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 - 57

Chapter 57: The Resolve to Take Her Out

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How could I guide this relationship to the “right” answer? Lying on my bed in my room, staring at the grain of the wooden ceiling, that was all I had been thinking about since yesterday. Three years ago, Haru and I met in the digital sea. At first, we were just gaming buddies. Then, we became irreplaceable partners who could entrust our backs to each other.

And now, this nameless relationship where I had come to know the warmth of a girl named Rin Shinonome. My little sister Futaba’s words echoed in my head like a spell.

『…Clinging to an ambiguous relationship like ‘best friends’ is just another form of running away from reality, right?』

She was right. I had used the excuse of “we’re partners” as a shield, riding free in the front-row seat beside her. But after witnessing that confession behind the school building yesterday, I was painfully made aware that this special seat of mine was something that could be taken away at any moment.

(…I have to end it. …This lukewarm bath called “just best friends.”)

I steeled myself. That meant breaking the “bond with Haru” we had built over three years and rebuilding it into something new. If I failed, I might not even be allowed to sit beside her anymore.

The fear of that burned in my stomach.

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The next day, Tuesday. The July sunlight was even more merciless than the day before. Just walking to school made my uniform shirt cling to my skin.

“—Hey, Kazuma. Your notes from physics earlier are completely blank. …Are you seriously not feeling well or something?”

During the break after the second period, Kaito from the seat next to mine peered at me with concern.

“…No. …I was just thinking about something. …Don’t worry about it.”

“Thinking about what? You’ve been spaced out ever since the sports festival. What, are you analyzing some new raid boss mechanic again?”

“…Something like that. …This one’s a super tough problem.”

When I answered weakly, Kaito laughed carefree. 

“Heh, good luck. It’s a world I don’t get anyway.”

That was when it happened. Near the classroom entrance, two lively voices rang out.

“Hey, hey, Rin-rin! You’re free next Saturday night, right!?”

Ichinose-san’s clear, cheerful voice echoed. I reflexively turned my attention that way. Shinonome-san looked up at Ichinose-san while preparing for the next class at her desk.

“Next Saturday? Oh, you mean the Tanabata Summer Festival?”

“Yeah! I was thinking we could wear yukata together and check out the food stalls! Saki already bought a super cute yukata! Let’s go, just the two of us!”

“…Ah. Yeah, sounds good! I’m looking forward to it~”

Shinonome-san smiled softly.

“Yay! A girls-only date, just the two of us!” 

Ichinose-san chirped excitedly. The moment I saw that scene, the impatience inside my chest spread through my body like icy water. Ichinose-san invited her. Shinonome-san accepted. Two close best friends happily planning a summer festival together. And me, just watching from the sidelines/ A mere classmate, or just an online game partner.

…No.

A small, undeniable voice echoed inside me. Her walking beside Ichinose-san. Her grabbing someone else’s sleeve in the crowd. Me simply smiling and saying, “That’s great,” as I watched her go.

It didn’t matter that they were both girls. I hated imagining a future where I wasn’t the one walking beside Shinonome-san. Just picturing that future made it hard to breathe. 

Under the desk, I clenched my fist tightly.

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After school that day. As usual, I went home, finished my homework and bath, and was about to prepare to log in to the game when a notification popped up on my phone.

【Rin: Kazu, sorry! I have to go shopping with my mom today. I might not be able to log in tonight. See you at school tomorrow.】

…

One short message.

Normally, I would’ve replied, “Got it. Have fun being an errand boy lol,” and that would be the end of it. But right now, that “empty time” felt like the last chance given to me.

Sitting on my bed, I stared at my phone screen. Ichinose-san’s contact was there. She was our “secret advisor(?)” and Rin Shinonome’s one and only best friend. For me to wedge myself into a place she had invited her best friend to… Objectively speaking, that would be completely out of line.

(But…)

As long as I was riding on someone else’s “production,” I had no right to stand at my partner Haru’s true side.

“…I guess I’ll do it.”

With trembling fingers, I typed a message to Ichinose-san. No more hiding. With my own will, I would go and invite her… I would invite Haru.

【Kazuma: Ichinose-san. Do you have a little time after school tomorrow? I want you to come to that spot behind the school building where the three of us talked before. Alone. I have something important to discuss.】

The moment I hit send, my fingertips burned.

A few minutes later… As soon as it was marked read, a reply came back with an energetic sticker.

【Saki: Hehe! Getting called out by Kazucchi-kun makes Saki’s heart race! (๑>◡<๑)】

【Saki: Okay, got it! I’ll look forward to tomorrow!】

…

My heart was so loud it felt like a bell ringing beside my ears. Tomorrow, I would confess all of my selfish desires to Ichinose-san. The egoistic wish to invite Rin Shinonome as a girl…. I would ask her to break the precious “best friend time” she shared with Shinonome-san for the sake of my selfishness.

She might be exasperated. She might laugh and say, “Kazucchi-kun, you’re that kind of guy?” But…

(…Haru. This is so I can show you the best view, right beside you.)

Instead of the game’s login screen, I stared out the window at the summer night sky, heavy as if it might start raining at any moment. This safe cage called “best friend.” Tomorrow, I would kick open that door myself and step onto the battlefield as my “true self” for the first time with Saki Ichinose, the strongest “spectator,” before me. The night that would signal the beginning of the end was already close at hand.

“…Phew.”

I let out a deep breath, then took my uniform from the closet and carefully smoothed out the wrinkles for tomorrow.

A clumsy resolve to take my partner’s hand and lead her out to a place that was mine alone.

With that heat in my chest, I prepared to cross this quiet night.

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