Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/2912051603068864073
After lunch break, Rino didn’t come over to talk to me.
That was unusual. In the past, if I showed even the slightest defiance, Rino would say something to me that very same day. She’d either get angry, tease me, or drag others into it to make me look like the bad guy. No matter what, she never backed down on her own until I gave in.
So the next morning, when I spotted Rino at the corner on my way to school, I braced myself just a little.
Rino was standing next to a utility pole. Her brown hair, which fell just below her shoulders, was tied back more neatly than usual, and she wasn’t carrying any paper bags or stacks of handouts. I realized she wasn’t there to make me carry her stuff—she was simply waiting for me.
“Minato.”
Her voice was lower than usual as she called my name.
Shiori, who was walking beside her, looked at me. She didn’t say anything. Her expression seemed to be waiting to see what I would do.
“Good morning, Rino.”
“…Miyahara’s with you, too?”
“We met up along the way.”
Rino’s gaze fell between Shiori and me. We weren’t holding hands. The distance between us seemed normal for two people heading to school. Still, to Rino, it must have looked as if an invisible line she didn’t know about had been drawn there.
Rino forced a smile.
“Hmm. Even after everything I said yesterday, you’re already coming to school together like nothing happened. You sure switch gears fast, Minato.”
It sounded accusatory. Her voice made it seem as if I were acting completely unfazed after doing something terrible.
I felt a slight heaviness deep in my chest. But apologizing now wouldn’t be right. I didn’t say what I said yesterday just to take it back.
“We’re just going to school like normal, aren’t we?”
“You haven’t been coming to school with me normally lately, have you? We used to be together every morning.”
“Every morning? That was just you coming to my house. I never actually promised to do that.”
The moment I said it, Rino’s face stiffened.
I knew it sounded cold, even to me. But it wasn’t a lie. Rino would always wait for me as if it were a given, get angry when I was late, make me carry her stuff, and treat the time we spent walking to school as if it were her own. I’d accepted that because we were childhood friends, but I’d never once committed to it as a promise.
Rino bit her lip.
“So that’s how you’re going to talk to me. You’re suddenly acting like a stranger about something that used to be normal.”
“I don’t want to act like a stranger. But now that I have a girlfriend, I can’t stay as close as we used to be.”
“So, does that mean you don’t need a childhood friend anymore?”
Shiori’s eyebrows twitched slightly. Even I held my breath at that moment.
Rino knew exactly what she was saying. She was choosing words that would make me feel guilty. It had always been that way. Rino knew my weak spots. Since we’d been together for so long, she knew exactly where to push to make me uncomfortable.
“I didn’t say I don’t need you.”
“But that’s what it means, isn’t it? Because Miyahara is here, I’m just in the way.”
“Rino.”
I stopped in my tracks.
On the morning commute to school, students in the same uniforms passed by us. Rino was looking up at me. Even though her face looked angry, her eyes alone seemed anxious. That made it even harder for me to say what I had to say.
“Please stop making me feel like I’m doing something wrong. I didn’t abandon you, Rino. I just decided to put her first.”
Rino tried to say something, but her words caught in her throat.
The three of us couldn’t keep walking to school like that. Rino simply said, “I’m going ahead,” and walked away at a brisk pace. In the past, I think I would have chased after her. I would have cracked a joke or bought her something at the school store to cheer her up.
But today, I didn’t chase after her.
At lunchtime, Rino didn’t come to my desk. Instead, just as I was about to head to the courtyard with Shiori and my lunch box, she was waiting at the end of the hallway.
“Minato, do you want to stop by the convenience store after school today? They have a new ice cream out. It’s the place we used to go to all the time.”
Her voice was softer than it had been that morning. I could tell she wasn’t trying to get angry at me, but was trying to draw me back with a sense of nostalgia.
The old me would’ve been happy to accept that invitation. Making a detour with Rino, chatting about silly things, and walking her back to her house. Just that alone was enough to make me mistakenly believe I was still special to her.
But now, Shiori is right there beside me.
“I promised Shiori I’d walk her home today.”
Rino’s expression froze. She must have noticed that I’d called Shiori by her first name for the first time. Her gaze shifted to Shiori, then quickly returned to me.
“…Just because you’re new together, does that mean you have to be together all the time? Is she the kind of girlfriend who gets mad just because you go to a convenience store with your childhood friend?”
In that instant, something inside me went cold.
Shiori hadn’t said a word. She’d never once tried to restrict me—neither by saying she didn’t want me to go nor by telling me not to. Yet Rino was trying to blame Shiori for the reason her invitation had been turned down.
“Shiori has nothing to do with this. I’m going home with Shiori because that’s what I want to do.”
“But—”
“And don’t talk about her like that.”
Rino gasped.
I’ve hardly ever gotten clearly angry at Rino before. That’s why she was startled by the tone of my voice. I was a little scared myself. But on this point, I couldn’t back down.
“I already told you yesterday that I don’t want to hear you calling me ‘convenient’ or saying I’m ‘not boyfriend material.’ But trying to make Shiori look like the bad guy to get me back—that’s not right.”
Rino’s face turned red, then pale.
“……That wasn’t my intention—”
“That’s how it sounded.”
After my curt reply, Rino fell silent. Amid the buzz of the hallway, she looked as if she were the only one left behind.
After school, Shiori and I walked out through the school gate together. Rino was near the entrance, but this time she didn’t call out to us. She just watched as we walked side by side.
On the way to the station, Shiori said quietly,
“Are you pushing yourself too hard?”
“I am. But I think going back would be even harder.”
When I said that, Shiori nodded slightly.
I took out my phone and opened the chat screen with Rino. After hesitating a few times, I typed a short message.
“Starting tomorrow, I’ll be going with Shiori in the mornings. You don’t have to wait in front of my house.”
As soon as I sent it, it showed as read.
There was no reply.
I put my phone away and walked beside Shiori. I wouldn’t keep that seat open in the morning anymore—something I’d taken for granted as my childhood friend. I didn’t know what kind of expression Rino had on her face as she looked at the screen, but I had no intention of going back to that place.
–
–
If you enjoy our content, feel free to donate, Thank you in advance !