Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/822139845923627658/episodes/2912051596081778539
The room was bathed in the setting sun.
At my words, Mashiro’s face gradually turned bright red, as if the color were being poured onto her.
Her eyes were wide open, and her mouth hung agape.
“Wh—… wh—…”
To be honest, my mind was pretty fuzzy.
I didn’t even fully realize that I’d said something outrageous.
“!!!”
Mashiro jumped to her feet and clutched the hem of her skirt tightly.
“Um… well… I… no… wait… so… um… ah… no… th-that…”
Mashiro was flustered.
Her gaze and words were all over the place, and her face was flushed bright red all the way up to her ears.
“Wh—”
“Wh—?”
“Wh—… wh—… wh—…”
“… Mashiro?”
“!!!”
Pursing her lips tightly, Mashiro hurriedly slung her bag over her shoulder.
“!!!!!!!”
She hesitates for a moment, then storms out of the room.
The sound of her feet clattering down the stairs.
“Whoa! …!!!”
Eventually, the commotion fades, and the front door slams shut with a loud bang.
“M-Mashiro…?”
My voice was swallowed up by the silence.
In the blink of an eye, I was alone.
Just a moment ago, Mashiro was holding my hand… Huh?
Just a moment ago… Mashiro was…
…
“Wha⁉⁉⁉”
With an impossibly long delay, my mind finally caught up. It had caught up.
I… just now… to Mashiro…
“D-did I… confess…?”
I frantically tried to get out of bed, but my heavy body wouldn’t obey me, and I collapsed onto the floor.
To anyone watching, how pathetic I must look.
“Mashiro…”
There was no doubt about it—I told Mashiro I liked her.
And Mashiro was so shaken she just walked out without saying a word.
…Which means.
More than any regret over blurting out my confession,
“No, no response… Does that mean… I got rejected…?”
The conclusion my muddled mind came up with.
Mashiro had gone out of her way to take care of me, even holding my hand… I was so happy… things were going so well…
“No way… this can’t be happening…”
I collapsed face-first onto the ground, completely drained of energy.
▽ ▽ ▽
And then.
My cold got worse, and I ended up bedridden for three days.
During that time, Mariko ancame to look after me, but of course, Mashiro didn’t come.
When I asked Mariko san about Mashiro,
“For some reason, she hasn’t been talking to me at home lately. Hehe, maybe something bad happened.”
Apparently, things weren’t going well.
Then, I finally started feeling better and went to school for the first time in a while.
That said, of course, I was feeling down.
“Oh, it’s Kita-cchi. Long time no see~”
“H-Hase… Long time no see.”
“How’s your health? Feeling up to it?”
“Ahahaha… So-so, I guess.”
As I gave a wry smile, Hase shot me a suspicious look.
“…Kita-cchi, you’re not as sharp as usual. Still not back to your old self, huh? Well then, don’t talk to me too much, okay?”
“T-that’s harsh…”
Regardless of how I feel, how am I supposed to act normal in a situation like this… especially when I might have just been rejected by Mashiro?
Thinking about that, I entered the classroom and immediately scanned the room for Mashiro.
“Ah…”
Our eyes met as Mashiro sat at her desk.
However, she stood up with a cold expression and strode out the door on the opposite side.
“…It’s over.”
A rejection delivered with unwavering resolve.
If she’d shown even a hint of shyness, there might still have been a chance. But with that, my fragile heart was completely shattered.
“It’s… over…”
“Hey, Kita-chan, don’t turn to ash right after you’ve just come back~”
Whether it was ash or whatever, I just wanted to be swept away by the wind and disappear…
Even after that, Mashiro continued to show her refusal toward me; she wouldn’t even make eye contact, let alone speak to me.
There had been plenty of similar incidents before, but this time, there was absolutely no sign of Mashiro trying to avoid me or being shy. It was fundamentally different from anything that had come before.
“…………Haaa.”
After school, I sat at my desk, holding my head in my hands.
I glanced over at Mashiro’s desk, but she was already gone.
When she’s this thorough, I can’t even hold onto a faint glimmer of hope.
“This sucks…”
I didn’t think I’d be able to move for a while.
Even though my classmates were worried about me, they all went home one after another… until I was the only one left in the classroom.
There was no point in staying here forever.
Just as I decided it was time to go home,
“Here you go, Kita-chan.”
Hase, all alone, handed me a scrap of paper.
“What the hell is this?”
“A love letter~? Hehe, in a way.”
“What do you mean, ‘in a way’…?”
I looked at the paper, and all it said was, “Come to the rooftop.” There was no sender listed.
“What is this?”
“Well, why don’t you just go check it out? Something good might happen.”
“Something good, huh…”
What could possibly be “good” for me right now?
…No way. I don’t even have the energy to think of anything good.
“Come on, hurry up.”
“O-okay, I’m going.”
Hase gave me a push in the back, and I left the classroom.
As I started walking, Hase called out to me from behind.
“Kita-cchi~, good luck~! From now on~♪ Peace☆”
“…Wait, what does that even mean?”
“Just go already you!”
“You’re suddenly so creepy!”
When I called her out on it, Hase grinned happily.
I don’t get it, but I guess I just have to go.
Confused, I slowly make my way down the hallway alone.
“……Seriously, you’re so slow. You too, Kita-cchi.”
Hase’s mutter didn’t reach me; it faded away into the school building after school.
I climb the stairs leading to the rooftop.
“It’s surprisingly far… I mean, rooftops aren’t usually open, are they?”
But since I was summoned, I have no choice but to go.
After climbing for a while, I finally reach the heavy rooftop door.
I put my hand on the doorknob and turned it, thinking there’s no way it’ll open.
“…Huh, it’s open.”
That means the person who called me out is waiting for me on the other side.
I suddenly felt a rush of nervousness.
I swallowed hard and, steeled with resolve, threw the door wide open.
—A breeze was blowing.
A cloudless blue sky stretched out as far as the eye could see, and a sense of openness filled my heart.
“Wow…”
Just as I was honestly marveling at the view, I spotted the back of a female student at the farthest corner of the rooftop.
Her lustrous black hair fluttering in the wind.
Her slender legs in black tights.
Her stance was so ethereal, so beautiful it seemed almost otherworldly.
“You’re late.”
Mashiro turned around and said that with her usual stone-faced expression.
“Mashiro…”
“You’re in no position to keep me waiting. By the way, just because I’m recovering from an illness doesn’t mean I’m going to go out of my way to be considerate of you, Kensuke. Unfortunately, I don’t possess that kind of kindness.”
“That’s quite the sharp-tongued insult right off the bat…”
As I said this in exasperation, Mashiro snorted.
There was quite a distance between us.
I was standing at the entrance to the rooftop, and Mashiro was at the very back, by the fence.
We’d grown quite far apart.
…No, there had always been a distance between Mashiro and me.
The queen and her underling.
Winning that battle of wills, acting tough until Mashiro backed down… it all feels like a distant memory now.
“Mashiro? Was it you who called me out here?”
“That’s right.”
“Wait, how did you even get onto the roof? It’s not open to the public, is it?”
“What are you talking about? I’m Mashiro. This is the least I can do.”
“I don’t get it…”
But when it comes to Mashiro, it really does seem like she should be able to do this.
After all, she’s the undisputed queen of this school.
“So, what’s up? Why did you go out of your way to call me up to the roof?”
“I have something I want to talk to you about, Kensuke. Something very important.”
“Something you want to talk about…”
It’s definitely about that day—when I confessed to her.
A tension so thick you couldn’t even make a joke; it felt like the whole place was covered in ice.
Mashiro showed no sign of being flustered at all; she was staring straight at me.
“Hey, Kensuke.”
Mashiro’s glass-like eyes locked onto me.
Ah, she’s going to say it officially.
With this, Mashiro and I are…
“…Huh.”
I forced myself to steel my resolve and looked up at the sky—just then.
Mashiro spoke so clearly it felt as if she were right in front of me, almost as if she were cursing.
“I guess I could go out with you, Kensuke.”
“…………Huh?”
W-what did you just say?
As I stood there dumbfounded, Mashiro crossed her arms in front of her chest, looking annoyed.
“Didn’t you hear me? I said I’d go out with you.”
“G-go out… Who?”
“Me.”
“With who?”
“With Kensuke.”
“…Huh?”
“You’re so slow on the uptake, it’s actually starting to piss me off.”
Mashiro strode right up to me and continued, standing right in front of my face.
“Kensuke was the one who confessed, wasn’t he? Why are you acting like you just got confessed to out of the blue?”
“No, but… wait, really? You’re… going to go out with me?”
“That’s right. Don’t make me say it over and over.”
Little by little, the words began to sink in.
In other words, basically. This means…
“I-is that okay?! Are you… going to go out with me?!”
“! I told you not to make me say it over and over! If you keep this up, I’m really going to get angry…”
Mashiro pouted and turned her head away.
I was absolutely certain she was going to reject me.
I never imagined Mashiro would agree to go out with me.
But starting today, Mashiro is… mine…
“—So, there’s one thing I want to make clear.”
Her sharp tone snapped me out of my euphoria.
“Kensuke told me he liked me first. There’s no mistake about that, right?”
“Huh?”
“There’s no mistake, is there?”
“W-well, I guess so.”
“So that means Kensuke asked me to go out with him, right?”
“…Well, I guess so.”
I wonder what it is. I have a really bad feeling about this.
“And I agreed to Kensuke’s request. Right?”
“Um… yes.”
“…Good. I’m glad you understand.”
…Ah, she just totally established a clear hierarchy between us.
“Hey, Mashiro.”
“What?”
“Honestly, I’m happy to be dating you, Mashiro. I mean, we’re becoming lovers.”
“Y-yeah. Becoming lovers… I guess.”
“Besides, what you’re saying is right in a way. I won’t deny it.”
“I can’t deny it, and I won’t let you.”
“That’s why I won’t. …But that’s not what dating is about, is it?”
“……Huh?”
Facing Mashiro, who was glaring at me, I continued.
“It’s not about who confessed first or who granted the other’s request, is it? That’s not what dating is about.”
“I-I don’t really get what you mean…”
“Basically, dating means we like each other and become lovers, right? So there’s no ‘top’ or ‘bottom,’ is there?”
“I-I’m not trying to be the one in charge or anything like that…”
“No, you were totally trying to assert dominance just now… You were trying to categorize me as your lowly boyfriend!”
“Huh⁉ You’re saying such rude things… I wasn’t thinking that at all! I just want you to clearly remember the fact that I agreed to go out with you because I granted your request…”
“That’s it! That’s exactly what I’ve been saying all along!”
Even at this point, she’s still being such a pain… I can’t help but think we were both born under that kind of star. Me and Mashiro, both of us.
“Mashiro! Since we’re here, I’m finally going to get this straight from you.”
“W-what…?”
Riding this momentum, I grabbed Mashiro’s shoulder and asked.
“Mashiro, you do like me too, don’t you?”
“!!!”
Her face turned bright red, and Mashiro quickly looked away from me.
“W-well… I said I’d go out with you, so you should know that without me saying it, right?”
“N-no, I won’t know unless you say it out loud.”
“H-hey! D-do you really want to hear it that badly? I’m already telling you it’s okay to date me, aren’t I?”
“I’ll give you a hundred points for that. But still, I really, really want to hear it. Even if it’s just two letters, I want to hear it in words.”
“…………I-I don’t want to.”
“To date me⁉”
“I-I’m saying that’s enough!”
“That’s not enough!”
“Can’t you be satisfied with just the fact⁉”
“People aren’t made to be satisfied with just that!”
“…!”
Mashiro glares at me with a defiant look.
But when I stare back at her, refusing to back down, Mashiro looks away as if fleeing.
――I know.
After those two times, I’ve learned.
Despite appearances, Mashiro is someone who can’t resist pressure.
“Hey, Mashiro.”
“N-no.”
“Do you like me?”
“Well…”
“So, do you?”
“I-I told you…”
“Mashiro.”
“…”
“Mashiro!”
“!!!”
Hiding her face in her hands, Mashiro spoke in a faint voice.
“…………I like you.”
Those few words alone were unbearably precious to me.
“!!!”
“W-Why are you blushing after making me say that…? Your face is bright red.”
“If you’re going to say that, Mashiro’s face is bright red too.”
“Huh! …It’s not red.”
“No, it is.”
“I-I don’t want to hear that from you, Kensuke.”
“That’s exactly what I’m thinking.”
As always, their bickering never ended.
It was awkward and made me squirm, but I was overflowing with the greatest sense of happiness I’d ever felt in my life.
“Mashiro.”
“I’m not saying it again.”
“From now on, I’m counting on you.”
“! …Same here, Kensuke.”
—And just like that, Mashiro and I started dating.
Even though we’d made things way too complicated and gone through a lot of detours.
“Oh, come to think of it, there’s one more thing I forgot to say.”
Just as I was about to leave the rooftop, Mashiro called out to me.
“Hm? What is it?”
“It’s nothing, really.”
Mashiro cleared her throat to shake off the demureness from earlier, then, with a gentle smile, began speaking as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“……Kensuke, dedicate your entire life—every single part of it—to me. Live only for me, keep your eyes only on me, and love only me. In return—I’ll give you everything I have. You have no right to refuse. If you refuse, we’ll just die together right here, right now. Is that okay? Will you swear to it? —Kensuke?”
……Huh???
“Right? Kensuke?”
“Um……”
“Right?”
“……Y-yeah.”
“Good. I’m glad to hear that answer.”
I left the rooftop with Mashiro, who looked satisfied.
……I wonder.
Maybe I’ve just made a crazy deal.
…Nah, whatever.
I’m dating Mashiro, after all.
“Do you have any snacks left at home?”
“Yeah, probably. Actually, my mom just sent me some new ones.”
“Really? I’m looking forward to them.”
I walk side by side with Mashiro.
The sky felt crystal clear and blue, stretching out endlessly.
–
–
If you enjoy our content, feel free to donate, Thank you in advance !