After Distancing Myself From the Childhood Friend Couple Who Looked Down on Me, I Started Interacting With a Small Animal-Like Beautiful Girl - Chapter 36

“…Finally, we will announce the overall champion. The overall champion is–––the Red Team!!”

Immediately after the results were announced, a cheer erupted from the red team.

As the red team, hugging, holding hands, and crying with joy, celebrated together, we, the white team members, the teachers, and the parents who had come to watch the sports festival all applauded them.

And thus, the first sports festival of high school came to a close.

After finishing cleaning up the field and changing, the classmates left the classroom, some savoring the afterglow of the sports festival and others visibly exhausted. Daiki was gathering participants for the after-party with his natural communication skills, not just from the popular group but also from others.

Having accepted Shirou’s invitation, I’m heading to the after-party location with Kouki, Ino-san, and the four of us. The place is a family restaurant chain that’s also kind to students’ wallets. It’s the first time I’m going with people other than my childhood friends.

Secretly excited, I imagined this scene would be a classic moment of youth as we chatted with Shirou and headed along the way.

“I, Ino-sa…”

“I don’t want to talk.”

“Oh, yes, I’m sorry…”

This is the exchange I had with Ino-san just a moment ago. I was worried because she wasn’t saying a word, and the moment I spoke to her, I was cut off completely. Since then, I haven’t had a single conversation with her.

In the second half of the sports festival, Ino-san was inexplicably in a bad mood the whole time. At first glance, her expression was blank, but the atmosphere she exuded was tense. I tried to ask her what was wrong several times before, but she always managed to avoid the question. Even trying to cheer her up with the latest photos and videos of Maru didn’t work.

While walking in front of us and chatting, Kouki and Shirou seemed as usual, but occasionally they would cast worried glances our way.

With the awkward atmosphere still hanging in the air, we arrived at the restaurant and were shown to a table. Other seats were occupied by students and families like us, and the restaurant was bustling.

Ino-san sits down next to me, across from Kouki and Shirou. Even though she should be in a bad mood because of me, I’m happy she sat next to me without hesitation. I don’t know if I could have recovered if Ino-san had told either of the two across from us, “Switch places.”

Even so, the aura of displeasure doesn’t change, making the situation difficult both practically and mentally.

What kind of mess have I gotten myself into?

“Oh~… I need to go to the bathroom. You can order ahead, it’s fine.”

“Wait, Kou, I’m going flower picking too~”

Kouki and Shirou both stood up from their seats and gave me a meaningful look before leaving. I wonder if that means “do something about it.”

Silently thanking the two who had been considerate, I turned my body towards Ino-san.

“–––Ino-san, is it okay if I talk to you now?”

“…You’re already talking to me.”

I had considered the possibility of being ignored, but I was relieved that she responded without even looking at me.

“Could you tell me why you’re angry? If I did something to Ino-san, I want to apologize.”

I stared at Ino-san’s crown, which was still and silent.

Soon, a small head slowly moved, and a doll-like, adorable face looked up at me.

But the moment I came into view, her round eyes widened and trembled, and she looked down again.

“…Yuki-chan didn’t do anything. I was just getting irritated on my own and acting badly. I’m sorry.”

With her gaze still fixed on the small space between her and me at the table, Ino-san continued.

“At the sports festival, after the dance, didn’t Yuki-chan go towards the gym? With your childhood friend… that girl.”

“That girl… Oh, yeah. Serika was about to collapse from a mild heatstroke.”

“…You’re still so kind, Yuki-chan.”

Ino-san clenches the hands she has placed on her lap.

Even though she was praising me, her tone of voice was subdued.

“I saw that girl almost fall, and I know Yuki-chan was with her to help her. But… somehow… I was really, really, really, really, really pissed off.”

“…Huh?”

I couldn’t help but flinch when Ino-san suddenly and forcefully lifted her head.

Her eyes looked as if she were about to cry.

Like a lost child, like she was, anxiety about not knowing what to do was palpable.

“It’s true that she’s incredibly selfish, but I hated it. I hated everything, absolutely everything, like her hugging Yuki-chan even after the accident, or Yuki-chan always being by her side during the seniors’ competitions. And I was also incredibly jealous.”

…Huh?

“No… jealous… eh?”

“While I’m at it, I was also jealous that she could call Yuki-chan by your first name without any honorifics. I know it’s natural for childhood friends to call each other casually, and I also know it’s crazy for me, who isn’t a childhood friend, a lover, or anything else, to say anything about it. But my determination to wait until I can be called by my first name without any honorifics is wavering so much, and I want it to happen right now, or rather–––”

“I-Ino-sa, stop, please stop for a moment. Please, really.”

Covering her face, which felt like it was about to burst into flames with just one hand, and unable to bear the relentless, machine-gun-like chatter of Ino-san, I instinctively reached out with my other hand.

If someone told me to stay calm about this, I might have already thrown a punch.

Even when I started calling Shirou and Kouki by their first names before Ino-san did, she was furious, her anger more intense than I could ever imagine from her usual demeanor.

She said it was because she was envious of the two of them, because she felt like they had gotten ahead, and it was unfair. Even now, Ino-san still hated it, she said she was envious.

Words that sound like she’s jealous.

What’s different from before is that she’s not going berserk, but rather, a girlish side appropriate for her age is peeking through. It’s rare for Ino-san, but I can sense a bit of panic.

It felt like she was mercilessly unleashing intense flames on Shirou and Kouki, but why was it different for Serika?

My thoughts are racing through my mind, but I can’t even look Ino-san in the face properly.

What stopped that flow was a delicate fingertip grabbing my shirt.

“–––Yuki-chan, what do you think of that girl?”

She asks in a voice even more delicate than before.

If I didn’t concentrate, the other customers’ conversations would drown me out.

“She’s cute, has a great figure, and was really cheerful before, even though she’s a bit gloomy now. Have you ever thought of someone like that as a romantic interest, just being around her?”

The fingers gripping the shirt are trembling slightly.

This is the first time I’ve seen Ino-san so emotionally distraught and overwhelmed with anxiety. It’s also the first time I’ve seen her care so much about others.

Kouki and Shirou, the two of them, and Serika, the reason why their emotional expressions differed came to mind, and she gently placed her hand over her trembling fingertips.

“Certainly, Serika was the closest to me. But I never thought of her as a girl.”

It was always natural for Serika, Daiki, and me to be together.

The only thing that was close was the physical distance. Serika’s heart was already turned towards Daiki, and even though I wasn’t told directly, I could sense it, so I naturally started watching over them.

The only person I’ve ever been conscious of as a romantic interest is the woman in front of me, who is as adorable as a small animal and whose eyes never fail to captivate those around her in other ways as well.

“…Really?”

Nodding at Ino-san as she still looked up at me anxiously, I asked what had been on my mind the whole time.

“Ino-san, you were called out by a baseball club senior during lunch break, right? At that moment, did you feel any attraction towards that person as a member of the opposite sex?”

Ino-san’s eyes widened, and she shook her head vigorously from side to side.

Her long, distinctive hair billowed out.

“I see… I’ve been worried about it too.”

“Huh…?”

“Upon seeing Ino-san being called out, I thought to myself that Ino-san is someone everyone thinks is cute, so it wouldn’t be strange if you were dating anyone at any time.”

“…”

“That senior is cool even from a guy’s perspective, and he doesn’t feel out of place at all near Ino-san. Still, it was really… really unpleasant.”

I knew it was strange for me, who wasn’t even her boyfriend, to say something like this. I tried to accept that it was enough for Ino-san to be friendly with me as a “friend,” and that I couldn’t hope for anything more.

But it was none other than Ino-san who told me she clearly felt envy and irritation towards my relationship with Serika. The fact that she was driven by anxiety precisely because she was the woman closest to me.

I realized that the feeling I had when Ino-san was called by the senior was the same feeling Ino-san herself had.

It’s always like that. Whether unconsciously or consciously, she always steps in.

I was so afraid of the results that I just kept hesitating, making excuses about wishes that were too late or feelings that would never come true.

Immense shame washed over me, but this time it also gave me a push.

“Just now, you said I’m cute… I don’t like that.”

Ito-san had been frozen in a daze as she slowly began to speak.

A blush of red crept into her white, round cheeks and quickly spread across her entire face.

Watching that scene, I realized I had made such a bold statement, something I could hardly believe had come out of my own mouth, and my face flushed again.

Even after Kouki and Shirou returned, the heat hadn’t left my face, and I had to endure their warm gazes even while looking at the menu.