The Best Friend of the Person I Like is Secretly Approaching Me - Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Though we’ve come for karaoke, we haven’t sung a single song yet.

All we can hear are the songs leaking from other rooms.

Occasionally, someone sings as well as a pro, which is surprising.

I’d definitely want some tips from them. If I could master those long tones, maybe my singing would be somewhat more worth listening to.

Anyway, now’s not the time for escapism.

The person I need to be paying attention to is Arahira-san in front of us.

This karaoke event was opened under the guise of our class get-together, but it turns out Arahira-san was actually the one who planned it.

And now Arahira-san has taken a seat right across from us.

“Hey. You must be that Seko-kun. Rumors about you have even reached me.”

“Am I really that famous?”

“Ah, of course. You’re the most well-known guy in the school, for better or worse.”

“Did you just emphasize the ‘worse’ part?”

“Ahaha, it’s just your imagination.”

To put it bluntly, my first impression of Arahira-san is ‘annoying.’

Despite presumably being an outsider to this space, he carries himself as if he’s the main character; it’s irritating.

In fact, the other classmates have been silent and intimidated by Arahira-san since he arrived.

Wasn’t this supposed to be a get-together?

As for the soccer team members, they aren’t as scared as the others and don’t seem to be confused.

They probably knew Arahira-san was coming.

“By the way, Senpai, aren’t you supposed to be studying for exams? Should you even be here?”

“Even students facing exams need a break. Plus, I’m scheduled to get a school recommendation. You can imagine, but teachers think highly of me. I’m confident I’ll get it.”

“I see.”

Arahira-san didn’t seem pleased with my curt response, and a vein throbbed faintly on his forehead.

“But Seko-kun, you’re quite the man, holding a flower on each arm.”

“What? Where are you looking when you say that? The guy to my right is a dude. Could it be…Senpai, that you see roses where they aren’t!?”

“…I don’t know what you’re talking about, but that’s not it. Look, your true love is Yosaki-chan, right? And next to you now is a girl named Hinata-chan. You three always seem to be together.”

“Hinata is Yosaki’s bodyguard. And as you might know, I have been continuously rejected by Yosaki, so I don’t have any ‘flowers’ to hold.”

“Ahaha, cut the crap.”

In an instant, I felt the room’s atmosphere freeze. Arahira-san momentarily revealed his true nature.

Arahira-san turned his gaze away from me and faced Haru, who was sitting next to me.

He managed a beautiful smile, but I could feel her body tense up.

“Hinata-chan, right? Since today is a get-together, why don’t you come sit next to me?”

“Eh, but, I am…”

“Being always with the same members can tire out everyone around you, you know? Look, everyone has that kind of look on their faces, don’t they?”

“Ah… uh…”

Just as he says, the other members besides us must be wishing in their hearts, ‘Please move quickly.’

Although Arahira-san is the one creating this atmosphere, if our seat change is proposed as a solution, there’s no choice but to comply.

Haru usually bites back at me, but she doesn’t act as strongly towards others.

In fact, she can’t. She acts according to the mood of the place, and if things continue this way, they’ll proceed exactly as Arahira-san wishes.

“No, really——the three of us are kind of a set, doing everything together. Even when we have to repeat a year, we will do it together. The Three Repeaters, or so they would say.”

“Are you joking around?”

“I’m being totally serious, seriously trying to make a joke.”

“Ahaha, don’t mess around.”

At that moment, when a tense atmosphere began to permeate the room, loud music started playing from the room’s speakers.

The display on the TV mounted on the wall changed, revealing the title of a song.

Someone had entered a song.

Looking around to see who it was, Yosaki was holding a microphone.

She started singing along with the music, her voice as beautiful as ever.

But the song stopped before it even reached the chorus.

Arahira-san had stopped it.

After fiddling with the machine, Arahira-san glared at Yosaki for a moment but then quickly put a smile on his face.

“Hey-hey, Yosaki-chan. We were talking right now, why did you start singing?”

“Is it wrong to sing when we’re at a karaoke place? That’s absurd.”

“Karaoke isn’t just a place for singing, you know. Besides, interrupting someone’s conversation is absurd too, don’t you think?”

“Cutting off an absurd conversation doesn’t seem to be a problem.”

“…Could it be that Yosaki-chan is jealous? Heh, that’s kind of cute.”

“Fufu. Senpai, you are very good at joking.”

“…tsk.”

An ominous atmosphere lingered.

There seemed to be some sort of strife between Yosaki and Arahira-asn.

It was rare nowadays for Yosaki to take such an aggressive attitude.

“By singing, we get a glimpse into a person’s preferences and character. So let’s all sing as is customary for karaoke. Excuse me, but I will enter the song again.”

Yosaki stated with a different stance than before and reserved the same song once again.

Since no one else had made a selection during this time, the same music started to play, and Yosaki began to sing.

I thought that Arahira-san might stop the music again, but perhaps thinking that doing so would attract more hate towards him, he leaned back on the sofa with a bitter expression on his face.

Judging that I shouldn’t break this flow, I entered a song for me to sing next.

Then I asked Haru.

“Hinata. You’ll sing with me, right?”

“Ah… yeah! Let’s sing!”

A smile returned to Haru’s face.

I could feel the tension draining from her body, which had been stiff until now.

I passed the remote to Oda sitting next to me, whispering, “Feel free to put in a medley.” to which Oda responded with a thumbs up and a “Got it.”

As expected of my best friend.

Yosaki’s singing ended, and next, it was time for Haru and my duet.

The chosen song was the theme of some drama.

It wasn’t a duet piece, but we sang freely without worrying about harmonizing.

Then we listened to Oda’s anime song, and in the meantime, songs reserved by other classmates started playing one after another.

It’s inevitable given the karaoke setting, but the volume is actually very loud.

It causes a slight headache as it reverberates in my head, but I can’t interrupt the current flow.

However, the flow was cruelly halted.

The remote had been passed to Arahira-san, but he hadn’t made any selections at all.

Since no next song was queued, only the low-volume advertisements played in the room.

“Everyone’s had a chance to sing. Satisfied now?”

“It looks like there are still people who haven’t sung.”

“You guys don’t need to sing, right?”

“Yes! We’re fine!”

“We’re satisfied!”

The soccer team members instantly answered Arahira-san’s question.

Not a single one of them had sung.

Probably they thought they’d get scolded by him if they did.

“Then, let’s move on to a bit of chitchat time… Seko-kun, is it true that you confess to Yosaki almost every day?”

“Sigh…well, yeah.”

“So it’s true. You’re doing it in the classroom, right? The classmates can see it, can’t they? How about it? Can you show us right here? I also want to see your gallant figure.”

——What the hell is this guy talking about?

Such an honest reaction nearly slips out of my mouth.

While confused by the behavior of someone who seemed unconcerned about other people’s circumstances, I watched Yosaki.

Every day, she listens to my declarations of love with an unfazed expression.

But now, her expression is different than usual, resembling fear, as if pleading not to say anything.

“No, it’s not for show. Even if you ask me to, I don’t want to.”

“Come on, please! You all want to see it too, right?”

“Hey Seko! Do your usual thing!”

“Arahira Senpai is asking for it! It’s the same thing you always do, so it should be fine!”

Receiving the jeers from Arahira-san and the soccer team members, I feel utterly dismayed inside.

My interactions were just a spectacle to them——and I had forced Yosaki to be a part of that.

The weight of this reality bore down on me heavily.

Eyes from other classmates pierced me, urging, ‘Hurry up.’

I felt unless I did something, this atmosphere wouldn’t change.

I wanted to escape this suffocating feeling, but I didn’t know what the right thing to do was.

My head ached…what should I do?

As I agonized over this——

“Don’t mess around!!”

A loud, angry shout echoed in the room.

I found myself weirdly thinking how such a loud voice could be made without a microphone.

The source of the voice, Yosaki, stood up.

Her face was filled with anger, an unusual sight compared to her typical calm demeanor.

The surroundings were disturbed, and Haru murmured softly next to me, “Misa…?”

“A confession isn’t something made for your amusement. It’s a precious thing, a manifestation of feelings that overflow within a person and turn into words. Such things shouldn’t be belittled; it’s unforgivable.”

“You say that Yosaki-chan, yet you’ve rejected confessions from many boys, haven’t you? Isn’t that trampling on their feelings?”

“I also have my own feelings, and whether I respond to someone’s feelings is a different matter. Besides, I sincerely and directly receive and reject their feelings…well, for those who try to take back the words they’ve spoken because they were rejected, I don’t think there’s any need for sincerity.”

After Yosaki said this, Arahira-san’s face turned sour.

Then I was certain.

Previously, Arahira-san had been rejected by Yosaki after confessing.

And from their conversation, it seemed he tried to act as if his confession never happened.

I finally understood why Yosaki disliked him.

The room quieted down again.

However, whispering voices could soon be heard from here and there.

“Hey, wasn’t Yosaki-san’s reaction strange?”

“Do you think so too? It kind of felt like she stood up for Seko.”

“I mean, why is Yosaki-san rejecting Seko’s confessions? They seem close.”

“Could it be that Yosaki-san, maybe…”

Hearing the speculations about herself, Yosaki seemed couldn’t bear it and dashed out of the room.

“…!”

Hearing the speculation about herself, Yosaki couldn’t stand it anymore and bolted out of the room.

“Yosaki!”

Instinctively, I stood up to chase after her and rushed out of the room as well——