Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/2912051597934651646/episodes/2912051598093208905
It was that time of day when the after-school bustle was gradually fading into the distance.
Behind the school building, where the setting sun was streaming in, Houtarou Achi stopped in his tracks.
Before him stood his childhood friend, Shiojiri Misao, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed.
“So, what do you want?”
When Houtarou asked this matter-of-factly, Misao looked him straight in the eye.
“I’ll get straight to the point. Are you dating Hirugami?”
“No, I’m not.”
Misao let out a small sigh at Houtarou’s immediate, unhesitating reply.
“I figured as much. Given your personality, I knew it had to be something like that.”
“Why did you ask that?”
“Because Hirugami-san was acting weird this morning. I wondered if something had happened between you two.”
Houtarou’s eyes widened slightly.
He was surprised that his childhood friend, who was usually indifferent to others, had picked up on the subtleties of the school’s social dynamics.
“I’m surprised. Even you, Misao, can pick up on that kind of vibe?”
“Don’t make fun of me.”
Misao glared at Houtarou with a sullen look.
Then, she shrugged her shoulders in a deliberately exasperated manner.
“You know, you should at least get a little carried away here—like, ‘Are you into me? If we’re dating, does that mean you like me!?’”
“You have a boyfriend, don’t you?”
“Well, yeah.”
Misao laughed as if joking, but the smile vanished from her face almost immediately.
Her serious, somewhat worried eyes turned toward Houtarou.
“Knowing you, though. You probably couldn’t just leave a rain-soaked Hirugami-san alone, so you helped her, and from there, the relationship just dragged on, didn’t it?”
“Are you a psychic or something?”
“Just when it comes to you, Houtarou.”
Misao stepped away from the wall and took a step closer to Houtarou.
“I’m giving you this advice as your childhood friend—and I don’t think this applies only to you—but if you’re doing this with ulterior motives, like ‘maybe I’ll get lucky,’ you really need to stop.”
“Do you think Hirugami is a dangerous woman?”
“Yeah.”
Misao nodded firmly.
There was no malice in her words, only pure concern.
“I mean, it’s weird, right? You’re classmates, you’re not even dating, yet she just casually barges into your house or you go over to hers. It’s weird that Hirugami-san puts up with it, and it’s weird of you too, Houtarou.”
“You’re right.”
Houtarou agreed without hesitation.
He understood himself that their current relationship deviated significantly from the typical distance between classmates.
“Even though you think it’s strange, what’s the reason you keep it up?”
“I’m just returning the favor. It’s mutual aid.”
“There you go again with your logical reasoning. If you want a woman who’ll do whatever you want, you should stop that. You’ll end up being hated by both men and women.”
There was undeniable weight to Misao’s words.
If he got involved with Seika, whose reputation for sleeping with anyone was spreading like wildfire, how would people around him view him?
That was as clear as day.
“Thanks for the advice.”
Houtarou quietly accepted Misao’s words.
However, the voice he let out immediately afterward was colder and sharper than usual.
“But stop doing ‘that.’ Hirugami isn’t an object.”
At that quiet, angry voice, Misao’s shoulders flinched.
A clear sense of displeasure glowed deep within Houtarou’s calm eyes.
It was rare for him to reveal his emotions so clearly over someone else’s affairs.
“I know you’re not saying this with any ill will. But let me be clear: this is none of your business.”
“……Yeah. I was meddling. Sorry about that.”
“No, I appreciate the warning.”
Houtarou said only that, turned on his heel, and started walking away.
Misao watched his back as he walked away and let out a small sigh.
Her childhood friend, who had always been so detached from the world due to his parents’ circumstances, had somehow become capable of getting angry for the sake of a single girl.
Perhaps meeting Seika had changed him.
“This really pisses me off.”
◇
“W-waaaait, Achi-kun, are you dating Shiojiri-san!?”
At the corner of the school building. Hiding behind the wall and peeking at the two of them, Seika was in a state of total panic inside.
Pretending it was a coincidence, she had been looking for Hotaro to ask him to walk home together, but she had accidentally stumbled upon the two of them in the middle of a secret rendezvous.
Since she was too far away to hear their voices, the sight of the two of them facing each other with such serious expressions looked to Seika like nothing less than a confession of love—or a scene straight out of a soap opera.
“What do I do? What do I do?! They’re staring at each other with such serious expressions!”
Seika clutched her head and slumped to the ground, her head hanging low.
Her invisible ears were flattened against her head, and her tail—which should have been wagging excitedly—now hung limply on the floor.
(Shiojiri-san is good at every sport and has a great figure—she’s totally different from a flashy gal like me!)
Feeling defeated by her own wild imagination, Seika puffed out her cheeks.
She was trying to win him over by cooking for him every day, but she hadn’t been told that a rival with the massive advantage of being his childhood friend would show up.
“Ugh, this is driving me crazy!”
The lovesick girl was spinning her own web of misunderstandings all by herself.
It looked like the trials and tribulations of this innocent, carefree gal—who was panicking over nothing—were far from over.
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