When I Was Rejected and Returned Home, My Childhood Friend, Who Should Have Been Distant, Was in My Room - Chapter 5: Heartbreak, Promise, and Afterward

Chapter 5: Heartbreak, Promise, and Afterward

When I was in the lower grades of elementary school, I used to visit the local square to play often. I would run around the reasonably large circular flower bed aimlessly, just for the sake of it.

“Masamune, wait!”

However, I wasn’t running alone. A girl with long silver hair was following me, panting as she chased me from behind. Despite the difference of almost half a lap, she was desperately trying to catch up.

“Who waits when someone tells them to?!”

“Why not?!”

But despite her efforts, the gap between us became more than half a lap. I, who was supposed to be the one being chased, caught up with her back. Feeling a bit sorry for her, I pushed myself to finish the last stretch and catch up.

“Here, tag!”

“Huh? Why are you behind me…?”

“Why do you think?”

“Ah! Could it be that I passed you without realizing?!”

“Don’t be stupid, there’s a full lap difference. You’re slow.”

She stood on tiptoe, her expression shocked, and I lightly tapped her head. Even though I had tapped her, she was happily holding her head, looking pleased.

“Why are you grinning like that? It’s creepy.”

“Hmm? I just think you’re kind, Masamune.”

“Kind? Where?”

“Because I was slow, so you hurried to catch up with me, right?”

“…That’s not it.”

“See, Masamune is Masamune after all.”

“What do you mean by that? And don’t pat my head.”

She patted my head from above. I didn’t want to see that knowing, almost seeing-through expression on her face. I shook off her hand from my head and turned my back to her.

“Come on, let’s go buy some juice. Manaki-chan.”

“Okay!”

“Then let’s dash to the vending machine! The loser gets a penalty game!”

“Eh~? We’re running again?”

＊＊＊

“Masamune, are you okay?”

I heard a voice calling my name as I woke from a drowsy haze. As I slowly opened my eyes to adjust to the fluorescent lights flooding the room… I was met with a guy’s face, filling my entire field of vision.

“Whoa!”

“You don’t say ‘whoa’ when you see someone’s face.”

“Oh, it’s Shogo…”

“The class is already over.”

“Seriously?”

“Looks like you had a good sleep.”

The last thing I remembered was the explanation of classical Chinese literature, but the five-character quatrain on the blackboard had already been erased. The tension of the class was gone, replaced by a relaxed atmosphere.

“Good thing it was Furuta you were sleeping through. Next is Nabeshima, so stay awake, okay?”

“Got it.”

I stretched while still seated. My shoulder and arm muscles were trembling from sleeping on the hard desk.

“Still tired?”

“Yeah, kind of.”

“Well, no wonder, with how much happened yesterday.”

Shogo sympathized, but I couldn’t completely agree. There was more going on yesterday than just heartbreak.

“But it’s surprising that no one really touched on it, even though it’s like this,”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Like, when you get heartbroken, I thought people would tease you more. But everyone’s being so kind.”

Maybe it was just that none of my friends were the type to poke fun at me… but I decided not to dwell on it. Looking at me while I seemed like I was still reeling, Shogo looked confused.

“Well, I guess they just don’t know.”

“Huh? Seriously?”

“I was listening to everyone talk, and your breakup with Hoshino wasn’t even a rumor.”

Shogo was pretty well connected and informed. Plus, he wasn’t saying this with a tone that seemed to be trying to spare my feelings.

“Well, if you say so…”

“So, don’t worry about it too much. Let’s take it easy.”

“Yeah, I’ll do that.”

Yesterday, I’d been thinking a lot about things, but it was nice that my classmates didn’t know. They say rumors only last for 49 days, and soon, no one would even remember how close we were. But, I was impressed that Manaki-chan knew… Women’s gossip networks were scary. I glanced at Shogo, who was staring blankly at the front of the class.

“Shogo?”

“Huh? Oh, what’s up?”

He quickly realized I was looking at him and turned to face me. Following his gaze, I immediately understood what he was looking at.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, that just makes it worse.”

Shogo was staring at a small girl with black hair, talking happily with her friends. She was laughing, her hand covering her mouth, as if trying to hold it back. She didn’t seem to care at all about what happened yesterday.

“Must be nice being the one who dumped someone.”

Her name was Kozasa Hoshino. She was a classmate of Shogo’s, a member of the library committee, and… the girl I confessed to and was rejected by. Seeing her laugh, I couldn’t help but remember what happened yesterday.

“Who knows. Even the person doing the dumping might be going through a lot.”

“Masamune… You don’t have to defend her, you know?”

“I’m not trying to.”

“Well, whatever. Anyway, you should just let today be the last time you see her.”

“I know.”

I had already planned for that, and once I was rejected, I had accepted that it was over. But for some reason, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. At one point, she noticed me looking at her, and I quickly looked away.

“It’s okay, you’ve got tomorrow. Don’t get too down.”

“Tomorrow, huh…”

“Huh? That’s a surprising reaction.”

“Surprising?”

“Yeah, from what you were like yesterday, I thought you’d be like, ‘I don’t need tomorrow! I swear off love!’ or something.”

“Shogo, you’re loud!”

I didn’t want to be caught acting suspicious, especially since it hadn’t been discovered yet. It might cause trouble for Hoshino too. But Shogo seemed so surprised by my reaction, he kept asking questions.

“But seriously, I didn’t expect that. After a good sleep, you started wanting to fall in love again?”

“Well, I am a high school guy, you know…?”

I couldn’t tell him that everything was because of what happened after we parted ways at the diner. That would probably create a bigger scandal than just the heartbreak.

“By the way, who do you think your next crush will be?”

“I don’t really want to think about that seriously.”

“Oh, Himuro-san.”

“Huh?!”

I couldn’t help but make a sound of surprise. Did yesterday’s incident get out? Had someone seen Himuro coming over to my place?

“See, Himuro-san. Over there.”

I followed Shogo’s finger and saw Manaki-chan walking down the hallway, her silver hair flowing and her back straight, like a work of art. Watching her walk made a strange sensation run down my spine. Yesterday, I had been with her…

“What’s wrong, Masamune? Did you hurt your neck?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah… I think I might’ve strained it…”

I hadn’t realized I was holding my neck until Shogo pointed it out. Since it would be awkward to remove my hand now, I kept it there while gently rotating my neck. Even now, the soft sensation from yesterday still lingered.

“She’s beautiful, Himuro-san. Is she half?”

“Quarter. Her paternal grandmother was Swedish.”

“Whoa, so she speaks Swedish?”

“Nope, she only speaks Japanese. English? She’s terrible at it.”

“Really? You know a lot about her. You two must be close.”

“Of course. We’ve known each other for years.”

It wasn’t like we’d been together for so long for no reason. I knew these things about Manaki-chan just from being around her.

“I also heard she’s good at studying. A beautiful and smart girl. Must be nice.”

“She’s not exactly great at studying… she struggles with physics.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Her strong suit is language arts, though.”

“I didn’t ask, but okay.”

Shogo looked at me in exasperation. Well, he should know all this. It’s common sense.

“Even though you know so much, you two are kind of distant now, huh? Relationships are complicated.”

“Yeah, I completely agree on that one.”

I wasn’t sure if I should agree with the distant part, but it seemed to be true. As I was thinking about this, the bell rang, signaling the end of break. At the same time, the door at the front of the classroom opened.

“Alright, everyone, sit down.”

“Oops, I forgot about Nabeshima! Later, Masamune.”

Shogo said this and swiftly left my side, heading back to his seat. The class was once again filled with a tense atmosphere as the math lesson began. Thanks to my nap, I didn’t feel sleepy at all, but my mind wasn’t on the formulas written on the board.

(To do everything I can to make her like me, huh…)

Manaki-chan never mentioned exactly what she planned to do. I had no idea what she was thinking. As I pondered about my vague “future,” the notes on the board were erased before I could even begin to take them down.

However, I would soon find out a small part of her full effort.