After Distancing Myself From the Childhood Friend Couple Who Looked Down on Me, I Started Interacting With a Small Animal-Like Beautiful Girl - Chapter 39

After parting with Ino-san, I walked along the darkening road as the sun set, heading home.

As soon as I closed the door of my house, I slumped to the ground.

As I bury my flushed face in my knees and sigh deeply, my mother, who has peeked out from the living room, calls out to me.

“Welcome back! Did you have fun with your friends… What’s wrong? Are you feeling sick?”

I had already told my mom that I was going to have an after-party with Ino-san and the others.

It’s no wonder her voice was so lively until she saw me crouching in front of the door without even taking off my shoes, because her son, who hadn’t talked about friends other than Daiki and Serika for a long time, was saying I was going to spend the afternoon with a classmate I’d become friends with.

“…It’s okay. I’m completely fine.”

“Oh, Yukito, welcome back–––ow!? What the… Maru…”

The voice I heard from the living room was my dad’s, back from work.

Perhaps he tried to pet or pick up Maru, and that’s why he got scratched so badly.

Once before, Maru, sensing my father’s presence creeping up from behind, had brushed his hand away with astonishing speed.

I told Mom I was going to change and slowly climbed the stairs.

The sound of something quickly coming up from behind made Maru realize that I had come out of the living room.

Closing the door to my room, I turned to look at Maru, who had rubbed against my feet.

“What should I do? I might have done something terrible…”

Matching the timid owner kneeling in front, Maru also lowered its body.

When it sits with its legs neatly together, the round form becomes even cuter. But it’s always cute.

I took my smartphone out of my pants pocket and opened LINE.

When I switched to the chat screen with Ino-san, there was no doubt that the text I had sent on my way home and Ino-san’s short reply of “Okay” were displayed.

The content is a summons from me to Ino-san, calling her to meet me after school tomorrow.

In the end, it was a confession.

“It’s a bit too obvious, so she probably noticed… Wait, did I really send this? …Tomorrow, tomorrow, huh…”

Even though I made the decision myself, I can’t help but feel anxious. Even if we’re probably in love with each other.

On the way back from the family restaurant today, I almost told her on impulse, but in the end, I couldn’t say it.

Could I face the person I like and properly put my feelings into words?

“Maru, do you think I’ll be able to confess properly tomorrow…?”

Maru approached me, whose face was probably pale and weak.

Then, just as suddenly, it lay down with its head on its knee and meowed.

Whether the owner’s confession is successful or not is of no concern to a capricious cat. That’s true.

Watching Maru’s relaxed demeanor makes my worries seem less significant, and my heart feels lighter.

“Thinking about it won’t change anything, will it?”

I petted Maru and then started getting ready for a shower.

Thus, it was only a few minutes later that I was finally released from Maru, who had entered its clingy mode.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

With the morning came the day of the main event for me.

At the entrance, I pet Maru for a little longer than usual before heading to school.

I took Kouki and Shirou, who were already in the classroom, out into the hallway and told them I was going to confess to Ino-san.

I wanted to tell the two of them as they were my friends.

After their eyes widened, the two of them laughed and gave me words of encouragement.

I’ll be fine, they said.

When I returned to the classroom, I saw Ino-san putting her school backpack on her desk.

Feeling my heart pounding, I call out to Ino-san.

“Good morning, Ino-san.”

“…Good morning.”

Ino-san’s shoulders twitched, she looked up at me, and then immediately averted her gaze.

Her expression didn’t change, but I could tell she felt a little embarrassed, just like me.

Just that makes me happy.

“Oh, there you are!”

A cheerful voice came from the morning.

I looked and saw an unfamiliar girl walking in from the door near the blackboard. Her loosely curled black hair was dyed pink on the inside, and her shirt was slightly unbuttoned.

The girl with sparkling nails placed her hand on my desk and smiled.

“Hey, are you Yoshizaki-kun?”

“That’s right… um.”

“I’m Yamaguchi Hasumi from Class 1. We were on the same white team at yesterday’s sports festival.”

“I-I see. Um, is there anything I can…”

“Saitou-chan, you’re next to Yoshizaki-kun? Oh, so that’s why you two became friends?”

Just as I was about to ask, Yamaguchi-san started talking to Saitou-san next to me.

She’s a very free-spirited person.

…Saitou-chan?

“I told you I don’t like that nickname.”

With a sullen expression, Ino-san muttered a reply.

The two of them seem to know each other.

“Yamaguchi is from the same middle school. We’re just acquaintances.”

“Come on, we even lent each other notes, didn’t we? Don’t make it sound so cold~”

“It was only a handful of times. And besides, I was the one lending every time.”

As I looked back and forth between their faces, Ino-san explained upon sensing my confusion.

Yamaguchi pretended to poke her with her fingertips with slightly pursed lips, but Ino-san didn’t pay any attention at all.

Speaking of which, I remember the day I first talked to Ino-san. I recall Ino-san lending a notebook to someone from her middle school who was in the next group over.

While many people tend to keep their distance from Ino-san, Yamaguchi-san, who can casually strike up a conversation like this, seems to have a wide circle of friends.

And yet, I couldn’t understand why someone like her chose to talk to me.

“So then, why did you come up to Yuki-chan?”

“Hmm? I just thought I’d like to trade contact info.”

“Huh?”

“Yes?”

My voice overlapped with Ino-san’s low tone.

While keeping an eye on the black aura emanating from Ino-san, I asked Yamaguchi-san for the reason.

“It’s obviously because I want to be friends! For me, exchanging contact information is like proof that we’ve become friends. The more I do it, the more I feel like I’ve made so many friends, and it gets me excited.”

Yamaguchi-san scrolls through her LINE friend list, showing it to me while speaking with a smile.

I almost close my eyes at the light she emits, which is overwhelmingly good.

Is this what a truly popular person is like?

“…Yamaguchi, does that mean you want to be friends? Nothing else?”

“Yeah. Nothing else in particular…”

As Ino-san glared at her, trying to discern her true intentions, Yamaguchi-san replied with a puzzled look.

But as if she had noticed something, she smirked and looked back and forth between me and Ino-san. Upon seeing that, Ino-san’s expression also turned bitter.

“Oh~ Saitou-chan, really?”

“…You’re the worst.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay, I definitely won’t be a nuisance like that! Oh, but if you really don’t want to, I’ll give up on the contact information…”

“I don’t really feel like interfering that much. Do as you please.”

“Saitou-chan, you’re so tolerant! Yoshizaki-kun, can I exchange contact information with you?”

Yamaguchi-san had been talking with Ino-san as she suddenly turned around.

I was curious about the content of their conversation, but I was so overwhelmed by Yamaguchi-san’s sparkling eyes and enthusiasm that it completely slipped my mind.

“Y-yeah. If you don’t mind me…”

“Really?! Awesome!!”

I exchanged contact information with Yamaguchi-san while she was practically jumping for joy. She happily held up her smartphone, which displayed the chat window with my contact added.

I never thought she’d be so happy just because we exchanged contact information.

It’s a mystery what about me made someone like Yamaguchi-san want to be friends, but I suppose someone like her doesn’t need a deep reason.

She acts because she wants to be friends. She is someone who is honest with her feelings.

I’m glad I was able to meet someone like that.

“Um, I was happy that you wanted to be friends. Thank you.”

“Whoa, that was more straightforward than I expected… No, wait, you’re welcome!”

I smile along with Yamaguchi-san as she gives me a dazzling smile like the sun.

“…Not enemies, but troublesome ones have increased.”

It was then that I thought I heard Ino-san mutter something.

“–––Good morning, everyone.”

The door opens, and a familiar, refreshing voice enters.

He’s my childhood friend and the most popular person in this class.

The greeting that should have immediately come back to him was not heard, and there was no one surrounding him.