The Best Friend of the Person I Like is Secretly Approaching Me - Chapter 109

Chapter 109

Having slept almost all day yesterday, my physical condition today has somewhat recovered.

But my head still feels heavy, so I take a glass of water back to my room and wash down a pill with it after having breakfast.

Then, having neglected my smartphone since the morning, I picked it up and went back down to the first floor.

As I’m placing the empty glass on the sink, my mother looks at me with a puzzled expression.

“Why did you go all the way to your room to drink?”

“…I realized I had left my smartphone on top when I was about to drink, so I just went back to get it.”

“…I see. Then, are you going out again today?”

“Yeah, with Yosaki and Hinata.”

“Do you have enough money? I can give you some if it’s not enough.”

“No, I’m fine. I haven’t been spending much, so I still have my allowance and New Year’s money. Mom, you know that.”

“…Well, I’ve already taken it out of my wallet, so just take it.”

Saying that, Mom held out a five-thousand-yen bill in front of me.

“N-no, it’s okay.”

“It would help your mother if you just accepted it. A child shouldn’t refuse a parent’s kindness. Here.”

Mom grabbed my hand, and I was more or less forced to take the five-thousand-yen bill.

“…Thank you.”

“You can never have too much money, so you should take what you can get. This is the Seko family’s motto.”

“That’s news to me.”

Dad, relaxing on the living room sofa, looks over with a ‘Seriously?’ expression.

I can tell he also wants some pocket money from his face, but he probably won’t get any.

Mom says, ‘Don’t fuss over the small stuff’, as she looks away from me.

Her face is slightly flushed.

Once the redness fades, Mom turns back to face me with a slightly sad expression on her face.

Then her arms move forward a little, pause there for a while, and then return to their original position. (TN: Trying to pat him.)

As I tilt my head, wondering what she wanted to do, Mom lets out a sigh and says,

“Make sure you come back home, okay?”

“I’m not a child anymore. I’ll be fine.”

“You’re still a child to me. For your mother, always.”

A flash of rebelliousness crossed my face, but as I looked into Mom’s loving eyes, that feeling quickly retreated.

“I’m off.”

“Take care.”

Maybe the first thing I’ll say when I get home today is, ‘I’m home’ to mom.

***

Today, I’m taking an earlier train than usual.

Maybe we’re planning to go on a long trip.

Not being told our destination, I head to the station while wondering where we might be going.

“…Hmm?”

There was no sign of her at the spot where Misa usually waits for me. Maybe she’s running a bit late since it’s earlier than usual.

Just as I’m thinking that I’ve finally managed to arrive before Misa, someone calls out to me from behind.

“Good morning, Ren.”

“Uh…”

The person who called out wasn’t Misa but Haru, whom I was supposed to meet at the next station.

“W-why is Haru here?”

“Doesn’t matter, right? We’re going together anyway.”

“That’s true…by the way, have you seen Misa? I don’t know if she’s here yet.”

“Misa said she’s getting a ride to the place. She contacted me a little while ago.”

“Really? I didn’t notice.”

As I moved to take out my smartphone to check the message, Haru grabbed my hand.

“Hey, we shouldn’t be late for the train, so let’s hurry up.”

“Ah, okay.”

Haru starts walking towards the ticket gate, still holding my hand, and I walk along as if being led by Haru.

I can’t feel any sign of Haru letting go of my hand.

“Haru. My hand…”

“Doesn’t matter, right?”

“That’s all you’ve been saying.”

“…You don’t like it?”

“It’s not that I don’t like it, but it would be bad for you if someone saw us.”

“…I don’t want that.”

“Right. That’s why──”

“I don’t want to let go of Ren’s hand for such a reason. Besides, it was Ren who held my hand yesterday… Right, this is just me holding your hand to guide you. So it’s safe.”

“Guide…”

This is the nearest station to my house, so there’s no need for you to guide me.

But well, it’s not like we’re holding hands as lovers, and it’s more like I’m being completely dragged along, so I guess there’s room for excuses.

It would hurt to talk about yesterday.

“Alright. Then please lead the way.”

“…Yeah, leave it to me.”

After that, we passed through the ticket gate while still holding hands and boarded the train from the platform.

Haru didn’t seem to want to let go of my hand even after getting on the train.

Maybe it’ll be like this all day.

I suppose it was as expected of a Sunday. The train was crowded, and there wasn’t the slightest chance of getting a seat.

I grabbed onto a strap with my free hand.

“Where are we going today? I haven’t been told yet.”

“I won’t tell you.”

“You mean like a surprise (sapuraizu)?”

“…Yeah. Something like that.”

“Hmm, I see.”

Haru has been carrying a large backpack since we met today.

Maybe what’s inside it has something to do with the surprise.

But it’s not like it’s close to my birthday, so what kind of surprise could it be…

A one-month anniversary celebration?

It’s true that it’s about that time.

Maybe it’s related to Misa deciding to go by car today.

Wait a minute. If that’s the case, shouldn’t I be preparing something too?

“Hey Haru, I haven’t prepared anything.”

“Ah? Ren, you’re fine just as you are.”

“I-is that so?”

Even though Haru says it’s okay, I can’t help but feel a bit guilty. I should do something in return later.

Just then, the smartphone in my pocket started to vibrate. It vibrated over and over again, notifying me of an incoming message.

As I tried to take out my smartphone, Haru said, ‘It’s dangerous to let go of the hand strap.’

She added, ‘I’m using you as a substitute for the hand strap, so it’ll be dangerous for me too’, which made me give up on checking my smartphone.

After a while, the vibration of the smartphone completely stopped.

There was no particular conversation between us after that.

Haru, who would usually start a lively chat, just kept staring out the window, making it difficult for me to initiate a conversation.

In the end, we got off the train without having said a word.

The station we arrived at after about an hour on the train was a place I had never been to before. But that wasn’t particularly surprising.

Lately, we’ve been aiming for places we don’t usually go to avoid running into acquaintances.

The town with the dog cafe we visited last time was also a new place for us.

In other words, we’re heading to a new place today too.

I’m looking forward to it.

“This way. Let’s go, and no walking while on your phone, okay?”

Once again, I found myself being led by Haru to walk through an unfamiliar town.

Everything that catches my eye is fresh, and honestly, just walking around is fun.

Since we got off the station, we’ve been holding hands with our fingers intertwined.

That’s why it feels like a peaceful scene of a couple in love, just taking a stroll together.

Moving away from the bustling area in front of the station, we came upon a street lined with small individual shops, and as we went further in, the shops became sparse.

There’s just a convenience store visible in the distance.

…I feel a sense of deja vu. Last time it was with Misa, but could this possibly be──

“We’re here.”

Just as I thought. My bad premonitions are usually accurate.

And when I have them, it’s always too late.

The place where Haru stopped was in front of a building with ‘HOTEL’ written on it.

Why didn’t I realize it until now?

I should have sensed the strange atmosphere. Maybe I’m not in perfect health and my head isn’t working right… Or maybe I’m just an idiot.

“Haru, let’s not go here.”

“Ren, you said yesterday that we would go where I wanted. I want to go here with you.”

“Yeah, I said that… but what about Misa? Isn’t she supposed to meet us here?”

“Misa’s not here. It’s just you and me today.”

“…So you told Misa the usual time…”

“Yeah. Because I wanted to have Ren all to myself. Come on, let’s go in, Ren. You went in with Misa, right? Is it not okay with me?”

“It’s not that it’s not okay, but maybe some other time──”

“If you don’t come in, I’ll start shouting here.”

“Okay, let’s go in.”

——As I grumbled to myself about being such an idiot who never learns, I entered the sparkling building with Haru.