The Story of How I, a Guy Who Couldn’t Care Less About School Castes, Somehow Ended Up Making All the Five-Star Gals Fall for Me - Chapter 35 & 36: Wishing Upon a Star | Long Time No See, Koi-chan

Chapter 35: Wishing Upon a Star

“Something abstract is fine too?”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

“I think, for me, Hari Suitengu was like a star shining in the night sky.”

That impression was still vivid in my mind.

When she danced, she shone so brightly it took my breath away.

“Like a jewel—so far out of reach that no matter how much I reached for it, I could never touch it. Even if she looked close by, it was like the light of a star. You think it’s right there, but in reality, it’s millions of miles away. I had no idea how to ever cross that distance.”

Watching Hari during her lessons felt like searching for constellations.

That slender girl, stretching her long arms and legs, moving with such grace as if defying gravity—it was pure art.

What stood there wasn’t just a human body. It was something extraordinary, belonging to another world.

In the mirrored room, with one hand lightly on the barre, she rose upward with elegance, as though climbing toward the heavens while her feet stayed grounded.

Back then, I was completely captivated by that beauty.

It was probably the same kind of feeling fans have when they fall for an idol from a faraway world.

There, in the corner of the rehearsal studio, I had found a star who had descended to Earth—an étoile.

I was so overwhelmed that the very idea of speaking to her felt almost blasphemous.

“You were totally obsessed.”

“Yeah. I was basically an old-school Hari Suitengu fan.”

At last, I could finally admit it.

Before she ever became one of the Fives, I had been a die-hard fan of Hari Suitengu.

But I buried that past and tried my best to treat her like just another classmate.

“Then, it’s normal for a fan to want to be recognized, right?”

Hinawa agreed without hesitation.

“That’s exactly why it’s complicated. I’m the oldest fan there is—stuck on her old image.”

“…Does this have something to do with Hari quitting ballet?”

Hinawa was sharp today. Really sharp.

—What exactly was Hari Suitengu to me?

It wasn’t something I could explain with a simple “like.” My feelings were too tangled.

A pure affection from before I even had a sense of self.

A childish fondness from before gender ever mattered.

A simple friendship, untouched by awareness of sex.

An innocent admiration for beauty, before it became tainted by desire.

No matter how polished her looks became, no matter how unchanged her heart remained, nothing could ever surpass the awe I’d felt back then.

“When that beautiful Glass Doll shattered… yeah, it really shocked me.”

Selfish as it sounded, that was my truth.

More than the joy of reunion or the surprise of seeing how she’d grown, what cut me deepest was the cruel reality—that the special brilliance I’d once felt was gone forever. That loss hurt too much, and because of it, I hadn’t been able to face the Hari standing before me now.

“That’s not something you can do anything about, Ikoi.”

“I know that. But still… I can’t help thinking, maybe if I’d been closer, I could’ve supported her.”

The truth was, I was the one who couldn’t let go of the past.

Instead of just waiting passively for that promised day to come, maybe there had been something else I could’ve done.

“But Ikoi, you haven’t forgotten Hari. You don’t hate her. You’re still a hardcore fan, through and through! Denying even your feelings right now—that’s just wrong!”

“Even so, I can’t suddenly treat her like a casual friend… or see her as some down-to-earth girlfriend.”

Seeing her sexually didn’t feel real.

Seeing her as a romantic partner felt too overwhelming.

Once you’ve put someone on a pedestal—idolized them, almost worshipped them—there’s no way to stand as equals.

That was exactly how I felt.

Basically… I liked her too much for it to ever work.

I couldn’t even pretend to be the smug “boyfriend in the back row,” satisfied with just watching from afar.

The harsh words I’d thrown at her at the start… maybe, deep down, I was hoping that by recreating something she once asked of me, things would somehow change.

And of course, it completely backfired.

“But lately, Hari’s looked like she’s been having so much fun!”

Hinawa spoke out as if carrying her best friend’s feelings.

“Which is exactly why stepping back now is the right choice.”

“I like how calm you are, Ikoi—but when you’re too calm, I hate it.”

Hinawa’s blunt words came laced with clear disdain.

“Stop clinging to the past. Face the Hari who’s right here, right now.”

That sharp jab made me let out a wry smile.

“After I drifted apart from Hari, I never really got serious about anyone else. That’s why I could live so easily—without ever clinging to anyone.”

The days without Hari Suitengu always felt incomplete.

After she transferred to another ballet school, I stopped tagging along with my mom to watch.

Even as I moved on to elementary school, then middle school, I never found another friend as special as Hari.

Once I realized that was just how life worked, I stopped expecting anything from people.

And that’s how I ended up with the personality I had now. No longer swayed by messy emotions—just living each day in a flat, ordinary way.

It was calm. It was easy. But still—

“…Deep down, Ikoi, you still wanted Hari to notice you.”

“────!?”

Hinawa put into words the one thing I could never say myself.

The truest wish buried in my heart—the one I’d been making upon a star.

“Pathetic, isn’t it? I wanted the person I admired to recognize me, so I put on airs. And when I couldn’t keep up the lie anymore, I ran away. Even now, I still want it.”

Even when you think you understand something in your head, sometimes it doesn’t reach your heart.

But now, sitting here with Hinawa, I couldn’t keep dodging it. I could finally accept the truth.

“You did well.”

Hinawa’s voice was soft as she gently patted my head.

“Ikoi, good boy, good boy.”

The last time someone treated me like that must’ve been when I was a little kid. I froze up, not even sure how to react.

“Isn’t that kinda unfair?”

Someone who can be considerate without weighing the other person down at times like this… that’s just way too attractive.

“What is?”

As always, Hinawa Hiwatari had no sense of proper distance between guys and girls.

But because I’d been able to bare my weakest side to her, the storm of emotions tangled inside me had finally begun to calm down.

“If you’re too nice so casually, guys are gonna get the wrong idea.”

“With you, it’s fine, Ikoi.”

“H-Hinawa… you—”

Through everything we’d talked about today, I had finally realized one of her lies.

I was about to bring it up—

But just then, the door to the room swung open.

“Don’t go wrapping things up all nice and neat just the two of you! I’m still totally unsatisfied here!”

Hari Suitengu stood there.

Chapter 36: Long Time No See, Koi-chan

“Why is Hari—why is Suitengu-san here!?”

While I was still reeling, Miyu and Platina followed her into the room.

“Hinawa kept the call connected, so we heard your whole confession from the next room! How dare you keep your true identity hidden from us!”

Behind Hari, it almost looked like hot blue flames were blazing up in anger.

So that noise I’d heard earlier from the next room—it had been them, waiting all along.

In other words, I’d fallen completely into Hinawa’s little trap.

“Sorry, Ikoi. But honestly, I just really wanted you two to make up.”

Hinawa cut the call on the phone sitting on the table and pressed her hands together apologetically.

“You really are the best friend.”

I meant it from the bottom of my heart.

“Of course I am. Don’t underestimate girl power.”

She puffed out her chest, confident and bold—the kind of boyish charm that made her even more attractive.

And even though I’d just been tricked, I couldn’t help but smile.

“So that’s why you picked karaoke.”

“Exactly! Here, you can yell, cry, scream—no problem! Now, let’s get this started!”

As always, Hinawa took charge in her bright, upbeat way.

This time, she was telling me to face everything head-on, no excuses.

“I get that Kizuki-kun had his reasons, but… I don’t want things to end like that.”

Miyu’s eyes locked onto mine, sincere and unwavering.

“I was at fault too. But to part ways without really settling things—it just leaves a bad taste. At the very least, I want us to end this without regrets.”

Platina’s tone was unusually humble.

The door shut, sealing the world into just me and the Four of the Fives.

“Go on, Ikoi!”

Hinawa gave me a firm push from behind.

“Suitengu-san, I—”

“Wait! Let me apologize first! Koi-chan! I’m sorry I didn’t realize until now!”

She called me by that old nickname.

“No, I’m the one who should apologize—for keeping silent all this time.”

But Hari thrust out her hand, cutting me off.

“No, listen. Koi-chan has always been a special friend to me. Honestly, finding out you were a boy… that shocked me a lot.”

“That couldn’t be helped.”

“I even went to you for advice, saying, ‘It hurts to be misunderstood’—while I was doing the exact same thing myself. Seriously, what the heck was I thinking? Who did I think I was?”

“Back then, people mistook me for a girl all the time. It’s no wonder.”

Wanting her to notice me—that was probably just selfishness.

But at the same time, I didn’t want to trouble her with some forceful, selfish move either.

That was the complicated heart of a fan.

“I hated myself for not realizing sooner. I only came to love ballet because of your support, Koi-chan. Even after I left that ballet school, it was our promise that kept me going through the tough lessons. You might not believe me now, but there wasn’t a single day I forgot about you.”

She let it all out in one breath.

“────”

Ah… so I’d always remained inside her heart.

Just hearing that was enough to make me happy.

“Koi-chan. I’m sorry I couldn’t keep our promise.”

“It’s fine. Just being able to see you again makes me happy too, Hari.”

The promise didn’t matter anymore.

We had already reunited.

“Listen… maybe it’s selfish, but can we redo our reunion? I really want that!”

She looked straight at me, with the same serious eyes she once had.

“Maybe I’m the one who hasn’t changed.”

She wasn’t the fragile glass doll anymore.

Even if she’d shattered once, she had long since pieced herself back together.

If I’d just had the courage to speak to the girl who still cared for me this much, our high school days could have started so differently.

I was the one who’d been afraid.

I couldn’t bring myself to approach the beautiful girl Hari Suitengu had become.
In the end, it was nothing more than the ordinary reaction of a clumsy teenage boy.

“I never cared about social ranks or popularity, but… I guess I felt something similar toward you. From the start, I decided we didn’t belong together—because we lived in different worlds.”

I thought the place where stars shone was another world, one I could never reach.

That old feeling had chained down Ikoi Kizuki all this time.

“But that’s silly. We’re classmates now, aren’t we?”

Hari brushed it off with a light laugh.

The past couldn’t be rewound, and it couldn’t be changed.

There was no such thing as reincarnation or looping back in life.

So then—what mattered was what we did now.

When it came to high school memories, the people you befriended and how you spent your time together could shape everything.

But did I really want shallow memories, all about appearances and what others thought?

No.

What I wanted was simple—just to enjoy myself, to feel comfortable in the moment.

Respect and consideration for others shouldn’t be excessive, but it shouldn’t be zero either.

Within that balance, I needed to stop holding back and just act on my true feelings.

She was the same as me—a teenager, just another classmate.

Even if the school treated her like an idol, she wasn’t actually one.

This wasn’t a job or a career. She didn’t have to stay consistent or live up to anyone else’s expectations.

She could act against her own feelings, tell lies, make mistakes.

But if we were real friends, then we could make up again afterward.

“We can’t just go back to how things were.”

I said it clearly.

“…Yeah. You’re right.”

Hari gripped her left arm tightly with her right hand—a little habit of hers, one that always showed when she was holding something back.

“But I want to start enjoying things from now on too. Is that okay, Hari?”

Just like in the past, I called her by her first name again.

“I’m glad we met again. Long time no see, Koi-chan.”

And with that, Ikoi Kizuki and Hari Suitengu finally reunited.

“I’m happy you still remembered me.”

“And thank you for thinking of me all this time.”

Hari looked so moved she was on the verge of tears.

“Yeah. From here on, let’s stay friends.”

At last, I was free from the lie. I could start fresh with a clear heart.

“Wait—friends!?”

Hari suddenly raised her voice.

“What, is that not okay?”

“No, it’s not wrong, but… it’s kinda… not what I expected…”

Her response came out choppy, almost broken.

“Hari, if something’s off, then tell me straight! We finally got back to being friends, so of course I want us to keep being close friends from here on too!”

“Stop saying ‘friend, friend’ over and over again like that!”

She shouted at me unreasonably.