It Turns Out the Beautiful Girl Who Was Supposed to Be Aiming for My Handsome Best Friend Was Actually after Me - Chapter 2

Morning sunlight came in through the small gap in the curtains, softly lighting up my room. I slowly sat up in bed.

I checked my phone. A few notifications were blinking.

It was a LINE message from Sendou-san.

The time was 6 a.m.

“Good morning! Are you awake?”

It was a simple message.

“It’s pretty early…”

I muttered as I rubbed my eyes and typed back.

“I just woke up. So sleepy. I want to sleep more.”

As soon as I pressed send, the message was read almost right away. Two seconds later, she replied.

“I know! I’m sleepy too! I want to sleep more!”

I blinked at my phone. What is that speed? It was like she had been waiting.

And it was strange. She hardly asked anything about Yuuto.

If she really liked my best friend, wouldn’t she try to ask more about him?

Well, maybe she’s just trying to be subtle.

Thinking that, I got out of bed, washed my face, and started making breakfast.

While eating my toast, I thought about today’s plan.

Saturday’s date, no, it’s not a real date.

It’s just a practice date for Yuuto. So there’s no need to feel nervous.

◇

When I got to school and opened the classroom door, the usual noise and chatter filled the room.

As I started walking toward my seat, Sendou-san noticed me. Her face lit up, and she stood up quickly.

Her long hair swayed gently, and her skirt fluttered lightly.

With a big smile, she called out, “G-Good morning, Satou-kun!”

Next to her, her two friends glanced at me and whispered to each other. Their eyes felt a little cold.

What’s with that vibe? They don’t like me, do they? Well, whatever.

I’m just like a shadow of Yuuto. If Sendou-san is trying to get close to Yuuto through me, then I’m probably just a tool to her friends.

“Good morning, Sendou-san.”

I started moving to my seat, but she immediately brought up a topic.

“So! Where should we go on Saturday!?”

Her voice was bright and full of excitement. I thought for a moment while remembering Yuuto’s likes. He likes movies, right? His first date with his ex was at a theater, too. Sendou-san would probably like that too.

“Hmm? Ah, Saturday…? Yeah, I guess. Let’s go with a movie for now.”

Sendou-san’s eyes lit up.

“Yeah! Got it! A movie! And how about karaoke too?”

“That sounds good.”

“Then it’s decided! Ah, what movie should we watch!?”

She pulled out her phone and started searching for currently showing movies.

Watching her happily scroll through, I couldn’t help but feel impressed.

Even though this is just a practice date with me, she’s really excited about it. Sendou-san is genuinely a good person.

She’s serious about Yuuto, too, I’m sure. She’s probably planning to use the info she gets from me to make the real date go well.

At lunch that day, I brought it up to Yuuto.

Sitting on the rooftop with our lunch, I said, “Hey, so I’m doing a practice date with Sendou-san on Saturday. Movie and karaoke.”

“…Practice date? She said that?”

Yuuto’s expression clouded a little. He looked unusually serious.

“Yeah. She’s really looking forward to it; she’s a good kid. I’m rooting for her.”

Yuuto paused eating and stared at me.

“…Isn’t that just a normal date?”

“Come on, don’t joke around. There’s no way a cute girl like her would go on a real date with me. Plus, I got it in writing. I asked her if she liked Yuuto because she said she wanted to be friends, and she said ‘yeah.’”

“…I guess so.”

“Don’t make me embarrassed like back in middle school.”

“…Then it’s fine.”

Yuuto’s reaction made me a little uneasy, but I didn’t think too much about it.

He’s probably curious about Sendou-san, too.

As his best friend, I’ll make sure to support him properly.

◇

Two days passed, and Saturday finally arrived.

During that time, Sendou-san’s LINE messages didn’t stop.

“How’s the weather tomorrow?” or “Any movie recommendations?” She asked all sorts of things.

I answered honestly, and sometimes I slipped in information about Yuuto.

“Yuuto likes action movies,” for example. But she didn’t seem very interested in that.

Even though it was just a practice date, I made sure to prepare properly so I wouldn’t be rude to her.

I put on a slightly nicer shirt and jeans than usual and lightly styled my hair. I checked myself in the mirror.

“Well, this should be fine.”

I headed to the station and arrived at the meeting spot at 12:55, five minutes early. I thought maybe I should have come earlier if it were a real date. Just then, I saw Sendou-san.

She was wearing a cute dress with her lightly curled hair swaying in the wind. She had heels on and looked like she was ready for a date.

—But she was surrounded by four guys.

Blond hair, piercings, the typical flashy group. A classic harassment situation.

I could hear her voice.

“P-please stop!”

“Stop? Come on, your voice is so cute! Are you waiting for your boyfriend? You’re dressing like that! Are you going straight to a hotel?”

“Th-that’s not it!”

One of the guys noticed me and glared.

“Huh? What? Are you the boyfriend? No way, lol. You’re ugly? lol.”

Ugly…?

Yeah, I guess next to Sendou-san, I do look plain. My looks are below average. But that didn’t matter right now; I had to save her.

I took a deep breath and shouted at the top of my lungs.

“…Kyaa!!! Help me!! She’s in trouble!!”

Everything went quiet for a moment. The guys stared at me in surprise.

“Hey!? You!!”

One of them grabbed me by the collar, but the passersby gave them cold stares.

From a distance, I could hear the footsteps of station staff. The guys clicked their tongues and ran off.

“Damn you! I will remember this!”

“I have a good memory, so don’t worry as I’ll remember.”

I grabbed Sendou-san’s hand and ran away from the scene.

After a short distance, we stopped. I was breathing hard as I laughed.

“Haha, did you see their faces? That was hilarious!”

Sendou-san’s eyes sparkled, and she blushed as she said, “…Thank you…//”

Hey, hey, that cute expression. Save it for Yuuto, not me.

Still, she didn’t seem put off by me.

This girl… she’s kind of different.

Since we had moved a bit far from the movie theater, I decided to change the plan.

“All right, then let’s start with karaoke first?”

Sendou-san nodded, and we headed to a nearby karaoke box.

Inside the private room, she opened the menu and asked, her eyes shining, “What should we sing? Lately, I’ve been really into this song!”

“Oh, that one’s popular, right?”

“Yeah!”

I picked a few songs randomly, and we took turns singing. Sendou-san was really good. Her sweet voice filled the room.

When it was my turn, she clapped and smiled as she listened.

“Satou-kun, you’re really good!”

“Really? I think I’m just okay.”

“No! Not at all!”

She leaned forward eagerly.

After karaoke, we went to a nearby café for a late lunch. She ordered pasta, and I got a sandwich.

While eating, we naturally talked about school and our hobbies.

“Satou-kun, you’re funny. And the way you saved me the other day… I was surprised, but it was really cool.”

“Huh? Cool? I don’t know. If your boyfriend was the type to scream like that, I think you’d hate him.”

“There’s no way! It was cool!!”

Her smile made my chest flutter a little.

Stop it. I promised myself not to misunderstand these things anymore.

After leaving the café, we finally went to the movie theater. We chose a romantic comedy.

Sitting next to each other in the dark, we shared some popcorn.

When a love scene appeared on the screen, Sendou-san squirmed a little.

“This kind of thing makes me embarrassed.”

She whispered softly.

“Yeah, I get that. But it’s kind of nice… I wonder what it’d be like to experience this someday.”

“…Someday?”

When the movie ended, it was already evening.

“That was fun! Let’s go again, Satou-kun.”

“Yeah.”

On the way home, her words stayed in my head.

Even though it was supposed to be a practice date, it felt almost real.

I walked home with that strange feeling lingering.