Chapter 2 | Angel and Prince

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“Who are you?”

The angel, Kotomi, in front of me was looking at me with a suspicious gaze.

And for good reason, her younger sister was walking hand-in-hand with a stranger.

However, it wasn’t my fault. It was because she didn’t watch over her sister properly that this happened.

Perhaps it was close to a motherly instinct, but my tofu-like heart was being gouged out by the fact that the angel seemed to harbor ill feelings towards me.

“I’m Yuzu Hanazawa, a first-year in high school… I didn’t do anything wrong, though.”

“You know! Karin! That Onii-chan played with me a lot! He made a tunnel!”

It seemed that her suspicion had cleared up a little with my uniform and Karin’s words.

However, I couldn’t feel the usual warm atmosphere from school. Rather, I felt pressure.

Kotomi and I weren’t in the same class, so it was natural that she didn’t know me.

That’s probably why she was a little wary.

“I’m Kotomi Amase. You’re my classmate, I believe. I’m in class C of the first year. What class are you in, Hanazawa-san?”

“Class A.”

“I see. I am grateful that you helped my little sister today. Thank you very much.”

“Thank you, Onii-chan!”

She probably wanted to say a lot of things, but she held back in front of her sister. Kotomi bowed her head and thanked me.

Karin imitated her and bowed as well.

Honestly, I wanted to thank Karin more. Because she was able to heal my heartbreak a little.

“Yeah, you shouldn’t do this anymore and worry your sister.”

“Okay! Onii-chan, let’s play again, bye-bye!”

“…”

Perhaps her wariness had eased up a little after seeing the exchange with Karin, and towards the end, she had returned to her usual warm angelic self.

I waved to the smiling Karin and left the place.

“Y-Yukkun… G-Good morning.”

“…”

In the morning, as I was heading to class, Chisato greeted me as usual, though with a slightly awkward feeling.

I felt a little irritated by that. It was too late to feel anything anymore.

I brushed it off with a light nod.

If she had any intention of apologizing, I just wanted her to leave me alone.

“I’m really sorry about yesterday. What I did was wrong…”

“I don’t care. Just don’t ever do that kind of dare again.”

Because I accepted that confession and said that I liked her too, this awkwardness exists.

But I didn’t have those feelings anymore.

I quickened my pace towards the classroom.

And as soon as I arrived in the classroom and sat in my seat, I sighed and leaned against the desk.

(In the end, it was just my one-sided feelings. I want to punch my past self for even having a little bit of hope.)

“Good morning, Yuzu. You seem quite depressed today~”

Perhaps unable to bear seeing me like that, one of my classmates approached me.

It was Ryo Ozono, my classmate.

He is the only person I can confidently call a friend, and I also think of him as my best friend.

Like Chisato, he is also my childhood friend, and we’ve been close for a long time.

Currently, Ryo is the only person I can trust.

Ryo and Chisato have no contact with each other, but he knew that I was close to Chisato and that I liked her.

He has listened to my love advice and has helped me many times.

“You’re the only one, my friend…”

“Cheer up, I’ll buy you a juice, okay?”

“A single juice won’t heal my heartbreak.”

“Then how about two?”

“Don’t increase it!”

“Alright, your sarcasm is still going strong.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at Ryo’s usual attitude.

This conversation naturally healed my wounded heart.

“Okay, tell me, what happened? Did you get rejected after a confession or something?”

“…..To put it simply, I was confessed to by Chisato.”

“Eh!? You were confessed to, not the other way around!?… Then why?”

“It was a fake confession for a dare.”

“…”

“When I was confessed to, I said I liked Chisato too, so it’s super awkward right now.”

“…”

When I looked at Ryo because he wasn’t saying anything, he was looking at me with pity in his eyes.

Ryo gently patted my shoulder twice. And gave me words of encouragement.

“I see, so those things happen.”

I could only sigh even after hearing those words from a popular guy.

Kotomi is called an angel and is the most beautiful girl.

On the other hand, Ryo is called a prince and is the most handsome boy.

That’s why he’s super popular with girls. He is a good guy, so he is also popular with boys.

That’s why people often asked me for Ryo’s contact information because I was his childhood friend.

But I would never give out his contact information unless he permitted it.

When I first entered high school, the popularity was very intense, and since I and Ryo often hung out together, I was also caught up in it.

That’s why I knew the struggles of popular people.

However, Ryo’s words just sounded like sarcasm right now.

I was angry at myself for feeling that way because he had no ill intentions and had pure feelings.

Anyway, I was just not able to organize my feelings right now.

“But I didn’t think she was that kind of person. No matter what, a fake confession is not good. I would like to say that it’s good you didn’t go out with that kind of girl… But, do you want to go somewhere to hang out with me after school? I’m free today. And you can’t say no.”

“Okay, I’ll go.”

It would be good to focus on something to distract me.

I couldn’t stay in a dark mood all day long.

(It can’t be helped if I keep dwelling on it. I’ll just keep a little distance from Chisato. That’s all. There’s no need to hate her unnecessarily.)

I clapped my own cheeks with a pat. And I switched off the dark self inside me, trying to be more positive.

“Are we playing that fighting game again at the arcade? I’ll beat you up again this time too.”

I said that while raising the corners of my mouth, changing from the dark mood I had earlier.

At the same time, Ryo smiled when he saw me like that.

“You said it~, I’m definitely not gonna lose!”

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