Chapter 2 | Friends

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A few moments later, I was showering in the Takanashi family’s bathroom.

I couldn’t help but wish that I could wash away the unpleasant memories along with the sweat.

“…It’s reality, isn’t it, that Ria cheated on me?”

In my heart, I was trying to escape, thinking that it was all a dream.

I didn’t want to accept it. I didn’t want to believe it.

I wanted to doubt my own eyes, and I wanted to believe in Ria.

And yet, the lukewarm water came pouring down as if to tell me that this was reality.

Tomorrow is school. Ria and I are in the same class. I’ll have to face her, whether I want to or not.

What kind of face should I make? What should I talk about?

“I don’t know… not at all…”

Until now, we had always talked with a smile on our faces when we met.

But that would never happen again.

It would be difficult to even make eye contact with Ria, who had cheated on me and betrayed me.

I might not even be able to talk to her.

My happy daily life had been turned upside down.

What kind of school life would I have from now on?

“I wanted to make more fun memories of high school life with Ria…”

That wish would not come true.

⭐︎

I came out of the changing room and was drying myself with a towel when the changing room door opened.

“I brought you your change of clothes~”

The one who appeared was Sora’s older brother, my best friend, Shō Takanashi.

“Is it okay for me to borrow even your clothes?”

“What do you mean, is it okay? Are you going to change back into those sweaty clothes? That doesn’t make any sense.”

I replied, “You’re right,” to Shō, who said it in an exasperated tone.

“Those are Shō’s casual clothes… right?”

A navy blue open-collar shirt and black skinny jeans.

They looked expensive, and the top ikemen of the soccer club has great style even in his casual clothes.

Shō and I are about the same build, so I should be able to wear them without any problems.

Though my face is nowhere near as good-looking.

“Yeah, that’s right. I even have spare underwear for you.”

“Eh, underwear is a bit much…”

As I was hesitant to wear my friend’s underwear, I heard Sora’s voice from the hallway, “I bought new underwear from a nearby convenience store!”

“That’s how it is.”

“I’m sorry for everything…”

“It’s fine. Besides, you’re going to have to hang out with me now.”

“Hang out? For what?”

“I’ll tell you later, so hurry up and get dressed.”

Shō pushed the clothes at me and then slammed the door to the changing room shut.

“…Guess I’ll get changed…”

I picked up the underwear that Sora had bought and stared at it for some reason.

It was weird to have my junior buy me underwear.

I wondered if the pink color of the underwear was Sora’s preference.

It’s the same color as Sora’s hair.

Come to think of it, I had accompanied Ria to buy her underwear before.

“Pick out the underwear that you like, Shinse.”

Ria had said that to me, and I remember feeling awkward in the lingerie shop and just picking out a white babydoll randomly.

“That’s a very virgin-like taste.”

She knew I wasn’t a virgin, or rather, we were each other’s first, but Ria had teased me like that.

Now that I think about it, Ria had already become a gal by then, and she wouldn’t have used the word “virgin” in front of people when she was still prim and proper.

Even in bed, she used to be more shy, but recently she had become more assertive, and when we were alone, she would initiate things.

In the end, Ria was being influenced to change to be to that flashy guy’s liking… that must have been the case.

“Haah… How pathetic…”

It’s hard to judge whether I am pathetic for getting cheated on by Ria, or whether it is Ria who is entirely at fault for wagging her tail at another man.

People’s hearts are not immutable, and you never know when or how they will sway.

But surely, Ria’s heart had already begun to drift away from me back then.

When I got out of the changing room, Sora was waiting for me.

“Thanks for going out of your way to buy me underwear.”

“You’re welcome. More importantly, how is it? The underwear in my color?”

“How is it…?”

I was bewildered, wondering why she was asking such a strange question, when Sora approached me and whispered in my ear.

“Every time you see that underwear, please remember me.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Use me as a fap material for your dirty fantasies.”

“What!?”

Sora chuckled when she saw my face turn red, then turned around and went up the stairs, saying, “See ya.”

“She’s such a little devil…”

I murmured, watching Sora’s back as she went up the stairs.

Sora’s short skirt fluttered, and a glimpse of her white panties and her healthy thighs could be seen, and then I looked away.

“Hmm? What’s wrong, Shinse?”

Shō arrived, replacing Sora.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“Oh, okay then.”

I couldn’t possibly tell him that I had been seduced by his little sister.

“Hey Shinse, you’re free later, right?”

If you were to ask if I was free, I was free, and I was in the mood to have Shō listen to my complaints.

“Yeah, I’m free.”

“Then let’s go to a mixer later.”

“…Huh?”

To invite someone who has a girlfriend to a mixer.

No, I’m not with my girlfriend anymore, am I?

I told Ria that I wanted to break up.

Ria wouldn’t be in a position to refuse that.

“I know, I know. You have Shiina, right? But we’re short one guy.”

“So you’re asking me to come to even out the numbers?”

“That’s right. I was wondering who else to invite, and then Shinse conveniently came to our house, so I thought it was fate. It’s not like it’s cheating to participate in a mixer to even out the numbers, right?”

“…Cheating… huh…”

I couldn’t help but react to that word.

Seeing my downcast expression, Shō asked, “Did something happen?”

“…Actually, I broke up with Ria today.”

“…Eh? Seriously?”

Shō looked like he had been struck by a thunderbolt.

Ria, Shō and I have been friends since middle school.

He knew my relationship with Ria very well.

That’s why it might have been so unexpected.

“Don’t tell me… you reacted to that word, ‘cheating’, because…”

“Yeah, on my way back from club activities, I happened to see Ria cheating.”

“I see… I heard from Sora that you and Shiina had a fight, but I didn’t know it was because of cheating…”

Shō wouldn’t invite me to a mixer if I was fighting with Ria. It would be like adding fuel to the fire to invite a guy with a girlfriend to a mixer when he was fighting with her.

That’s why Shō probably thought that it was just another minor lovers’ quarrel.

“…Alright! Then Shinse, let’s definitely go to the mixer!”

“Eh?”

Given how the conversation had been going, I didn’t think we were in the mood to go to a mixer.

Or rather, is it because it’s right after a breakup?

“At times like this, you have to play as much as you can to forget the bad stuff. Besides, I can’t just leave you alone and go to a mixer by myself.”

I see, I got the message that he was trying to be considerate in his own way.

To be honest, I wasn’t in the mood to go home, but I couldn’t just stay at the Takanashi house after Shō left.

“Okay then, I’ll join you.”

“Yeah! I’ll help make sure that you find a new love, Shinse, so leave it to me!”

I gave a wry smile at Shō’s confident boast.

⭐︎

It was my first time participating in a mixer.

To begin with, I couldn’t really imagine high school students going to mixers.

According to Shō, the standard for university students and working adults is to go to an izakaya for the first round, and then go to karaoke for the second round to loosen up with alcohol and flirt.

We couldn’t rely on the power of alcohol since we were underage, so the mixer was held at a karaoke place.

“So, Asahioka is the backup that Shō brought?”

The one who greeted me with a surprised look was Aoi Sato, also from the soccer club.

“This isn’t a place for a guy with a girlfriend. Go home, go home.”

“Don’t say that, Aoi. He broke up with Shiina.”

“…Re-really?”

Sato’s reaction was similar to Shō’s, but the corners of his mouth curved up slightly.

That’s because, in the past, Sato had liked Ria.

I remember that Sato’s face turned sour when he found out that I was dating Ria.

He probably thought that if I had broken up with Ria, then he might have a chance.

“Why do you look so happy? That’s inappropriate.”

“I-I’m not happy or anything…”

“For my part, I’m more surprised that Sato still had feelings for Ria.”

“N-No, I don’t have any fe-feelings…”

Sato’s attitude was obvious, he’s the type who can’t hide things.

As proof, his eyes were darting around.

“I know, I know. You were holding back your feelings because she was your friend’s girlfriend, right? But I didn’t miss how your ears would move every time Shiina’s name came up.”

“S-Shut up! It doesn’t matter!”

I didn’t know that. Shō is very observant.

“B-By the way. When did you break up? You were walking home together looking all lovey-dovey the day before yesterday. Shiina always waits until Asahioka’s club activities are over.”

“It was just a while ago. I saw Ria cheating on me.”

“…Cheating, seriously…?”

The person they like was cheating on them.

If that person is not your lover, then how you accept that fact is different for each person.

How would Sato accept it?

“…That’s awful. No matter what, cheating. There’s no reason to betray someone, no matter what the reason is. So that’s the kind of person she was.”

Sato doesn’t blindly defend his crush just because they had committed infidelity.

If he had tried to defend Ria, I would have gone home.

I can’t go home right now because of Ria.

“My family situation was a mess because my mother cheated on my father, so I can’t tolerate that kind of thing.”

“…I didn’t know that.”

“That’s the first time I’ve heard that…”

The atmosphere suddenly became heavy and somber.

It no longer felt like we were going to a mixer.

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