My Childhood Friend Who is My Girlfriend was Stolen by My Best Friend. From Now on, I'll Flirt with My Ex-Best Friend's Little Sister! - Chapter 35

Mission 5: Beat Up My Former Best Friend (1)

“Is that so? Both I and Tsukimiya-san noticed it. As for me, I’m your older brother, but since Tsukimiya noticed it as well, that means you couldn’t completely hide your feelings, Rinka.”

“That’s…”

Rinka falls silent.

My former best friend turns his gaze back to me.

“Towards the end of our first year of high school, I happened to see Tsukimiya-san with another guy. Since I thought Tsukimia-san likes Toshiya, it was surprising.”

“……”

“When she noticed me, she asked me not to tell Toshiya about it. Looking back now, that encounter was unfortunate…Toshiya stole Rinka’s heart, so I thought I should steal Tsukimiya-san’s heart too. That kind of thought crossed my mind…well, in the end, Tsukimiya-san begged me to get her together with Toshiya.”

My former best friend continues to move the pieces calmly as he speaks.

My pawn is taken. But it’s still the early game, losing a single pawn isn’t a big deal.

“…that’s the worst. It’s not like Senpai did anything wrong.”

Rinka mutters quietly so.

Her cold tone of voice makes my former best friend’s expression tense.

“Yeah. That’s right…”

The atmosphere grows heavy. I take one of his pawns and let out a small sigh.

“That’s too late now…I’m not interested in hearing any apologies.”

“Yeah…I understand. By the way, Tsukimiya-san’s low sense of chastity is because of you, Toshiya.”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“At one point, Tsukimiya-san mistakenly thought that Toshiya and Rinka were dating when she saw you two together. Shortly after that, she was comforted by a smooth-talking guy, and that was the start of it. Later on, she found out that Rinka and Toshiya weren’t actually dating.”

He speaks so calmly, recounting the past of my childhood friend.

Adding to what I’ve previously heard from my childhood friend, when she saw Rinka and me together, she was troubled by her family issues. Her parents were getting a divorce due to her mother’s infidelity. It’s highly likely that her mental state was unstable at that time.

“Obviously, Tsukimiya-san was overwhelmed by regret. So she decided to overcome it by changing her way of thinking. If it’s just a physical relationship without any feelings involved, then there’s no problem, it’s fine.”

“I-I don’t understand…this is crazy…Senpai didn’t do anything wrong in the first place…”

Rinka murmurs softly.

Her voice slips out—it feels that way.

Ignoring Rinka, my former best friend continues.

“On top of that, she’s extremely lonely. You can say that she craves attention. Being needed by someone probably fulfils her desires. If Toshiya had focused only on Tsukimiya-san and given her attention, perhaps things wouldn’t have turned out this way.”

“……”

I fall silent.

The only sound that can be heard is the sound of the pieces hitting the shogi board.

“N-No, that’s not true, Senpai. You didn’t do anything wrong. Please don’t blame yourself.”

“…I know. What you just said is that she misunderstood things and messed up on her own. The real issue lies in her actions after she started dating me. There is no reason for me to be blamed.”

My former best friend smiles faintly and looks at me through his glasses.

“Yeah, I’m not blaming you. I’m just saying that Toshiya is the one who started it all…and anyway, Toshiya, don’t you still like Tsukimiya-san?”

“Huh? What are you suddenly saying? That’s impossible.”

“If it’s just my misunderstanding, then that’s fine.”

“The reason why I started talking to Rinka is because—”

“It was because you asked for her advice, right?”

My former best friend interrupts my words and says so.

He takes my bishop piece and lets out a small sigh.

“I had to move because of my father’s job, and I ended up going to a middle school where I didn’t know anyone. I’ve never been good at socializing, and I didn’t mind being alone. So, when you started talking to me, Toshiya, I found you annoying.”

“……”

“Then, you tried to find common ground with me and tried to deepen our friendship. I thought you were a hypocrite who couldn’t leave someone alone and wanted to feel good by doing something nice. That’s the type of person I hate the most. So, I figured if I shared my family issues and Rinka’s situation, you would be troubled. I wanted to show you that your hypocrisy wouldn’t save anyone…but in the end, Toshiya succeeded in mending the gap between Rinka and my mother. What’s more, you even managed to make Rinka fall in love with you so easily…”

“No, that’s not true at all…Senpai was very kind and genuinely cared for me. Not everyone can do that!”

Rinka snaps. However, my former best friend remains unfazed.

“Ah, my words may have caused some misunderstanding. How should I put it? It seemed to me that you could do things easily that I couldn’t…so, I thought that if I stayed with you, I could change too. I thought I could become someone who Rinka might acknowledge, even just a little. That’s why I started hanging out with Toshiya earnestly.”

“I don’t care about those stories of the past. No one is interested in you talking about yourself. Don’t take the conversation in a weird direction.”

“Ah, sorry. It’s a bad habit of mine.”

He lowers his gaze to the shogi board.

From here on, the match continues in a calm and quiet manner.

No one says anything in particular.

As we reach the endgame, I’m holding the advantage.

The game looks like it can be decided in just a few more moves.

“Toshiya, these past two weeks…I realized something.”

“……”

“It’s harder for me not being able to talk to you than not being able to talk to Rinka.”

“…what are you saying now?”

“I thought I secretly resent you. I don’t really understand myself either.”

“I can’t forgive you, and I have no intention of doing so. Don’t say such nice things…it’s all your fault.”

“I know. I did something terrible.”

“Then why are you saying this?”

“Hmm, I wonder why…check.”

The game was going in my favour, but the situation suddenly changed and I’m at a disadvantage now.

His knight, which had been relatively inactive until now, skilfully blocks my retreat.

“You’re still so straightforward. When you think you can win, you attack too recklessly.”

“…what’s your demand?”

As my loss becomes certain, I ask about his demand.