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 40 - 41

Childhood Friend’s Comeuppance (1)

We leave the shopping mall and head to my childhood friend’s house.

My childhood friend’s house is really suitable for ‘a place we can talk quietly’ that I mentioned earlier.

Her father is at work, and since the divorce, her mother isn’t around.

At my house, there’s a chance that my parents, mostly probably my mom, might come to grab something she forgot. With all things considered, my childhood friend’s house is the best choice.

Right now, the three of us—my childhood friend, Sakaki, and I are in the living room.

“U-Umm…Toshi-kun…I…”

“Can you please stop talking on your own? Listening to your excuses is a waste of time.”

“Uhh…”

My childhood friend bites her lower lip.

Sasaki who is sitting diagonally across from her, speaks up.

“U-Umm, Naegi-kun…I only heard Tsuki-chan’s side of the story, and I think I might have over-interpreted it. I think I might have caused some unnecessary misunderstandings. So, if possible, please don’t blame Tsuki-chan too much…”

“It’s fine. You haven’t caused any misunderstandings at all, Sakaki. Rather there’s something I need to ask you.”

“Y-Yeah. What is it?”

“What kind of lies…no, what kind of rumours did you hear about Rinka? And what’s your relationship with her anyway? As far as I remember, you two weren’t really that close.”

In middle school, my childhood friend and Sakaki weren’t particularly close.

To begin with, Masamune Sakaki isn’t the type to get close to any specific person. He’s more of the type who makes friends with a wide range of people, regardless of gender.

“About a week ago…yeah, I think it was around then. I saw Tsuki-chan sitting alone on a bench in the park…I was the one who talked to her first. She started to tell me a lot of things and asked for my advice…and then she started crying, saying, ‘Toshi-kun…Toshi-kun…’”

“D-Don’t say that…”

“S-Sorry. I just answered because I was asked…”

Hearing my childhood friend’s strained voice, Sakaki apologizes.

I shake my head.

“There is no need to apologize. I can pretty much imagine it. Besides, it’s not like this is the first time you’ve had a loose tongue, Sakaki. You’ve always been that way.”

“……”

My childhood friend’s shoulders flinch.

She keeps her head down, holding her breath like a defendant awaiting a verdict.

“If rumours about Rinka that aren’t even true start spreading through someone like Sakaki, who has lots of connections, it might spread pretty quickly. Since we go to different schools, the source of the rumour will remain unclear.”

“…t-that wasn’t my intention! I just…I just wanted your attention…”

Her eyes dart around nervously. She clenches her fists tightly and stands up.

On the other hand, I remain seated, looking at her calmly.

“Don’t mess with me. Even if it’s just a rumour, if it spreads in a bad way, it can go out of hand. Imagine a rumour going around saying, ‘Airi Tsukimiya will sleep with anyone as long as they’re good-looking’—which is true, that kind of rumour would spread quickly, there’s no question about it.”

“…t-that’s not true. I’ve changed, I’ve really turned my life around…”

“People who have truly changed don’t feel the need to declare it. Also, whether it’s true or not doesn’t matter—that’s the troublesome thing about rumours.”

“……”

I look up at the ceiling and let out a small sigh.

“Have you already forgotten what happened back in middle school?”

“No…I haven’t forgotten…”

“It’s honestly pretty scary, thinking about what might’ve happened if I hadn’t run into Sakaki today.”

“I-I’m sorry, Naegi-kun…I didn’t mean to spread any rumours…”

“I know. I’m just speaking hypothetically. But you realize it could’ve turned out that way, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right…it could’ve turned out that way…”

I stand up from my chair and face my childhood friend.

“You know…I’ve been thinking. Thinking about what would hurt you the most.”

“Eh?”

“I’m not that great of a person, so when you cheated on me, I ended up harbouring all these negative feelings…I was thinking of horrible things. I kept wondering what would make you suffer the most. What would be the best way to get my revenge. And then it hit me. The one thing you’d hate the most.”

I lean in closer and look deep into her eyes.

My childhood friend’s shoulders twitch, and she gasps.

“I’m going to tell your father everything about what kind of person Tsukimiya Airi truly is.”

“No…p-please, anything but that!”

She slams her hands on the table and raises her voice, standing up in desperation. I remain unfazed and continue.

“Why not? A parent has the right to know about their daughter.”

“N-No…not Papa. Please, don’t. I don’t want him to know. After everything with Mom…I don’t want to add to his burden even more…”

“That’s pretty convenient, don’t you think? You’ve done all sorts of horrible things, hurting people without a single care in this world…and now you’re saying you’d be in trouble if your dad found out about it? Isn’t that just too selfish?”

“P-Please! You can do anything else you want to me! I’ll listen to everything you say, Toshi-kun! So—”

She grabs onto my shirt, clinging to me with tearful eyes.

I shake her hand off me.

“What’s the point of doing that? You’re just a lonely, desperate attention-seeker. If I tell you what to do, it will just end up making you happy, right?”

“……”

“When I asked you to break up with me, you should have just let me go. That would’ve been the most peaceful way. But you kept clinging to me…and I thought it was finally over the other day. How many times are you going to make the same mistake before you’re satisfied?”

“…please go back to your usual kind self, Toshi-kun…the Toshi-kun who was always kind to me…”

My childhood friend mutters so while looking down.

I sigh softly with a faint smile on my face.

“Kind? You mean ‘convenient’?”

Childhood Friend’s Comeuppance (2)

“Kind? You mean ‘convenient’?”

The moment I said so, I can see agitation in my childhood friend’s eyes. Her shoulders are twitching and she cowers.

A heavy silence falls upon the living room.

Breaking the silence, Sakaki speaks up hesitantly.

“N-Naegi-kun…you seem…different from usual. I mean, yeah, lying is wrong, but…Tsuki-chan feels lonely. I know that doesn’t excuse her actions, but maybe you could at least…given her some attention?”

“You don’t know her like I do, Sakaki—you don’t know what kind of person she really is.”

“Eh?”

“The truth is, she and I were dating, but she cheated on me and we broke up.”

I said so bluntly, without hiding anything.

Sasaki doesn’t seem to understand what I’m saying right away.

My childhood friend bites her lower lip. Her body is trembling slightly as she murmurs in a faint voice.

“Toshi-kun…you’re just too cruel.”

“Hah?”

“The Toshi-kun I know never called me by ‘you’ or ‘Tsukimiya-san’…you used to always call me ‘Airi’…”

“What are you suddenly saying? Don’t interrupt me.”

“I-I want the old Toshi-kun back…please go back to how you were!”

“This is all your doing…don’t just say whatever you want.”

I didn’t want to call my childhood friend by ‘you’ or ‘Tsukimiya-san’—she is my childhood friend. I’ve known her for as long as I can remember. I never wanted to use harsh words to her in the first place, but…I’m weak.

If I don’t do those things, my heart would break too easily.

Letting out a heavy sigh, I continue.

“This girl…Tsukimiya Airi is the type of woman who will sleep with anyone as long as they’re good-looking. I think I mentioned it earlier…her sense of chastity is completely broken. Even after we started dating, nothing changed.”

“…t-that’s a lie, right?”

Sasaki asked so, clearly looking confused.

His question is aimed more at my childhood friend than at me.

My childhood friend remains silent, simply looking down.

Sasaki, takes the silence as an affirmation and turns his gaze back to me.

“Sakaki, you have such a good-looking face. So that means she might be after you.”

“N-No! That’s not true! I really haven’t been with anyone since then!”

My childhood friend stands up so quickly that her chair falls over, closing the distance between us.

Clinging to my clothes, she pleads her innocence.

“Honestly, I don’t care. You and I are not a couple any more. Who you sleep with doesn’t matter to me.”

“…that’s right…I’m really sorry. But I have reflected on my own actions. I regret that I’ve done such awful things to you. I won’t do anything stupid like that ever again…”

“Don’t talk about regret so casually. Not sleeping with anyone isn’t some kind of atonement. You really don’t get it, do you? At this point, I actually feel sorry for you.”

“B-But…I’m not as smart as you, Toshi-kun. I won’t understand anything unless you teach me! Even studying…I can’t do it unless you teach me. Please, teach me everything…I’ll fix everything, I promise, Toshi-kun…!”

My childhood friend clenches her hands tightly. Tears are welling up in her eyes, she is on the verge of crying.

But even so, I don’t show her any compassion or sympathy.

“I won’t make a half-hearted decision anymore. This time, I’m really cutting all ties with you. I’m going to tell your father everything.”

“…P-Papa has nothing to do with this…”

“It has everything to do with him. I expect him to make the right decision as an adult.”

“I don’t want to make Papa sad…”

“After everything you’ve done, you’re still saying that? Well, why don’t you just make up an excuse like usual and talk your way out of it?”

“…that’s…”

I press my childhood friend even harder, watching her become more dejected.

“Well, considering I have the recording from the family restaurant, I think it’s impossible for you to talk your way out of it.”

“Eh?”