It's a Chastity-Reversed World, But It's Different From What I Imagined? - 40

Chapter 40: Childhood Friend’s POV: 4

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【Yuuna Aoyanagi】

The swimming tournament had ended. Aoba High School had won by a narrow margin. All of us savored the victory, believing it was thanks to the support of the Men’s Cheer Team. After the post-tournament meeting, we quickly dispersed to rest and recover our energy.

The regular members invited me to go to the afterparty, but I told them I had something I absolutely couldn’t miss and excused myself. I knew I should have gone. But iIt felt like this was my only opportunity. It had to be now.

I ran through the school building searching for Yoru. Since the Men’s Cheer Team had been cleaning up, he should have returned to their clubroom. I had heard their clubroom was in the health office of the advanced studies building, so I opened the door to the infirmary.

“Huh? Who are you?”

A kind-looking health teacher greeted me. I was surprised because a young male teacher was rare, but I told him I was looking for Yoru.

“Ah, in that case, it’s next door. The Men’s Cheer Team clubroom is right beside the infirmary.”

“Thank you very much.”

I thanked him and opened the door of the room next door, as he had told me. Inside, two of the boys who had cheered were asleep. Yoru wasn’t there, and as I looked around the room, the silver-haired prince appeared from the neighboring room.

“Hm? Yuuna Aoyanagi-san? What brings you to our clubroom?”

“Is Yoru Kurose here?”

“Yoru? He just left. He only left a moment ago, so he should still be on the stairs.”

“Thank you very much.”

I thanked the prince and dashed off. When was the last time I had run this hard outside of club activities? My breathing grew painful. But I just wanted to see Yoru as soon as possible.

Driven by that desire alone, I ran down the stairs. When I reached the schoolyard and searched for him, I spotted a lone male student heading toward the school gates.

“Yoru!!!”

The moment I saw him, joy welled up inside me, and I called out to him loudly. But because I had been running so hard, I couldn’t catch my breath. When I saw Yoru up close for the first time in a while, he had grown taller—two heads taller than me.

He was over 180 cm maybe? His blazer wasn’t sloppy, his hair wasn’t messy. His face no longer carried a shadow, and his eyes weren’t cast down in self-doubt. The straight gaze he fixed on me wasn’t the Yoru I had once known.

“Yuuna. Good work today. And congratulations on first place in the breaststroke.”

Even though I couldn’t speak, Yoru gave me a warm smile and congratulated me. In the past, we had exchanged messages like 【I won】 and 【Congratulations】.

But Yoru had never come to watch me compete. It was the first time he had congratulated me face-to-face. Back in middle school, I would meet him every day, chat about trivial things, and laugh together.

But as we grew older, as we became aware of each other as the opposite sex, I focused only on driving other girls away and neglected the time I could have spent with Yoru. 

However, that facade ends today. Today, I will become Yoru’s girlfriend.

“Th-thank you. And thank you for cheering for me today. I was so happy knowing you were watching me.”

Once I caught my breath, I was finally able to speak properly.

“Hey, Yoru. We haven’t really talked much lately, have we?”

I felt so embarrassed about what I was about to say that I kept staring at the ground.

“Yeah. You’ve been working hard with club activities. This was the first time I actually saw one of your matches, but you were amazing. You were really fast, Yuuna.”

If only I had let him cheer for me more back in middle school…

“Well, y-yeah. I’m the ace of the first-years, after all. I can’t beat Minase-senpai in freestyle, but in breaststroke I won’t lose to her.”

Yoru had entered high school and was making an effort to connect with others. His world had once been small, just me, but now he was spreading his wings into a wider world.

“Hey, Yoru.”

To hold onto him, I needed to apologize for everything and confess my feelings.

“Yuuna.”

But before I could begin, Yoru called my name.

“What?”

I faltered at the interruption, but decided to listen to him first.

“Yuuna, you’ve helped me so much.”

I hadn’t expected him to say that. My chest grew hot.

“Back in middle school, when no one would talk to me, you kept talking to me like always.”

No, that’s not it. You’re wrong. I was the one who made sure no one else talked to you. I’m sorry. At that time, I just wanted to have you all to myself.

“When I shut myself away, you sent me messages every day.”

I knew. I knew Yoru was suffering and struggling alone. That was why I wanted to be the only one on your side.

“Truly, thank you. If it weren’t for you, Yuuna, I wouldn’t have been able to go to middle school. I wouldn’t have been able to make it to high school like this.”

Ah, fate has bound us together after all. I know, Yoru. I love you too.

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