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 - 41

Chapter 41: Unamusing

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Monday of the week following the ball game tournament.

The moment I arrived at school and sat down in my seat, I—Kazuma Sato—realized that the “resolution” of the world around me had dramatically increased.

“—Morning, Sato-kun. Seriously, you did a great job in badminton!”

“Sato, let’s have a match again during lunch sometime. Teach me the trick to that smash.”

Classmates who I had thought regarded my existence as nothing more than background scenery were calling out to me one after another. My record of reaching the top eight at the prefectural tournament back in middle school, and the fighting spirit I had shown in the preliminaries and semifinals (though I myself was unaware of it) apparently, all of that had stripped away the “mob character” label from this person called Kazuma Sato.

“…Yeah. Morning. …Sure, when I’ve got time.”

I replied with the best poker face I could manage. Honestly, suddenly being in the spotlight was uncomfortable. Kaito, who sat next to me, puffed out his chest as if it were his own achievement and shooed away the people crowding around.

“Hey, hey, Kazuma’s my official partner, you know? The coaching fee is a pack of milk from the school store. …But seriously, you were amazing, Kazuma. Especially with how more girls have started saying things like, ‘He’s unexpectedly sharp-looking.’ As the guardian of your fan club, I can’t catch a break.”

“…Don’t go appointing yourself as a ‘guardian’ on your own. And there’s no way I’d even have a fan club in the first place.”

“You never know? It might just be a matter of time before you have one.”

I gave a wry smile at the exchange with my best friend and started organizing my bag when the front of the classroom suddenly became lively. Shinonome-san and Ichinose-san had arrived.

“Gooood morning! Kazucchi-kun, you’re popular as always!”

Ichinose-san skipped over to my desk. Behind her stood Shinonome-san. Her smooth black hair was swaying and she was wearing a flawless “angelic smile.”

“Good morning, Kaito-kun, Sato-kun.”

That clear yet somehow gentle voice of “Shinonome-san.” Normally, this was where we would briefly exchange eye contact and silently signal to each other, ‘Let’s do our best today, as partners.’ It was my small, private pleasure, but—

“Ah, Sato-kun! Got a moment?”

Suddenly, girls from the neighboring class who had been in the cheering section during the tournament, called out to me.

“…? Yeah, what’s up?”

“The strings on your racket… What brand are they? My little brother plays badminton, so I was curious…”

Such trivial conversation began. I answered normally, but midway through I felt a gaze and turned my head.

(—…!!)

Shinonome-san was looking at me. No. More precisely, she was staring fixedly at the back of the girl talking to me, with eyes as cold as if she were looking at trash… No, like when someone was identifying a raid boss’s weak point. The moment our eyes met, Shinonome-san instantly returned to her usual “Shinonome-san” smile. But deep within her eyes, I could clearly see a thick, murky irritation unique to Haru swirling inside.

“… …Sato-kun, it looks like you’re in the middle of a conversation. …Saki, shall we go?”

“Nihihi, Rin-rin, your face is scary!”

Shinonome-san was led away by Ichinose-san and returned to her seat.

…

What was that? Did I do something wrong? Even during the breaks afterward, every time I talked to someone, I kept feeling a terrifying pressure from afar like Shinonome-san’s “angel mask” was slowly cracking.

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Rin’s POV

…How unamusing.

I felt absolutely awful. While sitting in my seat and pretending to open my notebook, I tracked Kazuma out of the corner of my eye. People had been gathering around Kazu nonstop. If it were just boys, that would still be fine. But what was with those girls from other classes, coming one after another?

“Sato-kun is unexpectedly cool.”

“His serious expression was wonderful.”

…

… … … …It’s too late to notice now.

Kazu’s dignified brows when he focused… Those eyes, like a knight hunting prey, when he chased the shuttle… For three years, I alone had discovered them through a noise-filled screen, and I alone had cheered for him from the closest place. And yet everyone only saw Kazu’s surface. No one knew how he was actually a goof, how after badminton practice he’d whine, “My leg cramped,” or how he’d grin wickedly while holding onto my black-history poems.

(… …Kazu is my “partner.”)

My fingertips ground against the mechanical pencil with a grating sound. I could feel a thick, black heat spreading deep in my chest. I didn’t want to admit what this feeling was yet but at the very least, it was decisively different from what I felt toward Saki or Kaito-kun.

“Rin-riin. You’re gonna snap your pen, you know?”

Beside me, Saki peeked at me with amusement.

“…It’s nothing. …It’s just noisy around Sato-kun, so I can’t concentrate.”

“Nihihi, really? Rin-rin, you’ve been looking at those girls swarming around Kazucchi-kun like you’re about to curse them to death!”

“Wha—!? D-don’t say such rude things! I’m just watching as his partner to make sure Kazu isn’t getting carried away!”

“Hoo? Partner, huh. Since when were you partners?”

…Ah. Damn it. If I keep talking, I’m going to let too much slip.

Grinning, Saki continued.

“But even though Kazucchi-kun’s being talked to by all those girls, he keeps glancing your way the whole time, you know?”

“Huh?”

I hurriedly looked toward Kazuma, and just then he was looking over at me, seeming troubled.

(…)

Our eyes met. Kazu’s eyes were as clumsy as ever, and somehow apologetic… And when I saw that, the irritation in my heart suddenly transformed into a different kind of “sweet pain.”

(… …You idiot, Kazuma. … …With that look on your face, how am I supposed to stay mad?)

I turned my face away with a huff and pouted my lips. No good. Right now, I didn’t think I could maintain the perfect mask of “Rin Shinonome.” I wanted to go over to him right now, chase away the girls, and tell him, “Come back to my side.” As Haru, as his partner, the impulse to monopolize him slowly gnawed away at my reason.

(… …Just wait, Kazu. …Be prepared for tonight’s login.)

I clenched my smartphone tightly in my pocket through my uniform. At school, we were just classmates. But when night came… In that world beyond the screen, where no one could interfere, just the two of us…  As Haru, I would give him a thorough punishment.

“Nihihi… …I’m looking forward to it.”

“Rin-rin, what’s with that smile!? It’s scary!!”

Kazuma Sato… No. Kazu. The knight who alone, in the entire world, knew my true self. I had not the slightest intention (not even a fingernail’s worth) of giving that privileged seat to anyone else.

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