I’m Betrayed by My Childhood Friend Who is Also My Lover, but My Other Childhood Friend Healed Me, So I Feel Like I Can Recover and Be Happy ~Is it True That Friendship Between a Man and Woman is Impossible? - Chapter 10

The Signal for Counterattack

After both me and Airi have breakfast, we head to school together.

Usually, before I broke up with Chitose, the three of us would go to school together…

I thought those every day life would last forever, but it crumbled so easily the other day…

However, I still have Airi walking beside me, she is truly my saviour.

That’s why, I won’t lose hope.

I have to take action.

Whatever it takes—

Upon arriving at school, I immediately approach Kouta.

“About yesterday’s matter, thank you for your help.”

“Yeah, no problem. Consider it a favour returned.”

“No, I’ve actually received more favours from you.”

“Is that so? Well, don’t worry about it.”

“Heh, you’re really reliable, Kouta.”

Even though he might be insensitive, there is no doubt that he’s a reliable friend.

Despite Kouta knows that I have some problems recently, he is treating me causally as if nothing happened.

It’s really great to have a friend like him.

During lunch break, Airi says that she has something to do and leaves the classroom.

I glance at Kouta, who nods at me from afar.

Then, Kouta gets up from his seat.

I usually spent my lunch break with Chitose all this time.

Yesterday, Airi ate with me during lunch break, but today, waiting for her would only burden her, so I decide to eat my bento alone.

“Itadakimasu.”

By the way, Airi is the one who prepared the bento for me.

As expected, it’s really delicious. The tamagoyaki tastes just like mom’s.

(TN: Tamagoyaki=Japanese rolled omelette)

Just before lunch break ends, Airi returns to the classroom.

She looks even calmer than she was in the morning.

Shortly after, as the bell rings signalling the end of lunch break, Kouta also returns.

He told me that he will tell me about it later.

—before I knew it, it’s already after school.

Airi asks me if we can go home together.

“What about your club activities?”

Airi is in the tea ceremony club, which has activities every Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.

“I told them that I’ll be skipping today.”

“Do you have something to do?”

“I made plans with Chitose after we go back.”

Airi seems a bit apologetic as she says so.

“I see.”

“Hey, Akito…if Chitose truly understands how much her actions have hurt you and sincerely reflects on it, I want you to forgive her from the bottom of your heart.”

“…yeah, I’ll think about it.”

I say so just to reassure Airi. To be honest, as usual, I feel nothing towards Chitose.

Also, even if I were to forgive her, I doubt that we can ever be in a romantic relationship again.

Perhaps, Airi senses my true intentions, but she doesn’t say anything more.

We walk home together to Airi’s house and we part ways at the doorstep.

Since I’m going to have dinner alone today, I quickly prepare a simple meal.

Then, I decided to turn on my computer for the first time in a while.

I open my email and check for any unread messages.

The email I’m looking for has arrived, so I download the attached file and unlock it with a password Kouta gave to me.

I skim through the contents.

It’s the investigation report on Hiruma Yosuke.

It turns out he’s more despicable than I imagined.

He’s truly a scum.

Of course, I want to make sure that I can trust this investigation report, so I dig in a little deeper.

It seems like there have been a lot of problems in the past, so apparently, he has been investigated separately for a while now.

And today, fortunately, they managed to catch the scene.

After expressing my gratitude to Kouta for the investigation report, I begin to plan countermeasures for the future.

It’s possible to crush that scumbag with the information I obtained today, but if that happens, the one who will suffer most is Chitose’s family.

I don’t have any feelings left for Chitose anymore, but I’m worried about Airi.

Despite everything, she still cares about Chitose.

If Airi sees Chitose get hurt, I’m sure she will hurt just as much.

That is my main concern.

So, I decided that I will hold myself back for a while now.

However, preparations will be made so that action can be taken whenever that scumbag acts up.

I’ll have to discuss about the future plans and its details with Kouta.

I’ll also ask him to gather more evidence.

As I’m thinking about such thoughts, I receive a message from Airi saying that she has arrived home.

She also said that she will come over again tomorrow morning.

I reply Airi with a simple ‘Okay’.

Then, I search for Kouta’s contact.

‘Please continue to work on it.’

I sent a message saying so to Kouta.

Now, it all depends on how that scumbag acts.

It would be best if he just backs off without doing anything.

That would be the best scenario, but I know that’s unlikely to happen.

After all, he’s someone who acts solely on his own desires and causes trouble for others.