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 - 23

Chapter 23: Before Heading Out, My Little Sister…

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It was Sunday, 10:00 a.m.

I, Sato Kazuma, was standing in front of the full-length mirror in my room, throwing myself into the greatest inner conflict of my life.

“…Is this too much?”

In my hands was the button-up shirt I’d agonized over and ended up buying yesterday. On the bottom, a safe pair of black wide pants. Not flashy, but clean and presentable enough. Normally, I’d just throw on a random T-shirt and some faded jeans but today, the opponents were the problem. 

Rin Shinonome, the online game partner who knew every last detail of my cringe past, known to me as “Haru.” And Saki Ichinose, one of the school’s angels, and the strongest walking bomb who had blackmailed me on the spot with accusations of looking at her with “lewd gazes.”

Going to face what was essentially the school’s top two in a sloppy outfit would be suicide. I didn’t even want to imagine what would be said during tonight’s gaming time. Especially since Haru had issued a brutally un–best-friend-like ultimatum during last night’s meeting: “If you show up in lame clothes, we’re done.”

“…Alright. This is fine. If I try any harder, it’ll look like I’m way too conscious of it and that’s just creepy.”

I said it out loud to convince myself and lightly fixed my hair. The guy in the mirror was just an ordinary high school boy you could find anywhere. Imagining those two standing next to me made my stomach tighten.

“…What are you doing, Onii. You’re gross.”

“…!”

An icy voice suddenly dropped from behind me. I turned around to see my little sister, Futaba, leaning against the doorway with her arms crossed, staring straight at me.

“Futaba… At least knock.”

“I did. You were just too deep in your own world to hear it. …What’s with that outfit? Are you auditioning for something?”

She flicked her ponytail and scanned me from head to toe, like she was inspecting illegally dumped trash. Futaba was a middle school girls’ basketball player, permanently stuck in full rebellious mode when it came to me, but her observation skills were annoyingly sharp.

“…No, I’m just going out with some friends. Club’s off today, remember?”

“Friends? Oh… you mean Rin Shinonome-san?”

Her eyes flashed sharply for just a moment.

Ever since last Saturday, the day Rin showed up at our house in a “disguise (that didn’t disguise anything)” my evaluation in Futaba’s mind had evolved from “pathetic otaku brother” to “cult leader who has somehow subjugated the school’s goddess.”

“H-how do you know that…?”

“…Am I wrong?”

“…Well… You’re not wrong, but…”

Why are you so scary? Big brother’s gonna cry, you know?

“……Unbelievable.”

Futaba let out a deep, heavy sigh and held her head.

“Rin Shinonome-san. Beautiful, amazing at basketball, practically a sacred sanctuary who even underclassmen call ‘-sama.’ And that kind of person spends her day off with you of all people? …What kind of mortal sin did Shinonome-san commit in her past life?”

She’s really that adored, huh. Guess I just didn’t know. She probably has a fan club or something.

“What do you think your actual brother is, anyway?”

“A walking trash. A living dark past …Hey, be honest. How much are you paying Shinonome-san? Or are you using that dragon sticker to cast some kind of shady hypnosis on her?”

“LIKE I WOULD!! I told you, we’re just game friends! I’m not paying her anything!”

“Game friends don’t sit alone together in a room surrounded by that sweet atmosphere. …Even Mom’s been saying since yesterday, ‘Kazuma, if you’re going to propose to Rin-chan, I need to cook red rice!’ You better take responsibility.”

“I’ll talk to Mom properly later…!!”

Cold sweat started pouring down my back, refusing to stop.  My family’s perception of her had gone beyond “best friend” and straight into “fiancée” territory. If Shinonome-san ever found out about it , she’d definitely say something like, “Kazu, wanna reread those old chat logs from that day?” and roast me to oblivion.

“…Well, whatever. Be grateful for Shinonome-san’s mercy. …Oh, right.”

As if remembering something, Futaba pulled out her phone.

“Today’s outing. Saki Ichinose-san is coming too, right?”

“—!? …H-how do you know that?”

“Yesterday, I accidentally saw a notification on your phone saying, ‘I’m looking forward to our outing at a café this Sunday!’”

“You… Do you even know what the word ‘privacy’ means?”

“Criminals don’t get privacy. …More importantly, what’s going on? Not just Rin Shinonome-san, but Saki Ichinose-san too? …So you finally sank your fangs into the school’s top two at the same time? This’ll be all over the school by Monday. News of your funeral, I mean.”

Looks like Ichinose-san is famous too. Well, that tracks.

Futaba’s eyes now held something beyond contempt, almost awe.

“It’s not like that!! Ichinose-san is just… like… a love advice thing… a cursed connection or something…”

A cursed connection? That’s not even a thing. What a desperate excuse.

My merciless little sister kept pressing me.

“…Huh? Ichinose-san asking you for love advice? …Even your sense of humor’s been corrupted. …Whatever. Just do your best not to get Shinonome-san to hate you.”

She spat that out and turned her back, about to leave the room. …but just before closing the door, she turned her face back toward me and said in a slightly softer tone. 

“…That day. When Shinonome-san came out of your room… she looked really happy.”

“…What?”

“…Hanging out with the three of you is fine, but if you make Shinonome-san sad, I’m seriously calling the police. …Later, trash.”

The door slammed shut.

“…………”

Silence filled the room. That last comment from Futaba weighed heavily on my chest. That day—when Rin and I were in my room, holding a strategy meeting for the game.

She had laughed and said, “When I’m with you, Kazu, I can just be Haru.” I’d thought that was the same sense of comfort I felt toward her as a partner. But…

If even a cold, detached third party like my sister saw her as “happy”… Then maybe this was already going beyond the realm of just game friends.

…No. I’m overthinking it. She just enjoys messing with me.

I shook my head and chased away the stray thoughts. I checked the clock. There were thirty minutes left until our meet up time. I looked at my phone. A new LINE message.

【Rin: Good morning, Sato-kun. You didn’t oversleep, did you?】

She deliberately called me “Sato-kun,” but somehow I could sense her nervousness and her anticipation between the lines.

【Kazuma: Yeah. I’m heading out now. Don’t forget anything, Shinonome-san.】

【Rin: Nihihi. Roger that, partner. …Oh, by the way, I’m really putting in the effort today. …So if you spot me from the pedestrian bridge, don’t get so mesmerized that you fall off, okay?】

……

…………

“…Seriously, that girl…”

I let out a wry smile, slipped my phone into my pocket, and grabbed my bag. Rin (Haru) was just my best friend. The greatest partner I’d had my back to for three years. So this restless stirring in my chest had to be nothing more than the thrill of maybe getting our secret exposed.

I repeated that to myself again and again as I left my room.

In the living room, Mom was making a fuss—“Kazuma, did you bring a handkerchief? Gum? Make sure you’re polite to Rin-chan!”—but I brushed her off and opened the front door.

The air outside was a little cold, yet carried a strangely sweet premonition. The most beautiful girl in the school, Rin Shinonome. The walking bomb, Saki Ichinose. And caught between them, just a gaming partner, Sato Kazuma.

Our Sunday, an outing between the three of us who were more than friends, less than lovers, was just about to begin.

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