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 38

In The End, People Don’t Change that Easily

“Oh…Naegi-kun, is that you?”

While I’m waiting for Rinka to try on clothes, I hear a voice calling me from behind.

The tone is neither too low or too high.

When I turn around after hearing my name being called, my eyes immediately catch the platinum blonde short haircut.

With a gentle smile, the person quickly closes the distance between us.

“Ah, I knew it! It’s Naegi-kun! You remember me, right?”

“Sakaki, right?”

“Yeah! What a coincidence. It’s fate!”

“Fate? That’s a bit dramatic…”

Sakaki grabs both of my hands and starts shaking them up and down enthusiastically.

Caught off guard, my cheeks twitch. I can’t keep up with Sakaki’s excitement.

“Naegi-kun, are you perhaps getting embarrassed? Because you’re holding hands with me?”

“I’m not embarrassed.”

As I turn around, the curtain of the fitting room slowly opens.

Rinka who is now wearing a checkered winter sweater, smiles at me.

“You’ve got some guts Senpai, flirting with another girl while I’m changing. It seems like you really want to turn me into a yandere!”

Even though Rinka is smiling, her eyes aren’t smiling at all.

She is staring at me with dark, stagnant eyes.

I feel a chill run down my spine. My shoulders jolts.

“N-No, this is just a misunderstanding, Rinka! Sasaki is—”

“Toshiya-kun. Who is this woman? Are you secretly seeing someone else behind my back?”

“W-What are you saying?! Stop making this more complicated! Don’t cling to my arm!”

“So, it seems like I’m second in your heart…”

“What’s your goal in making me out to be some scumbag!? You’re a guy, Sakaki!”

“Ahh…you’re revealing the truth now. That’s boring. You could have dragged it out a little longer.”

Sakaki lets go of my arm and takes a few steps back.

He clasps his hands together and smiles.

Sasaki Masamune.

He’s a man with an androgynous appearance. Having inherited some Northern European blood, his hair texture is different from that of a typical Japanese person. He has platinum blonde hair, and his eyes are blue.

His voice is also on the higher side for a guy. On top of that, since his personal hobby is cross-dressing, it’s hard to tell that he’s a man just by looking at him. In fact, I think most people would mistake him for a girl at first glance. His body build is delicate, too.

“He’s…a man? Wait, he’s actually a man?”

“Yeah. I’m a boy. Oh, maybe I should say ‘otokonoko’ instead.”

(TN: otokonoko is a word for cross-dressing boy in Japanese.)

“…? What’s the difference?”

Rinka tilts her head in confusion.

“It’s fine if you don’t understand.”

I shake my head and said so.

“Well, I do love girls romantically, but cross-dressing is just a hobby for me.”

“I see…”

Rinka mutters so, still a bit shocked.

“Actually, I feel like I’ve seen you before…could it be that we went to the same middle school?”

Sasaki places his hand on his chin and narrows his eyes.

Sakaki is in the same grade as me and we went to the same middle school. It’s not surprising that he recognizes Rinka. Cute girls tend to get noticed across grades.

“I think so. If you know Senpai…”

“I see. Well, maybe you know me too. I think I was pretty famous.”

Being half-Japanese, having good looks, and on top of that, a cross-dressing hobby, it’s hard not to stand out.

He even wore a girl’s uniform at school, so I think he was well known throughout the school.

Rinka looks at Sakaki with a serious expression on her face.

“Sorry, I’m not really interested in anyone other than Senpai…”

“Ah, no, it’s totally fine. I’m Sakaki Masamune, by the way.”

“N-Nice to meet you, I’m Nakajo Rinka.”

“…I see…what should I do…so this girl is really Rinka-chan…”

Sakaki mutters so under his breath in a voice so quiet it’s almost like a mosquito buzzing.

I can’t quite catch the second half of what he said.

“What do you mean, ‘what should I do’?”

“No, I was just talking to myself…ah, well, sorry, Rinka-chan. Can I borrow your boyfriend for a bit?”

Sakaki hesitates for a moment, then, as if making up his mind, he clasps his hands together.

“Okay…”

Despite her confusion, Rinka says so.

“Thanks. Now, come with me for a second, Naegi-kun.”

“Ah, o-okay…”

Sakaki grabs my arm and takes me away from the clothing section.

Reluctantly, I follow him to a nearby bench.

Though I’m feeling uneasy, I know Sasaki isn’t the type to do anything unreasonable.

We sit side by side on the bench, and I can’t help but show a puzzled expression on my face.

“Umm, so what do you want, Sasaki? I don’t really get what your goal is.”

“I suppose so…”

“Huh?”

“Naegi-kun, I want you to listen calmly.”

Sakaki pauses for a while before looking straight into my eyes.

He grips my hand tightly and says,

“You’re being deceived by that girl. I heard it from Tsuki-chan. The rumour about Naegi-kun’s girlfriend…Rinka-chan.”

“…hah? what are you talking about…?”

“I know it’s not really my place to interfere, but I can’t just ignore it. Tsuki-chan was crying. She said, ‘Toshi-kun has changed’. Naegi-kun, I don’t know what happened, but…isn’t it too cruel to neglect Tsuki-chan? She’s always…no, never mind, forget I said that. Anyway, I think we need to talk properly without Rinka-chan around. Actually, I came here with Tsuki-chan today…she’ll probably be back from the restroom soon.”

Sasaki told me so, but his words aren’t registering in my mind.

I don’t want to understand what he’s saying. But even though I don’t want to, I start to grasp the situation, and I can somehow understand how all this happened.

After what happened last time, I hoped that she would reflect on it and change her attitude—I thought she would at least try, but people don’t change that easily.

If it were that simple, no one would have any struggles.

As I sit there stunned in silence, I hear footsteps approaching.

The moment she meets my eyes, a look of panic flashes in her eyes.

“T-Toshi-kun…why are you here…?”

“…in the end, it’s just words, huh?”

Before I knew it, the words slipped out of my mouth.