The Best Friend of the Person I Like is Secretly Approaching Me - Chapter 39

Chapter 39

I headed towards the station. With that piece of information, my feet kicked the ground.

Looking back on it now, that guy had indeed been targeting Haru from the beginning.

The classmates called up this time, aside from the soccer team, were all quiet types.

I had been convinced that others were busy with club activities, but likely he had Kaita choose people who wouldn’t interfere with his plans.

Haru and Misa said they were invited by Kaita just before lunchtime during the morning classes

Probably, Haru was the first one he approached. Then, Haru replied, “If Misa and Seko are going,” so when he next approached Misa, she responded, “If Haru and Seko-kun are going.”

And in the time before he approached me, there must have been some sort of discussion with Arahira.

That’s why it was last minute when he invited me.

That’s probably how it went.

“Ah… damn it.”

If I hadn’t said I’d go, none of this would have happened.

Misa wouldn’t have cried, and Haru would not have acted unwillingly.

I wonder if it was a mistake to chase after Misa and leave Haru behind at that time.

But I couldn’t just not follow Misa in that state. Maybe I should have had Haru come with me too.

I’ve still left Misa at the karaoke place, but I didn’t sense any malice from Kaita and the others.

They must just be following Arahira’s orders.

Plus, they couldn’t be too forceful in a public place…Is this way of thinking too naive?

Reflecting on it, there’s no use fussing over what’s already happened. Anyway, I need to keep moving.

Usually, I don’t run except during PE classes, so gradually my speed starts to slow down.

My legs feel heavy. But this is no time to falter. I hit my thighs, trying somehow to maintain my strength.

I run straight towards the station, but I still can’t spot the two of them.

I sent a message to Haru just in case, but it hasn’t even been read, so that hope is thin.

I have no choice but to chase after them.

After passing through an area lined with shops, I come out onto the riverside.

The station is ahead, so I proceed along the river, aiming to cross the deserted bridge.

Then, I see a man and a woman on the bridge.

I squint to see if it’s them. It’s Haru, and Arahira is with her.

From there, I approach slowly, observing the two of them.

I had intended to rush in, but I stopped on the bridge when I saw them talking with serious expressions.

I can’t hear their voices from here. I can only guess the content of their conversation from their gestures.

…They couldn’t possibly be confessing, could they?

I felt a tight sensation in my heart, and I instinctively pressed on my chest.

It’s the same pain I get when I think about Misa being confessed to by someone else——

——I wonder if the same phenomenon is happening to me now…

While holding my chest, I watch their movements. I can see Arahira talking heatedly about something.

That was when it happened.

“Shut up!!!”

It was the first time I heard Haru’s voice so clearly. A loud, unmistakable rejection from Haru.

The moment I heard that voice, I started running again.

Pain still shoots through my heart, and now it is coupled with the pain from my breathlessness.

——But I felt that being by Haru’s side might ease this pain.

While running, I observed the two of them.

Arahira is pressing Haru against the railing, and Haru is struggling and resisting.

For a moment, I see something falling into the river below——

Worried she might fall too, I quicken my pace.

“Help me! Ren!”

Haru was calling for help, she was calling my name.

“…what are you doing, Senpai?”

I rushed to them and pulled Senpai’s arm off Haru’s shoulder, stepping between them and shielding Haru behind me.

“Ren…”

I could hear Haru’s frail voice behind me, sounding as if she might cry any moment, and warmth spread across my back.

——Before I knew it, the pain in my chest had disappeared.

“Sigh… why are you here? What happened to Yosaki?”

Arahira asks, scratching his head with an annoyed expression.

This must be his true nature.

“I came running when I heard that my important friend ended up having to go home with an unpleasant Senpai. Then I stumbled upon this rather dangerous scene. Rather, I should be asking you. What the hell were you trying to do to Haru?”

“‘Haru’? Wait, did you use Hinata-chan’s first name?

“Don’t dodge the question, answer me, you Mr. Great Ace Striker.”

“Tsk… It was nothing, just some trash in her hair that I was trying to get out.”

“That doesn’t make sense. Then why is Haru trembling so much? Please explain.”

“Ah, damn it. You’re annoying. Fine, I was trying to scare her a bit because she rejected my confession, that’s all.”

——That’s, all…?

I can’t understand the meaning of his words.

Maybe our ways of thinking are fundamentally different.

” ‘That’s all’…you say?”

“Hmph. There’s only so much I can do here, I was only going to play a little prank on her.”

“You bastard——”

I was about to pounce at him when Haru, clinging to my back, pulled at the hem of my uniform with a feeble voice, pleading, “…let’s just go home.”

Maybe there’s no point in talking to this guy anymore.

Just like Haru says, we should head back soon. Besides, for Haru’s sake, I want to get her away from him as soon as possible.

“Well then, Senpai, please don’t come near us anymore.”

As I said this and tried to leave, Arahira put his hand on my shoulder, saying, “wait.”

He gripped hard enough to make my shoulder creak slightly.

“After interfering with me and talking back to me just now, you think I’ll let you go just like that?”

Haru clung tighter to me in fear, but I kept a cool head as I stared down the bloodshot-eyed man.

“Is this okay with you, Senpai? I thought you’re getting a recommendation?”

” …… ”

“I don’t know much about it, but don’t you lose any chance of that if you cause an incident?”

” …… ”

It seemed Arahira-san still had some self-control left, as he grimaced at my words and let go of my shoulder, clicking his tongue again before turning and walking away.

While I was inwardly reflecting on the presence of such a person, the warmth on my back disappeared, only to be replaced as Haru hugged me from the front.

“Ren… Ren…! Thank you for coming to save me…! I believed in you. I believed that Ren would come. That you’d come to save me!”

“Thanks for leaving a message with Oda for me.”

“Ehehe, I’m glad you noticed.”

I feel like I’ve seen Haru’s smile for the first time in a while. Looking at it warms my heart.

“Ren really does understand me. I can be happy when I’m with you….I want to be with Ren forever. Ren. Ren. Ren. Ren. Ren.”

Haru is burying her face in my chest and muttering something in a small voice.

Having been frightened, it’s natural she would want to be a little spoiled.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Um, I think I’m okay. My shoulder hurts a little, but it’s not like I’m injured… uh?”

Haru repeatedly touches her head… specifically her bangs, checking something over and over.

Gradually, her complexion turns pale.

“It’s gone…”

“Gone? Do you mean your hairpin?”

“Yes. My hairpin. My important hairpin… Where did I drop it?”

“…Oh. Now that you mention it, when that guy attacked Haru earlier, I saw something falling into the river below… could that be it?”

“!”

As soon as I say that, Haru starts running off, crossing the bridge and immediately turning to descend to the riverbank.

I start running after her.

The expression on Haru’s face as she runs is one of desperation.

Yet, as I looked at her profile, my heart inappropriately started to race.