Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/822139845923627658/episodes/2912051595866107493
After school.
The sun was setting, and the orange glow of the sunset was faintly spreading across the town.
I was walking home alone.
Then, ahead of me, I spotted a female student walking along at a leisurely pace.
“…………Haa.”
Lustrous black hair and sleek black tights.
Even from behind, I could tell she was a beauty.
“Ah, Mashiro.”
“!?”
Mashiro’s shoulders jerked in surprise.
“…Aren’t you overreacting a bit?”
“K, Kensuke… You just came up to me out of the blue.”
Clearing her throat, Mashiro began to fiddle with the hair hanging over her shoulder.
Then, I began walking alongside her.
“Anyway, why are you heading home at a time like this?”
“W-well… I was studying in the library. The test is coming up.”
“Oh, right, finals! Ugh, I haven’t studied at all…”
Just thinking about it made me feel sick.
“Fuhaa…”
“You look sleepy.”
“Yeah, I guess. I was thinking about a lot of things last night.”
“Hmm… I see.”
“Mashiro, aren’t you sleepy? You got home pretty late yesterday, after all.”
“I’m not sleepy. I went straight to bed as soon as I got home.”
“Oh, right.”
“Yeah.”
The conversation continued, feeling somewhat distant.
“…………”
“…………”
When silence finally settled in, Mashiro asked in a calm voice.
“I mean, is it okay? Coming home with me like this.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“It’d be a big problem if someone saw us, wouldn’t it? Especially on the first day… Even if we’re childhood friends, I think the other person would feel uncomfortable.”
“A big problem if someone saw us? Feel uncomfortable?”
“H-huh? You should know that much, right?”
“No, I don’t really get what you’re talking about…”
As I tilted my head in confusion, Mashiro let out a deep sigh.
“Look, I know it’s a bit awkward for me to say this, but girls are sensitive creatures, you know? If you want to get along well with them, you need to think about a woman’s feelings and act accordingly.”
“I-I see… I get it.”
Mashiro snorted, straightened her back, and walked on.
As I continued walking beside her, Mashiro kept glancing at me.
“…………”
“……W-what is it?”
“Do you really understand what I’m saying?”
“To act with a woman’s feelings in mind, right?”
“Then why are you walking next to me?”
“……Huh? Do you suddenly mind me walking next to you now?”
“I-it’s not that…”
“It’s not that?”
“! S-shut up!”
Mashiro opened her mouth as if about to launch into a lecture, saying, “Listen…”
“If she found out we were walking together like this, she’d hate it, wouldn’t she? Besides, on the very first day… Even though we’re childhood friends, I’m a girl, you know? You should be able to figure that out without even thinking, right?”
“She’d hate it? The first day? What are you talking about?”
“Huh⁉ That’s so obvious…”
Furrowing her brow in irritation, Mashiro glared at me and snapped.
“If you go home alone with me on the very first day you start dating Awara Sayuri , she’s going to hate it, isn’t she!?”
Mashiro’s voice echoed through the twilight streets.
“Ugh… Don’t make me any more annoyed. Bye.”
Mashiro strode off ahead of me.
—But.
“Mashiro!”
I grabbed Mashiro’s arm and stopped her.
“Wait… wha—what?..Huh! A-are you trying to keep me around as a convenient woman? J-just for sex…! I’m going to tell Awara Sayuri! That the guy she chose is a scumbag so consumed by lust…!”
“I’m not dating Awara san.”
“…………Huh?”
Mashiro gaped, her mouth hanging open.
“B-but today, right? Your answer to thc onfession.”
“Yeah. So, um… I turned hed own.”
“You turned her down…? W-why? I told you, didn’t I? That you could forget about sleeping with me.”
“Well, you did say that…”
No, it was precisely because Mashiro said that that I…
“Anyway, I’m not dating Awara san. So, um… no one’s going to mind if Mashiro and I go home together, and well… it’ll be just like before.”
Yes, just like before.
Though, strictly speaking, it wasn’t exactly the same.
Because I—back then, I thought I didn’t want there to be any distance between Mashiro and me.
That day, in that place, Mashiro was trying to distance herself from me.
I’m sure she was doing it out of consideration for Awara
But I just couldn’t stand it. I ended up hating it.
I’d been trying to clarify my own feelings all along, while also trying to understand Mashiro. But that was impossible before, and it surely will be impossible from now on.
Because while there’s value in the process of trying to understand someone else’s feelings, the result itself has no value at all.
So I looked deep into my own heart once more.
And I realized that I hated the idea of growing apart from Mashiro. I realized that was all there was to it.
“Just like before…”
To be honest, I’m not sure if this is infatuation or love. It could be either. No, at this point, it doesn’t matter which.
Without a doubt, I wanted Mashiro to be by my side. To put it simply and plainly—I realized, belatedly, that I like Mashiro.
That’s why I turned down Awara san’s confession.
“Kensuke isn’t dating anyone… That’s right, he isn’t dating anyone, is he…”
Mashiro stopped and muttered.
Her black hair, glistening in the setting sun, was swept by the wind and spread out beautifully.
Mashiro wore a smile as soft and warm as the sunlight, murmuring softly as if to herself.
“…………I see.”
That expression on Mashiro’s face spoke volumes of joy and relief, and her fresh, vibrant feelings seemed to leap straight into my heart.
“!!!”
That face is cheating. It’s way too much.
This is—nothing but cute.
“Hah! Um, um, w-well… I-I mean, that’s just awful! Making her wait twice, and th-then turning her down in the end… Ah, I feel so sorry for Awara! Yeah, I can only feel sympathy. To be rejected by someone like Kensuke… I can only feel sympathy!”
“Ugh…!”
“This is practically a crime. It’s almost no different from murder—the absolute worst possible act! If Kensuke were the protagonist of a romance manga, he’d be flooded with hate mail and the series would definitely get canceled.”
“I… I can’t even make a sound…”
“Actually, how are you still living so brazenly? No, how are you even able to live? How can you stand the guilt? I couldn’t handle it. I see. You’ve got nerves of steel. It’s disgusting. I wouldn’t mind sending you to hell myself, in place of the Grim Reaper. Of course, I’d use my own feet to punch a hole right through your pathetic little body…”
“I’m sorry! I’m truly sorry! I know I’m the worst kind of person! Really, I’m sorry for being someone like me. I’ll die someday!!”
“…Saying it like that is just gross.”
“I feel like I might just die naturally now.”
Her insults were as sharp as ever, yet there was a certain softness to them. Mashiro’s expression, too, failed to fully conceal her emotions.
“Seriously… Kensuke really is hopeless. In a way, I feel sorry for him. …Well, not that I’m actually sympathizing with him.”
Mashiro muttered this while turning her face away.
She probably wanted to hide her face, but her bright red ears—which she couldn’t hide—told me exactly what kind of expression she was making.
“Have a little sympathy for me just this once.”
“That’s out of the question.”
“It really is out of the question…”
We began walking home at our own pace along the warm street.
I started walking side by side with Mashiro.
Night.
Today, Mashiro came over to my place again, and we watched TV while eating snacks and drinking tea.
I sat down next to Mashiro and drank my usual coffee.
But maybe because I hadn’t slept a wink yesterday, before I knew it, I’d fallen asleep on the sofa.
“…Seriously… falling asleep like that…”
I faintly hear Mashiro’s voice.
Through my drowsy consciousness and blurred vision, I vaguely sense Mashiro peering at my face.
But, pulled by sleepiness, my mind is unclear.
“…………”
The soft sound of a cup being set down echoed.
Then, just as I thought Mashiro was peering at my face again, her face gradually drew closer, and then—
Chu.
Sure enough, I felt a soft sensation on my lips.
At that moment, my consciousness suddenly snapped into focus.
“…………Huh! W-what am I doing……!!”
Mashiro snapped back to her senses, her face turning bright red as she froze.
“Y-you’re not awake……are you……b-but still, just now, I……!!”
She jumped to her feet and hurriedly left the living room, looking flustered.
“…………”
I was already awake. But I couldn’t bring myself to sit up.
“…………Huh?”
Wait a second. Just wait a second.
Did Mashiro just… kiss me…?
――――Bonus――――
In the tea ceremony club room.
“What⁉ Sayuri, he turned you down⁉”
“After making you wait five whole days⁉”
“Yeah, he turned me down.”
“That’s impossible… I mean, seriously, that’s just impossible!”
“Kita-kun is the worst… I thought he was a nice guy.”
“No, I think he is a nice guy? His reply was super polite, and above all, he was sincere… I could really feel his feelings.”
“Sayuri! You can’t be such a goody-two-shoes! Romance is war… there are clear winners and losers, victims and perpetrators!”
“I-is that so?”
“That’s right! And every guy who dumps a girl is a perpetrator… pure evil!”
“Should we yell ‘He’s the worst’?! Come on! Let’s yell it?! Let’s go yell it?!”
“Um…”
“Sayuri!!”
“…………”
“K-Kitakun is the worst guy ever~~~!!!”
“Well said, Sayuri!”
“Kitakun’s been cursed to never have a normal relationship for the rest of his life, so there you go.”
“Actually, he’s gonna regret it! He’ll definitely regret dumping Sayuri!”
“……Hehe, you’re right. Yeah, I’ll make him regret it and make him cry!”
“Y-you’re actually going to make him cry…”
“That’s the spirit!”
“Ooh!!”
—From then on, it was a foregone conclusion that Awara Sayuri would live a happy life.
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