According to what Yamabuki told me over the phone after I got home, for a while around Golden Week, all sorts of different rumors about Kiritsuki were circulating almost daily.
Some I knew about, some I didn’t—truly a wide variety.
But those harassing rumors about Kiritsuki stopped abruptly one day.
The turning point came on a Friday right after Golden Week, just before the sports festival…
During lunch break, I was eating in the study room with a certain male student.
“So that’s what’s been going on? You’ve got it rough, Aoi.”
“Don’t act like it’s someone else’s problem…”
His name is Kurusaki Souma, a handsome guy with a different vibe from Tomiya.
Last year, the three of us—him, Yamabuki, and me—hung out together a lot.
His athletic ability is on par with Tomiya, the baseball team’s ace, but for some reason, he doesn’t join any clubs.
He said he gets along well with Tomiya, but I don’t recall ever seeing them together.
His appearance and demeanor are cool… or rather, he has a unique lone-wolf aura, so he’s not as wildly popular with girls as Tomiya, but he’s the type who gets whispers like, “Kurusaki-kun’s kinda nice, right?”
Rumor has it he’s insanely popular among the “fujoshi” girls in the manga research club and literature club, who have… particular tastes.
The main people he’s paired with in their fantasies are two guys he’s somewhat close to, given his lone-wolf nature.
The names that come up most often are Tomiya Rikuto and Himura Aoi, apparently.
It’s just a rumor that some people are into those kinds of fantasies—whether it’s true or not, who knows.
Since it’s being talked about at the club level, it seems somewhat credible.
Surely, every day, they’re debating whether a handsome lone wolf like him is better suited to being pursued by a cheerful ikemen or pursuing a plain guy.
During this lunch break, when I was spending time alone with this fujoshi heartthrob for the first time in a while, it happened.
────SLAM!!
The study room door suddenly burst open with a jarring noise.
Souma and I both tensed up, and I even dropped my chopsticks in surprise.
“…That scared the crap outta me.”
Silently agreeing with Souma’s mutter, I picked up my fallen chopsticks.
“What the hell was that…? Yamabuki, right? What’s wrong?”
I tucked away my bento wrapping, grabbed a spare pair of chopsticks, and slowly shifted my gaze to the classroom entrance.
Standing there was Yamabuki Sakuna, whom I’d seen for the first time this school year just a little while ago.
It was the first time this year that the three of us, now in different classes, had come together.
But for some reason, Yamabuki walked up to me with her head down, and when she looked up, her teary face blurted out something bizarre.
“Rikuto got stolen…!!”
It was so out of left field, yet strangely filled with anguish.
But that wasn’t the point. There was one thing I absolutely had to say to her. Probably Souma felt the same.
“Hey, Yamabuki… Rikuto—”
“Who is that girl!? Shaking those things right in front of Rikuto’s face like that!! Swinging those stupidly huge boobs around—what’s she trying to prove!?”
I don’t know who she’s talking about, but I do know she wasn’t trying to one-up Yamabuki.
Not like Yamabuki’s small or anything. Her well-proportioned figure would appeal to just about anyone.
“No, that’s not what I mean. Yamabuki, listen—”
“And what’s with that ‘I’ve always loved you’ crap from some random nobody!? I’m the one who’s loved him way longer!!”
Hold up.
Isn’t that just a confession scene?
Why was Yamabuki even spying on that situation? Well, it’s not hard to guess.
Compared to Yamabuki, who’s been crushing on him since forever, pretty much any girl would seem like a “random nobody”…
“…Yamabuki, just listen to me—”
“And why the hell did Rikuto just accept it like it was nothing!!”
The phrase “accept it like it was nothing” caught my attention, and I exchanged a glance with Souma.
He seemed to have noticed it too.
Well, we’ll get to that later.
While I was thinking that, Souma spoke up.
“Peeping on someone else’s confession? That’s a pretty bad hobby.”
“He’s not ‘someone else’…!”
Right, childhood friend.
No, wait, isn’t a childhood friend still very much “someone else”? At least, that’s how I see it.
Besides, a confession scene… probably feels pretty awful to have someone close to you spying on it.
Not that I’d know from experience.
Anyway, this isn’t what Souma and I wanted to say.
“Look, Yamabuki. Rikuto hasn’t been ‘stolen’ by anyone, and besides, neither you nor the girl who confessed have even slept with him, right? If you’re gonna say ‘stolen,’ at least wait until you’ve actually slept with him. It’s confusing otherwise.”
No, that’s not it at all.
That’s a completely different thing I was thinking about.
“…Kurusaki, you’re definitely never gonna be popular.”
Unfortunately, that’s not true.
Seeing Yamabuki calm down a bit, I let out a quiet sigh.
“Lower your voice for a sec and close that door. Everything’s echoing out into the hallway, and it’s gonna cause some serious rumors about Tomiya.”
Finally got it out, geez.
After a bit of time, when things had calmed down, I suddenly heard Yamabuki’s stomach growl softly.
“For now, Yamabuki, here. You haven’t eaten, right?”
I said, pushing my bento toward her.
“…This is yours, Himura.”
“There’s nothing decent left at the school store by now. I’m fine.”
She hesitated a little but picked up the chopsticks.
If she didn’t calm down, we wouldn’t be able to have a proper conversation, so I was glad she accepted it quietly.
If one bento can settle that meltdown, it’s a pretty cheap fix.
“It’s delicious…”
Luckily, it seemed to suit Yamabuki’s taste.
“You can talk while you eat, no rush. So, what exactly happened?”
I had a rough guess, but the information was too fragmented to fully grasp.
Souma probably felt the same, leaning forward slightly to listen to Yamabuki.
The girl who confessed to Tomiya was named Hachijou Yonagi, a junior from the same middle school as Souma, Tomiya, Kiritsuki, and Yamabuki.
The moment her name came up, Souma seemed to recognize it, nodding in understanding.
“Wait, how do you not know her, Aoi? She was a big deal right after enrollment.”
“Sorry, my social circle’s kinda small.”
Apparently, despite being a freshman, she’s pretty famous around school.
I genuinely had no clue. Before I could wonder what kind of girl she was, Yamabuki, now a bit calmer, explained.
“She’s a junior in his club, Rikuto’s.”
“So, baseball team? A manager or something?”
“Yeah… She joined the baseball team this year too. You’ll know her when you see her—big boobs, bluish-black hair.”
Hmm… Right now, the “big boobs” part is so emphasized that I’m picturing a blue-haired Miyajima…
If she’s got a striking appearance, you’d think I’d know her even as a junior, but I was kinda shocked at how narrow my social circle and lack of interest in others were.
“Okay, so they’ve had some connection for a while… But were she and Tomiya that close?”
“She’s been making moves on him for a while, but he brushed her off lightly. You know why…”
““…Why?””
Souma and I exchanged glances, but neither of us had a clue.
“Wait, you’re both close to Rikuto and don’t know? He’s bad with girls.”
““…WHAAAT!?””
Souma and I shouted in unison, completely floored.
Total news to me.
He seemed normal around Kiritsuki and Kaori, so I never even considered it.
Of course, I probably had some preconceived notion that he’s a good-looking guy, super popular, and used to it.
Apparently, that was one reason Yamabuki, who’s been in love with him for over a decade, had been so hesitant.
If I said something like “You’re just being a coward,” I’d probably get punched, and I wouldn’t even have a right to complain.
“…Hold on, though.”
If this Hachijou girl had been making moves all this time, doesn’t that mean Yamabuki, who let her guard down, has no right to complain…?
“…This is exactly why people say you’re not popular.”
Both me and Souma…
When I muttered that under my breath, Souma glanced at me for a second.
But he didn’t say anything and quickly turned back to Yamabuki.
“Huh…? What?”
Noticing Souma and me exchanging a quick look, Yamabuki tilted her head slightly.
“Nothing. Do you know what made Tomiya accept Hachijou? Like, the decisive factor?”
When I steered the conversation back, Yamabuki looked out the window, clearly annoyed.
“…Apparently, she left her family to follow him to this high school. And, like, without me knowing… she confessed to him once at their middle school graduation and got rejected.”
Without Yamabuki knowing, huh.
Obviously, I didn’t know either, and Souma didn’t seem to either.
“Left her family to chase him to high school? That’s kinda impressive.”
“…Yeah, she’s probably pretty devoted.”
“…What? You being sarcastic?”
“Why would I be? I’m not being sarcastic. You’re not much different, Yamabuki. You turned down club recommendations to come to the same high school as Rikuto.”
Oh, really?
Apparently, Yamabuki, who won tons of awards and set records in swimming in middle school, turned down all sorts of high school recommendations and scouts to attend the same general studies high school as Tomiya.
It’s not something to compare, but in terms of devotion, there doesn’t seem to be much difference.
That leaves one key difference.
“Whether you took action or not…”
Souma mumbled it almost unconsciously, but those casual words stabbed right into Yamabuki’s heart.
“Ughh…”
That’s why I didn’t say it…
“W-Well… It’s tough to be proactive when the guy outright says he’s bad with girls, right…?”
No, wait a second. Why am I the one covering for her?
If anything, I wanna give props to this Hachijou girl for knowing that barrier, still taking action, and chasing him even after getting rejected once.
I don’t even know what she looks like.
I noticed my bento, which had been in front of Yamabuki, was now empty, so I started cleaning it up.
“Oh, thanks… It was really delicious.”
“My pleasure. Want me to make another one sometime?”
“Make? You mean—”
“A bento.”
“No, it’s fine. It’s not like I can’t cook.”
I know.
I’ve heard a few times how she practiced cooking because she wanted Tomiya to eat her food.
But knowing how she feels and cooking for herself instead of the person she loves… doesn’t that feel kinda empty? Or, like, painful?
“…Now that you mention it, I heard Yonagi-san’s supposed to be really good at cooking.”
What’s she bringing that up for all of a sudden? Where’s she even getting this info?
Well, I guess it’s not that weird for her to know.
They’re both into the same guy, so maybe Yamabuki’s had some kind of connection with this Hachijou girl.
“What am I supposed to do against her—”
“Stop comparing yourself to her…”
Cutting off what was probably gonna be “—beat her at,” I muttered, and Yamabuki glared at me. Feeling uneasy under her stare, I looked away, only to catch Souma’s wry smile. All I could do was force a twitchy grin back.
