Chapter 45: No More Pain (Temari's POV)

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Yuuya: Heh. It just means I understand those two better than you do. I am their friend, after all.

Yuuya sent me that message with a smug little air to it, and it honestly pissed me off a bit.

I had wondered what was going on when he suddenly messaged me out of nowhere, only for the content to be the kind of thing that made me doubt my own eyes.

No, no, there's no way that's true~

I snapped back in my head, but I could already see exactly how it would go if I actually replied with that.

It would turn into a pointless back-and-forth where neither of us backed down. So I decided not to waste my time and turned off my phone screen then and there.

The truth was, during that whole mess, I had ended up connecting with Naegi-san on Laiso, though Yuuya didn't know that either. Thanks to that, I also knew what Naegi-san's current condition was like.

The official reason I had added her was because I wanted to thank her, but… somehow, I could sense the heartbeat of a loner in Naegi-san too.

From what I had heard from Yuuya, she had started living with her boyfriend right after entering university, so she probably never even had time to make friends.

And I could also tell she seemed like she wanted to stay connected to someone, that kind of feeling.

Naegi-san gave off that vibe.

I convinced myself with that explanation, and although I wasn't exactly eager about it, at least on the surface, we became friends.

That was how it had happened, more or less, but we had barely exchanged any messages since then.

Still, if we were technically friends now, there was no need for me to hold back, right?

Temari: Naegi-san… I just got a report from Yuuya. Don't tell me that after everything he did to you, you still haven't broken up with that guy?”

As if beating around the bush was absolutely forbidden on social media, I sent Naegi-san a message that cut straight to the point.

Her reply came immediately.

Naegi-san: Can I cry?

Ah. Yeah, this is bad.

I needed to meet her in person and talk this through.

―・―・―・―・―・―・―

And so, that evening, Naegi-san and I met up at Smutabucks Coffee.

“I don't know what the hell happened, but inside Nakanishi-kun's head, my love with my ex-boyfriend has somehow turned into something like ‘sacred and inviolable'… I couldn't tell him we broke up…”

“What is that even supposed to mean? Anyway, did you settle things with your ex?”

“Yeah… he apologized so much it was almost disgusting, and that felt wrong in its own way. Well, I've already half given up on getting the money back… and if my ex is going to work at a host club to pay off his debt, I don't think he'll have time to attend university anyway.”

“I never thought Mami-chi's connections would end up being useful here, ahaha… Well, I don't know whether your ex has really turned over a new leaf or not.”

“At this point… I don't think I can trust him anymore.”

“Obviously.”

It was information I never wanted to know, but apparently, that man Nishida had been the type who liked so-called “backdoor” play.

Naegi-san had apparently never intended to allow that much, so in exchange, she had allowed him to do it without contraception… or so the story went. What a painfully raw thing to hear.

So that's why that guy kept going to the sex shop where Mami-chi worked.

If they paid enough, it seemed like the girls there would secretly allow that sort of thing.

As for Mami-chi herself, she seemed to have learned her lesson, or at least reflected on it, so as long as she behaved herself, that was fine with me.

On Naegi-san's side, too, once her father had gotten involved, I assumed the situation had reached a point where she had no choice but to properly draw a line somewhere. But I felt like if I asked about every tiny detail, that would be the end of something, so I stopped myself.

Well, once you put some distance between yourself and the other person, you can usually cool down a decent amount.

That was how relationships between men and women worked.

“Still… I don't think you need to quit the university you worked so hard to get into, Naegi-san. From my perspective as someone who couldn't get in even though I wanted to, it makes me think, what a damn luxury.”

“Mm… Papa is genuinely worried about me, and since I don't have any good memories there, I guess part of me just wanted to start over somewhere completely different…”

“…Really?”

“Huh?”

“Did you really have no good memories there at all?”

“…”

My attitude toward Naegi-san was pretty salty. But if we were talking about who was responsible for that, then ultimately, it was her own fault. I hoped she would allow me at least this much.

Still, she seemed to be reflecting on her bad choice too, so I decided that was enough of that. Maybe it was time to change the subject.

“But honestly… that Yuuya really is hopeless.”

“Huh? No, I don't think he's…”

“No, he is hopeless. He interprets everything in whatever way is most convenient for him. He only ever gets intense about stuff like that.”

“Ah, b-but I do think he's kind, all things considered. He did help me in a bunch of ways, at least.”

“Yeah, I'll admit that much. Even though some woman who rejected him ending up unhappy shouldn't have affected him at all.”

“…”

“And yet, seriously, what a half-assed guy. Well, I've known him for a decent while, so I know this, but that guy acts like he can do everything perfectly, even though he completely sucks when it really matters.”

“…Huh?”

“He's dense when it comes to the subtle movements of people's hearts, or maybe because he's annoyingly smart, he completes everything inside his own head based purely on his own thoughts and assumptions without even checking what actually happened. Stuff like that makes me think he really is hopeless. He's such a damn useless human being.”

Everyone had good points and bad points. People had all kinds of sides to them. Maybe Naegi-san's mistake had simply been where she looked when judging the person she should date.

I had been a little irritated by that proud, smug message Yuuya had sent me earlier, and since I had known him for so long, I ended up blurting out those bad sides of his like that.

Maybe, if Naegi-san had seen those bad sides of him up close, she might have chosen to date Yuuya instead.

“…I see…”

After badmouthing Yuuya and feeling just a little relieved, I took a sip of the sweet and bitter “Sperm Macchiato” sitting in front of me. Naegi-san, still looking down, let out a sigh that was mixed with complicated feelings and was honestly hard to describe.

The only emotion I could read in it was regret.