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 - 53

Chapter 53: Just the Two of Us, in a Closed Space

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

“…………”

It was cramped. Far too cramped. A soundproofed, dim private room that wasn’t even two tatami mats in size. Two massive monitors sat side by side in front of us, and on the flat cushion mat beneath them, she and I were seated close enough for our knees to touch.

Immediately to my left, there sat my partner of three years and one of the top two most beautiful girls in the school, Rin Shinonome. Softly, mingling with the scent of rain, a sweet, soap-like fragrance drifted from her hair. A sealed space. The only sounds were the torrential rain violently striking the windows outside, and her steady, yet slightly quickened, breathing.

Why… Why am I sitting in the same private room as her while pressed up this close?

Struggling to contain my heart that felt ready to explode, I replayed the events of today so far like a revolving lantern.

＊＊＊＊＊＊

Several hours earlier. Eleven in the morning, beneath the clock tower in front of the station.

“—Kazu! Sorry to keep you waiting!”

The moment I saw Shinonome-san running through the crowd toward me, I thought my vision had glitched. Her silky black hair had been braided to one side today, and the glimpse of her white neck peeking through was blinding. It wasn’t her dressed-up look from our offline meetup, nor her school uniform appearance. It was the devastatingly powerful sight of her in casual clothes as a life-sized girl who had come out to hang out with Sato Kazuma.

“…What do you think? …Will today’s me get a passing grade from you, Kazu?”

She smiled shyly and gave my sleeve a small tug with her fingertips. All I could manage was, “…It’s a perfect score,” and just like that, our “expedition alone together” began.

First was choosing a birthday present for Ichinose-san. She had said she “wanted a guy’s perspective,” but once we entered the gift shop, she was in full “Haru” mode as usual.

“Hey Kazu, look at this! A sparkly star hairpin Saki would probably like. …But don’t you think she’d actually be happier with this simpler one instead?”

“…Yeah. She likes flashy things, but she’s the type who ends up picking something easy for herself to use.”

“Nihehe! Correct! …You really do pay attention to her too, don’t you?”

She narrowed her eyes slightly, looking a little dissatisfied and yet happy. In the end, after debating back and forth, we chose a small hair clip adorned with a translucent jewel-like ornament. After finishing the gift shopping, we had lunch at a pasta place inside the station building.

When she suddenly left the ordering to me and I naturally avoided the dessert that contained fresh blueberries she disliked, she said, “…Thanks for being considerate, Kazu,” in her real, unaltered voice. Her voice was so sweet it felt like my ears would melt.

Everything had been perfect. In the afternoon, we were supposed to go to a scenic park I had researched beforehand. A slightly romantic spot on a hill overlooking the city. Clutching the excuse of “we’re best friends,” I had quietly wished to spend just a little more time with her.

But…

On our way to the bus stop, the sky changed color abruptly. The clear blue vanished, replaced by ink-spilled clouds spreading overhead.

—ZAAAAAAASH!!

With a crack of thunder, rain poured down as if buckets had been overturned. We rushed under the nearest awning, but by then our clothes were already more than half soaked.

“…This rain is awful. …We won’t be able to move for an hour… no, two.”

As I muttered while checking the rain radar, Rin hugged her shoulders against the cold and looked up at the sign above where we had taken shelter.

“…Hey, Kazu. …Shall we go in here?”

It was a multi-tenant building near the station. The sign for an internet café glowed suspiciously in the rain. We couldn’t just stand outside drenched, and my house was too far. Without hesitation, I headed to the reception desk. …However…

“—I’m sorry, we’re fully booked today… Ah, there is one room available: a locked private ‘pair flat room.’ Would that be acceptable?”

“…………”

“…………”

Shinonome-san and I looked at each other. A completely private room that practically screamed “for couples only.” But outside was a storm. There was nowhere else to go.

“…It can’t be helped. …It’s raining, after all. …Right, Kazu?”

Her face bright red, she looked down and gripped my sleeve. The faint tremble of her fingertips made it clear to me, I had no right to refuse.

“Because we’re best friends.” “Because we’re partners.”

Holding up that strongest of shields, we completed the check-in and escaped into this narrow sanctuary.

＊＊＊＊＊＊

“…Haru. …You’ll catch a cold if you stay wet. …Here, use this towel.”

I handed her the rental towel from the staff.

“…Thanks…” she murmured softly, holding the collar of her dress as she began drying her wet hair. Her pale skin was slightly flushed from the rain and chill. Her blouse clung to her skin, outlining the delicate yet undeniably feminine lines of her body in a way I had never seen in her usual school uniform.

……This is bad. …Don’t look. …I’m just analyzing a raid boss mechanic right now…

Desperately, I turned on the monitor and fixed my eyes on the bright screen to avert my gaze. But the room was small. Every time she moved, the flat mat sank slightly, her shoulder brushing against my arm.

“…Kazu. …Sorry. …I’m making this feel kind of weird, aren’t I?”

Still hugging her knees, she leaned in to look at my face from the side. A few strands of wet black hair clung to her cheek. This wasn’t the confident “Rin Shinonome” from school. This was the face only I had known for three years… a slightly timid girl who entrusted everything to me alone, my partner.

“…It’s fine. …We’re just taking shelter from the rain.”

“…Nihehe. Liar. …You don’t think this is just taking shelter from the rain, do you? Your ears are bright red, Kazu.”

Shinonome-san poked my arm lightly with her fingertip.

“…Hey, Kazu. …Just for one minute. …Can I stay like this?”

Without waiting for my answer, ever so gently… She rested her head on my right shoulder.

“―!!”

That was the most violent heartbeat of the day.

“…I worked hard all day being ‘Shinonome-san.’ …So this is just a little break. …We’re best friends, so this much is okay, right?”

Her voice was so gentle it seemed it might dissolve into the sound of rain. Best friends. Partners. The boundary line we had protected for three years. But inside this locked room…

The warmth of our touching shoulders…

Our mingling breaths…

And her eyes shining in the dimness….

All of it had already begun melting our hearts hot and deep to a degree that no convenient excuse like “best friends” could possibly explain.

“…………Yeah. …Rest as long as you want.”

With trembling hands, I gripped the mouse and stared at the casually opened login screen of “Eternal Legend.” On the screen were the usual two of us. But in the real world, we were standing somewhere we could never return from to who we had been yesterday.

…Even after the rain stops… I don’t think I’ll have the confidence to leave this room…

I let out a grand sigh in my heart and surrendered myself to the lingering scent of her hair as she closed her eyes beside me, looking at ease. Our “secret outing, just the two of us.”

The true opening of it was something that, at that time, I couldn’t even begin to foresee awaited us after this silence.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー