The Most Beautiful Girl in School Has Become a Mother

Even though it was our first time spending time together as four, it didn’t take long for us to get used to each other.

They say that Miori and Sumomo have been close friends since middle school, and Sumomo and Shinya often talk to each other as well. Additionally, I also talked to Shinya and Miori—though with Miori, it’s really only been the last few days—so it didn’t feel like the first time.

Moreover, since we are in the same class, we have a lot of common topics to talk about. There are endless things to discuss, from the homeroom teacher’s complaints, the teacher’s quirks and annoying catchphrases, to the teacher suspected of wearing a wig and assignments.

I don’t know much about Miori and Sumomo yet, but I still feel like I have a rough idea of their personalities.

Miori is shy and seems weak at first glance, but in reality, she has a strong core and is very reliable. Sumomo, on the other hand, is rough and noisy, but she pays attention to even the smallest details about others. The two are completely different types of people, but perhaps that’s why they get along so well.

“Still, seeing Mi-chan eating with boys like this is quite something. If I live long enough, I get to see all sorts of strange sights.”

Sumomo looks at Miori and says something happily.

In response, Miori sent a piercing, reproachful glare at Sumomo, but Sumomo didn’t seem to care at all. With her thick skin, it seemed that Miori’s scolding didn’t bother her in the slightest.

Miori let out a small sigh and reached for her bento with her chopsticks.

“Oh, indeed! I might be seeing it for the first time too. To think I can participate in such a historic meeting, wow, living long really pays off.”

“You are just a bonus.”

“What the heck?!”

Since Sumomo and Shinya started such a quarrel, I was laughing in my seat when I caught a glimpse of Miori’s sulky face next to me.

“I wasn’t… specifically avoiding you or anything.”

And then, she mutters softly to herself.

“Did you want to spend time like this with a guy?”

I couldn’t just let it slide, so I decided to confront her.

I wonder if there are other guys she wants to spend time with.

“Eh, no way. Did I say that out loud?”

It seemed she didn’t expect her muttering to be overheard, as Miori’s cheeks were flushed with embarrassment.

Apparently, she didn’t intend to say it out loud.

“It’s not that I have a specific person in mind, alright? It’s just that I was kind of longing for these kinds of scenes that I often see in manga or dramas.”

“Oh, I see. That makes sense.”

While we were having that conversation, Sumomo and Shinya started arguing.

I can’t tell if they’re just playfully teasing each other or actually arguing, but from the sidelines, it looks like they’re having fun.

“Did you also admire Isaki-kun?”

“…Admire? Ah, I see. Admire, huh? I understand.”

She uses the word “Admire,” and I am taken aback.

Somehow, I had been feeling a strange sense of comfort in spending time with these four people. When I figured out the reason for that comfort, I couldn’t help but agree.

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

Since I was satisfied on my own, Miori tilted her head in confusion.

“Yeah, I’m sorry, sorry. I think I was probably envious too.”

Spending lunch breaks and free periods in a mixed-gender group, with a girl I like among them, and living my school life with a bit of a flutter in my heart—surely, this is the kind of scene I longed for.

My high school life so far has basically had no choice but to spend it with Shinya. It’s been the same since the first year.

By chance, I ended up sitting close to a man named Matani Shinya the other day, and we started talking. He interacts with me at just the right distance. That distance feels comfortable and doesn’t burden me. So, naturally, I started spending time with Shinya, and I deliberately didn’t make any other friends.

The reason, of course, is Shuri. Since entering high school, I’ve been taking care of Shuri by myself, and that life has become even more focused on raising her than when I was in middle school. Anything else has become, so to speak, a distraction.

Spending time with friends, loving, and playing all become obstacles like this.

No, the opposite. If I have those things, I might someday think of Shuri as a nuisance──I think I had that feeling somewhere within me.

“I see. So that’s why Isaki-kun looked like you were having fun.”

Miori smiled gently and said so.

“Huh, really?”

“Yeah. Somehow, it’s kind of funny.”

“Seriously?”

I hurriedly placed my hand on my cheek.

“Wow, no way.”

I realized when I touched it, indeed, the corners of my mouth were slightly upturned. Thinking that I had been unconsciously grinning the whole time makes me a bit embarrassed.

“It’s okay. I’m the same way.”

“Huh? Is Miori having fun too?”

When I asked, she looked up at me and nodded slightly. Her cheeks were a little red.

“Is it because you’re with the boys in your class?”

When I asked again, this time she shook her head.

“…Because Isaki-kun is with me.”

This time, it felt like fire was about to burst from my face. Of course, the person who said it was also beet red up to her ears.

There’s no way a man can just let a woman say something like that and brush it off. I decided to show a little bit of my true feelings too.

“Me too.”

“Huh?”

“I think I’m having fun too… because you’re here, Miori.”

Was it really that difficult to speak my true feelings like this?

It was supposed to be a short phrase, but just saying it made my heart pound like a drum, and my chest hurt so much it felt like my ribs were creaking.

“I see… that’s good.”

She smiled shyly with a look of relief and then shifted her gaze to the sky. I naturally followed her gaze.

The spring sky was blue and high. And yet, it was somehow bittersweet.