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 2

Interrogation

I must have fallen asleep last night.

When I wake up, it’s already morning

Looking at the clock, I realize that I’m almost late for school.

The events from yesterday are still lingering in my mind, making it hard for me to muster the will to go to school.

I send a message saying I won’t be going to school because I’m feeling unwell.

After I sent the message, I crawl back into bed again.

As I laze around in my bed all day long, before I knew it, it’s already evening.

The sunset shining through my window reminds me of yesterday’s events.

Images of my ex-girlfriend and that guy linking arms comes to mind.

What did I do wrong?

What’s lacking in me?

I ponder on those question over and over again.

In the end, I blame everything on my ex-girlfriend and indulge in self-pity.

I hate myself for doing so.

Suddenly, the intercom rings.

I snap back to myself.

The face of my ex-girlfriend from yesterday seen through the intercom monitor comes to mind.

I feel a tightening sensation in my stomach.

Reluctantly, I make my way to the intercom.

Peeking at the monitor, I see the face of my other childhood friend.

White blonde hair which she inherited from her mother, sharp eyes that shows resolute will.

I go to the front door, open it, and let her in.

“Ojamashimasu.”

She says so timidly and follows me inside.

I lead her to the living room and have her sit on the sofa.

Then, I head to the kitchen to prepare her favourite tea.

“You seem more down than I expected.”

“Did you come because you were worried about me? Thank you.”

“Well, yeah. It’s because you suddenly didn’t go to school today. Even your mom asked me to check on you.”

The girl in front of me is my other childhood friend, Shirakawa Airi.

She moved in the neighbourhood when we were in third grade.

She has been friends with me for almost as long as my ex-girlfriend.

Moreover, her house is next to mine, and she gets along with my mother really well.

Serving the tea that I prepared for her, I take a seat across her.

She takes a sip of the tea and smiles gently.

“It’s really good as always—so, what happened?”

While smiling kindly, she looks at me with a questioning gaze.

“……”

I considered about using my right to remain silent during interrogation, but she probably won’t back down that easily.

I’m sure she won’t budge until I tell her everything.

“Something must’ve happened with Chitose!”

Her sudden words cause me to widen my eyes in surprise.

“How did you know?”

“Chitose’s behaviour at school was blatantly different.”

“I see.”

“So, what happened?”

As she says so, her gaze has somehow shifted from an interrogation gaze to a gentle gaze.

As I’m stared at by those eyes, memories of us floods back to mind.

I’m no match for you at all, Airi.

When we were little, Airi was tomboyish and we competed with each other in everything—sports, academics.

But no matter how hard I tried, she always seemed just out of reach.

Even so, competing with her was fun and not demanding.

However, when we entered middle school, around the time we became aware of our gender differences, she changed.

To put it simply, Airi started becoming more feminine, and I found it difficult to interact with her as carefreely as before.

This caused us to drift apart for a while, but a turning point came when we ended up in the same class in our second year of middle school.

During that time, Airi took care of her hair into a more feminine silky-smooth short-style.

More importantly, her breasts were much bigger compared to other girls our age at that time—

Anyway, I apologized for my childish behaviours in the past and confessed how embarrassed I felt.

Airi gently smiled at me and forgave me.

Once again, I spent time with Airi and is able to fully trust her again as my childhood friend.

But right now, facing the smile of my childhood friend and the silent pressure, I can’t bear it any longer.

In the end, I tell Airi everything about what happened between me and Chitose.