to slam him to the ground if he touched me without permission.

But this time, it was from someone I truly like. There wasn’t even the slightest bit of disgust.

Until I pointed it out, Yuki-chan hadn’t noticed, and, slightly pale, he let go of my hand and said, “I’m sorry for taking the liberty.”

Even though it was in the heat of the moment, the look on his face said it all. Grabbing someone’s hand of the opposite sex without permission is utterly rude.

…I wonder if we would have stayed connected for a while if I hadn’t said anything.

If the day comes when we can interact without any reservations, it will be after I start dating Yuki-chan. Even if I’m fine with it now, since we’re still just “friends,” Yuki-chan will surely hold back. Unlike me, he probably cares about what others think.

Wait a minute.

“Am I even being seen as the opposite sex…?”

I realize something significant now that I have come here.

Even though I don’t even know if Yuki-chan sees me as a girl on my own, I was blabbering about wanting to be his girlfriend.

I mean, at a stage where I didn’t know much about Yuki-chan, I was able to think about how nice it would be to date him, right?

I felt faint and collapsed onto the bed.

No matter how much the facial muscles don’t move, my complexion must be terrible.

As a result of acting on my emotions, my mind has gone completely blank.

“…Love is blind…”

The proverb I muttered deeply resonates with me, a novice in love.

The fact that I didn’t show much interest in others has come back to haunt me here.

…The current challenge is to become closer to Yuki-chan.

First, that.

Having made that decision, I let out a long, heavy sigh, burdened by my own foolishness and the fear of love.