I Want a Girlfriend who Won’t Betray Me - Chapter 3

Another Friend from Middle School

I get off at the fourth stop from my house to get to Sugawara Private High School. Even though we’re wearing summer uniforms, it’s still really hot. In Boston, at this time of the year, the highest temperature is already below 25 degrees Celsius, and the lowest falls below 15. I have to get used to this quickly.

With that thought in mind, I get off at the nearest station to school.

Suddenly, someone calls me from behind.

“Shinonome Kazuki.”

There shouldn’t be many people who know me well enough to call my name yet. When I turn around, I see a vaguely familiar face. I can vaguely remember her face from the depths of my memory, but I can’t remember her name.

“Have you forgotten about me?”

“Sorry, I vaguely remember your face, but…”

“It’s me, Yatsugashira Otoe. How could you forget me? That’s so mean.”

Yatsugashira Otoe.

From what I remember, she was a lot shorter and used to wear glasses.

I stare at her face.

“Don’t stare at me like that. I’ve grown taller, let my hair grow out, and switched from glasses to contact lenses. That’s why you didn’t recognize me, right?”

I see, so that’s what happened.

“What class are you in, Shinonome-kun?”

“1-A.”

“I’m in 1-B. Ah, see you later.”

She walks towards a group of girls and starts talking to them while glancing back at me.

Yatsugashira Otoe, she’s really changed. No wonder I didn’t recognize her.

After changing into my indoor shoes at the entrance, I head to the classroom.

As I step inside the classroom—

“Good morning, Kazuki.”

“Morning, Wakana.”

I can hear whispers around us again.

“Why do they call each other by their first names?”

“Even if they’ve known each other since elementary school, calling each other by name is a bit…”

“Maybe, they are dating?”

“But Kisaragi-san is…”

“Yeah, that’s right. Even yesterday…”

What are they even talking about? What’s wrong with Wakana and me calling each other by our first names?

I ignore their words and attend the class as usual.

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It’s my fifth day here. I enter the classroom as usual, hangs my bag on the side of the desk and sit down.

Suddenly, a few girls come over to me.

“Hey, Shinonome-kun, want to have lunch together? We’d like to talk with you.”

““Yeah, me too.””

“Is it okay if Wakana joins too?”

“We don’t mind, but…”

“Kazuki, I’m fine on my own.”

“Eh? But…”

To be honest, I’m not really good with people who are a little proactive.

“Kisaragi-san, you should eat with us too.”

“Okay then.”

Then, during break time, my classmates ask me all sorts of questions.

“Hey, Shinonome-kun, do you have a girlfriend over there?”

“I don’t have a steady partner.”

“Steady?”

“Yeah, like a specific person.”

“I see. Are the girls over there really tall?”

“Not really. I was still in middle school, so there were some tall ones, but not everyone.”

“Middle?”

“Oh, I mean, middle school.”

“That’s right, you spent three years speaking English. Then I’ll teach you Japanese!”

“What are you talking about? I will!”

“No, I will!”

“No, I…”

The bell rings. I’m saved. The questions are starting to get a bit too deep.

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Wakana’s POV

I knew it, Kazuki is really popular. Even back in middle school, he had a beautiful face inherited from his mother, but he still had a somewhat cute look.

However, after not seeing him for three years, his features have become even more refined. His height and intelligence must come from his father. Somehow, I want to go back to the way things were in early middle school.

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Kazuki’s POV

After the morning classes ended, the three girls who called out to me this morning come over to me.

“Shinonome-kun, let’s go to the cafeteria.”

“Wakana?”

“Yeah.”

While standing in line at the cafeteria vending machine, which I have learned about yesterday, I notice something I didn’t realize before, there are a lot of food names written above the various buttons.

“Wakana, they have ramen, soba, and udon too. Ah, they also have karaage set meals. You can even get a large portion?”

“Yeah, as long as you put in enough money for the price written below the button, you can get whatever you want.”

“I see.”

I choose the karaage set meal, while the other girls choose set meal A. The sample certainly looks healthy.

When I get my karaage set meal at the counter,

“Shinonome-kun, let’s go to that six-person table over there.”

“Sure.”

It’s a seat slightly closer to the window rather than the center of the cafeteria. When I sit down, the two girls who invited me to have lunch with them sit on either side of me, while the third girl and Wakana sit across from me.

Before we start eating, they introduce themselves.

The girl sitting to my right, with shoulder-length hair and slightly upturned eyes, is Kyoko Sudo.

To my left is Keiko Kato, she has long hair reaching almost to her back and large eyes.

Next to Wakana is Takako Hayase, she has her hair a little longer than her shoulders and wears glasses.

“The three of us went to the same middle school. Looking forward to getting to know you, Shinonome-kun.”

“Yeah.”

As we are eating together, Sudo-san suddenly ask Wakana.

“Kisaragi-san, you’ve been with Shinonome-kun a lot lately, but what about Goto-kun?”

“Ah, yeah. It’s fine for now.”

“Really? But he’s your boyfriend, right? Even if you and Shinonome-kun are childhood friends, that was only until elementary school. You’ve been with Goto-kun all the time this past year, haven’t you?”

“Eh!? Wakana, didn’t you say that this Goto guy was just a close friend?”

“Shinonome-kun, no, that’s not true. Everyone knows that Kisaragi-san and Goto-kun are dating each other.”

“Eh!? Is that true, Wakana?”

“…Kazuki. I’m going back to the classroom first. Let’s talk about this tomorrow.”

Wakana picks up her tray with her half-eaten meal and leaves the table.

“Sudo-san, why did you say something like that?”

“Goto-kun asked me why Kisaragi-san has been spending all her time with a guy he doesn’t know lately. I told him I don’t know either. But we also want to know how Kisaragi-san really feels.”

“I see. Thank you, Sudo-san.”

To me, it’s clearly nothing but harassment toward Wakana. There is no need to bring that up here. So, even though I’m still not finished with my meal, I pick up my meal tray and leave the table.

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“Sudo-san, wasn’t that a bit too much?”

“But don’t you think it’s unfair for Kisaragi-san to have a boyfriend like Goto-kun while treating Shinonome-kun as if he’s hers? I can’t just ignore that. Now, at least, Shinonome-kun will change how he acts toward Kisaragi-san after this.”

“Well, you’re not wrong, but…”

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I go after Wakana after leaving the cafeteria. But in the hallway, I see the same guy who called out to Wakana the other day, talking to her.

The guy seems a little angry as he says something to Wakana. Then, in the end, he got upset and walk away, with Wakana chasing after him.

What those girls said is true after all.

As I walk back to the classroom, I think to myself, it can’t be helped. I said I’d be back in two years, but in the end, it took me three years to come back to Japan. I can’t blame Wakana for getting a boyfriend.

But still, it hurts. I wonder if the reason Wakana stopped contacting me is because she started dating Goto?

However, on Saturday afternoon, after the classes ended, Wakana calls out to me.