Oneshot: The One I Like Is My Current Girlfriend, Not My First Love

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Translator: Soafp

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I used to like you.

That’s why I never thought I'd be the one to cut ties.

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“Huh? Kiriya, you like Hiyori?”

“Hey, keep it down!”

“Haha! I knew it—you do like her. I’m gonna go tell Hiyori!”

“Wait, idiot! Stop it!”

Back in middle school, I told a friend who I liked. He ended up telling everyone. Thanks to him, everyone knew who I liked.

I got teased, people whispered when I was near her. Though, they did try to seat us next to each other during class changes. I guess I'm grateful for that part.

Of course, even the girl I liked found out.

A classic case of getting “outed.”

I remember her reaction wasn't exactly positive when she found out.

But still, I kept dreaming.

I decided to confess to her at the middle school graduation ceremony. After the ceremony ended, I called her over.

She probably had a hunch. In that kind of situation, what else could it be?

“I've liked you for a long time. Um… would you go out with me?”

The pressure of the moment. The fear of failure. The embarrassment of using such a cliché line. And… the overwhelming reality of having the person I loved right in front of me.

Despite all that, I forced the words out.

I extended my right hand.

And I looked Hiyori straight in the eyes.

Hiyori looked back at me—bored.

It was like she had seen this coming all along.

Like when a movie airs on TV for the first time, but you already saw it in theaters—it's lost its thrill.

That's probably how she felt. Like, “Fmm, so?”

“Impossible.”

With that, Hiyori walked right past me.

The reward for all the courage I had mustered—just two cold syllables.

No one took the hand I had offered.

I brought my right hand back to myself, not even understanding what had just happened.

But I remember it clearly. I saw the world lose its color.

---

But in high school, I had a new encounter.

Since we lived in the countryside, most students ended up going to the same high school. It felt like middle school just continued.

I was nervous during class assignments. I checked the list, relieved not to find Hiyori's name on it.

I let out a quiet sigh.

The seat next to mine belonged to someone from a different middle school—a girl named Nagisa with a bob haircut.

She was really cute. Like, idol-level cute. If she walked around in Tokyo, she'd probably get scouted. But at first, I only saw her as “cute” and just talked to her normally.

Then came the day we were practicing for the sports festival in May. I was the anchor for the relay, and Nagisa was the runner just before me. That meant she would hand me the baton.

Normally, I don't think much of girls.

But I don't like people who worry about their bangs while running.

They never give it their all. Their minds are on their hair. Honestly, a lot of people think putting in effort looks uncool. And when someone tries their best and fails, those same people whisper behind their back.

But Nagisa was different.

She ran with everything she had, aiming straight for my outstretched hand. That pure determination and expression—she looked cool. Beautiful, even.

In that moment, she was glowing with vibrant colors.

When I took the baton from her, I was shaken. I hadn't even started running, but I was already out of breath.

I ran in that messed-up state, and halfway through, I fell. Face-first.

I tasted sand.

I scrambled to my feet and kept running. After I finished, Nagisa rushed over right away.

“Are you okay? Your knee…”

“I'm fine. Thanks for worrying.”

Other friends came over, too, and we all went to the nurse's office.

“Thanks, guys.”

“Of course—we gotta help if you're hurt.”

“Obviously, man!”

My scraped knee didn't really affect my role as anchor. But Nagisa's straightforwardness stuck with me. I was captivated. She stole my heart.

---

After the sports festival, I asked Nagisa to meet me, and quietly told her how I felt.

What she said next completely surprised me.

She had been thinking the same thing.

“I thought it was really cool how you ran with everything you had, Kiriya.”

“Really…?”

“And when you got hurt and still thanked me for checking on you—I thought it was amazing how you could still care about others even when you were in pain. That's probably why you have so many friends, I thought.”

“I was happy you came to check on me first.”

“Eh~? Of course I did!”

And so, I started dating Nagisa.

I was honestly, truly happy. I felt like I'd finally been rewarded.

The same guys who teased me back in middle school started teasing me again. But now, they were clearly jealous—and even that felt precious to me.

Most of all, Nagisa brought back the color and sparkle to my world.

However, there are always people who don't take things well.

“Kiriya used to like me, you know?”

(What is she even talking about now…)

“Isn't that basically cheating? Or maybe poor Nagisa-chan's being deceived? So sad~”

There was a girl who started pestering me like this—constantly, ever since I started dating Nagisa. She'd suddenly interrupt me when I was alone.

It was Hiyori.

Does she still think I like her?

Or is she just still clinging to the past?

I mean, I did used to like her, and then suddenly I didn't anymore. That might've shaken her a bit.

She was the one who turned me down, and now I'm with someone else. I don't know if that made her jealous, envious, or just humiliated.

Well, she was the one who got confessed to, and I ended up getting ahead of her in a relationship. That might sting a little.

But I was the one who got rejected.

And in a pretty cold way, too.

If she regrets it so much, she should've treated me better.

Anyway, today she came at me again.

“Kiriya, didn't you use to like me?”

“I did, yeah.”

“And now?”

“Now I like Nagisa.”

“Where do I rank?”

“Liking someone doesn't work like rankings. There's no first or second.”

You must never say “she's the one I love most” in this situation. Otherwise she'll snap back with “So there is a second place?”

And the next day…

“Hey hey, don't you think you moved on a little fast?”

“What do you mean?”

“You got rejected by me and immediately started dating someone else. Even though you supposedly had one-sided feelings for me all that time. And now you’re dating Nagisa-chan, who you just met recently? Seriously?”

“Well, maybe if you didn't reject me in such a dismissive way, things would’ve been different. I realized you weren't who I thought you were. It was disappointing. But I do know that Nagisa is kind. That's why I'm with her.”

Then again, later on…

“What's the point of telling people you're dating? Just trying to brag?”

“I only told people I'm close to. And only so I wouldn't have to lie when making plans to hang out. If rumors are spreading, maybe someone saw us together, or maybe someone else is gossiping—I don't know.”

“You're talking to me even though you're with another girl, is that okay?”

“You're the one following me around and bothering me—what am I supposed to do?”

“You could just ignore me, right?”

“If I ignored you, you'd probably start rumors like ‘He's cheating on her.' And if people asked you if it's true, you'd say something like, ‘Well, I tried asking him, but he ignored me. He must be hiding something.' That's what you’d say, wouldn't you?”

Hiyori went quiet for a while.

I looked her straight in the eyes.

Even now, just like before, our eyes never met.

She used to be so cute… I recalled how I used to feel and looked at her again.

But she wasn't the same. The eyes that once seemed pure and innocent now looked murky, tainted by something I couldn't unsee.

I didn't want anything more to do with Hiyori.

To me, Hiyori had become a nuisance. A physical reminder of painful memories.

“I don't like you anymore.”

I finally told her, face to face.

“Please stop bothering me.”

“…Maybe I've been making you uncomfortable all this time, but…”

“Yes, you have. But what?”

“…Sorry.”

Apologizing now—what does she expect to happen?

Even her apology felt shallow to me.

“I don't want you to talk to me again.”

Hiyori suddenly looked up at me. But the moment our eyes met, she looked away again.

Yeah. I really can't do this.

She's just… impossible for me.

Besides, I already have a girlfriend—Nagisa. I want to be with someone who feels the same way about me. I have no reason to cling to the past.

We never even made eye contact. We could never have a proper conversation.

She brushed off my confession.

So why should I keep giving her my attention?

Just like that, I walked past Hiyori without another word.