The Best Friend of the Person I Like is Secretly Approaching Me - Chapter 112

Chapter 112

I spent the entire day with Haru. It was the first time in a while since our date in Yokohama.

Whether I was satisfied or Haru was satisfied, we somehow ended up sleeping together in a hotel bed. When we woke up, it was long past noon, and the bill had significantly increased.

“Ehehe. I really like sleeping together with Ren like this.”

Haru said, looking at me as she woke up next to me, and I felt the same.

Despite the guilt that always followed, the warmth from her body when I touched her felt incredibly good. I loved her citrus scent that tickled my nostrils.

That feeling of illusion that we were the only two people in the world was comforting.

——I loved those moments.

After that, we left the hotel, aimlessly wandered the city, and then went home.

Entering a store together, sharing our thoughts together, eating together——

I began to understand that this is what Haru probably wants from our days together. And maybe, this is what I wish for too.

But when I got home and changed into my loungewear, I remembered something as I picked up the smartphone that had been left in my pocket since morning.

Spending days like today with each other is difficult.

This morning, I noticed that there were a ton of messages from Misa.

No, I tried not to care. I tried not to think about it.

『I’m already here』 『Are you late again today?』 『The train we’re planning to take should be arriving soon』 『I’m waiting』 『Rento-kun』 『Still not here?』 『Rento-kun』 『Could it be, are you with Haru?』 『Rento-kun』 『Rento-kun』 『Rento-kun』 『Rento-kun』 『Rento-kun』 『Rento-kun』 『Rento-kun』 『Rento-kun』 『Rento-kun』 『I’m going home today.』

Feeling the blood drain from my head, I hurriedly tried to reply and opened the text input screen but stopped.

What should I reply?

It’s true that I spent time with Haru, leaving Misa behind. And that too, by deceiving her.

…All I could do was apologize.

I typed 『Sorry』 and sent it.

Immediately, it was marked as read, and the reply came back, 『I’m not angry at you.』

Then the message 『I’m going to sleep now. Good night』 followed.

I was only allowed to offer a simple apology. She didn’t give me a chance to make any excuses. I was sealed off from doing anything that might have eased my own mind.

I put down my smartphone. But a few minutes later, I picked it up again and opened the chat screen with Misa, staring at it. I repeated this over and over, many times.

In the end, my mind was filled not with Haru, whom I had dated that day, but with thoughts of Misa that evening.

***

In the morning, I head to the Japanese-style room to go through my usual routine.

I sit upright on a cushion at the corner of the room and join my hands in front of the Buddhist altar.

“What should I do?”

I always have her listen to my stories like this, but In the morning lately.

I’ve been told over and over that it’s not bad to rely on someone younger or a junior, but I can’t help feeling that I’m relying on her too much.

There’s no reply, but my heart feels a bit lighter.

I didn’t really want to go to school, but somehow I’ve managed to muster up the mental strength to go.

Come to think of it, I feel like she used to listen to a lot of my stories back in junior high school too.

Maybe I’ve always been too dependent on those younger than me.

I’m sorry for being so pathetic.

I apologize to her in my heart and stand up.

Leaving the house and heading to school, my feet feel heavy.

Is this a matter of mood, or is it a physical condition?

Right now, I can’t even make that judgment.

I arrive at school and enter the classroom. However, the usual voices are not heard.

Anxiously, I looked towards her seat, and indeed, she was there.

I felt relieved to see she was at school, but I realized once again that she must still be angry.

“Good morning, Seko.”

Haru greeted me as usual. No, maybe she’s in a slightly better mood.

“Good morning”

“I wonder what’s wrong with Misa. Did something happen to her?”

After finishing the greeting, Haru quickly started talking about Misa’s condition.

There was nothing strange about the question itself, but the way she brought it up was somehow too deliberate.

As I thought, Haru is bad at lying. Still, I get fooled by her lies sometimes.

It seems that Haru will come to me even without Misa. Well, it’s difficult for Haru to approach Misa, especially after what happened yesterday.

“You see, Seko. I was studying and there was something I didn’t understand last night──”

“Sorry. I’m going to go see Misa for a bit.”

“Ah… okay.”

I interrupt Haru’s words and head towards Misa. As expected, it’s awkward, and Haru doesn’t follow.

Standing next to Misa, who is looking through her English vocabulary book, she slowly turns towards me as she senses my presence.

“Oh. Good morning, Rento-kun. You’re here.”

“…Good morning, Misa. About yesterday, I’m sorry…”

“There’s no need for that. Haven’t I said it? I’m not angry. So there’s no need for you to apologize, Rento-kun.”

“But…”

“The bell is going to ring soon. Maybe you should take your seat.”

Is this what they mean by ‘having no island to cling to’?

(TN: Completely ignoring the other party and not trying to engage in conversation.)

Even if I try to apologize, she won’t accept it. If she says she’s not angry, then my apologies might be meaningless.

“Are those two really fighting?”

“They’ve never had a fight before.”

“I guess in various ways, being friends and being lovers must be different.”

I can hear my classmates talking about us.

Is this considered a fight?

Maybe it’s not that serious. After all, I’m the one who is mostly in the wrong.

Sitting at my desk, I gaze at Misa from my seat and think about her.

She did greet me. She even talked to me normally. But I could feel her intention to reject talking about yesterday.

She’s not condemning me; she’s just avoiding the conversation.

I don’t understand why…

I want to know her feelings. I want to understand her true intentions.

I want to talk more with her. With her. With her. With her…

Recently, she always made sure to come over to me during break time. We would chat happily, and sometimes she would even touch me.

The boy sitting next to me would look uncomfortable when she did that, and I felt awkward too.

But she didn’t come today.

She didn’t even show any signs of getting up from her seat.

So I decided to go to her.

As I stood up, I saw Haru stop in her tracks out of the corner of my eye. But I didn’t mind her and continued towards Misa.

As I approached Misa’s seat and was about to call out to her, she stood up.

“Misa…”

“I’m sorry. I was just about to go to the restroom.”

“…I see.”

“Yes.”

Unable to even utter the words, ‘Let’s talk later’, I watched her leave the classroom.

She kept disappearing from the classroom during the following breaks as well, saying she was going to the restroom.

Clearly, she was deliberately avoiding me.

Then lunch break came. She didn’t come over to me.

In fact, she was about to leave the classroom again.

“Seko──Let’s eat.”

“…Sorry, Hinata. I need to go to the bathroom.”

“…Okay. I’ll wait for you.”

Desperate to have a conversation with her, I lied to Haru and followed Misa.

I walked past the bathroom, down the stairs, and kept going further and further.

Where on earth was she heading?

Then I finally understood. Her destination was the pool. More precisely, the pool’s changing room.

It was the love nest of that junior couple named Ka-kun and Na-chan, the place where Koido and I used it as an alternative meeting spot after being driven out of the backyard, and the place where Haru and I had ended up doing ‘it’ together.

I had told Misa about this place. It was because she had once asked where I had my discussion with Koido.

So, if she wanted to be alone, I could understand why she would come here.

But now, I wonder if that junior couple might be there. It would be quite awkward if Misa encountered them while they were sharing a romantic moment.

I had told her about the couple, but maybe she forgot…!

Feeling a little panicked, I rushed into the changing room where she had gone inside.

“Misa! …huh?”

To my relief, Misa was the only one in the changing room.

What surprised me was she hugged me as soon as I entered.

She chuckled, ‘Fufu’, and while gazing into my eyes with a dreamy look, she said,

“──I believed you would come. My Rento-kun.”