“Oh, Himura-kun?”
“Huh… Himura?”
On the first day of Golden Week, I spent time training my body, practicing Kagura dance, and reviewing performances with Hino Hana.
The next day, I was wracked with muscle soreness from the morning, so I dedicated the day to recovery with light stretches and massages.
Two days passed, and now it’s today.
Feeling pain around my knees, I visited a nearby orthopedic clinic. The doctor said inflammation was caused by sudden strain and prescribed some topical medication.
On my way back, I stopped by a drugstore to buy a knee supporter or some taping, but my eyes wandered to a bottle of nail oil, and that’s when I ran into two classmates.
Even though I was heading to the hospital for my knee, I wanted to do some light exercise, so I planned to walk around town. Since I hadn’t dressed up in a while, I went all out with my outfit.
I wore a lightweight, three-quarter-sleeve hoodie, casual slacks in a monochrome palette, and added a silver hoop earring as a subtle accent.
Just in case I ran into a teacher from school who might recognize me, I wore fake glasses and styled my bangs up.
I was confident that even if I bumped into a classmate, they’d just pass me by without a second glance…
“Hey… I got that right, didn’t I? Yo!”
Kiritsuki, how the heck did you figure it out? The other person next to you looks completely shocked.
Without a moment’s hesitation, she saw right through me the second our eyes met. It’s like she didn’t even consider that I might be trying to disguise myself.
“Glasses, huh? That’s rare for you.”
“If you figured out that much, couldn’t you at least act a little suspicious?”
“Nah, no suspicion here. You look cool, super cool!”
“Oh… yeah, sure…”
Brushing off her casual compliment, I found myself glancing at the other person with her.
“Yamabuki… it’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
“Huh? Wait… is this really how Himura’s supposed to look?”
Standing next to Kiritsuki was Yamabuki Sakuna, a classmate.
Her reddish-brown hair, slightly faded, was styled in a simple short bob. Her somewhat boyish, androgynous features gave off a distinctly tomboyish vibe.
Her well-proportioned, model-like figure and toned physique were honed through her time in the swim club.
Her height was probably somewhere between Kiritsuki’s and Kaori’s.
Last year, she and I were in the same class.
We got close through our mutual friend Tomiya, and even without that connection, we clicked well. At school, I often hung out with her and another male classmate.
By the way, Tomiya and Yamabuki have the kind of relationship you’d call “childhood friends,” much like Kaori and me.
And Yamabuki’s a hopeless romantic who’s head over heels for Tomiya.
Since most of our classmates knew Tomiya and Yamabuki were childhood friends, no weird rumors ever cropped up when I hung out with her, which is probably why I ended up spending so much time with her.
“So this is how Himura looks when he actually puts in effort… That’s kinda shocking…”
Yamabuki suddenly leaned in close, studying my face from every angle like she was inspecting me.
Feeling a bit annoyed, I gently pushed her back by the shoulder.
“I’m more surprised that Sakuna and Himura-kun even know each other.”
“I’m pretty tight with Himura, you know?”
Oh… good. I’m relieved. So it’s not just me who thinks we’re close.
“Hey, aren’t you gonna ask about me and Sakuna?”
Kiritsuki’s question made me let out a sigh. What are you, an attention seeker?
“I already heard you and Tomiya went to the same middle school, so I can pretty much guess…”
“Oh, right! We talked about that, didn’t we? You’ve got a good memory.”
It wasn’t even that long ago.
I don’t remember exactly when we had that conversation, but it stuck in my mind, so we must’ve talked about it somewhere.
“…Anyway, what were you two doing together?”
“Oh, funny thing—we were just talking about you.”
Ignoring my question, huh?
Why do you get to ask me stuff and then just steamroll the conversation?
Shoving that irritation to the back of my mind, I decided to listen to what Yamabuki had to say.
“…Why were you talking about me? Don’t tell me you were badmouthing me or something?”
“Oh, you knew?”
Kiritsuki’s reply made a weird squeak escape my throat. I hadn’t actually thought they were talking smack about me.
Where, who, and what had they been saying about me?
Part of me wanted to know, part of me didn’t, and part of me didn’t even care…
“There’s this group of girls in our class who’ve been spreading all sorts of nonsense about Kaname.”
Hold up, tell me more about that. Should I have gone straight to you for advice from the start?
“They were gossiping about Kaname and then started laughing, saying stuff like, ‘No way she’s dating a loser like that, lol.’”
“Wait, seriously? Why am I getting dragged into Kaname’s rumors and dissed on the side?”
“Don’t worry, the way you look now? Totally not a loser.”
“I don’t need that kind of follow-up…!”
Okay, but seriously.
It seems like it wasn’t just one person trying to smear Kiritsuki.
After hearing the full story from both of them, it turns out this group of girls was, to be precise, a clique of delusional types who were part of Kaori’s entourage last year, lording it over the class hierarchy.
Kiritsuki, who was in the same class as them last year, knew them and seemed to have some idea why they didn’t like her.
The biggest reason, of course, was Kaori—
“Actually, no, it’s Rikuto.”
“Huh? Wait, what? Did Tomiya do something?”
“Nope, nothing at all.”
Then why was Tomiya the reason Kiritsuki was being targeted?
It doesn’t take much imagination to figure out the rest.
Spend enough time with Tomiya and Kiritsuki, and it’s obvious.
I don’t think Tomiya’s the issue. He’s just a guy who’s open about having someone he likes, and he seems to keep an appropriate distance with girls.
But Kiritsuki? She’s close—too close—with pretty much everyone. She was like that with me from the moment we met.
And one more thing clicked.
Kiritsuki once overreacted when Tomiya mentioned, “I’ve got someone I like, you know.”
Apparently, last year, there was a rumor that Kiritsuki and Tomiya were dating. And it happened again recently.
Tomiya’s a star high school baseball player, the kind who gets scouted by pros and featured on TV. Unlike me, he’s the type who draws attention from the entire school.
He’s even got this weird nickname, “The Prince of the Mound,” because his looks draw just as much attention.
If people suspected a relationship with a guy like that back in our first year, it’s no surprise some grudges might still linger.
That aside, from Yamabuki’s perspective—someone who’s genuinely in love with Tomiya—Kiritsuki’s relationship with him should be something to keep an eye on.
But since she’s friends with Kiritsuki, she doesn’t seem to entertain the idea that they could be dating.
From what I can see, they’re just good friends, nothing more. Not that it’s my business.
“Man, Kiritsuki, you’re always getting caught up in stuff like this.”
“Right? I’m always the victim here. So you get why I’d joke about needing a fake boyfriend, don’t you?”
“…Why not just get a real boyfriend?”
“See? Even Yamabuki thinks so.”
As we were whispering about this, Kiritsuki, who must’ve overheard, let out a small, grumbling complaint.
“You say that, but it’s not like I’m getting attention for me. It’s always because of Kaori or someone else. Nobody’s ever confessed to me after actually seeing who I am inside…”
Come on, even I know a bit about your personality, so that can’t be true. Probably.
Kaori, Miyajima, Kiritsuki, Yamabuki—they’re all completely different types of beautiful girls. If you had to find a common thread, maybe it’s that they’re all taller than the average girl.
Sure, plenty of guys get drawn in by looks, but it’s not like everyone ignores their personalities.
Still, my friends really do have ridiculously high face-value stats.
Is this that “like attracts like” thing? Maybe Kaori’s gravitational pull just draws in all the good-looking people.
But most of my friendships—like these ones—came through chance or someone else. The only person I can think of that I actively approached to become friends with at school is Yamabuki.
“Kaname, people notice more than you think—inside and out.”
Lost in unnecessary thoughts, I heard Yamabuki say that and nodded firmly.
“Nobody’s even looking at me.”
It’s probably easier for her to think that way.
The world doesn’t care about you as much as you think, and you’re not as noticeable as people say. That might be true, but even plain, unremarkable people can stand out in certain moments. So believing nobody’s watching you is kind of off the mark.
Whether you care about others’ eyes or not, you’ve got to be aware of your own influence, at least to some degree.
Yamabuki and I exchanged glances, sharing a wry smile and a small shrug.
Just as I’ve watched Kaori, Yamabuki’s watched Tomiya.
Our circumstances aren’t the same, but the environments we grew up in are a little similar.
As expected, our ways of thinking align, and it seems we’re on the same page.
☆Afterword──────────────────
Kiritsuki’s like one of those oblivious protagonists who keeps getting dragged into trouble, and everyone’s just swept up in her chaos…
And here’s Yamabuki’s debut! She’s going to be a major player from here on out, I think.
Reached 4,000 followers! The perks of making it onto the rankings are unreal.
