After I Picked up a Notebook Filled With Intense Emotions, the Girls Started Acting Strange - Chapter 22

“Mmm~! So good!”

Right now, in front of me, was Sena-san as she happily stuffed her mouth with a huge pancake.

Lately, I’ve been finding it harder to understand her.

She says she’s doing all this for Shindou, but… is that really true? It doesn’t feel like she cares about him much anymore.

But still, after showing that much affection, could someone really lose interest so suddenly?

“What’s wrong? Come on, Shiomi-kun, you should eat too. It looks delicious!”

“Ah, yeah.”

I looked down at the pancake in front of me, topped with baked apple, caramel sauce, and custard cream.

My drink was an iced café latte.

Neither of them was what I ordered. Sena-san had ordered them the moment we sat down.

“Did you like it? Baked apples.”

…Wait, is my private info leaking somewhere?

I don’t remember ever telling anyone that.

I do like baked apples a lot, but even my friend Kazuma doesn’t know that. It’s something only my mom knows.

“Here, I already put syrup in your latte too.”

“Thank you.”

She’s even learning my preferences now.

And despite us being at a café, she’s fussing over me like a caretaker.

“Mizuki!”

A familiar male voice called out from the entrance.

When I turned around, there stood Shindou, and walking beside him was Orihara-san.

They hadn’t even been seated by the staff, yet the moment they entered, they came straight toward us.

“Tch.”

…Wait. Did Sena-san just click her tongue?

Anyway, this was bad. Even if they knew she’d been asking me for advice, being seen hanging out together during Golden Week was bound to cause trouble.

“Excuse me. Please wait. We haven’t shown you to your seat yet─”

“Oh, I’m sorry. We’re friends with these two. And this is a four-person table, right? Do you mind if we join them?”

Shindou said something completely unreasonable to the poor waiter.

All of us, me, Sena-san, and even Yukina behind us, froze in shock.

Does this guy… not have any sense of manners?

It was Golden Week, and the café was packed. We had waited nearly half an hour just to get in.

Even now, there was still a long line at the entrance, and everyone was glaring at Shindou like he’d just cut in line.

“It’s fine, right, Mizuki?”

“No, it’s not.”

“Wha!?”

Shindou looked shocked when Sena-san turned him down.

Even though he liked her, there was no way she’d agree to something so unreasonable.

“I’m sorry, but we can’t allow that. There are still customers waiting outside. Please go back and line up again.”

“I’m sorry about that. Come on, Shindou-kun, let’s get back in line.”

“─Tch.”

Orihara-san looked apologetic as the waiter stood his ground.

Meanwhile, quiet laughter spread through the café from the watching customers.

In the end, the two of them went back toward the entrance, though Shindou kept glaring at us the whole time.

“That’s so embarrassing.”

“…Yeah.”

Whoa, she really sounded cold now.

The way Sena-san looked at him, there wasn’t even a trace of the old feelings she used to have.

After that, she went right back to chatting with me like nothing had happened.

We finished our pancakes, paid the bill, and left the café.

As we stepped out, Shindou and Orihara-san were just being shown to their table. Shindou looked like he wanted to chase after us.

Once outside, Sena-san and I walked around the mall together.

It turned into window shopping, looking through clothes and little accessories, picking out things she thought might suit me or things I might need.

Wait a second… wasn’t this supposed to be practice for her date with Shindou?

“This one’s for Shiomi-kun!”

“Huh…?”

While I was lost in thought, Sena-san suddenly came back from the counter holding a small, gift-wrapped bag and handed it to me.

“It’s a thank-you gift for coming with me today!”

“No, you don’t really have to.”

She had already paid for everything today. The movie, the café, everything. Even earlier, I barely managed to stop her from paying the café bill herself.

The bag she held out was see-through, and I could tell it was a handkerchief.

“You lost your handkerchief, right? I thought you might need one.”

I’m not even going to question it anymore.

I never told her that. And it happened years ago, back when she had already transferred to another school.

“Come on, take it! If you don’t, I’ll be the one who feels bad…?”

Ignoring my hesitation, Sena-san pushed the bag into my hands.

It didn’t seem like she’d back off even if I refused. So I decided to just accept her kindness.

But still, everything about today felt strange. Her attitude toward Shindou is the reason we even came out together.

Before I knew it, I found myself blurting out my thoughts.

“Hey, Sena-san… do you not like Shindou anymore?”

“…Why do you ask?”

“Well, it’s just lately, the way you look at him feels different. I thought maybe something happened between you two.”

“Something. Yeah, something did happen.”

“Then you mean─”

“You’re misunderstanding something, Shiomi-kun.”

“Misunderstanding?”

What was I misunderstanding?

Her answer came right away.

“The person I like hasn’t changed… not now, not in the past.”

“…Huh?”

My mind went completely blank.

What did she mean by that? The person she likes hasn’t changed?

But when she came to me for advice, she said she was trying so hard for Shindou’s sake.

Ever since she transferred back, she’d been taking care of Shindou all the time. I thought that was because she liked him.

And yet, these past few days, the way she looked at him clearly wasn’t how she looked at someone she loved.

Then… who is the person Sena-san actually likes…?

That thought sent a chill down my spine.

◆

“Damn it, damn it, damn it! None of this makes sense! Why would Mizuki…”

“Haa…”

This isn’t fun at all.

That’s how I’d sum up how today has been so far.

A little while ago, I almost cried because something reminded me of an old trauma. Ever since then, I can’t stop sighing.

Across from me, Shindou-kun is sitting at the café table, shaking his leg impatiently as we wait for our order.

I asked Shiomi for advice, and after that, I decided to invite Shindou-kun out.

The reason was simple. To find out if he’s really my savior.

My savior.

For that person, I want to give everything I have. I want to devote myself completely to love and accept him with all my heart. That’s how I truly feel.

That’s why not knowing for sure whether Shindou-kun is that person feels so frustrating.

That frustration has turned into this strange and uneasy feeling I have toward him now.

Is he really my savior?

The more time I spend with him, the more I start to doubt it.

Back at school, I didn’t really notice much.

He’s pretty good-looking, athletic, and smart enough. I can totally understand why girls would like him.

But with a personality like this, I’m surprised no one’s been disappointed in him.

He sometimes acts overconfident and unreliable, but this is… worse than I expected.

If I didn’t think there was a chance he was my savior, I probably would’ve gone home already. Even with that possibility in mind, I can’t help feeling disappointed.

It’s like all the doubts I’d been ignoring suddenly started to bloom inside me.

Was the boy who saved me back then really this pathetic?

Once that thought crossed my mind, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Maybe… just maybe, he’s not the one.

No, that can’t be. He saved my little sister, Seina, too. Her story matches mine exactly.

Then I have to believe it.

So what if I saw the bad side of him? That just means my love for my savior isn’t strong enough yet.

I can’t give up over something like this!

Maybe today’s just a coincidence.

Maybe he’s just distracted because he’s thinking about his childhood friend.

I’ll give it a little more time. Just a little more.

If he really is my savior, then I should be able to accept every part of him, even this.

“Yukina, hurry up and finish eating. Let’s go after them. We can still catch up if we go now.”

“Shindou-kun, I get that you’re worried about Mizuki-chan, but you’re out with me today, remember? I’d like you to focus on me a bit more. It’s been a while, and I want to know more about you.”

“…Alright, fine.”

I let out a small sigh of relief.

See. If I talk to him properly, he actually listens.

“You want to know more about me? You’re really cute, Yukina. Fine then. I’ll tell you everything there is to know about me. I’m─”

And from there, he launched into a long, endless story about himself.

Mostly bragging. I immediately regretted asking.

“─So. Pretty amazing, right?”

“Yeah… sure. Anyway, should we leave the café now?”

“Hm? Oh, let’s do that.”

Honestly. I didn’t hear a single word of what he said.