The Story of Waking up With My Beautiful Childhood Friend and Realizing We Had Spent the Night Together - Chapter 26: Prelude

Chapter 26: Prelude

――And then, early the next morning.

“……”

“……? What’s wrong, Senpai?”

I silently stared at my junior standing beside me.

Dressed in a gym uniform and running shoes, she looked as if she was saying, “We’re about to run, is there a problem?”

With a firm stretch, my junior continued her warm-ups, then tilted her head slightly as she looked at me.

“…No, it’s nothing.”

Yesterday’s conversation with Kashiwagi.

Because Asahi’s name had come up, I ended up looking at her without thinking.

She has a cute face, and her personality isn’t bad either.

But to me, she’s just a junior.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Mizuki should understand that, too.

Actually, if anything, she’s way more into Mizuki than me.

As I was thinking about that—

“…Oi, Iori.”

A zombie-like voice came from behind me.

“…? What is it, Renji?”

Turning around, I saw a familiar bad friend.

With a face that looked like he was about to die, he glared at me resentfully.

“What do you mean, ‘What is it?’ What the hell is this situation?”

“What…? Morning practice?”

For reference, it was exactly 7 AM.

Thanks to Asahi’s enthusiastic “We’re doing morning practice for the sports festival!” we had been summoned to school at this ridiculously early hour.

“Is this club practice?! No, you guys can do it on your own! Why the hell am I here too?!”

“I told you, you didn’t have to come.”

Since Asahi had invited us, I sent Renji a message, too.

I figured he probably wouldn’t show up, but when I arrived, he was somehow already there before me.

…Now that I think about it, for a flashy guy, he’s surprisingly serious.

“I went to bed at 2 AM and woke up at 6 AM. Are you trying to kill me? We can just coast through the sports festival…”

“Well, I agree with that.”

Then don’t come…

Thinking that, I turned my gaze toward the root of all this trouble.

She was staring up at a certain tall beauty with sparkling eyes.

“Onee-sama, let’s take it easy and run together! But there’s no mercy for the boys!”

“Alright, sounds good.”

The tall beauty—Yukimura Mizuki—had also changed into a gym uniform and was doing warm-ups.

Because of her stunning figure, even a simple gym uniform looked ridiculously sexy on her.

Her bare, fair-skinned legs peeking out from her shorts were an absolute visual hazard.

“…Normally, just seeing that would make this whole thing worth it. But since she’s your girlfriend, it’s just complicated.”

“…Sorry.”

For some reason, I found myself apologizing.

Renji looked up at the sky with a conflicted expression.

“U-Um, by the way, Onee-sama…?”

“Hm?”

Ignoring Renji, Asahi fidgeted, her cheeks slightly flushed.

Her gaze wasn’t directed at Mizuki’s ample chest…

But rather, the necklace glistening at her collarbone.

“You… you’re wearing it.”

“…Yeah.”

Mizuki smiled softly and lightly touched the necklace.

“I probably should take it off when exercising… but since you gave it to me, Asahi-chan.”

“…!!”

The expression on Asahi’s face at that moment was almost unbearable to look at.

It was like she was grinning, about to cry, and on the verge of screaming all at once.

Girl, that’s probably not a face you should be making.

“Uuu…!”

Asahi squirmed and fidgeted.

Left alone, she probably would’ve kept doing that forever.

“…Hey, Asahi-san?”

Calling out to her as if to say, “We’re being left behind here,” she snapped out of it and turned around in a fluster.

“S-Sorry! A-Alright! The boys are going to be trained hard! You better keep up!”

“”…Yeah, yeah.””

“What’s with that unmotivated response?!”

Asahi fumed at our halfhearted reply.

Watching the exchange, Mizuki chuckled softly.

――And then, an hour later.

“…Hahh, hahh…!”

“…Guh, ugh, bleh…!”

“Geez! You two are so pathetic!”

Utter devastation.

Forced to run relentlessly, Renji and I had basically collapsed into half-dead corpses.

Asahi looked down at us with a cold gaze.

But then, her expression suddenly changed.

From the distance, Mizuki, now with her hair tied in a ponytail, was jogging back toward us after finishing her run.

“…Phew.”

“Ah, Onee-sama! Good work! Here’s a towel and a drink!”

“Thanks.”

“H-Hooo… Even sweaty, you’re too beautiful… so much pheromone…!”

My junior spouted nonsense, getting excited all on her own.

But I didn’t even have the energy to retort anymore.

“…Are you okay, Amano-kun?”

Noticing my state, Mizuki approached me, offering a towel and a drink.

“Can you drink this?”

She held the drink up to my lips, but—

“N-Nooo! You can’t! Onee-sama, you just drank from that, didn’t you?! That would be an indirect kiss!”

Asahi rushed forward, making an X with her arms.

Mizuki blinked in confusion.

“…Indirect… kiss…?”

Her expression was as if she had just remembered such a concept existed.

Stop that, Mizuki. Sure, we’ve been doing that since we were kids, but still, stop.

“Uh… Yukimura-san? You’re not gonna check on me too…?”

At that moment, Renji, still sprawled on the ground, raised a hand and weakly protested.

Mizuki hesitated for a moment before silently handing him a new bottle of water.

At that half-hearted response, Renji finally became one with the ground.

—And then, just as Renji and I had finally recovered and were about to return to the classroom.

“Huh? Inoue-san?”

Suddenly, I heard someone calling Asahi’s name.

When I looked in that direction, I saw a few boys who seemed to be first-years.

Asahi saw them and let out an “Ah.”

“Hey! You guys had morning practice too?”

Saying that, Asahi walked over to the boys.

In an instant, she became the center of attention, and the boys eagerly started talking to her.

…Every now and then, they sneaked glances at Mizuki, but… that was nothing new.

However, the way those boys were acting…

“…Well, she is actually pretty popular,”

Renji, now fully recovered, muttered.

“Popular?”

“She’s cute, friendly, and since she grew up in the countryside, she’s not jaded. A lot of guys probably think she’s easy to go after.”

“…I see.”

I get it… Yeah, I guess that makes sense.

Being good-looking and easy to talk to is more than enough reason to be popular.

“…”

“…? Mizuki?”

Before I realized it, Mizuki was staring at me.

When I asked what was wrong with my eyes, she shook her head and said, “It’s nothing.”

“…Hey, you two, stop having a conversation with just your eyes. It’s making me feel really weird.”

“…Yeah, sorry.”

Seeing Renji’s exasperated expression, I quickly looked away and turned my gaze back to Asahi.

She was still smiling and chatting with the boys.

Just like Kashiwagi-san, Asahi was probably another one of those “beautiful girls within reach.”

Those boys seemed a little giddy, too.

“What’s wrong? Worried that your cute underclassman might get taken, Iori?”

“Don’t be stupid.”

I smacked Renji on the head for teasing me, then glanced at Mizuki.

But instead of looking at me, for some reason, Mizuki was staring blankly at Asahi.

—And then, during lunch break that day.

“Ahh, damn it. My body still won’t move…”

“You don’t exercise enough, do you?”

“Shut up. You weren’t exactly in top shape until just recently either.”

Talking like that with Renji, we were on our way back to the classroom from the cafeteria when—

“——I’m sorry!!!!”

That sudden voice made both Renji and me jolt in surprise.

We exchanged looks, recognizing the voice, and turned toward the source.

At the usual confession spot—behind the school building.

There, I saw a familiar back.

My underclassman, Inoue Asahi.

Standing in front of her was a male student I didn’t really know… Probably a third-year?

“…Whoa, isn’t that—”

Renji sounded a bit surprised.

Did he know that guy?

“…Huh?”

“Um… I don’t really know you, Senpai… And suddenly asking me to date you is a bit… difficult…”

Mumbling with her head down, Asahi spoke hesitantly.

The boy facing her looked completely stunned.

He had short, light brown hair and a slim yet well-toned physique.

…Wait a minute. That guy…

Looking closely, I realized I had seen him before.

A third-year, a member of the basketball team.

Apparently, he was pretty skilled and had good looks, making him really popular among the girls.

Right in front of me, that guy was starting to get flustered.

“…W-Wait, you’re kidding, right? You get to go out with me, you know?”

Maybe he hadn’t expected to be rejected, but his face twisted in disbelief as he spoke.

But Asahi’s answer remained the same.

“No, um… I’m sorry. I don’t want to go out with you, Senpai.”

As she bowed her head, it finally seemed to sink in that he had been turned down.

His body started trembling, his face contorting in frustration.

“…Damn it! It was just a rumor, huh? What a joke…!”

Cursing under his breath, he turned his back on Asahi and walked away.

“…”

Asahi stood there, watching him go with a somewhat dazed expression.

Renji and I also found ourselves staring at her, at a loss for words.

“…Let’s go.”

“…Yeah.”

It felt like we had just witnessed something we shouldn’t have.

But…

“Asahi even gets confessions from guys that popular, huh?”

“…”

“Renji?”

When I turned to him, he was deep in thought, a serious look on his face.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“…No, it’s just…”

Renji hesitated for a moment before saying,

“That guy, if I remember right…”

He glanced back at Asahi with a somewhat worried expression.