Episode 5 – Even though you don’t even like me, don’t get hurt when I walk away

Shortly before lunch break, the atmosphere in the classroom felt off.

Rino had barely looked at me all morning. Mikoto didn’t strike up a casual conversation with me like she usually did, either. You’d think it would be fine if things were just quiet, but it felt like the calm before the storm, and I couldn’t settle down the whole time I was waiting for the fourth period to end.

The pre-recess bell rang, and the teacher left. Just as I was about to stand up with my lunch box, Mikoto came over to my desk. She was smiling, but the expression around her eyes was tense.

“Segawa-kun, I want to talk to you for a moment. It’s okay if Miyahara-san comes too.”

I had a bad feeling about this. Shiori must have sensed it too, because she looked at me with an expression that said it was okay to decline if I couldn’t make it. But Rino was already in the classroom, and Mei was standing by the hallway. A little further away, even Chitose-senpai from the third year was there.

It would be a hassle if people thought I was trying to run away.

“This is fine, right? What is it?”

When I said that, Mikoto furrowed her brow for just a moment, looking troubled. She didn’t want to cause a scene in front of everyone. But she was clearly prepared to put pressure on me in front of everyone. That’s the look she had.

Rino was the first to speak.

“Minato, you’ve been acting really weird lately. I get that you have a girlfriend now, but do you really need to treat your childhood friend so rudely? You’ve been suddenly keeping your distance both in the morning and on the way home—it makes me wonder what I did wrong.”

Mikoto followed up, speaking loud enough for everyone around us to hear.

“It’s not that I’m upset about you turning down my request. It’s just that we were talking as friends, and then suddenly you act like it’s impossible because your girlfriend doesn’t like it—doesn’t that make it seem like I’m the one at fault?”

Mei puckered her lips and put on a pitiful junior-student face.

“I was genuinely hurt. I thought you’d help me since you’re senpai, but the moment you got a girlfriend, you just brushed off a junior’s request. The other girls around here were saying, ‘So that’s the kind of person you are, Senpai.’”

Chitose-senpai remained calm until the very end. But that composure was what stung the most.

“I was a little disappointed, too. A junior I’d been counting on suddenly put up a wall. Just because you got a girlfriend doesn’t mean you have to change all your existing relationships—I don’t think that’s very sincere.”

They each put it differently. But what they were saying was the same.

I’d become cold.

I’d changed.

I’d hurt them.

The classroom had fallen silent. My classmates had stopped opening their lunches and were staring at me. No one was laughing. If this had been yesterday, a few of them would have laughed at Rino’s lighthearted remark, and I would have gone along with it and that would have been the end of it.

Shiori tried to take a step forward.

I stopped her with my hand.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want Shiori to protect me. But this was something I had to say—for Shiori’s sake, and for my own.

“I’ve been hurting all this time, too.”

My voice came out quieter than I’d expected.

Rino’s eyes widened. Mikoto pressed her lips together, and Mei’s forced expression softened slightly. Only Chitose-senpai was still trying to keep a composed look on her face.

I looked at each of them in turn.

“Rino, you said in front of everyone that I was ‘convenient, but not boyfriend material,’ right? You also said, ‘I’m just asking because I know you wouldn’t get mad at me.’ Mikoto, you said I’d be a hassle as a boyfriend but the best as a friend, yet you kept asking me for advice about other guys. Mei, you made your requests in a way that made it seem like I’d look like a cold senior if I turned you down. Chitose-senpai, you drew a line by saying I was like a little brother, but you asked me to do work knowing full well I couldn’t refuse.”

With every word I spoke, the feelings that had been building up deep inside me took shape. I didn’t want to yell at her. I just didn’t want it to be swept under the rug.

“I’m not saying you have to fall for me. I’m not even saying you have to see me as a romantic prospect. But it’s not right to put on that victim act the moment the person you said you didn’t like walks away. I’ve been expected to act like a boyfriend even though I’m not one, yet I’ve been told over and over again that I’m not your boyfriend.”

Rino’s face flushed. I couldn’t tell if it was anger or embarrassment.

“I didn’t mean it that way—”

“But you said it, didn’t you?”

When I cut her off, Rino fell silent. Normally, I’d be the one to back down halfway through. That’s why her expression showed she wasn’t used to being silenced.

Mikoto took a small breath.

“Segawa-kun, it’s just that I felt comfortable talking to you…”

“Just because someone’s easy to talk to doesn’t mean you can say anything. If you thought I was the kind of person who wouldn’t get hurt by that, you’re wrong.”

Mei looked away. Even from Chitose senpai’s expression, her composure was gradually fading.

At the back of the classroom, one of the boys muttered under his breath.

“No, Segawa’s right on this one.”

With that single remark, the atmosphere shifted. Another girl nodded slightly.

“Asakura, you said some pretty harsh things yesterday, too, didn’t you?”

“And you seemed pretty stressed out when Shiraishi came to talk to you, too.”

Mikoto’s face tensed. Rino looked around, but her gaze, searching for allies, quickly lost its way. Mei started to say, “That wasn’t my intention,” but no one nodded right away.

Finally, I addressed the four of them.

“Don’t act hurt when I walk away, even though you don’t even like me. I’m going to cherish the girl who told me she really likes me. I’m not going back to being someone who’s just convenient for others.”

The moment I finished speaking, I realized my fingertips were trembling. It wasn’t that I wasn’t scared. Even now, just thinking about what people might say later makes my stomach feel heavy.

But Shiori, standing next to me, took my hand.

Her hand was a little cold, but her grip was firm. The way she held my hand showed she truly accepted what I’d said.

“Let’s go, Minato-kun.”

Being called by my first name for the first time made my chest feel strangely warm. Even in a situation like this, I still had enough composure to feel a little embarrassed.

I squeezed Shiori’s hand back and left the classroom with my lunchbox.

Behind me, Rino and the others stood there, speechless. I didn’t look back. I didn’t want them to apologize, nor did I want to make them cry. I’d simply decided I wasn’t going back.

Once we stepped out into the hallway, Shiori let out a small sigh.

“You said it just right.”

“I was so, so scared.”

“Yeah. But you didn’t run away.”

I looked at the hand clasped in mine. It wasn’t someone’s bag, nor was it for running an errand—it was the hand of the girl who had told me she liked me.

Sunlight streamed through the lunchroom window, spilling onto the hallway.

I walked side by side with Shiori through that light. Even if someone called out to me now, I had no intention of giving up my lunch today.

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