The Story of Waking up With My Beautiful Childhood Friend and Realizing We Had Spent the Night Together - Chapter 39.5

Side Story – About the Rumor Damage of Being the Second Cutest Girl in the Year, Part 2

Yukimura Mizuki.

In this school, there is no one who does not know her.

A face so small it seems like a joke, with beautiful almond-shaped eyes.

Tall, with a perfect figure that even girls cannot help but stare at in admiration.

She will surely become a top model or a great actress someday.

That is the rumor about this heavenly being.

Such a girl, the number one beauty in our school.

“…Ah.”

She stood right in front of me now.

I froze with my mouth open.

She looked down at me and said in a quiet voice.

“—Please return the book.”

She stated it calmly.

I could not take the book she held out and stayed frozen.

(…Yukimura-san.)

No matter how many times I look at her, I am stunned.

…There really are girls this beautiful in the world.

She does not seem the same age as me.

Or even the same species.

Of course, if such a beauty is nearby, all the boys would fall for her.

…But seeing such an extraordinary beauty, I think again.

(…I am being compared to someone like her.)

Unbelievably, among the first-years right now, the talk is that the girl getting attention is either her or me.

When I heard that, my feelings… are a little hard to put into words.

It is a miracle I did not scream.

—If compared to a goddess like her, I am just some villager A.

I have no desire to compete. Being a rival is too heavy a burden.

I want to hold my head inside.

Then my sleeve is tugged from the side.

“…K-Koto-chan…!”

A small voice like a scream.

But that voice snaps me back to myself.

The goddess in front of me looks at me with a slightly troubled expression.

Seeing that, I hurriedly take the book.

“I-I’m sorry…! Return, right. Yes, understood!”

I end up using honorific language.

I hear a snort of laughter from beside me, but I have no time to care.

Yukimura-san says a small “please” and turns on her heel.

“…”

She starts to leave the library like that.

But just before that.

She suddenly looks at one spot in the library and stops moving.

(? What is it…?)

I casually follow her gaze.

There is a boy there.

‘…’

He is putting back a huge pile of books one by one onto the shelves.

It is a lot for one person.

I should help. I think that instinctively.

…But I could not move.

—Amano Iori-kun.

Her gaze is fixed on him for some reason.

(…Why Amano-kun?)

Amano-kun himself is wrestling with the mountain of books and does not notice.

But Yukimura-san does not take her eyes off him either.

A brief silence, and then.

“…?”

She relaxes her cheeks ever so slightly.

Then she looks away, turns on her heel, and leaves the library.

Ayase-san and I watch her back in a daze.

“…What was that just now?”

“…No idea.”

Such a conversation between fellow villagers.

Commoners cannot possibly understand the thoughts of a goddess.

“Yukimura-san and Amano-kun are in the same class, right?”

“That is how it should be, but…”

“…”

“…”

“…A super dangerous rival has appeared?”

“N-No way… I told you that is not it!”

Ayase-san puts her trembling hand on my shoulder, and I yell without thinking.

Perhaps hearing my yell, Amano-kun flinches at the edge of my vision and turns around.

—And then several months passed.

“Hey Kashiwagi-san, come on? Let’s try dating for a bit?”

“Uh, um… I’m sorry.”

“…Tch, whatever.”

I dodge the arm trying to wrap around my shoulder and slip away.

The frivolous-looking blond boy clicks his tongue and walks off.

“Gyahaha, you got dumped!”

“Shut up. So annoying. I thought I had a chance.”

“Well, she is definitely more approachable than Yukimura-san. Maybe I’ll try hitting on her next.”

“…!”

Hearing that talk, I hurry away from the spot.

…Lately, confessions have been increasing even more.

But I cannot feel happy at all.

Second place or something. I wish they would not attach such a label on their own.

I am me, not anyone’s second.

—Even though I think that, nothing changes.

Second place. Next after Yukimura-san.

An approachable girl.

That label has become normal, and both boys and girls look at me that way every day.

“…Sigh.”

The usual library committee duty.

I sit at the counter and let out a sigh.

At first I was fine.

Being called second place. Being compared to “Yukimura-san.”

I thought it would die down soon.

But…

(…This is tiring.)

Lately, going to school feels hard.

I have friends. I am not being bullied or anything.

I am just… a little worn out.

From being compared to that unattainable flower.

“—Kashiwagi-san.”

“Eh?”

While I am thinking about that.

Someone suddenly calls me, and my body jumps.

“Ah, Amano-kun? What is it?”

The one in front of me is Amano Iori-kun.

We talk sometimes, but I still cannot quite grasp the right distance.

Part of it is because he is a boy.

‘Oh, so that is how it is~’

(Because Ayase-san said something weird…)

Since then, I have not been able to talk properly with Amano-kun.

I should not be conscious of it. But I am.

“It is already time. Aren’t you going home?”

“Eh, ah, oh?”

When I look around, only the two of us remain.

It is 5 o’clock. Time to close the library.

“S-Sorry? I was spacing out.”

“No, it is fine. I will lock up when you are ready.”

“Ah, okay.”

I hurriedly pack my things and patter after Amano-kun as we leave the room.

With a click, he locks the door and turns to me.

“I will return the key. You can go ahead.”

He says that and walks away without waiting for a reply.

There is no lingering attachment in his back.

(…Somehow.)

I do not like boys who are obviously after something either.

But being completely ignored is, well, its own thing.

“Ah, Amano-kun.”

“?”

“Can I come with you?”

“…Eh?”

His face says why?

But I smile to cover it up.

I cannot say childish things like I am upset or lonely about not being noticed.

—So the two of us return the key to the staff room and leave the school, but…

“…”

“…”

(What should I do…)

Conversation does not continue.

When I glance beside me, Amano-kun looks a little awkward too.

What to do. I have to say something. Just as I think that.

—Patter.

“…?”

A cold sensation on my cheek. And then.

…Downpour!

“Geh.”

“No way!?”

Sudden heavy rain.

We hurriedly take shelter under the eaves of a nearby shop.

And stare outside in shock.