After Distancing Myself From the Childhood Friend Couple Who Looked Down on Me, I Started Interacting With a Small Animal-Like Beautiful Girl - Chapter 33

“I’m off.”

I put on my shoes at the entrance, patted Maru’s head, and then stood up. As I heard the “meow” behind me, as if saying “Hang in there,” I stepped outside.

The sky is a vivid blue, with wispy white clouds floating like cotton.

It was a clear day that was hard to believe had been preceded by a cloudy one.

Did the sports festival power come into play?

When I arrived at school, I saw Daiki and the others already changed into their gym clothes.

“Daiki! I’m counting on you to do great things!”

“Don’t put pressure on me. You should do your best too, Higashi?”

“Ootomo-kun, let’s do our best today!”

“The red team is going to win~”

Before moving outside, Daiki and the other energetic members of the red team are already lively.

Even in the class, Daiki and Higashi are good at sports and are confident in themselves, so they are probably determined to lead the red team to victory.

There are also classmates who, although not as enthusiastic as Daiki and the others, are full of motivation, as well as those who are restless, possibly due to nerves.

Winning or losing aside, it’s the first major event since becoming a high school student. I want to enjoy it in my own way.

“…At least it would have been better if it were cloudy.”

Ino-san rests her chin on the desk and murmurs with her hair tied up.

When I asked why, Ino-san glanced out the window.

“Even though it’s getting hotter and hotter, I have to be outside all day today. If it were cloudy, I could avoid the sun.”

“Cloudy weather at this time of year is just damp and gloomy, isn’t it? The reasons for feeling down just change.”

“Better than under a sky with hardly any clouds.”

“It’s okay…”

Ino-san sighed as she leaned over the desk.

But the fact that she properly changed into her gym clothes and even placed a white headband beside her shows her serious side, and I can’t help but chuckle.

Thus, the sports festival began.

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The momentum from the cheering battle in the first half was incredible.

Both the leaders of the red and white teams were so hoarse from shouting by the next day that it seemed like their voices would give out, and in the competitions by grade, there were moments where the top athletes from each club faced off against each other, making the excitement reach its peak.

Moreover, now that I have friends like Ino-san, Kouki, and Shirou, the time spent watching the events is very enjoyable. Back in middle school, there were Daiki and Serika, but since they were with their close friends, I thought it would be rude to intrude, so I basically spent the sports festival alone.

It’s been since elementary school that I have spent time with friends watching the outcome of a competition.

Among the first-year students who were particularly drawing attention, of course, was Daiki, who was holding up many of the headbands he had taken from the white team during the cavalry battle, laughing as the girls cheered him on with excited shouts.

“Yuki, good job today~”

When I returned to the cheering section, Shirou came over and sat next to me.

“Shirou, you must be tired too. The number of headbands you collected over there was impressive.”

“Right?”

Shirou puffed out his chest with a smug look.

During the cavalry battle, I, who was on the supporting side, passed by Shirou’s team. I was surprised to see about ten red headbands on the arms of the students on top, and even more so that they were being worn by usually quiet classmates.

“If possible, I wish I could have taken that bastard’s headband too. It would have been great if they had just dropped it on the ground.”

“Making an innocent classmate a criminal?”

“Ah, of course, I’m just kidding!”

“Your eyes aren’t smiling…”

Shirou’s smile was probably half-serious, as it was frightening.

I still can’t forgive Daiki, but it seems like I’m starting to recover enough to make jokes. At the same time, a pang of guilt stabs at my chest.

“…I’m sorry if I’m mistaken, but do you think what happened to you with Ootomo is my fault?”

His shoulders twitch slightly.

Without thinking, I stared at Shirou’s face, and he gave a wry smile and said, “Right?”

“You’re so honest, Yuki.”

“Is it really that obvious…?”

“Mm-hmm, I kind of thought that might be the case. Ever since Yuika started coming to our class, I feel like she’s been paying attention to him.”

“…Because of that incident, I’m worried. And it’s also true that I didn’t do anything until Daiki ended up like that.”

I was looking down while saying it.

It’s only natural for Shirou to be concerned about Daiki and his ex-girlfriend. A wounded heart can’t be healed easily. He just has to wait patiently for the scab to form.

Because my worries and guilt were showing, I might have made him worry unnecessarily and hindered Shirou’s ability to sort out his feelings.

“I’m sorry, Shirou, I was just being concerned about my own––––”

“Thank you, Yuki.”

When I lifted my downcast face, there was Shirou smiling at me.

Why is Shirou thanking me…?

“Even so, I’m still dragging it out, and I still occasionally mutter about Ootomo like earlier. But having friends who care about me like this makes things a lot easier.”

“Shirou…”

“Yuki’s like that, and it’s really saved me. So it’s not a bother at all, in fact, I’m really happy about it.”

But then, Shirou suddenly brings his well-groomed face closer.

With a face that clearly showed his dissatisfaction, Shirou pointed his index finger at me sharply.

“Whether good or bad, you care too much about what others think! There’s absolutely no need to worry, even a little bit about someone as worthless as Ootomo! It’s completely out of the question to feel responsible for anything that guy does!”

“But, even though we’ve been close all this time…”

“If you worry about everything just because you’re his childhood friends, you’ll get tired, no? …Well, it’s kind of ironic coming from the person who said you’re his childhood friend and all that when we first talked.”

For a moment, Shirou shifted his gaze to the side and placed his hand on my shoulder, saying, “Anyway!”

“You don’t need to worry about that guy, Yuki. You’ve already distanced yourself from him, so you should just have fun with me, Kou… and even Saitou here, okay?”

“…!”

“There might have been a lot of things you wanted to say but couldn’t. But he stole someone’s girlfriend and still managed to keep up the popular persona in public, right? Even if Yuki had said something, it would have been too late, too late.”

“…I wonder.”

“Yeah, yeah. Both Yuki and I should do something else to not worry about that guy. For example… After the sports festival, we could go somewhere fun.”

“––Yeah. Sounds good.”

“Alright! Then I’ll invite Kou later too.”

While watching Shirou, who looks so cheerful, I gently place my hand on my chest.

A warmth different from what I felt for Ino-san was kindled in my heart.

Continuing the conversation with Shirou while trying to keep the overwhelming emotions from spilling out.

I don’t have to worry about Daiki anymore. I don’t have to think that I have to do something.

When Shirou told me and I realized it, I felt a sudden lightness in my heart.

“Hey, where does Yuki want to go?”

When Shirou came to ask, someone was standing next to him.

The small-statured person emitted a low voice while enveloped in a chill.

“––Hey, red perm.”

“Wh-what?!”

Shirou jumped up suddenly and turned around.

There stood Ino-san, looking thoroughly displeased.

When it was Kubo, she stopped halfway through, but this time she clearly called him by his nickname…

“Red perm, could it be about me…?”

“More importantly, you’ve been way too close to Yuki-chan for a while now. Your face was almost zero distance away.”

“Hey, we were just having a little fun chatting, there was no deep meaning or anything like that~. Oh! We were just talking about hanging out after the sports festival, but Saitou too…”

“Goes.”

“Yeah, I knew it, but the fish were surprised by how eagerly they bit!”

Shirou barely dodged Ino-san’s anger.

Seeing them flustered and flailing around, as if the serious atmosphere from earlier was a lie, I let out a small laugh.

I was naturally thinking about how the four of us, including Kouki, would spend the time after the sports festival.