Fallen from the Top Group Due to Cheating and False Accusations. The Only One Who Stood by Me Was My Little Sister’s Best Friend, Who Had Always Adored Me. - Chapter 2: Witnessing My Girlfriend’s Infidelity.

Chapter 2: Witnessing My Girlfriend’s Infidelity.

The rain grew steadily heavier, driven sideways by the wind and gradually soaking through my shoulders.

This umbrella was practically useless now.

I tilted it against the wind’s direction, struggling for about ten minutes until the familiar high-rise apartment building finally came into view.

The thick automatic glass doors slid open. Once inside the entrance, I closed my umbrella, took a step back so the camera could clearly capture me, and pressed the call button on the wall for room 907.

Given the hour, I doubted she would be out, and sure enough, a soft click came through almost immediately. But—

‘…Oh? Arata-kun?’

The voice that answered wasn’t Karen’s. It belonged to her mother, Matsunami Keiko.

I felt a slight tension, but I had eaten meals with her here several times before during previous visits, so our relationship was cordial. That made things easier.

“Sorry to bother you so late, Keiko-san. Is Karen in her room right now? If it’s not too much trouble, could you let me speak with her?”

‘Karen? That girl hasn’t come home from club activities yet.’

“Huh?”

Her unexpected reply left me sounding foolish. Not home yet…?

‘Lately she’s been saying she stays behind to keep you company during your extra training after practice, so I assumed the two of you were coming back together again today…’

Keep me company—the moment I heard those words, a sharp sense of wrongness hit me. It was true that when I had just started staying late for solo practice, Karen had once offered, “I’ll stay with you too.” But those extra sessions were my own selfish decision, and I had turned her down because I didn’t want her parents to worry about her coming home late. As far as I remembered, we had never once stayed behind together and returned home side by side.

“…I see. Thank you. Sorry for showing up so suddenly.”

‘Are you sure you don’t want to wait for her?’

“No, it’s fine! She might be taking a detour with one of the other managers after club. I’ll just head home for today. I can contact her on my phone anyway.”

‘Is that so…? Well, be careful on your way back. Especially with this rain.’

“Yes. Excuse me! Thank you again.”

Before I could cause Keiko-san any unnecessary worry, I answered in a cheerful voice and quickly left the entrance.

When I checked my smartphone, the time had already passed 8 p.m.

I opened the umbrella once more and began retracing my steps. The unease swirling in my mind only grew stronger, and without realizing it, my feet carried me toward the nearby shopping district.

In this day and age, would a high school girl really be out playing around alone at this hour, in this rain?

It wasn’t that I doubted Karen.

Our relationship had lasted longer than anyone else’s, so even worrying felt presumptuous.

It was probably just the accumulated fatigue from club activities making me a little paranoid. Yes—that was all it was.

Taking a slight detour wouldn’t hurt. Once I passed through the shopping district, I’d head straight home. With that decision made, I stepped into the brightly lit night streets of the district—only for my feet to freeze completely at the scene that unfolded before my eyes.

“No way… Why…?”

Emerging from the familiar karaoke parlor that Karen and I often visited together on our days off were two figures in school uniforms.

One was Karen.

The other was a tall young man holding her hand in a lover’s grip, smiling cheerfully—my best friend, Kayama Hayato.