After Distancing Myself From the Childhood Friend Couple Who Looked Down on Me, I Started Interacting With a Small Animal-Like Beautiful Girl - Chapter 34

[Serika’s Side]

I sneak a glance behind me in the same row.

There is my childhood friend Yuki, next to him is Yokokawa-kun, and then there’s Saitou Ino.

Yuki was talking with the two and laughing happily. It was a genuine smile that he hadn’t shown in front of me or Daiki for some time.

Every time I see what Daiki and I have erased from Yuki being restored by Saitou Ino and the others, I am reminded of how much we have done.

If we don’t get involved, Yuki can laugh naturally like before.

So, I shouldn’t ask for help. I don’t even have the right to do so.

When I returned my gaze forward, the next event had already begun. I watched it absentmindedly.

The cheers from the students of the red team over there and the same white team could be heard from far away.

…I knew it would only make me feel empty, so why did I participate?

In the blurred vision, a man and a woman suddenly appeared, laughing together.

Two people wearing red headbands walked side by side in front of the white team’s cheering section. Only their area came into clear view.

––Daiki and his new girlfriend, Takagi Yuika.

“Daiki-kun, you were really cool!”

“It’s all thanks to Yuika cheering me on.”

“Huh! You could hear my voice?”

“Perfect. You’re cheering for me, after all.”

“I-I see…!”

Daiki smiles gently, and Takagi Yuika blushes at his words and smiles.

While exuding a sweet atmosphere, the two who have just become lovers pass by.

Somehow, as I followed the two with my eyes, they were heading towards the school building. They must have gone inside to escape the heat since they had been out for so long. Just the two of them, no less.

If my relationship with Daiki hadn’t ended, if I could have gone on without realizing anything, I would have spent today like that.

But I already know. The other hidden side of Daiki and his feelings for me. How cruelly he and I have treated another childhood friend.

Everything is too late, and there’s nothing I can do about it.

…No, that’s not it. I don’t even feel like doing anything anymore.

The feelings I thought had finally borne fruit after so many years were just a one-way street for me all along, and the person I dedicated my first love to was no longer the person I once knew.

Due to the double shock, my mind has completely stopped working, and I’m gradually losing the ability to feel jealousy towards Takagi Yuika or the pain of heartbreak.

A droplet falls onto the gym shorts, creating a round stain.

I faintly smiled, wondering if I still had the strength to cry.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

The first half of the sports festival has ended, and the lunch break has arrived.

I ended up spending lunch with Ino-san, Kouki, and Shirou. I had spent lunch with each of them separately before, but I thought it would be nice to spend time together as a group for a change, and they agreed.

When I asked the seemingly complicated Ino-san if she disliked it, she replied, “This is my problem, so it’s okay.” I didn’t quite understand what she meant, but I was relieved to see that she didn’t genuinely dislike it.

“Saitou-san, do you have a moment?”

When I was about to head towards the small group, a girl with a bob haircut called out to Saitou-san.

It’s Sugai-san, a classmate of mine, and Ino-san, who is also in the White Team. If I remember correctly, she is the manager of the baseball club.

“I’m sorry to bother you right before dinner, but… one of the senpai from our baseball club wants to talk to you, Saitou-san.”

Over there, Sugai-san pointed to the open window on the hallway side. I saw a boy with short-cropped hair and sun-tanned skin, looking every bit the sportsman, standing there.

The senior noticed Ino-san as he lightly bent his tall frame while placing a hand on the back of his head.

“…I don’t know them at all.”

“Um, I heard that he saw Saitou-san from the same white team and got curious about you. So he wanted to talk to you…”

“Is that all?”

“Please! Senpai said he will not take up so much of your time!”

In response to Ino-san, who tilted her head as if to say she didn’t understand, Sugai-san brought her hands together.

Ino-san nodded slightly and told us, “I will go ahead,” as she headed towards the hallway where the baseball club seniors were.

…Just now.

“Wasn’t that person just a bit cool? Getting called out by someone like that…”

“It’s definitely a confession!! Otherwise, it would be strange!”

“Didn’t he say something like he saw her for the first time today?”

“That’s love at first sight!! Oh my gosh!”

The girls, who are all excited, start saying what I had in mind.

From anyone’s perspective, that’s how it will be.

“Yuki, let’s go.”

“…Ah, yeah.”

I was standing there frozen, but Shirou urged me on, and I quickly followed the two of them.

Even after joining the small group, I couldn’t get the image of the senior from the baseball club and Ino-san facing each other through the open window out of my mind.

A minor yet unmistakable discomfort, like a fishbone stuck in my throat, slowly settles in my chest.

“That call earlier, do you really think it was a confession?”

“It’s not impossible, but… if someone she doesn’t know at all suddenly says he likes her, it would be quite a hassle, right? At most, it would just be an exchange of contact information. It’s more like, let’s get to know each other first.”

“Depending on the person, she might find him creepy, right? Well, he seems fit and popular with the ladies, so he might be able to get other girls, but… It’s that Saitou we’re talking about.”

“I’m betting on just cutting him off by saying she’s not interested.”

“With eyes colder than absolute zero, huh? If either of us misses, the loser buys drinks.”

“Got on.”

The conversation between the two seemed to be interested in what had just happened as they gradually turned into a bet.

If Ino-san found out, it felt like I would be struck not by lightning but by icicles, but the relaxed atmosphere between Kouki and Shirou seemed to slightly ease the frustration in my heart, so I’m grateful for it now.

If I were alone right now, I would definitely have escaped into cat videos.

“––So, Yuki-san…”

“Yukito-san.”

Shirou and Kouki both turn to face me.

Seeing those eyes glimmer suspiciously, I had an uneasy feeling.

“Saitou, she might get confessed to. How do you feel about that?”

“You haven’t reacted at all since earlier, but you don’t really care, do you…”

“I don’t care about it…! …Not at all.”

I can’t help but overreact. I quickly try to lower my voice, but it’s already too late.

“Really~~~~~?”

“Really~~~~?”

My cheeks flush hotly as the two of them look at me with smirks on their faces.

They know that I have special feelings for Ino-san. I haven’t directly told them, but they somehow understand.

Seeing Iino-san go to a man, and moreover to a senior, what did I think?

There was no way their curiosity wouldn’t be piqued, and I completely let my guard down, thinking they would just continue the half-joking conversation.

…Since we’re at it, I might as well just say it.

I resigned as I exhaled as if to mask the heat on my cheeks, then slowly opened my mouth.

“Of course, I can’t help but feel uneasy. The person I have already stopped seeing as just a ‘friend’ might get confessed to… But, Ino-san has always been popular, so it’s not surprising if she starts dating someone.”

With her top-level adorable appearance in the grade, she captivates those around her with her whimsical and unpredictable behavior. Among the many who find her attractive, I am just one of them. I have known this for a long time.

Recently, I have gotten used to calling her by her first name, and it feels completely natural to be quite close to her, so I had forgotten.

I would originally never have interacted with someone like me, who has no particular characteristics. By chance, we found a common interest in cats, and by good fortune, we became this close.

I want to be by her side, like a warm light. To wish for anything more, even for a moment, is utterly foolish.

“I know I should be grateful that such a wonderful person is willing to be friends with someone like me, but…”

Swallowing the emotion that pierces my chest, I put on a smile. It must have been an awkward one.

“Such a thing…!”

Kouki slightly furrowed his brows, and it was at that moment that Shirou began to say something.

The small door opened, and a little girl came over here.

“I’m sorry to keep you waiting.”

“Is the conversation over?”

“Yeah. It was no big deal.”

After saying it without any emotion, Ino-san sits in the seat to my right.

Even if it was a trivial matter for her, I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something important for me in it. However, I didn’t have the courage to ask what they were talking about.

I want to hear it, but I don’t want to hear it. I want to know it, but I don’t want to know it.

Conflicting feelings are thickening the fog in my heart.

Just being friends with Ino-san is enough for me.

I have to think that way.

Even though I said that in front of my friends, it’s completely different in reality.

I even found it so ridiculous that I mocked myself inwardly.