The Case of My Unknown Childhood Friend Who Became My Girlfriend Without Me Even Knowing It - Chapter 5 - This Thumping in My Chest

Chapter 5 – This Thumping in My Chest

Whether heaven or hell actually exists.

Now is not the time to talk about it.

In other words, what Sakatoki wanted to say was that if I don’t admit that I’m dating her, that would mean I’m driving her to her limit.

Once I realized that was the case, I lowered my argument.

“…Enough. There’s nothing to gain from all this.”

“So you’ll properly admit that I’m your girlfriend?”

“…I understand.”

Broken.

Or should I say crushed.

But I also think it’s in my best interests to do this now.

Anyway, now everyone thinks that Sakatoki and I are dating, although I don’t know how it happened…

So even if I keep trying hard to deny it, it won’t change the perception of the people around me.

So it’s better to pretend to have been deceived and to explore the trick than to put up a lot of futile resistance.

It’s a bit of a bummer, but here I am, with the first girlfriend of my life…

No familiarity, no confession, not even a fateful encounter.

A girl I hardly knew except by name became my girlfriend.

“Hey, Kanata-kun, which bread is good?”

“W-Well, I always go with–”

“You always have curry bread. But let’s try something else.”

“……”

It’s really a strange illusion talking like this.

She knows me as if we’re a married couple who have been together for many years.

She can tell in detail what I ate yesterday, what I like and don’t like, and even what my days were like through middle school.

It’s as if she’s really been next to me the whole time, she knows me better than anyone else.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that she knows me better than I know myself.

She has a firm grasp of things that I don’t remember.

“You ended up buying curry buns, huh?”

“Well, you know. It’s a safe choice.”

“But just because the curry bread at the convenience store was bad, you can’t throw it away without eating it, okay? If you waste food, you’ll be punished.”

“……”

I don’t remember that happening.

Ah, that happened during spring break.

How long has she been watching me?

If she has been stalking me all these years, her persistence and tracking skills are considerable.

What drives her to go that far?

“Hey, Sakatoki.”

“It’s Aya.”

“…Sakatoki A–”

“It’s Aya.”

“…Aya-san, when did you start stalking–”

“It’s Aya, okay?”

“……”

I have admitted that Sakatoki is my girlfriend.

Of course, that is only on the surface, and there is no way I would really admit it.

So I don’t want to cross any line.

I wanted to remain a stranger in the way I call her, but she won’t let me.

“It’s Aya, okay? You’ve forgotten your girlfriend’s name?”

“I already called you Aya-san.”

“I don’t like it when you call me with ‘-san’ or anything like that. Or what, is there someone you don’t want to hear you calling me by my name?”

“N-No, that’s not what I mean.”

“Well, I’d kill her if she was here. Ahaha, I wouldn’t kill her instantly, though. I wonder what would happen to me if there was such a girl.”

“……”

That’s a very disturbing thing to say.

But this is probably just a threat to get me to call her by her name, and she doesn’t really want to kill anyone…

…I would like to believe that.

“I got it. Aya.”

“Yeah, what is it?”

“W-What do you like about me?”

Like asking a girlfriend you’ve just started dating shyly…

I decided to ask this stalker about her motives.

“Hmm, everything about you?”

“What’s the reason for that ambiguity? There should be something… For example my looks or personality…”

“Like I said, everything. I’ve been watching you for a long time and I’ve always liked you, so I probably like everything about Kanata-kun.”

“…Ah, is that so?”

I ended the conversation while thinking that it was my fault for asking such a psycho a decent question in the first place.

Besides, I don’t want my personality to be known by this person I’ve only just met.

I wonder if she only came onto me because I was good-looking, and as a result my fanbase escalated and got out of control.

I need to do something about this as soon as possible.

It’s not about my reputation with the other girls.

It’s simply because I’m scared.

“Kanata-kun, I’m going to ahnn you.”

“…Y-You don’t have to.”

“Ahnn, come on?”

“I told you, you don’t have to…”

“Ahnn, do you not understand?”

“A-Ahnn.”

“Fufu, you’re so cute, Kanata-kun.”

“……”

In the classroom.

She proudly brought a curry bun closer to my mouth as everyone looked on.

When I said no, her eyes turned really scary.

So I obeyed her. I had to.

Seeing us like that, the boys let out a sigh and the girls squealed with delight.

But they were all congratulating us.

They recognize our relationship.

I really don’t understand what all this means.

No matter how much she keeps stalking me, no matter how much she finds out about me, she can’t rewrite other people’s memories.

Just like what she did with my mother, how did she manage to instill in all of my classmates the wrong perception that I’m her childhood friend?

Of course, it would be pointless to ask such a question to Sakatoki, who assumes that she and I are such good friends.

“It’s kind of fun, isn’t it, Kanata-kun?”

“…Yeah.”

“Why do you look so grumpy?”

“…I’m not.”

On the contrary, I want to say why do you look so happy?

She can’t seriously think she’s my childhood friend, can she?

Or is she the type of person who makes strong assumptions.

If so, she’s beyond delusional, she’s a madman who doesn’t know the border between reality and dreams.

Ah, I get it.

She’s crazy.

“Hey, after school today. Do you want to go shopping with me?”

“Do you want to buy something?”

“No. Kanata-kun’s house doesn’t have any ingredients.”

“Are you coming back today?”

“Of course.”

“……”

Not that I had anything else planned.

She filled my schedule without my permission.

So far, she has kept up her pace throughout.

She cries in public when things get bad, and before you know it, she brings out the tools she has prepared to threaten you.

It’s hard to do. It’s too much preparation rather than too deliberate.

I have to do something.

“See you later, Sakatoki-san.”

After school.

The girls left the classroom, saying goodbye to Sakatoki.

The boys said to me, “If I were born again, I’d want to be you” and disappeared, seemingly having given up on something on their own…

And I was left in a deserted classroom…

They left the classroom in silence.

Of course, but Sakatoki will follow me.

“……”

“Hey, hey, have you been to the coffee shop in the arcade yet?”

“……”

“You know, this weekend, I want to go to this new shop that specializes in kinako mochi. That’s rumored to be the next big thing after tapioca.”

“……”

“Ah, you didn’t hear me, did you? [N-No, don’t do it, Kanata-kun… Please, don’t do it, I beg you!]”

“O-Okay, stop playing that audio in school.”

“Ehehe, you’re not being honest.”

“……”

Now it’s the trial and error process.

I tried to treat her coldly just now, but it seems to be pointless.

So I guess I’ll just have to keep pretending to be her boyfriend for now.

I have to think of another way.

“Hey, Sakatoki.”

“It’s Aya.”

“…Aya. Where are you from?”

“Eh? I’m the same as Kanata-kun.”

“Same…? I changed schools when I was in the fourth grade in primary school, and…”

“I know. But we’ve been together for a long time.”

“…Ah, I see.”

Apparently that’s the way it’s set up.

She must be mad.

I don’t have any childhood friends, and it’s not possible that she’s been with me my whole life, having changed schools so many times.

Well, let’s just leave it at that.

When did this guy first set eyes on me?

“Hey, when did we meet?”

“Hmm, I wonder when. When do you think?”

“I-I don’t know. When is it?”

“It’s a secret–”

“…Well, okay.”

I have no idea what’s going on.

There’s this childhood friend that I’ve never seen, and she became my girlfriend without me agreeing, and somehow everyone assumes it’s true.

However…

“Hey, Kanata-kun.”

“What?”

“Can I hold your hand?”

“…That’s…”

“Please… Is that…a no?”

“…Well, I guess it’s fine.”

I guess it’s still my fault that I thought she was cute.

I hate myself for being so weak as to think such a strange stalker girl is cute just because she is a little bit good looking.

It’s hard to say no when she looks at me like that.

So it’s my weakness to take her suggestion that it’s okay to at least hold her hand.

I’m sure that the feeling of her slender fingers slipping between mine will also make my heart thump.

But I like to think that it’s because of my weakness…