The things that had been accumulated over the years collapsed in just one day……
I took a day off from school.
I faked illness, or rather——I skipped school.
I didn’t feel like going to school, so I spent all day in bed.
My head was filled with the same thoughts.
It was filled with my beloved Aki.
Even though he came to my house, he got angry and left immediately.
Whenever I thought about it, tears welled up.
Although I was actually happy, I was annoyed with my stupid sulking self for not being able to be honest and thank him for coming.
But I just couldn’t tolerate it yesterday.
Recently, Kaede-kun had been acting as if he was Aki’s boyfriend.
He always stuck to Aki’s side and even made his favourite dish……
My place by his side since childhood was being taken away.
Even so, Aki wouldn’t realize it.
On the contrary, he was always cold towards me.
In addition to that, he did such a thing to me……
Aki didn’t seem happy, but I was angry that he didn’t refuse him.
I was in the wrong too, but I was sad that he yelled at me.
I was able to calm down the next day, but……
When I went to Aki’s house to pick him up, he wasn’t there.
It seemed like he left earlier today.
Just as I went to school, worried that I was being avoided, a friend of mine rushed to me.
“Hina-chan!……Are you okay?”
I took a day off, so I thought she was worried about my health, but it was something different.
I didn’t know what it was and even when I asked about it, she seemed muddled and couldn’t answer me.
I felt strangely uneasy and begged her to tell me about it. After listening to the details, I was speechless.
I searched for the classmate who always came to school early for the truth.
“Fuu-chan!”
I was able to find the person I was looking for at the end of the corridor.
I opened the window, placed my hand on the frame, and looked out.
“Oh my. Morning, Hina-chan. Are you feeling better now?”
She seemed to be the same as usual.
The story I heard might just be a rumor.
“Somehow, I heard something strange today……”
“Something strange?”
“That Fuu-chan and Aki are on good terms……”
Without knowing how to start the sentence, I indirectly mentioned it to her.
And she replied with words I never wanted to hear.
“We are, though? Totally.! We came to school together yesterday and even talked in school today. I borrowed these gym shoes from Amachi-kun as well.”
“Eh……Why?”
They went to school together when I was absent yesterday……
I was wondering why she was in a place where not many people were, but it was to talk to him alone?
When I looked at her feet, I realized that the big shoes she was wearing were a boy’s.
“What do you mean by ‘why’? My shoes were soaked so I borrowed his.”
“Why did you borrow Aki’s shoes? I can lend you mine?”
“Nah, I’m fine with Amachi-kun’s.”
Weirdly, she was fine with Aki’s big shoes.
The only reason that would convince me was none other than what I was most afraid of.
No good……even though I took a day off to calm down, I’m feeling really emotional right now.
While desperately urging her to speak, I asked.
“……Why?”
“……Really, the Hina-chan today is full of questions.”
“Whatever, just answer me!”
I ended up shouting at her.
Seeing her laughing with such a dismissive attitude without answering my question made me impatient, and I acted rashly.
“What happened for you to suddenly raise your voice? Do you lack calcium?”
Fuu-chan didn’t pay any particular attention to my changes and remained indifferent.
It pissed me off even more.
“Properly answer me! Fuu-chan, you do know that I like Aki, right!? I even told you to cooperate with me! Why are you bothering Aki!? Do you like Aki!?”
“What if I said yes?”
“……Eh?”
I thought Fuu-chan was only interested in BL.
So I thought that she would deny it, but I was wrong.
I was agitated and felt a lump in my throat.
“Even if I do like Amachi-kun, Hina-chan should just do your best to grab Amachi-kun’s heart, right?”
That may be the case, but I wanted you to support me as a friend. You said you’d cooperate with me, so if you become my love rival, it’s as if you betrayed me.
I thought so but couldn’t put it into words so I kept quiet.
“I was watching from the side, but I think Hina-chan is too passive. If you have the time to come to me and complain like this, you should just go to Amachi-kun and honestly tell him what you actually want.”
It felt like being stabbed in the heart.
I couldn’t refute her words.
I tried not to think about it by making excuses, but I was struck by the truth.
Fuu-chan glanced at me and walked back to the classroom with a composed look as if nothing happened.
I stood still, not being able to move from that spot.
“I hate that person but I agree with her.”
I heard a voice from the stairs behind me.
I was surprised and embarrassed because they heard our conversation. But when I turned around, it was a person I didn’t want to meet the most right now.
“Kaede-kun……”
Perhaps he was looking for Aki, he was coming down from the upper floor.
“Wait!”
I stopped him as he passed by me.
I would like to talk to Kaede-kun.
Until now, we both knew that we liked Aki, but we didn’t talk about it directly.
“Kaede-kun, you like……Aki, right?”
“It’s none of your business.”
I was a little intimidated by the cold look in his eyes, but I couldn’t afford to lose here.
“It is my business! I like Aki too! Kaede-kun is a boy, so don’t get close to Aki!”
(T/N: Excuse me ma’am, watch yo attitude before I throw my hands at you)
I think it was cowardly of me to blame Kaede-kun for being a boy, but……
I’m the bad person here, but this was the only thing that I could beat him with.
I don’t want Aki to be stolen from me.
When Kaede-kun heard what I said, his face changed in an instant.
His anger was so palpable, it seemed to be conveyed by the air around him.
“That doesn’t matter! Don’t get so full of yourself just because you’re a girl! I did my best to tell Akira my feelings! I’m trying hard to make him like me! Just because you’ve been by his side since you were kids doesn’t mean that you can always be by his side! Someone who doesn’t even try is a nuisance!”
I was hit by Kaede-kun’s heartfelt words and staggered backwards.
But I couldn’t lose here.
“E-even I’m trying my best!”
“How!? Did you properly tell Akira? You can’t tell him by yourself just because you’re a girl? Are you just waiting for him to realize it!? I don’t want to lose to someone like that!”
Declaring so, Kaede-kun left with unconcealed anger.
I was left behind again.
Fuu-chan and Kaede-kun’s words pierced my heart.
“I’m……trying my best, too…”
I grew out the hair Aki had said was pretty and maintained it well. And I desperately studied to go to the same school as him.
Before I knew it, tears were flowing down my cheeks.
I tried to hold it in, but it kept overflowing and I couldn’t stop it.
“……Hic-”
It was no good, I couldn’t enter the class in this state.
I ran off, escaping to the rooftop.
“U-uwahh……”
This was a school, a ‘public place’.
Anyone could walk by even if they didn’t feel like it, but there was also a possibility that they chose not to either.
For example, the person in question might walk by……
“I ended up eavesdropping again……”
The person who heard the conversation felt awkward and confined himself in a bathroom stall in search of a place to escape.