Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/822139845923627658/episodes/2912051595660258011
Mashiro is sitting next to me.
Her eyes were far sharper than when she was the Queen, and a chill ran down my spine.
Mashiro shifted her legs and let out a small, icy breath.
“It’s not that I’m jealous at all, not even a little bit… but it’s strange, isn’t it? How can Kensuke—of all people—smirk like that in front of me? He got confessed to by another girl and is acting all cool… Hey, can you give me a legitimate reason right here and now, in a logical and well-reasoned manner?”
“Uh, um…”
I don’t recognize this side of Mashiro. Who is this Mashiro?
It’s not her usual “Queen” mode, nor is it her “tough-talking-then-meek” mode.
“Huh. After all that talk about how weak my words are and how much I’m just putting on a front, you can’t say a thing, can you? Is the only time you get all cocky when you’re pinning me down and unleashing your ugly desires on my body like a beast? You pervert. You’re disgusting. Though, to be honest, seeing you smirk so smugly right in front of me while thinking about some other woman is the absolute peak of how disgusting you are. —So, are you going to hurry up?”
“?!”
No good. I can’t get a single word out.
Or rather, what exactly is Mashiro angry about right now? I have absolutely no idea.
“W-wait a second, Mashiro. Let’s calm down for a moment…”
“Huh? There’s no way I’m wasting my time on you right now, Kensuke. Hurry up and explain.”
“Explain? I mean, I don’t even know what I’m supposed to explain…”
“Hmph! That’s exactly what I’m saying…”
Mashiro’s gaze intensified as she spat out the words.
“I’m telling you to explain the legitimate reason why, after having sex with me twice, you can look so happy when another girl confesses to you!!!”
Um… Huh?
“So, does that mean Mashiro is jealous…”
“—Huh?”
Mashiro’s gaze pierced my body like a knife.
“So…”
Mashiro stood up and, without hesitation, rammed her foot into my stomach.
“Gah! M-Mashiro… what are you—”
“Why would I be jealous? That’s based on the most impossible premise in the world—that I have a crush on Kensuke, right? Huh? What do you mean? Do you really think I’d fall for Kensuke just because we slept together twice? Impossible. Way too impossible. That only happens in the world of those dirty manga Kensuke secretly reads on his phone. Don’t underestimate real girls, you jerk.”
“You already told me to die… Wait, how do you even know that?”
Mashiro’s leg dug deeper and deeper into my stomach.
“A beautiful girl’s bare leg…”—it sounds nice when you put it that way, but I don’t have that kind of kink, so I wasn’t happy about it. Still, I get that it’s erotic. No, this isn’t the time for that.
“Why do I have to feel this way…? It’s infuriating. It’s the most infuriating thing ever. I might as well use my leg to punch a hole right through Kensuke’s pathetic body, along with the sofa. That way, he’ll never be able to smirk at another woman again, or find joy with another woman, right? That’s actually a pretty good idea. Yeah, really good.”
“I’ll stop breathing altogether…”
“Can’t you manage that somehow? That’s your job, Kensuke.”
“How am I supposed to…”
“You’ve been arguing back and forth this whole time… Cut it out already.”
Mashiro pulled her foot back once.
Just when I thought it had gotten a little easier, she gathered momentum and slammed it in again.
“Guhhh!!!”
I probably coughed up blood. Otherwise, that impact doesn’t make sense… It’s strange; Mashiro is supposed to be frail.
“…It’s infuriating. So infuriating, so infuriating, so infuriating, so infuriating, so infuriating, so infuriating, so infuriating, so infuriating, so infuriating, so infuriating………… so infuriating!!”
“Mashiro…”
I reached out to Mashiro as if begging for help.
But Mashiro brushed my hand away and said with a face that was the epitome of rage.
“Just because some other girl confessed to you doesn’t mean you get to look happy in front of me—especially not you, you loser Kensuke.”
As her childhood friend, I know.
I know that Mashiro isn’t just being sarcastic right now—she’s genuinely furious.
“……Hmph.”
Mashiro storms out of the living room.
“W-what’s going on…”
Faced with a side of my childhood friend I’d never seen before, I could do nothing but feel utterly bewildered.
That night.
Alone in the darkened room, I pondered.
“What should I do…”
Mashiro’s outburst was one thing, but what I really needed to think about right now was my response to Awara’s confession—she’s been waiting for my answer.
To be honest, I’m happy that a girl like her confessed to me.
I’ve always thought she was cute as a member of the beautification committee, and she has such a gentle personality—I’m sure we’d have a lot of fun if we dated. In fact, she seems like she’d make a great wife—or rather, someone who’d gently wrap me in her warmth… I already want to marry her.
No matter who I ask, the answer is obviously that I should go out with her.
“…………”
Even though I think that when I calm down, Mashiro’s behavior lately keeps popping into my head.
[K-Kensuke… isn’t this your first time?]
[Oh… h-hey, it’s not like that… don’t look so smug…]
[…………P-please, cut me some slack today… I’m begging you……]
[………So you do have a bit of backbone after all, at least a little.]
I can vividly recall Mashiro’s voice.
And then, those two nights with Mashiro…
[Ah… Ken, suke… Ken-su, ke…!!]
“!! What the hell am I thinking about…! And while I’m trying to figure out how to respond to Awara’s confession… Am I being unfaithful?! Am I the worst?!”
This isn’t right. This is definitely not right.
It’s disrespectful to Awara san’s feelings. I have to face this properly, with everything I’ve got.
“…………Haa. Mashiro, huh.”
Even so, thoughts of Mashiro still crossed my mind.
We’d been childhood friends for ages. She was a bit of a pain—acting like a queen, looking down on everyone, and treating me like a lowly underling with her tough attitude.
But now…
“Can’t I just separate these thoughts…?”
Alone, I muttered absently, staring at the ceiling.
▽ ▽ ▽
The next day.
I finished lunch and stood up to leave the classroom.
Just then, as if she’d been waiting for me, Mashiro stepped in front of me.
“Where are you going?”
“Huh?”
“I’m asking where you’re going.”
“Um… behind the gym.”
“Hmm, I see. You’re going to meet another girl, aren’t you?”
“Another girl…?”
Well, I guess from Mashiro’s perspective, she might be just another girl.
“You’ve got it pretty good, don’t you? For someone like Kensuke.”
“W-what are you getting at? Or rather, what do you want, Mashiro?”
“Nothing. I don’t have anything I want to say or do to Kensuke. Or do you actually think I do? That’s just your overactive imagination. Way too overactive. Poor thing. Not that I feel sorry for you, though.”
“I-is that so? Well, then I’ll be going…”
But Mashiro refuses to budge from in front of me.
She keeps glaring at me intently.
“W-what’s the matter?”
“What about you? I’m just standing here, aren’t I? Well? Right in front of me is a pathetic little nobody named Kensuke, desperate to go meet some other woman.”
“This is like an argument between elementary school kids…”
“If you want to go, just go already. I’m just standing here. It’s not like I don’t want Kensuke to go or anything—I don’t have even a shred of that kind of cute, girly sentiment. Come on, why don’t you just go already?”
“O-okay.”
I walk past Mashiro and head out of the classroom.
She probably just doesn’t like it.
The fact that I—after all that taunting and mocking—am the one getting confessed to.
“……This is really a pain. For me, too.”
Behind the gym.
Awara-san stood before me, looking nervous as she waited for me to speak.
After chatting for a bit, I cut straight to the chase.
“Um… sorry! Could I have a little more time to think about it?”
“……Eh?”
Awara-san opened her mouth slightly, looking surprised.
“I’m really sorry. I already made you wait yesterday, and now this… But I want to think it through properly and come up with an answer on my own terms. I feel like giving a hasty reply would be rude… No, I’m just being indecisive and pathetic… Um, I’m really sorry!”
I bowed my head vigorously, then snapped back to my senses.
Man, I just rambled on and on…
“Heh. Hahaha!”
“……Huh?”
W-why is Awara-san laughing so happily?
“Sorry, sorry. I just thought it was so typical of you, Kita-kun.”
“T-typical of me?”
“Like, you’re weirdly serious, or… in all sorts of ways… aren’t you good at this? I mean…”
“That’s kind of an insult…”
“Oh, sorry? I didn’t mean it that way.”
Awara chuckled and continued.
“Don’t worry about it, okay? About the time to think. I’m the one who suddenly confessed even though we’d only talked at the committee meeting and never even gone out together.”
“R-right.”
“But I might be in trouble if I have to wait a month or something. Oh, that would be a problem!”
“It’s okay! I’ll give you a proper answer by the end of this week… by Friday at the latest!”
“Okay, got it.”
Awara-san smiled gently.
I thought I was doing something pretty awful, and I figured it wouldn’t be strange if she hated me… but I never expected her to be this kind. You’re an angel.
“Oh, w-want something to drink? It’s on me!”
“You don’t have to go out of your way like that.”
“Huh?! I’m not! I’m not going out of my way!”
“Huh?”
“Ah, I am… but it’s not like I’m going out of my way… it’s more like, just the thought counts?”
As I stammered out my explanation, Awara-san laughed cheerfully and murmured, “I see.”
“Well, since you offered, hmm… Yeah, strawberry milk.”
“Huh, strawberry milk…”
“Oh, you were thinking, ‘Wait, she’s in the tea ceremony club but she’s not having tea?’”
“…Y-yeah, I was.”
“Hehe, that’s exactly why. Tea is bitter.”
“So the tea ceremony club is bitter too…”
“Actually…”
As expected, talking with Awara-san is fun.
But I put off confessing my feelings.
That’s because I had feelings for Mashiro deep down inside.
—How do I really feel about Mashiro?
I want to figure that out first, so I can honestly respond to Aihara-san’s confession.
“Kita-kun, you’re not just kind—you’re funny, too.”
“Huh? Funny? Me?”
“Yeah, I’m jealous.”
“I think it’s funny that you’re jealous of me being funny, though.”
“Ah, you got me there.”
“Huh? Got me at what?”
Awara san has a surprisingly airheaded side to her, doesn’t she?
Come to think of it.
Why did Awara san fall for me, anyway?
Lost in those vague thoughts, I dropped some coins into the vending machine.
“…………Hmph.”
—And so.
I had decided to clarify my feelings for Mashiro, but…
“What are you spacing out about? …Sigh. You’re probably thinking about some other girl again, aren’t you? You’re the worst. After doing all that to me… seriously, it’s unbelievable.”
Sitting on the sofa in my living room, Mashiro glared at me.
Even back when she was her old self, Mashiro only came over to my place about once a week. She didn’t come that often.
…And yet.
“(Why is she at my place again today, just like yesterday…?)”
Even though I wanted to understand right now, Mashiro was becoming even more of a mystery to me.
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