I Was Cheated on by My Girlfriend but My Devilish Junior Now Yearns for Me - Chapter 47

Chapter 47   Ayaka Mino – Past 2 Green Leaves

──I became friends with Mino Ayaka.

If someone asked me what the trigger was, I could only point to that casual afternoon.
At the very least, nothing dramatic had happened.
The days flowed by, and before I knew it, people around me started seeing me as “the guy from the basketball team who’s close with Mino Ayaka.”
Before we became friends, I was probably only known as “the guy in the basketball team,” so in a way, I guess that was progress.
It felt strange that even students I hadn’t spoken to knew about me.
If it had been because I achieved something in basketball, I might have felt proud, but it was simply because I became friends with a popular girl.
Whether I should be happy about it or not was hard to say, but I didn’t particularly dislike it either.

“I got confessed to.”

It was during summer, in our second year of high school, during lunch break. Mino casually reported this to me again.
For some reason, her expression always seemed less than pleased when delivering these kinds of reports.

“Is that so? That’s pretty awesome.”

When I responded without thinking, Mino sighed.

“It’s not awesome. How would you feel if a friend confessed to you, Hasegawa?”

With that, I closed my eyes and tried to imagine it.
The image of a friend from the girls’ basketball team came to mind, and I felt a slight thrill imagining being confessed to.

“Well, I guess I’d be pretty happy.”

“Of course you would. You’re such an idiot.”

“What’s with that?!”

Annoyed, I put the tamagoyaki I was about to eat back into my bento.
Unfazed, Mino continued to eat her spring roll.

──At some point, Mino and I had started eating lunch together on a bench in the courtyard during breaks.
Usually, her friends—both guys and girls—would join us, but sometimes, like today, it was just the two of us.
And whenever it was just the two of us, she would always bring up her confessions.

Perhaps that brief time we spent after school was the reason behind it.
But being trusted wasn’t a bad feeling.
Mino was the same with everyone, treating all her friends equally and earning their trust.
No matter what strangers gossiped about, Mino never wavered in her opinions.
Her openness, never flaunting her beauty, was likely the reason so many were drawn to her.
The number of confessions she received was probably proof of that. Though, undeniably, some guys were just attracted to her looks.

“By the way, where’s Sakakishita?”

Sakakishita was a goofy guy who always showed up during lunch. Though we were in different classes in our second year, he’d been a central figure in our class events during our first year, and I had talked to him quite a bit.

It was rare for him not to show up during lunch, so I asked Mino out of curiosity.

After silently finishing her spring roll, Mino covered her bento with the lid.

“I don’t know. He probably won’t come here anymore.”

“Huh?”

A dumbfounded sound escaped me.
Mino had always seemed pretty close with Sakakishita. They were both in the going-home club, and I’d seen them walking home together a few times.
So, hearing that he wouldn’t be joining us during lunch anymore was surprising.

My confusion must’ve shown on my face because when our eyes met, Mino gave me a wry smile.

“Why the weird face?”

“No, it’s not a weird face! That’s just rude.”

“Haha, sorry, sorry.”

Mino let out a dry laugh and then looked up.
The large tree in the courtyard shielded us from the harsh summer sunlight with its green leaves.
But the light must’ve still been a bit too bright because Mino raised her hand to block it.

“…It was Sakakishita who confessed to me. I turned him down. That’s why he probably won’t come anymore.”

I was at a loss for words.
I couldn’t think of anything to say, so I followed Mino’s lead and looked up.
A gust of wind blew, and a green leaf separated from the branches, fluttering gently before landing quietly in the pond.

“That’s how it is. But don’t worry about it, Hasegawa.”

Mino smiled quietly after saying that.
Her voice was the same as when we spoke in the classroom after school, or when she talked about getting confessed to by three guys at once during our first year.
Perhaps all these confessions were just burdens to Mino, moments that only brought her down.
I wondered what she had felt when turning down Sakakishita.

“Aya-chan!”
“Ah, Yuki. You’re late! I’m almost done eating.”

My thoughts were interrupted as our usual group arrived.
The typical lunch break resumed.
Questions about Sakakishita’s absence would probably start flying around soon.
Would Mino keep making that same expression every time?
Had all her previous confessions also led to people disappearing from her life, just like this?

Now that I think about it, there are a few students who used to come to this courtyard but stopped showing up without anyone noticing.
I hadn’t paid much attention before, since I wasn’t particularly close to them, but after hearing what Mino said, I couldn’t help but wonder.

──Someone once said this:

There are always a lot of people around Mino Ayaka.

And those faces frequently change.