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 41

◆ “Shinonome Mio”

In the end, maybe this was how it was always going to be.

From the moment I thought, I’ll make a hypnosis app, just in case.

(Maybe I should have talked to him properly instead of making something like that.)

That I can’t live without Honami.

That I can’t go on without him.

It’s too late now.

“Mio. Don’t you look kind of pale?”

“Do I?”

“I think so. Are you okay?”

My boyfriend, Honami, is sitting next to me on the sofa. He looks at my face with worry.

I chased the senpai out of the house. Then I used hypnosis on Honami, “telling him not to go outside.”

Yesterday, I also used hypnosis, which I had planned not to use at first, “we are lovers.”

There’s more. Honami doesn’t notice strange things from the past anymore. In his mind, he didn’t meet Momose yesterday.

I changed Momose’s memories with the app, too. And just now, I told the senpai to “don’t interfere.”

There’s no turning back anymore.

With this, Honami and I should now have the perfect relationship.

He won’t leave me. He loves me. No one gets in the way. I can do anything.

And yet, the feeling I got is empty.

“Can I kiss you?”

“What’s with that all of a sudden? …Yeah.”

Our lips touch.

“I want a hug too.”

“Yes, yes.”

He holds me.

We touch. I feel his warmth.

But deep in my chest, it stays cold.

(This is the only way.)

If the hypnosis breaks, Honami will leave me.

(Because Honami accepted Momose-san’s confession.)

The image of Honami holding Momose-san comes back to me, even after a day has passed.

Each time, my chest feels tight, like it’s being squeezed.

(Just a little longer…)

Please let things stay like this.

After being told it’s over, I cling to a fake relationship.

How long will this last? I hear my own voice asking deep inside my head.

But I pretend not to hear it.

◇

Since I started spending time with Mio, my days have been peaceful.

It’s been about three days since I woke up in Mio’s room.

Apparently, I got a “sudden long break,” so there’s no school.

That means I have time to spend with Mio, my “girlfriend.”

“Hey, Mio.”

“Hm?”

“…Don’t sit on my lap just to play an online game.”

Right now, I’m sitting on Mio’s gaming chair, and she’s sitting on me.

Whenever we’re together, she always wants to be close.

Even when it doesn’t matter or even when it does, she stays near me.

Well, I’m happy too, since she’s my “girlfriend.”

“You’re making it impossible to move the mouse.”

“It’d be fine if Honami just stayed still a little.”

“Easier if you just got off me.”

Even at times like this, when it makes no sense, she wants to be near me.

But when I try to move away after finishing a part of the game.

“…Honami?”

She grabs my arm, and I look away from the screen I was just focused on.

She looks up at me like a little kid who got separated from their parents.

“Where are you going?”

“…Bathroom.”

“…Oh. Yeah. Come back soon.”

Why does she look like that?

I’m not going anywhere.

This has happened a few times over the past few days.

Whenever I move away, Mio looks worried.

(I’ve been right here all along.)

People say that even with a “girlfriend,” you should say what you feel out loud.

Maybe I should say it more.

Like I like you.

Like… “Like”?

A strange noise runs through my head.

(…Something feels off sometimes.)

It happened before, but this feeling in my head has been stronger lately.

Especially these past three days.

(Well, nevermind.)

◇

Mio has been sticking too close lately, so now she even makes me take a bath with her.

I wonder how long it’s been.

Since elementary school, maybe.

Things are completely different now compared to when we were kids.

After we got older, neither of us would have suggested bathing together.

“We can if we’re lovers, right?”

I couldn’t say no when she said that.

As a small act of resistance, I put in a dark-colored bath additive, but it doesn’t feel like it’s helping much.

“Honami, you’re so close. Come closer.”

“But it looks like there’s plenty of space over there.”

Mio pushes herself against me, leaving me no way to escape.

Splashing sounds as she crawls closer on all fours.

Then she presses her body against mine while hugging me.

“Are you looking away?”

“…Of course I am.”

“You pervert, Honami.”

“You’re the one who said we should bathe together.”

Being so close makes my head spin.

Even as we play like this, Mio’s expression doesn’t fully show happiness.

She’s smiling, but it’s not a smile from her heart.

I can tell, because we’ve been friends since we were kids. I’ve always seen her like this.

She makes that kind of face a lot lately.

“…Mio. Are you forcing yourself?”

She tilts her head with a serious look for a moment, then puts the same smile back on.

“I’m not. Really.”

Once she says that, I can’t push any further.

◇

Night. Even when we sleep, it’s the same bed.

Honestly, even as “lovers,” it’s better to sleep separately.

Sleeping in a small space makes sleep light, and it’s not good for either of us.

But Mio seems to sleep better when she’s stuck to me.

I once tried to convince her to sleep on the floor, but she tossed and turned in the bed for over an hour.

I lay down next to her, seeing her struggle, and she fell asleep instantly.

Being close makes her feel safe.

If that’s what she needs, I can bear a little discomfort.

We lie facing each other on a single bed.

“…I’m sorry. It must be hard for you to sleep like this.”

“It’s fine. ‘We’re lovers,’ after all.”

When I said that, Mio’s face twisted slightly, like she was in pain.

“Honami… are you happy being with me?”

She suddenly asks something strange.

“Of course I’m happy.”

“…Even though I’m such a troublesome girl?”

“I’ve already gotten used to it.”

“…Even though you can’t really go outside?”

“That’s fine. I don’t have to.”

Her voice trembles.

“…Even though you knew I liked you first, and I took you from her?”

“…What are you talking about?”

Liked someone else besides Mio…?

“That’s impossible.”

“Yeah, it’s true. I saw you hugging her.”

“Then you must have been mistaken.”

“I wasn’t mistaken!”

She shouts and hits my chest. But I have no memory of it. Me hugging someone else? That’s impossible. Even if it happened… it couldn’t have been my choice.

“No. I only like you, Mio.”

“…Liar.”

“It’s not a lie.”

“Then prove it.”

“Anything.”

How?

“Hug me until I’m satisfied.”

“Alright.”

I hold her tight.

“Stroke my head too.”

“Yeah.”

I run my hand through her hair.

“Say you like me.”

“I like you.”

“…That’s not it.”

What’s not?

I don’t understand what she means.

“I like you.”

“…No!”

Her voice shakes. Even though I tell her I like her, it doesn’t reach her heart.

(What’s wrong?)

Why can’t she believe me?

It’s strange. “We’re lovers,” yet she doesn’t trust that I like her. I’m trying to prove it her way, but she won’t accept it. Mio doesn’t believe I like her.

Then… if that’s true, why are we even “lovers”?

A contradiction lights up in my mind.

“Lies… It’s all lies, Honami.”

No matter how much I hug her, no matter how much I stroke her head, no matter how many times I say it out loud, it doesn’t reach her.

We’re supposed to be “lovers,” yet Mio decides that my feelings are lies.

That shouldn’t be possible.

I’ve always been here for Mio. I stayed by her side because her smile made me happy.

The contradiction keeps spinning.

My head starts to feel hot.

My feelings of love are real. There’s no mistake there.

Then that means the mistake isn’t in me.

—Is it being “lovers” itself?

The moment I think that, a harsh noise scrapes through my head.

I ignore it and try to remember.

(…Is this it…? Is this where it’s wrong?)

I squeeze my eyes shut. It’s beyond this point.

I push past the noise and cut through the fog in my memories.

There’s a reason everything feels wrong. A faint memory appears. This is it. This is what’s wrong. I try to grab the strange memories. I pull them out of the fog. Something I couldn’t see. Something I forgot. It’s right there—

And then, I remember at last.

“…Oh.”

When the hypnosis breaks, my head feels clear.

I see Mio crying under the moonlight.

“…You really scared me.”

I wipe her tears with my fingertips and give a weak smile.

“Even without hypnosis, I’d never leave you.”