I Was Reincarnated as a Mob, and After I Kept Listening to the Losing Childhood-Friend Heroine’s Complaints, I Somehow Maxed Out Her Affection Rating - 43

Chapter 43: Their Feelings

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Mio’s POV

During lunch break, when I pushed my desk together with my friends and opened my lunch box… The classroom turned into a small festival-like commotion.

“Hey Mio. Look at that.”

“Eh, what… Wait, ah.”

In the direction she pointed, Kaede-chan sat pressed right next to Fujiwara-kun and unleashed a brilliant barrage of “say ahh” attacks. The boys had expressions like they were witnessing literal hell. The girls, on the other hand, whispered excitedly like a flock fed fresh romance gossip.

Isn’t that a bit too much, Kaede-chan?

I couldn’t help but furrow my brows.

“By the way, Mio, you’re not eating with Shouma today? You two haven’t been eating together recently, right?”

“Eh, ah… Well, um, it’s just… You know.”

I covered it up with a vague laugh. There was no way I could tell her the truth. Because… When I ate with Shouma-kun, it was Kaede Kaede Kaede Kaede… Seriously, Kaede was all he talked about. And the center of every conversation was always “Kaede-chan this, Kaede-chan that.” He looked at my face while talking, but his head was full of another girl… Honestly, there was a limit to how much I could smile and let it pass.

“Shouma is eating in the courtyard again today, right?”

“Well, yeah. I guess he wants to fool around with his friends. …If that’s fun for him, I mean, that’s fine.”

I said that as I glanced out the window. There was Shouma, messing around in the courtyard with the guys. He looked like he was having fun,  but somehow, he also didn’t look settled either. Maybe he was being overly conscious because I scolded him the other day. But still…

Why did he suddenly start paying so much attention to Kaede-chan?

A tangled unease coiled in the bottom of my chest.

“Mio, you should just eat with Shouma like before. All cute and couple-y, you know?”

“…I want to. I really do.”

“Huh?”

“No, never mind. The tamagoyaki is really good today.”

I smiled to hide it and took a bite of the rolled egg. In truth, I wanted to eat like before, flirting and laughing. Laughing together, teasing each other over dumb things. Like those days when he said, “It’s obvious you should be sitting next to me, Mio.” But lately, even when he was with me, Shouma seemed mentally elsewhere. In front of me he always went  “Kaede this, Kaede that”…

Do you know how draining that is?

It wasn’t anger—something weaker, damper—tightened around my chest.

“Ah, she’s doing it again.”

My friend muttered in exasperation. I looked and Kaede’s face as she fed Fujiwara-kun a bite looked genuinely happy, beautiful… Honestly, kind of unfair.

“Hmmm…”

A sigh slipped out. Fujiwara-kun… When did you and Kaede-chan get that close? Weren’t you two just normal classmates not long ago…? Kaede, despite how she looked, wasn’t the type to be close with just anyone. Her likes and dislikes were clear, and she only let her guard down around people she accepted. That was why… Fujiwara-kun… What did you do? How did you get “accepted” that much? 

Before I knew it, I had been staring at the two of them.

“Mio, the way you’re looking is kinda ‘detective-like,’ you know?”

“N-no, it’s not like that. I’m just… You know, curious…”

I couldn’t help being curious. Because Kaede-chan allowing someone that close to her was no ordinary thing.

Hey, Fujiwara-kun. You were really just a “guy in our class,” right?

It felt like something that should’ve been right beside me until yesterday had suddenly moved to a different place. A strange sensation lingered in my chest.

“…Haa, let’s just eat. Thinking about it won’t give me any answers.”

I told myself that and brought my eyes back to my lunch. But every time Kaede’s cheerful laugh mixed with Fujiwara-kun’s troubled voice, my ears were inevitably pulled in that direction.

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Shouma’s POV

During lunch break. I sat on a bench in the courtyard with two of my guy friends, getting all fired up over dumb conversations.

“Hey, did you watch yesterday’s video? That game commentary!”

“I watched it! I thought my stomach was gonna split!”

“No seriously, that guy is a genius!”

We laughed like idiots, shared snacks… I used to spend this time mostly with Mio, just the two of us, but lately, I was over here instead. Then one of the guys nudged me with his elbow.

“Hey Shouma, you’re not eating with Mio today?”

“Mm, ah… Lately, not really.”

“What do you mean ‘not really’? Treat her better, dude! She’s your girlfriend~”

“Shut up, idiot.”

I answered with a joke and laughed… When it happened.

“…Ah, look at this. The class’s LINE group.”

My friend turned his phone toward me.

『Kaede is eating lunch while flirting with Fujiwara (?). lol』

『They’re way too close lol』

『Are they dating?』

Those messages came with a photo taken by one of the girls.

Kaede. That Kaede.

She sat pressed next to Fujiwara, smiling as she fed him a bite.

…What the hell is this?

My chest turned heavy in an instant. The excitement I’d just felt completely vanished.

“Whoa, this is real. Huh? Wait, Kaede and Fujiwara are like that?”

“Shouma, you’re like her childhood friend, right? You know something?”

Their teasing grins. The fun atmosphere from a moment ago flipped over. Something in me creaked quietly.

“…I don’t know! How would I know something like that!”

My voice came out much stronger than I expected. The two guys blinked at me in surprise, then glanced at each other.

“W-whoa…Don’t get so mad.”

“I mean, why are you so mad…?”

“You’re totally mad…”

I fell silent. Even though I wanted to deny it, I guess everything—my tone, my face—gave it away. The guys fidgeted awkwardly with the bread wrappers.

“Shouma… I’m just asking, but…”

“…What.”

“You… Is there something between you and Kaede?”

“Tsk—No! I said I don’t know anything, didn’t I!”

My voice had thorns. And the moment I said it, I was the one most surprised. Why the hell was I so hypersensitive? No. It was supposed to be “no.” The answer was that simple, but my chest churned with an uneasy heat.

Kaede… With Fujiwara… Yesterday’s phone call. The lie she told. Her somewhat distant voice. And this morning, how they walked to school holding hands. When I remembered it, something hot twisted deep in my gut.

Was it irritation? Confusion? Even I didn’t know.

“…Hah. What the hell… Seriously…”

When I muttered that, the two guys exchanged looks again.

“Shouma… Dude, you’re kinda weird lately.”

“Calm down. If something’s up, you can talk to us.”

“There’s nothing. Nothing’s wrong.”

Despite my words, my hands trembled faintly.

…What is this? I don’t understand myself the most.

“…………”

My breathing felt tight.

Why… Why am I feeling like this?

My muttered voice was swallowed easily by the lunchtime noise.

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