All the Heroines Who Showed Their Overwhelming Emotions on Me Have Mentally Broken Down and Gone Insane, so Now My Only Choice Is to Pamper Them Endlessly to Avoid Total Chaos — Sweets Work Best on Lovesick Heroines

Chapter 16: Meanwhile… (Raimu Side)

Before the start of classes, I waited for Aotori by the school gate, wearing the most dazzling smile to show him my cutest self.

I could not wait for school today. I felt like skipping all the way there because I was so eager to see Aotori.

When I closed my eyes, the events of Saturday came back vividly.

In my fever-hazed vision, Aotori sat by my bed. The feel of his slightly rough palm.

He had been so kind to me. No matter how unreasonable my requests or how much I troubled him, he always stayed by my side in the end.

That day, the distance between us had definitely shortened. From today on, we could spend our days more like lovers.

“Hee hee… Uhihi…♡”

My cheeks loosened. Ah, some other students were giving me weird looks again.

But I did not care. People often called me crazy, but I did not want to live pretending to be someone else.

I would live showing my true self. That was my motto.

“Is he here yet? Is he here yet?”

I swung my bag as I gazed down the road. But no matter how long I waited, Aotori did not appear. Even after the stream of students passing through the gate completely stopped, he never showed up.

Was he late?

That was unusual for Aotori.

Or had he caught my cold?

The preparatory bell rang from the school building, and I reluctantly headed to my classroom.

“Aotori? You’re not at school, are you okay?”

“Maybe you have a fever?”

“If so, I’ll come take care of you!”

“Here”

“As thanks for visiting me?”

I hid my smartphone under my desk and sent messages during homeroom.

I waited for the read receipt. A minute passed, then five, but there was no response.

That was strange. Aotori never ignored my messages. He did not reply often, but he always marked them as read.

Was he bedridden?

From then until lunch break, I kept sending messages several times. I spent most of the morning classes staring at my phone.

But the read receipts never appeared.

Around the start of lunch break, I casually opened the location-sharing app.

I expected Aotori’s home address to show up, but—.

“—!?”

He had disconnected!

Since when!?

I had told him so many times not to cut it…!

“Why…!?”

I cried out involuntarily, and the other students in the classroom looked at me curiously. But I did not care about that now.

Why did he disconnect?

Why would he not mark my messages as read?

Had I done something to make Aotori hate me…?

“What do I do… What do I do what do I do…!”

My mind turned to mush, and I could not sit still.

At a time like this, I had only one friend I could rely on.

I stood up from my seat and ran to the next class.

“Iorii…!”

It was another class’s room, but this was an emergency, so I burst right in.

My friendship with Iori was still new. It had started last summer, so not even a year had passed. Even so, whenever I worried about Aotori, she always listened, and now we had become close enough to call each other best friends.

Iori sat by the window. I rushed over and collapsed onto her desk as if begging for help.

“Listen to this…!”

“――――”

But Iori did not even glance at me.

Or rather, she seemed completely out of it. With her mouth agape, she stared down at her smartphone.

A voice leaked from Iori’s trembling lips.

“Why… How…”

“Iori?”

“This is so wrong… Why again, to me…”

Wondering what was going on, I peeked at her smartphone. The screen showed a chat. The other person was Aotori, and Iori had sent a barrage of messages.

Just like me, there were no read receipts. But that was not the issue. The problem was the content.

What Iori had sent were words confessing her feelings for Aotori.

—

Chapter 17: A Follow-Up Blow Works on a Gloomy Heroine (Iori Side)

Kaname was apparently absent from school due to a cold. A friend from his class had told her that.

But she suspected it was probably just playing hooky.

Yesterday’s kiss. That must have made things awkward, so he decided to skip school.

He was such a shy guy. She liked that bashful side of him too.

However, she wanted his answer to her confession as soon as possible. She wanted to get his OK quickly and do all sorts of things befitting a couple with him. Like commuting to and from school together every day, holding hands as they walked, going on dates during holidays… All sorts of couple-like things.

That was why she had been messaging him all morning, telling him she would come to his house after school. But—.

“…………”

Something was wrong. Even during lunch break, she got no response at all. It was unnatural for the dutiful and kind Kaname to ignore not just replying but even marking her messages as read.

Was it because of the kiss making things awkward?

No. That could not be it from their message exchanges. After all, he had been marking them as read until last night. Yet today, suddenly, he left them unread and ignored.

“Why won’t you reply?”

“Are the notifications going through, right?”

“I’ve been waiting forever for your response.”

“I spent the whole night thinking about you and looking forward to today?”

“I’ve been thinking about you nonstop.”

“I want to talk.”

“I want to keep hearing your voice.”

“I want to become your girlfriend soon.”

“What do you think of me?”

“I want you to say you like me.”

“Are you really thinking about me?”

“Am I being too greedy…?”

“Why won’t you reply?”

Even after spamming messages, the read receipts still did not appear.

No way—An unpleasant premonition surfaced. It was déjà vu.

She thought such a thing could not possibly happen… but just to be sure, she decided to check. She opened Kaname’s account page and tapped the gift function.

“Unable to send gift.”

“――――――――”

The classroom clamor receded in an instant, and she felt an illusion as if all sound had vanished from the world.

He had blocked her.

Kaname had blocked her again.

Why. How.

“This is so wrong… Why again, to me…”

Had she been too pushy and ended up hated? Eh, had he come to hate her?

She would die. It was impossible. She could not go on living if Kaname hated her.

“—What is this!?”

In the midst of her despair, an angry shout reached her ears from outside her awareness. When she looked up, Raimu stood right in front of her.

When had she…?

Raimu leaned on the desk with both hands, glaring down at her as she sat in her seat. Her breathing was ragged. What had gotten into her?

“You like Aotori too!?”

Her voice was as loud as a monkey’s, drawing the eyes of the entire classroom to them. But Raimu showed no sign of caring and stayed rooted, staring down at her smartphone.

Ah, that was it. Raimu must have glimpsed her chat with Kaname.

“Answer me properly! What is going on!?”

She threw a tantrum in the classroom without a thought for the others’ inconvenience… What a truly troublesome girl.

“Sigh…”

She let out a sigh as if to brush her off.

What should she do with her?

Until now, she had pretended to be friends out of necessity to monitor their relationship, but now that she had confessed to Kaname, there was no more need for that.

Their bond was doomed to break anyway, so she might as well shatter her mentally.

Yes. That would be good. It was unfair for her alone to suffer.

“I’ve decided to go out with Kaname.”

“Eh…?”

The desperate expression drained from her face.

Ah… What a beautiful reaction. Her usual sunny brightness made the clouded look stand out even more.

“What are you…”

She wanted Raimu to twist up even more, more and more.

She stood up from her chair. Meanwhile, Raimu’s shoulders slumped lower and lower.

She had always tried to monopolize Kaname all to herself…

As if venting all her built-up frustration, she twisted her lips with all the malice she could muster.

“We’ve even kissed already? Twice.”

Raimu’s mouth parted slightly. Then, she traced her own lower lip gently with her finger. Teasingly, to make her know.

“Yesterday, I went to Kaname’s house. He was so kind to me… When I confessed, he kissed me. It was so, so sweet?”

Kaname’s taste.

The taste she had relived over and over on her bed last night.

She exaggerated a bit, but the kiss itself was no lie. Just recalling that moment heated her core. It was real. Definitely not a dream.

“No way…”

Raimu trembled as if her knees might give out. Even so, she mustered her last strength and let out a cry.

“No way… It has to be a lie…!”

“I’m childhood friends with Kaname? We’ve been together far longer than you? Someone like you from the sidelines was never even in the ring from the start.”

“But… But but! Aotori wouldn’t betray me…!”

“Wouldn’t he?”

A dry chuckle rolled in the back of her throat.

“What does betrayal even mean in the first place? When you two aren’t lovers or anything.”

“Ugh…”

Raimu bit her lip. Her face looked on the verge of tears. But no tears fell. She stiffened her whole body as if holding back.

The classroom buzzed with whispers as everyone watched them. It almost looked like she was bullying her, and the stares from around stung a little.

“I don’t believe it… There’s no way I could believe that…!”

Raimu repeated her denials as if clinging to them.

“Because Aotori… He was so kind to me…!”

“That’s just Kaname’s usual way.”

“Even so…!”