I Confessed My Sexual Preferences to My Online Game Best Friend, and the Person Who Showed Up at the Offline Meetup Was the Cute Girl from My Class - 18

Chapter 18: The Angel Who Brings the Storm

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About an hour later. While eating the last bite of her parfait, Ichinose-san gazed out the window for a while. Amid the noisy bustle of the family restaurant, only our booth seemed to slip into an air pocket of silence. After that, we kept repeating surface-level, utterly ordinary small talk, and before we knew it, quite a bit of time had passed.

“…Hey, Kazucchi-kun. The guy who confessed to me before… He was pretty handsome, right?”

Suddenly, that was how Ichinose-san began her consultation session. She was talking about the male student who had confessed to her behind the gymnasium and had been promptly rejected.

“…Yeah… I guess so. He was tall, and he had that athlete vibe. He probably was popular with girls.”

“Right? But you know, what do you think he said he liked about Saki? …He said, ‘I love Ichinose-san. You’re always cheerful and you have bright smile that makes everyone around you happy.’”

It certainly sounded like a good enough reason to fall for someone like her… Ichinose-san toyed with the cream using her spoon and lifted the corners of her mouth in a self-mocking smile.

“That means it didn’t have to be Saki. …He’s just saying he likes the label ‘a cheerful and cute girl.’ …No one knows that Saki cried alone last night, or that she’s actually bad with crowds and just sits around quietly and blank-faced at home. No one knows that Saki is a girl who isn’t cute at all… No one even tries to see that.”

“…………”

“Everyone wants me to be an ‘angel.’ …So Saki plays the role of the ‘angel’ to meet their expectations. …But sometimes, it makes it hard to breathe.”

Ichinose-san smiled softly. But that smile wasn’t her usual sunlike brightness. That smile was like fragile moonlight that could vanish at any moment.

“Rin-rin is the only one who notices. …Only Rin-rin tells me, ‘Saki, why don’t you take a little break?’ when I’m forcing myself to smile. …That’s why, to Saki, Rin-rin is my best friend in the whole world.”

She stopped there and stared straight at me across the table. A definite heat burned in her large eyes.

“…And you know, Kazucchi-kun, you gave me the same feeling as Rin-rin. …When you look at Rin-rin, you’re not all lovey-dovey like the other guys, right? …It feels like you’re not looking at the ‘idol’ called Shinonome Rin, but at her as a person, as an equal.”

“—! …Well… she’s…”

I almost said, “She has a sharp tongue and she’s selfish,” but hurriedly shut my mouth. That was close. That was information about “Haru” that I knew from voice chat. It wasn’t information that “Sato-kun,” her classmate, was supposed to know.

“…I think Shinonome-san works really hard. She’s always trying to be perfect, but sometimes she can be really stubborn, right? …Because she has those ‘human’ sides, I just don’t see her as some beautiful doll.”

When I carefully chose my words and answered, Ichinose-san widened her eyes and then she showed the most genuine smile of the day.

“…I knew it. …Hey, Kazucchi-kun. If it’s you, do you think you could find Saki too? …Not the ‘school angel,’ but just plain, selfish, troublesome Saki Ichinose.”

“…You’re plenty selfish already. You blackmailed me on Thursday, and today you dragged me around and made me buy you parfait. …At this point, I’ve only been seeing your ‘non-angel’ parts.”

When I said that bluntly, Ichinose-san stared blankly for a moment before bursting out laughing. That laughter wasn’t an act directed at someone. It was a genuine sound overflowing from her heart.

“That’s so mean! But that! That’s exactly it! …Kazucchi-kun, you really are the best! Saki’s decided!”

“…Decided what?”

“I feel bad for Rin-rin, but… Kazucchi-kun, you’re going to become a ‘special’ friend to Saki too! …Nihihi, I wonder if Rin-rin will be surprised?”

“…Please don’t make a big deal out of it. I don’t want to stand out.”

“Eh? It’s fine! …Hehe, you and Rin-rin really are similar in some ways…”

“…You seriously have a bad personality, Ichinose-san.”

“Nihihi. …For some reason, I kind of like hearing that from you. …Well then, see you tomorrow at school, Sato-kun!”

Ichinose-san deliberately corrected herself to “Sato-kun,” then skipped out of the restaurant. Left alone, I stared at the empty glass in my hand and let out a deep sigh. When I looked at the clock, it was 5:30 p.m. If I headed home normally, I would easily make it in time to log in.

Saki Ichinose… She’s the same as Shinonome-san. The pain of living as an idol, and the desperate desire for someone who understands what’s underneath.

It seemed I had, without intending to, been locked on as the “partner who knows their true selves” by both of the school’s top two.

On the way home. I was at a loss over how I should tell Shinonome Rin, who was waiting for me to log in that night, about today (or whether I should hide it).

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“…Nihihi. He really is interesting.”

Saki walked alone along the road to the station, lit by the evening glow, and laughed softly to herself. Sato Kazuma. Today, he had been flustered the entire time, looking like he had no composure, constantly checking Saki’s reaction. And yet, the words Saki had most wanted to hear—“You’re plenty selfish already”—such tactless but supremely sincere words… He had thrown them at her without hesitation.

He hadn’t looked at the ‘Saki Ichinose’ everyone wanted. He had looked at the troublesome, slightly hungry ‘girl’ standing right in front of him.

It was the same thing her most beloved best friend in the world, Rin, always did for her.

“…Rin-rin has noticed too. I’m sure of it.”

Recently, Rin had seemed somewhat distracted.

Even during club activities, she kept checking her phone and sometimes smiled with a softness no one had ever seen before.

At the end of that gaze was always Kazuma.

There was no doubt something was going on between them.

Kazuma had tried desperately to hide it, but the look in his eyes when he talked about Rin wasn’t the one he gave to a mere classmate.

“You’re both so bad at keeping secrets.”

Saki took her smartphone out of her bag.

When she turned on the screen, her chat with Rin appeared.

Kazuma had said, “Keep this a secret.”

He was probably embarrassed. Or maybe he still didn’t know how to deal with Rin.

But continuing to lie to her best friend Rin didn’t suit Saki’s nature.

And besides, watching the two people she loved most pretend to be strangers while secretly exchanging glances was just too much of a waste.

“It’s way more fun when everyone’s laughing together than sneaking around in secret!”

That’s right. This was a “present” for the two of them.

If they couldn’t take that first step without a push, then Saki would just give them a little nudge—yes, more like a shove off a cliff.

“Nihihi! That’s it, I’ll make a group for the three of us! I wonder if Kazucchi-kun will be surprised?”

Just imagining it was fun, and Saki’s fingers tapped the screen without hesitation.

She invited Kazuma—Kazucchi-kun—and added Rin-rin.

She decided the group name would be the most exciting one possible.

—“Nihihi☆The Three of Us’ Secret.”

“Okay, I’ll make the group at school tomorrow.”

The moment she pressed the confirmation button tomorrow—

The bomb called Saki Ichinose’s “good intentions” would quietly, yet surely, begin its countdown to explosion inside Kazuma’s pocket as he ran through the twilight streets.

“On Sunday, Saki will be the lead producer! I can’t wait, Rin-rin!”

Humming to herself, she headed home with light steps. On her back, it almost looked as though the wings of the storm-bringing angel swayed mischievously.

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