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 - 49

Chapter 49: We’re Best Friends, Right?

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The moment we passed through the hotel’s revolving door and stepped out into the city, the lukewarm June breeze brushed against our cheeks. The air of the private room wrapped just moments ago in chandelier light and adults’ laughter suddenly felt like something from a distant, other world. I followed a half step behind Shinonome-san.

A neat white dress, a pale blue cardigan. And smooth black hair that reflected the sunlight. That figure, just a little more grown-up than the “Shinonome-san” at school, was so dazzling it made me hesitate to look at her directly.

“…Everyone left, huh.”

Shinonome-san suddenly stopped and turned around. Her face still seemed faintly flushed, carrying the lingering heat from the private room.

“…Yeah. …Shin-kun was saying something like, ‘Second party’s on Kazu!’ but he got hauled off by Genzo-san almost immediately.”

“Nihihi. …And near the end, Marie-san was saying stuff like, ‘You’re too precious, my skin’s getting better!’ what a total nonsense. …They really are a lively bunch.”

Shinonome-san chuckled softly and started walking again. The tree-lined road leading to the station. Without either of us saying anything, we matched our strides and walked side by side.

“…Hey, Haru.”

“Hm?”

“…When you went outside with Marie-san and the others… What were you talking about?”

When I asked what had been on my mind the whole time, her shoulder twitched slightly. She stared straight ahead, fell silent for just a moment and then answered a little too quickly.

“…It wasn’t anything important. …Marie-san’s marriage-hunting complaints, Yuki-san bragging about her husband and a bit about how we are at school. Just a little.”

“…You didn’t badmouth me, did you?”

“…Of course not! …Well, I might’ve said that ‘Kazu can be shockingly lacking in delicacy sometimes.’”

“…That was unnecessary.”

When I furrowed my brows, she gave a very Haru-like grin—nihihi—and peered into my face.

“Then what about you, Kazu…? What were you talking about with Genzo-san and the others? You didn’t come up with some shady plan, man to man, did you?”

“——!!”

My heart thudded loudly.

Genzo-san’s words 『You need to be prepared to face her head-on』. Tetsu-san’s『 Those were eyes of absolute trust』. And Kuma-san’s cryptic but weighty advice 『Become the salt that brings out the finest ingredient』.

There was no way I could tell her any of that right now.

“…No, nothing like that. …Just game strategy talk. …What to do for the next big update… stuff like that.”

“…Liar. Kazu, your eyes just darted around.”

Shinonome-san stopped and stepped in front of me.

…Too close. A sweet scent drifted from her hair, mixing with the night breeze and tickling my nose.

“…No secrets. …We’re partners, right?”

She stretched up just a little and stared straight into my eyes. Moist eyes. Heat burning deep within them. A light that never showed itself at school but that I alone had chased for three years through a screen. The light of my precious “partner” was right there.

“…Haru. …You know.”

“…What?”

“…You’re not taking what everyone said today seriously, right?”

When I asked, squeezing the words out, Rin blinked, eyes widening in confusion.

“…What everyone said?”

“…Stuff like ‘you’re like a married couple,’ or ‘you look perfect together.’ …That was just Marie-san and the others teasing us.”

I built the strongest “best-friend defense” I could, mostly to convince myself. Rin Shinonome. The school’s angel. There was no way someone like me, a background character, could truly be “a perfect match” for her.

…I had to think that way, or my racing heart would swallow me whole. Even though I’d just been told by everyone that thinking like that was wrong. Then… Shinonome-san relaxed her expression and smiled softly, a little sadly, but gently.

“…Idiot Kazuma. …I know that.”

She fidgeted with the hem of her cardigan and continued, looking down.

“…We’re best friends. …Partners, right? Of course we’re close. But…”

“…But?”

“Um… I just thought denying it felt kind of wrong.”

“…Huh?”

“…Because for me, the fact that you’re right by my side is just that, a fact. At school, I might belong to everyone… But right now, the me standing here is your ‘Haru’ alone. …So I thought… There’s no need to lie and say, ‘We’re just classmates.’”

She lifted her face and narrowed her eyes slightly. Those words pierced my chest more deeply, more hotly, than any decisive I like you ever could.

Best friends. Partners.

Under those convenient words, we had long since shattered the framework of an ordinary friendship. Both of us were afraid to step further. Afraid of losing this “closest place.” So we clung desperately to the fragile breakwater called best friends.

“…Yeah. …You’re right. …I wasn’t trying to deny it. …You being my partner, that’s been true since three years ago.”

“Nihihi. Good. …If you’d shouted something like, ‘Please stop calling us partners!’ I’d have been so embarrassed and sad I might’ve jumped into the fountain in front of the station by now.”

She laughed mischievously and took one step then another, closing the distance between us. Her hand brushed my shirt sleeve gently. She didn’t grip it. But she didn’t pull away either. A delicate distance. Close enough to touch, close enough not to, swaying in the May night breeze.

“…Kazu. …Tomorrow, it’s school again.”

“…Yeah. …We’ve gotta work hard at studying, too.”

“…Mm. …Back to ‘Sato-kun’ and ‘Shinonome-san.’ …Pretending to be strangers in front of the class feels like it might be a little lonelier than before.”

As she said that, she flicked my sleeve lightly with her fingertip.

“…I’ll keep an eye on you so you don’t slip up. …That’s the knight’s job, right?”

“Nihihi. Yeah. …Then tomorrow morning, if our eyes meet first thing, cast a buff only I can tell, okay, partner?”

“…I’ll do my best.”

The ticket gates came into view. The boundary back to the real world. We stopped and looked at each other one last time. There was no lingering afterglow of an adult meetup anymore. No popular girl at school. No voice-changed gamer. Just Kazuma Sato and Rin Shinonom, —two people who valued each other more than anyone else.

“…Well then. See you tomorrow in the classroom, Shinonome-san.”

“…Yeah. …See you tomorrow, Sato-kun. …Ah—…Kazu.”

“What?”

“Nihihi. …Good night, Haru’s knight.”

She winked sharply, then disappeared lightly through the ticket gate. I started walking alone through the night city she had left behind. The cool sensation lingering on my right palm, where she had touched my sleeve one last time. And in stark contrast, the hot certainty that kept smoldering deep in my chest.

“…Yeah. …Total defeat. Seriously.”

I looked up at the night sky with a wry smile.

Genzo-san’s advice, Marie-san’s shrieks… For now, it was still a little too early for them to shatter the lie we called “best friends.” But…

Tomorrow, when our eyes meet in the classroom, my heart would surely pound louder than ever, calling only her name. In my pocket, my phone buzzed with a notification.

【Haru: I got on safely. …Thanks for today. …Wanna gush a bit when we log in tonight?】

…

………

“…Like hell I will, idiot.”

Letting the wind cool my burning cheeks, I broke into a light, buoyant run down the road toward home. The story of me and her being “just partners.” Having brushed against the adult world just a little, it had begun to shine even more sweetly,  and cruelly, but this bond was definitely a special one.

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