Chapter 1: Me, her, and her childhood friend—

Reading Settings

Translator: Soafp

---

I watched the people passing by. Sitting on a bench in the plaza near the station, I blew warm breath into my frozen hands.

Beside me was the present I had prepared for her. A present that probably would never be given now.

The meeting time had long passed. The sun had set, and the colorful Christmas lights lit up the city.

Lovers were spending the night together, growing even closer to each other. On this Christmas Eve, I was here alone. That was my answer.

Me, her, and her childhood friend—

I first met Airi Taiga on the day of our high school entrance ceremony.

Nervous about the new high school life ahead, I entered the classroom and found her sitting in the seat next to mine. That was Airi.

It was love at first sight. Her glossy bob-cut black hair, her large round eyes, her lovely cherry-pink lips, her slightly high and cute voice.

While I was still tense, she said, “Nice to meet you,” and spoke to me.

I had never fallen in love with anyone before. I always thought that love was something that came gradually, step by step.

But it wasn't like that at all. It was nothing like I had imagined. Loving someone didn't need time or logic.

From the moment I met her, Airi was shining in my eyes. I couldn't see any other girls. Only Airi stood out to me.

So I was drawn by that feeling and started talking to her more and more.

Since we sat next to each other, talking to Airi was easy. Starting with a simple “Good morning,” then chatting about class, lunch, TV dramas we watched yesterday, or popular manga on social media.

Airi was friendly and a good talker. Our conversations never ran out of topics.

I had always been shy, but I changed myself to be someone worthy of Airi. I changed my appearance, my attitude, and my lifestyle.

I went to a hair salon for the first time, started talking to people proactively, got up early to go jogging, and made sure to review and prepare for classes properly.

Airi was beautiful by anyone's standards. When I entered high school, I looked like nothing more than a gloomy nerd. I didn't have many friends, and talking to girls was out of the question. A guy like that didn't belong beside someone like Airi.

So I did my best in my own way. Thanks to that, I gradually developed a more refined look, and Airi even said, “You've really changed since I first met you.” I was able to talk with other girls, and I made more male friends too.

In the fall of our first year of high school, I confessed my feelings to Airi. I poured my heart out. But the result was rejection.

“I'm sorry. There's someone I like.”

I had known. Anyone spending time with Airi would have figured it out. Of course, I noticed too.

Airi had a childhood friend the same age as her. Kenta Hiiragi. He had good looks but gave off a bit of an airheaded vibe, and he was the boy Airi had feelings for since they were kids.

Though they were in different classes, Airi would often go see Kenta, and Kenta would also come to see her.

To an outsider, their closeness looked like they were dating, but everyone knew they actually weren't a couple.

That was because Kenta had another childhood friend—a girl—who he was actually dating.

This older childhood friend was a year ahead of us, and Kenta was close with her. Apparently, they always went home together and often went on dates on weekends. Airi told me that herself.

So even though Airi had feelings for Kenta, she knew those feelings would never be returned.

Because I knew all of that, I confessed to Airi with no real expectations. I failed, but I wasn't planning to give up after just one try.

If once wasn't enough, then twice. If twice didn't work, then a third time. I had resolved to keep trying.

But I also had a time limit in mind. If I didn't get a “yes” by the time we graduated high school, I would give up cleanly. I didn't plan to confess repeatedly in short spans of time. I made sure to leave enough time before trying again.

Just as Airi couldn't give up on Kenta, I couldn't give up on Airi. But that didn't mean I wanted to keep bothering her.

I confessed once in my first year, again in my second, and again in my third. Even when I was rejected, as long as Airi didn't push me away, I stayed by her side. I made sure to keep a proper distance as a friend so things wouldn't be awkward.

Maybe my persistence eventually softened her feelings. Or maybe she had finally let go of Kenta during our third year.

“Geez… you’re the only one who kept confessing to me like that.”

On graduation day, I decided it would be my last confession—a way to bring closure. And finally, Airi accepted me.

She looked a little exasperated, maybe even resigned, but Airi was the kind of girl who would clearly say no if she didn't like something.

“Yes!” I cheered.

“Thank you… for liking someone like me. Let's take care of each other, okay?”

And just like that, Airi and I became a couple.

Airi and I went to different universities in the same city. It was a coincidence that our universities were close. If we had become a couple earlier, we might have chosen the same school, but during entrance exams, we weren't dating yet. Each of us had chosen our paths while thinking seriously about the future.

Through conversation, I knew which university Airi was going to, and she knew where I was headed too. Back then, I had planned to move on from Airi after high school, so I never thought of applying to the same school as her. I wasn't even interested in the departments they had.

Still, since we attended nearby universities in the same city, we had no trouble spending time together as a couple.

College students have far more control over their time than high schoolers. And since we were both living alone away from home, that made it even easier.

“Today we covered psychology in one of my university lectures.”

“Oh yeah? So now you can read my mind?”

“We didn't go that deep into it~”

“Let's go see a movie sometime. On one of your days off from your part-time job.”

“Sure! There's a movie I've been wanting to see!”

“Alright, it's settled. I'll book the tickets then.”

“Welcome to my university! Hey, hey, what do you think?”

“What do I think…? Hmm, there are some buildings I'm not used to seeing.”

“They say an architect professor designed them. Pretty amazing, right?”

Just like that—

Airi and I were doing well as a couple.

Not long after we started university, we gave our first times to each other.

We went on trips together. We went on many dates and made lots of memories.

Even though we were at different universities, we spent enough time together that it didn't feel like a problem.

Airi almost never talked to me about Hiiragi.

Occasionally, his name would come up when she talked about her family back home, but she never went into much detail beyond that.

Airi knew I already knew about Hiiragi, and maybe by not bringing him up, she was trying to move on from him herself.

We were doing fine.

I was happy. I hoped Airi felt the same way.

I hoped she did… I really did…

It was sometime after we started our third year of university.

One day, Airi said she was going to meet some high school friends back in her hometown and returned to her family home.

It wasn't the first time Airi had gone back home to meet friends from high school, so I saw her off the same way I always did—just saying, “Let me know when you're heading back.”

It was always my job to pick her up at the station when she returned.

But that time, something was different.

Usually, she would message me when she was coming back, but this time she didn't. Without me noticing, she had already returned to her apartment, and when I called her, she said, “I forgot,” and told me she was back.

“Did something happen? You always let me know when you’re coming back.”

I asked Airi.

“Kenta… broke up with his girlfriend.”

Airi muttered softly in response.

Kenta—Kenta Hiiragi. Her childhood friend and the boy she used to have feelings for.

“I see… and? You heard that from a friend?”

“Yeah. One of my friends goes to the same university as Kenta. Also, it just so happened that he was at my house when I went back, so I heard it from him directly too.”

Seeing the distant look in Airi's eyes made me anxious.

The boy she had loved since childhood. But he had someone else he liked, and he was already dating her.

Even so, she hadn't been able to let go and kept holding onto her feelings throughout high school. Eventually, she gave up and started dating me instead.

And now, the boy she had given up on—because he had a girlfriend—was single again.

What could Airi be feeling right now? She probably saw Hiiragi while he was heartbroken after the breakup… what went through her mind?

She had known him far longer than she'd known me. The time they had spent together, the bond they shared—it probably still tipped the scales in his favor.

“I'm sorry. I'm your girlfriend now, so I shouldn't be thinking about Kenta at all.”

“I don't think that's true. I mean, he's your childhood friend.”

I don't really know what it means to be a “childhood friend.”

But maybe it's the kind of bond where, no matter how far apart you grow, no matter how much time passes, the feelings still linger. A relationship like that.

And I was the one who came into that story halfway through.

Of course, I'm confident that I love Airi just as much as she used to love Hiiragi. But if you flip that around, it also means that she loved Hiiragi as much as I love her now.

Did Airi really let go of Hiiragi?

Did she start dating me just because Hiiragi wouldn't leave his girlfriend—was I just the second choice?

Thinking something like that is a terrible thing to do to someone who chose to be with me.

But seeing Airi the way she was now, I couldn't help but wonder.

“But… I'm your boyfriend now. So I want you to look only at me.”

So I said it—put my feelings into words.

“Yeah… I'm sorry for making you worry, okay?”

With a troubled expression, Airi apologized.

And all I could do was try my best to trust her—trust the Airi I loved.