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 6

Concern After Piece

After finishing breakfast, I’m dragged along to school.

Perhaps, if I were alone, I would’ve just stayed home holed up in my room all day.

Returning to school after a day’s absence is of course not much different from usual.

Still, I appreciate the gentle concerns from my classmates towards me because I was absent yesterday.

Except for one person—

“Good morning, Akito. Did you have fun yesterday?”

This insensitive guy bothering me is Kouta Maeshima.

He is my friend.

“Hah, Kouta can be really insensitive sometimes.”

“What are you talking about? If took a day off yesterday because he was sick, there’s no way his little sister wouldn’t be taking care of him all day. That is like a dream event.”

I think he’s probably joking, but in his mind, it seems like he assumes that I have a cute little sister.

According to him, if your parents are on a business trip abroad and you live alone, it’s impossible for you to not have a cute little sister.

I don’t know there he got that logic from, however that is certainly not the case for me, I don’t have a cute little siter and I live alone.

I’m not in the mood to keep up with his joke, so I want to end the conversation quickly.

However, this guy can’t seem to read the room at all.

Seeing me troubled, Airi steps in to help.

“Maeshima-kun, Akito is really not feeling well, so please take it easy on him.”

Even a guy who can’t read the room seems unable to withstand the icy glare of the goddess.

“…yeah, my bad.”

He mutters so before going back to his seat in embarrassment.

Thanks to the intervention of the goddess, I’m able to spend the rest of the day at school peacefully.

I was actually worried of meeting my ex-girlfriend at school, but thankfully I didn’t meet her.

Since I’m not involved in any extracellular activities, I start to prepare myself to go home.

Then, the goddess who brought peace to my day approaches my seat.

“I actually wanted to go home with you because I’m worried, but I have something important to do, so please go home ahead of me.”

She truly feels like my guardian.

I feel sorry for making her worry so much.

“Got it. I’ll be fine. Make sure you get home safely, too, Airi.”

“Also, I’ll go over to your house to make dinner later.”

“That’s really not necessary.”

“No, I don’t want to leave you alone right now, Akito. This is my selfishness!”

Airi says so with a smile on her face, I can’t argue with her.

“Okay then, thanks.”

By the way, Kouta invited me to hang out with him after school, but I politely declined.

I head straight home without stopping by anywhere.

If I don’t keep myself occupied, I tend to dwell on unnecessary thoughts.

So, I decide to clean around the house until Airi arrives.

If she sees my messy house, she will definitely start cleaning up around the house.

This is the least I can do for her.

I start by cleaning my own room.

After a while…

I’ve almost finished cleaning the living room, it’s starting to get late.

Where is Airi? I’m starting to get worried.

Just at that moment, the front door opens.

It seems that Airi has been entrusted with a spare key by my mother.

Well, she did say that she would contact me before coming over, so there shouldn’t be any problem.

Airi is holding an eco-bag in her hand, it seems like she bought groceries on the way.

“You’re cleaning around the house? I could have done that for you.”

Just as I thought…I shouldn’t keep relying too much on Airi.

It was the right decision to clean around the house before Airi comes over.

While storing away the groceries she bought, Airi begins to prepare dinner for the both of us.

Hmm?

Is it just my imagination, or Airi seems a bit tired?

“Airi, are you okay?”

I asked Airi so, feeling concerned.

Airi seems surprised by my words for a moment.

Then she returns a gentle smile, the complete opposite of her usual ice goddess demeanour.

She looks a little depressed.

“Yeah, I’m fine, I’m sorry for making you worry, Akito.”

“What are you talking about? We should care for each other, right?”

“…yeah, you’re right. Thank you for your concern, but I’ll be fine. It’s just that what happened after school was so unexpected, so I’m feeling a bit worn out.”

“Is it something I can’t help with?”

“…well, with how things are currently, it might be difficult.”

It’s as if a dark cloud is covering Airi’s face as she gently but clearly rejected my help.

Unable to say anything more, I fall silent.