Chapter 4 | Misunderstanding

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“I want to go home…”

That was my honest thought after hearing about the complicated relationships.

Tanaka likes Shō, and Shō likes Futaba.

Suzuki likes Satō, and Satō has a past of confessing to Futaba.

Futaba probably doesn’t have feelings for anyone.

Which meant, I was completely on the outside.

It wasn’t just that a new love wouldn’t begin.

I had stumbled upon a troublesome situation that was worse than a love triangle.

“Why do you say you want to go home?”

Futaba, who could be said to have created this troublesome situation, tilted her head.

It seemed that she wasn’t aware of it.

“Because I’m not involved in everyone’s love lives…”

Originally, I was just there to make up the numbers, so I can’t really complain, but I want to ask what my reason for existing is one more time.

What was the meaning of me coming here?

I can’t even play a role to liven up the mood, so is there any meaning in me being there?

“Not involved? I’m sorry to say this, but you’re not uninvolved.”

“…Why?”

There’s no way that Futaba could like me, right?

“It’s because the one I like is you.”

“That’s impossible.”

I immediately dismissed that as a possibility, and then laughed and denied it when she said it herself.

“What reason do you have for being able to say ‘that’s impossible’ so confidently?”

Futaba crossed her arms and made a sullen expression.

“Because I don’t know why Futaba-san would have feelings for me. First of all, this is the first time I’ve ever talked to Futaba-san, right?”

“Yes, it is. To add to that, it’s not like you and I had any previous interactions, either. Not directly, or indirectly.”

The fact that she was denying any possibility that we had talked or played together before meant that my memory was right.

Someone as beautiful as her, even if it was when she was younger, I would probably never forget if I had ever seen her before.

“If that’s the case, then there was no trigger for you to like me, right? If there really is one, I’d like to know.”

It seemed like Futaba was trying to drag me into that twisted relationship.

Futaba is a troublemaker who intentionally tells subtle lies just because she’s in a bad mood.

If she were to say something like “I like Asahioka-kun” as a joke when we go back to the group, then at least Shō would become hostile towards me. If things go wrong, even Satō might become hostile.

I definitely want to avoid that.

For Tanaka and Suzuki, it might be a good thing since it would reduce their rivals.

Or rather, there was a possibility that the three girls had joined forces.

Futaba, who has no interest in Shō and Satō, was orchestrating things with the other two girls.

“It’s quite a bold request for you to tell me the reason why you fell for me.”

“See, you can’t answer it.”

“Then, how about this?”

“It’s no use trying to divert the conversation—!?”

My body stiffened, and my head went blank for a moment.

That’s because Futaba had suddenly kissed me.

“Mmm… Mmm…”

While making sweet sounds, Futaba devoured my lips.

Because I was standing against the wall, I was pressed against the wall by Futaba, and her full chest pressed against my chest, and I felt a soft sensation.

No, more than that, her lips were soft.

“…Mmm!? Mmm!”

I finally regained my senses from the sudden pleasure that had assaulted me, and managed to put strength into my hands and pull Futaba away. Saliva dripped like a thread from our lips.

“W-What do you think you’re doing all of a sudden!?”

“Isn’t it obvious? It’s proof of my love.”

Futaba said shamelessly.

“There’s a limit to how far you can lie!?”

“Oh, did that not get through to you? Then, one more time…”

“Mmm! Mmm!”

I was at her mercy again, and was kissed once more.

However, this time, I was able to maintain my reason, so I pulled away immediately.

“Puhah… Hah… What is your goal!?”

“Like I said, it’s proof of my love.”

This person is crazy, she’s the type of person you shouldn’t get involved with.

I have to get out of this situation somehow…

Oh, that’s right.

“I have a girlfriend! And you’re doing this against my will…”

I don’t know if Futaba knows about my relationship with her, but it should be an effective way to get her off of me.

Even if she knew that I was dating Ria, she shouldn’t know that I had broken up with her.

If she didn’t even know about my relationship with Ria, then the story about her having feelings for me would be a lie.

“Just now, Takanashi-kun told me, ‘Please be nice to him, because he was just cheated on and broke up with his girlfriend’?”

“Ugh…”

As expected of the best looking guy in the soccer club. He’s giving me a lot of support.

But his concern is taking away my means of escape…

“Well, if you really want to know why I have feelings for you, I might consider telling you…”

“Just tell me already. If you tell me, I’ll be convinced.”

“Haa… To think that you wouldn’t believe me even after I kissed you. And that was my first kiss, too.”

There’s no way I can believe someone who suddenly kisses me out of the blue when they say, “It was my first kiss.”

There’s also the possibility that Futaba is just a kiss addict who kisses anyone.

“Sorry. But I don’t know Futaba-san well. I can’t even tell if you’re lying or not.”

My current evaluation of Futaba is that she’s a disappointing beauty with the worst traits: a troublemaker who doesn’t read the room and tells lies without batting an eye, and a kiss addict.

“In the first place, I just happened to come here today. It’s too convenient that when I came to a mixer to make up the numbers, there was a girl who liked me.”

Also, my admirer is the most beautiful girl in the school. It’s like a one in a million chance.

“In that regard, I can only say that it’s fate.”

“Fate… There’s no way that’s the case.”

I don’t need a fate where I’m confessed to by the most beautiful girl in school on the day that I broke up after witnessing my girlfriend cheating on me.

“Also, Futaba-san isn’t enthusiastic about this mixer, right? If you aren’t enthusiastic even if you have a crush on someone, then I can’t believe that you have feelings for me.”

“Even if I like someone, I’d feel bad if they came to a mixer when they had a girlfriend… but I just heard that you broke up with your girlfriend today, so I’m in a good mood now.”

For my part, I’m in a really bad mood. This person is so self-centered.

“Anyway, I can’t trust you. You need to tell me the reason why you fell for me.”

“Then, getting back to the topic. Could you tell me why you don’t want to talk about saving that elementary school girl who was drowning in the river, which those girls wanted to hear about?”

“…Eh?”

I don’t see why she’s bringing up that topic at this time.

And—

“It’s not something I would say to other people.”

“Then, based on the information I have, I’ll give you my reasoning. The reason why you don’t want to talk about that story is because you think you weren’t able to save the elementary school girl, right?”

“…”

Futaba was staring into my eyes, not letting them go.

It was as if I was being told not to try to deceive her.

“The elementary school girl you saved, Hiyori Sakuraba, was in an anoxic state for several minutes due to drowning, and as a result, she has permanent brain damage. As a result, she has paralysis in her lower body and is still forced to stay in the hospital. Is that right?”

I was featured in the local newspaper and local television as a brave high school student who saved someone’s life. But that fact was kept hidden.

The only people who know about the current condition of the elementary school girl I saved—Hiyori-chan—are the limited people in our high school, mainly the members who were at the scene, like Shō and Ria.

And, no one tells anyone who doesn’t know the details about Hiyori-chan.

That’s because it’s not a story that you would brag about to anyone.

So, Futaba probably did her own research and arrived at that conclusion.

“That’s right, but what does it matter if you know that? I still don’t know why you like me.”

“You were a hopeless idiot around this time last year, weren’t you?”

“…Huh?”

I was suddenly being called an idiot, so I almost told her if she was trying to start a fight, but I seemed to have seen a glimpse of the whole story.

And, looking at Futaba’s serious expression, she may have a problem with the way she phrased things, but it was clear that she wasn’t looking down on me.

“Around this time last year, you were someone who only had soccer on your mind, and your studies were secondary. Your grades were the worst in the grade.”

It’s frustrating, but it’s true.

I wasn’t studying at all and I was spending my days just playing soccer.

“But, after summer, your grades improved rapidly. I wonder why?”

“That’s because…”

“You were saying that you wanted to become a soccer player around this time last year, but in the second semester of your first year, you started telling your homeroom teacher that you wanted to become a doctor. And living up to your words, you finally climbed to second place in the grade, next to me, on the last midterm exam.”

“…”

“Even so… it’s obvious why you did it, isn’t it?”

To become a doctor and cure Hiyori-chan’s illness, as she is living an inconvenient life.

That was the first thing that I, who couldn’t save her, could think of.

“The reason why I researched what happened last summer was because I was curious about the student who was rapidly improving his grades, in other words, about you. As I was subtly collecting information about you from various students, and as I was researching about the elementary school girl you saved, I started to see that story unfold.”

The results of the regular exams are posted on the school bulletin board in order of the total test scores.

Futaba, who had been the top student in the grade since she enrolled, thought that she wasn’t interested in the lower ranking students, but it seems like she took notice because I, who was at the bottom, made a dramatic leap forward.

“For me, being interested in someone was the first time in my life. Of course, I won’t deny that I was just being nosy when it came to Hiyori Sakuraba. But, as I was learning more about you, who lives your life caring for others, I realized that I had fallen in love.”

Futaba’s snow-white skin flushed slightly.

“I see… well, thank you.”

My feelings were complex, but I was honestly happy to know that she really liked me.

But…

“I’m not the person that Futaba-san thinks I am.”

“I don’t think that the person I imagine you to be and the person you describe yourself as are similar, but why do you think that?”

“That’s because at that time—I was going to leave Hiyori-chan to die.”

Futaba’s eyes widened.

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