The Day After I Told My Shut-In Genius Childhood Friend, Who’s Highly Dependent on Me, “I Got Confessed To,” She Showed Me a Hypnosis App - Chapter 13

On my way to school, someone called out to me from the train platform.

“…Eh, huh, Honami-san?”

I turned around and saw a gal standing there with her mouth wide open.

“…Huh, Momose-san?”

“…Ah, um, are you, do you always use this station?”

“…Yeah. Does Momose-san live near here, too?”

“Y-yeah… W-what a coincidence!”

Right from the start, the atmosphere felt really awkward.

And no wonder. Our relationship was complicated.

Not only had I put off answering her confession, but yesterday I’d also done something stupid, and she’d called me an idiot.

(…Sh-should I just pretend I didn’t notice…?)

Momose-san probably spoke up just because she was surprised.

I came early today, so it was just a coincidence that we ran into each other.

“Honamin, you usually come at a different time…?”

“Ah, yeah. Usually I take the next train.”

“I-I see…”

“Yeah…”

So awkward.

The train came, and the doors opened with a hiss right in front of us.

I got on and grabbed a hand strap near the entrance, where there weren’t many people yet.

“…”

“…”

But we didn’t talk.

Momose-san could usually start a conversation about anything, even about Prikle, so I wouldn’t feel awkward. But the tension right now was so strong, nothing could break it. What do you do in a situation like this? Someone help! Senpai!

(No, Senpai said I should apologize first…)

Kirisaka-senpai had advised me that if I think someone might be mad at me, it’s best to start with an apology.

I guess I should follow that advice.

“Um, Momose-san.”

“Y-yes. What is it?!”

“About yesterday… I’m sorry.”

“…Huh?”

“I probably said or did something that upset you. That’s why.”

“…Eh? I-I wasn’t upset. I-I mean, it didn’t bother me…”

Momose-san waved one hand back and forth.

Huh. That’s weird…

“But you called me an idiot…”

“Ah, that was because you…!”

I thought I heard something, but her voice was too soft to catch properly.

“Huh?”

“W-wah! Not now!”

Momose-san suddenly shouted, and an older man nearby, who was reading a newspaper, looked up, wondering what was going on. I’m sorry about that.

I still didn’t get what she meant, though.

“Um, so, you’re not mad, right?”

“I’m not mad… but.”

“But?”

“―I do have something I want to ask.”

Momose-san looked up at me with her cheeks turning pink.

Her sudden upward glance made my heart skip a beat. What the. Momose-san was acting so differently, I didn’t know what to do.

“…”

“…”

A different kind of awkward silence filled the air. We looked away, and before we knew it, we had arrived at the next station. The doors opened, and since this station was pretty big, a lot of people got on. We were pushed to the side while standing.

We squeezed together near the handrail at the edge of the door.

Momose-san’s face was really close.

Our eyes met for a moment, and she stiffened while looking nervous.

…Yeah, I guess it’s uncomfortable to have someone of the opposite sex so close.

“I’m sorry for being so close like this.”

“…Huh?”

“I’ll move away once there aren’t so many people…”

“…You’ll move away?”

“Huh?”

That sounded like a strange thing to say.

Move away?

“…Even though you did that thing yesterday.”

“…Huh?”

I was suddenly caught off guard by what she said and scrambled to remember yesterday.

I remembered talking during lunch.

Back then, we were just sitting next to each other. It wasn’t anything “like that.”

I wanted to remember more, but most of yesterday felt like a fog. I couldn’t recall clearly.

Momose-san was pouting and looked sulky.

“…Did you forget?”

“…Forget what?”

“You forgot!”

She let out a big, heavy sigh right in front of me… a really huge sigh. I had apparently forgotten something important enough to earn that kind of sigh.

“Geez… I was really worried it might be your answer…!”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine… no, not really.”

Momose-san still had her eyebrows furrowed and lips puckered. A grumpy Momose-san was ridiculously rare.

What on earth did I do yesterday?

The train stopped again.

This was the station right before ours.

A lot of people got off at once because it was also a transfer station. I tried to step aside before getting caught in the crowd, but Momose-san suddenly frowned.

“—Ouch.”

She seemed to have hurt her leg. Looking down, I saw a small scrape on her shin.

“Momose-san! Are you okay?!”

“Yeah, I’m fine… it just got bumped a little.”

It seemed someone had stepped on her leg in the rush of people getting off.

She said she was okay, but I was still a little worried.

“No… let’s go to the nurse when we get to school.”

“Huh? It’s fine.”

“Just in case. Momose-san’s legs are thin, so it’d be bad if they were broken.”

“That’s too dramatic.”

Soon, we arrived at our school station.

The awkwardness from before had faded a little.

The injury looked minor, but we decided to head to the school nurse’s office together just to be safe.