Chapter 7 | Misunderstanding

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On the way to Futaba’s apartment, Futaba said that she needed to stop by the pharmacy, so I decided to wait outside since I didn’t have anything I particularly wanted to buy.

“…It’s been a while since I stayed at a girl’s house.”

Even if I went up to Ria’s house, I never ended up staying over.

The last time I had stayed over was when I was in elementary school, when my parents were away from home, and I stayed at my childhood friend’s house who lived nearby.

As for my male friends, I’ve stayed at Satō’s house a few times since I entered high school, along with the other soccer club members, and we would make a racket until morning.

Even so…

“To think that I would be staying at the house of a girl I just met today…”

I muttered to myself while gazing up at the night sky.

So much had happened today.

I never would have imagined it when I was at morning practice.

I witnessed Ria cheating on me, and then was picked up by Sora at the park I ran to, then was invited to a mixer by Shō at the Takanashi’s house, and at the mixer there was the most beautiful girl in school…

And I ended up being taken home by the most beautiful girl in school.

Even though it was semi-forced, almost like blackmail, while my mouth was saying “I don’t want to,” my heart was pounding with tension.

I guess it’s just how men are, that they can’t say no to a beautiful girl’s forceful advances, even if they’re saying “no, no”.

“Ah, I need to tell Miori that I’m not going home today…”

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

As I was fiddling with my phone to contact my sister, Futaba came out of the store with a small plastic bag in her hand.

“What did you buy?”

“Rubber.”

“Oh, a hair tie…”

The Futaba I see at school always has her straight black hair down, so it was surprising that she needed a hair tie.

“…? You, do you perhaps not realize that you’re about to go to my place?”

“Huh?”

“…Well, it doesn’t matter. In any case, I won’t let you sleep tonight.”

Futaba said, and then took my arm again.

I wonder if I’m just going to be Futaba’s conversation partner all night.

That’s what I thought as I looked at Futaba, who had turned her blue eyes towards me with a dangerous glint.

⭐︎

“Here it is.”

A few tens of minutes later, I was invited to a one-room apartment in a certain apartment building.

As I entered nervously, a sweet scent that was unique to a girl’s room tickled my nose.

“You don’t have a lot of things, do you?”

Ria’s room was like that of a girl of her age, with plush toys and cute interior decorations lined up. The colors were all pink, and it was like a room for a girl who dreamed.

Compared to that, Futaba’s room was like a sterile room, or rather, it looked like a sophisticated, adult woman lived there. It was almost like a hotel room.

The furniture was all white, and at first glance, it looked like it only had the bare minimum of items.

“It’s not a very high school girl-like room, is it?”

“It feels like something Futaba-san would have. It’s also clean.”

“…Are you flirting with me right now?”

“Huh?”

“It’s nothing. Just sit anywhere.”

I sat down in front of a small table that was in the middle of the room as Futaba suggested.

“Are you hungry?”

“Yeah, kind of… Are you going to make something for me?”

“Of course. I’m a good cook.”

Saying so, Futaba headed to the kitchen.

I also cook at home, but I’m not good enough to brag about it to anyone.

It’s just that my younger sister doesn’t cook, so I do it instead, and I’ve never thought about improving my cooking skills.

Thinking about how the life where I made my sister’s lunch every morning on school days and had Ria make my own lunch would end today, made me feel sad.

“Ria’s lunch always had elaborate dishes, and it was really delicious…”

I’ll probably never eat a dish made by Ria ever again.

“Haah… There’s no point in worrying about it. I’m starting a new beginning today.”

I wonder what Futaba’s food tastes like.

What kind of food is she good at making? Is it Japanese food, or Western food?

Futaba seems like she can do anything skillfully, so she’ll probably make any dish deliciously.

Even so, it’s nice that I’m being allowed to stay over, but there’s only one room.

Of course, there’s only one bed… Maybe I’ll sleep in the hallway.

If it’s Futaba, she might just say that we should sleep in the same bed.

“Come to think of it, what kind of hair tie did Futaba buy…”

I casually peeped into the plastic bag from the pharmacy.

If the usually cool Futaba had bought a cute hair tie, the gap would probably make her even cuter…

” !?”

I doubted my own eyes.

The rubber that Futaba had bought was definitely an adult rubber.

The thinnest one, with three pieces inside.

“Eh…? ‘Taking me home,’ you mean like that…?”

I had completely misunderstood the meaning of “taking me home.”

I thought it just meant staying over at a friend’s place.

“Taking home”—although it has other meanings such as taking out food from a restaurant—it seems like that’s what it means at a mixer.

Now that I think about it, there’s no way that nothing would happen if you took the person that you liked from a mixer back to your place or a hotel.

I didn’t think that far and mistakenly thought that “taking me home” just meant “letting me stay over” and followed along.

So, that’s why Shō and Satō were so enraged when Futaba said that she was taking me home.

No wonder they were so angry.

“This is bad, bad, bad…”

It’s too much of a sudden development, even though I did kiss her in a relationship that had just started a few minutes ago. It’s not just that I’m going up the stairs to adulthood, it’s more like I’m reaching the goal on the second step.

Also, I can’t believe that Futaba brazenly bought that while still wearing her uniform.

Ria and I would always dress up in clothes that made us look like college students just so we could buy it in secret.

Does that mean that social butterfly high school students don’t care about what others think?

I can’t be thinking about such things.

What was she talking about when she said “It’s not like I’m going to devour you or anything?” She’s clearly planning to devour me.

As for me, I want to take things step by step when it comes to this.

I’m still not even sure if Futaba and I can be considered friends.

Even though I’m staying at her place, our relationship is shallow.

I wonder what Futaba’s view on chastity is.

I think that it’s something that should happen after you know each other well, after you’ve fallen in love with each other…

“…Each other…”

The moment I said that word, something clicked inside me.

I thought that we knew each other well.

I thought that we loved each other.

But my relationship with Ria was different.

I thought that I had steadily advanced the relationship step by step.

I thought that we were caring for each other, and I thought that our relationship as lovers had deepened when we were together for the first time.

But in the end, it might have been my selfishness that made me wait for Ria.

By then, Ria’s heart might have already left me.

Since I don’t know when Ria started cheating, I can’t say for sure if we loved each other when we were together.

Ria may have been sleeping with me while having cold feelings towards me.

People’s hearts are not immutable.

If that’s the case, is it the right thing for me to make Futaba, who definitely loves me right now, wait because of my selfishness?

What if Futaba’s heart leaves me because I wanted the ideal way of dating?

Even if I could see a future where I could date Futaba, it’d be meaningless if Futaba’s heart left me at the most crucial moment.

I don’t know what kind of feelings I have for Futaba right now.

When I think about it calmly, it was just simple curiosity at first.

She’s a genius who has been maintaining the top spot in the grade since entering school, and she’s renowned as the most beautiful girl in school. On top of that, she’s also an all-rounder at sports.

When I was someone who only had soccer as my strong point, I had envious feelings, rather than respect, that she was so perfect, and that I didn’t like that.

But, after taking an interest in academics after that summer, I learned her greatness.

From that time, the curiosity I had towards Futaba changed into a type of respect.

With my guilt towards Hiyori-chan as my driving force, I studied, and as my grades gradually improved, I had secretly set a goal to surpass Futaba.

In terms of soccer, my goal was big, and I had set a goal to become a soccer player.

To become the soccer player that I admired, and to surpass Futaba, who was the top in the grade.

Now that I think about it, I still had feelings that were like admiration for Futaba.

Until I talked to Futaba today, I thought that Futaba didn’t care about me at all.

Even if I had climbed to second place in the last midterm exam, it was probably nothing for Futaba, who had been the unchallenged number one. I thought that we would remain unconnected to each other.

But, Futaba knew about me, and said that she liked my personality.

Certainly, Futaba has some misunderstandings about my personality.

I had complex feelings towards being respected for having the courage to take action due to being tormented by the regret of acting out of self-preservation.

Even so, I was happy deep down.

I, who had just been betrayed by my lover, probably just wanted someone to acknowledge my existence.

I probably just wanted someone to comfort my wounded heart, and at that time, I was being sought out by a woman who was in love with me, and was satisfying my need for approval.

I had admired her somewhere deep in my heart, and before I knew it, I had been captivated by her beauty.

When I was hurt, she happened to appear in front of me and affirmed me.

The feelings that I have right now towards her are…

“Is it just admiration…?”

I don’t understand my own heart.

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