The School’s Top Idol Is Acting Like She’s My Childhood Friend for Some Reason and Just Keeps Closing the Distance on Her Own…?! ~Stop Getting All Gloomy on Me Just Because I Turned You Down!~
“Well, everyone, congratulations on your enrollment. I’m Saeki, and starting today, I’ll be your homeroom teacher for Class 1-2.”
Saeki, the homeroom teacher, wrote his name on the blackboard.
The sound of chalk echoed through the classroom.
High school life was finally beginning. It was a scene that made me truly realize it. A new classroom, a new homeroom teacher, new classmates. I intended to stay under the radar here, avoid causing trouble, and gradually return to normal.
That plan was already starting to fall apart, though, thanks to the presence to my right.
“Before we begin the entrance ceremony, I’ll go over some brief announcements and take attendance. Please respond when your name is called.”
The roll call began.
Names were called out in alphabetical order by last name. The new students responded in nervous voices. Some boys spoke in strangely loud voices, while some girls spoke in voices as soft as a mosquito’s buzz. As my turn approached, I straightened my back just a little.
“Takahara Seita.”
“Yes.”
My voice came out so normal it surprised even me.
This is fine. Normal is fine. Nothing happened. I’d just answered the roll call.
The moment I thought that, I sensed a slight movement to my right.
Hoshimiya had reacted ever so slightly when she heard my name.
Under the desk, her fingertips were lightly gripping the hem of her uniform skirt. It also looked as if she were rolling something small around in her mouth, as if to confirm the name.
Takahara Seita.
A name she didn’t know yesterday.
A name she only just learned from the class roster this morning.
She took it in as if memorizing an important phrase.
“Hoshimiya Rino.”
“Yes.”
Her reply was clear and pure.
The air in the classroom rippled slightly. It was a voice that could capture everyone’s attention with just a single word. Closer than a voice heard through a TV, and far more real than a smile in an advertisement.
I kept my eyes forward, trying as hard as I could not to look at the girl next to me.
Because if I did, I had a feeling I’d get dragged into something again.
Once roll call was over, Saeki sensei began handing out handouts. The schedule for the entrance ceremony, the meeting place for parents, instructions for the class photo, and the upcoming schedule. I took the stack of handouts as it made its way down the row from the seat in front of me, pulled out my copy, and passed it back.
In the midst of that simple task, another problem arose.
The stack of handouts came around from the boy sitting in front of me.
“Here you go.”
“Oh, thanks.”
I took out my copy and passed it straight to the seat behind me.
To my right, Hoshimiya was also receiving her handouts from the seat in front of her. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It was just a normal classroom, and they were simply handing out routine announcements.
…Or so it should have been.
“Hey, Takahara-kun.”
A soft voice drifted over from my right.
“What?”
“Is that the same as mine?”
“Probably.”
“Can I just check, just in case?”
“No, just look at your own.”
Even though I said that, Hoshimiya leaned over slightly toward me with a calm expression.
Then, she gently placed her finger on the edge of the handout on my desk.
Her fingertip brushed against mine just a little.
It wasn’t an accident.
It definitely wasn’t an accident.
If she was just checking the handout, there was no need to put her finger there. Plus, the moment our fingers touched, she kept her face straight ahead, acting like nothing had happened. Her profile looked cool and composed. But the tips of her ears were faintly red.
What kind of creature is this?
You’re the one who started this, so don’t get embarrassed now.
“…It’s the same, right?”
“Yeah. It was the same.”
“Then just look at your own copy already.”
“It was easier to see Takahara-kun’s.”
“Is that even a reason?”
I pulled the handout toward me.
My heart skipped a beat for no good reason.
Annoyingly, as long as the other person is Hoshimiya, even the slightest touch of her fingertips is devastating. The persuasive power of a face can sometimes twist ethics. No, I won’t let it be twisted.
I tried to focus on the text on the handout.
The start time of the entrance ceremony. Moving to the gymnasium. The parents’ section. Singing the school song.
None of it was sinking in.
Hoshimiya’s presence to my right was just too overwhelming.
It was as if a miniature sun had been placed just a desk’s length away. Blinding. Scorching. And whether she was aware she was shining on me or not, she’d occasionally glance my way.
“Hoshimiya.”
Saeki san called out to her unexpectedly.
Hoshimiya looked up immediately.
“Yes.”
“Could you come to the faculty room after the entrance ceremony? I need to confirm a few things regarding your entertainment activities.”
“Understood.”
A small murmur spread through the classroom once again.
Entertainment activities.
That single phrase once again highlighted the fact that she was no ordinary student. Hoshimiya Rino nodded calmly, but the stares from those around her grew even more intense.
I tried not to look at her profile.
I recalled her from yesterday, surrounded by a group of boys.
Things like that will probably keep happening. At school, and outside of it. The name Hoshimiya draws people in, regardless of her own wishes. Goodwill, interest, malice, and reckless curiosity alike.
Why would someone like that go so far as to pretend to be my childhood friend just to get close to me?
Even if my actions yesterday were the trigger, her approach is way too extreme.
Usually, it ends with a simple “thank you.”
At most, she’d say she wants to be friends.
There’s no need to fabricate a childhood friendship.
As I was sorting this out in my head, a small piece of paper slid over to the edge of my desk.
It was from Hoshimiya.
I kept my gaze forward, checking it with just my eyes.
It was a scrap of paper, the edge neatly torn from a handout.
Written on it in beautiful, rounded handwriting were these words:
[I’d like to talk to you for a moment after the entrance ceremony.]
I glanced sideways at Hoshimiya.
She was facing forward. She had the face of a model student. She was also perfectly pretending to listen to the teacher. However, only her right hand, clenched beneath the desk, was slightly tense.
I hesitated over whether I should write a reply.
There are things we need to talk about.
Too many, in fact.
First of all, she needs to retract that “childhood friend” thing. If she doesn’t retract it right now, the moment my high school life begins, I’ll be locked into a special route. “Hoshimiya Rino’s childhood friend.” For someone like me who just wants to live quietly, that title is nothing short of a bomb.
But as for what happened yesterday, I had some questions of my own.
Why was she at the shopping mall alone?
Why was she so terrified?
And why, the moment she heard my name, did she start acting so absurdly, pretending to be my childhood friend?
I took out my mechanical pencil and wrote a short reply at the bottom of the note.
[Just for a little while.]
I placed it back on her desk.
Hoshimiya lowered her gaze and read the words.
The next moment, the tension in her shoulders eased just a little.
The corners of her lips turned up slightly.
It wasn’t the perfect smile she showed in public, but a brief one that seemed to slip out as if she couldn’t hold something back.
My heart skipped a beat again.
Stop it.
My heart isn’t that fuel-efficient. I’d just nearly died watching the finale of a romance comedy anime yesterday. I don’t have any stamina left to withstand a barrage of attacks from a real-life top idol.
Soon, it was time to head to the gymnasium for the entrance ceremony.
At Saeki sensei’s instruction, the students in our class lined up in the hallway. Since we were lined up by seat number, Hoshimiya and I were naturally close together. In fact, we were practically next to each other.
As we stepped out into the hallway, even students from other classes turned their gaze our way.
Hoshimiya is here.
It seems the news has already started spreading among the freshmen. Across the hallway, someone reached for their smartphone but was scolded by a nearby teacher and panicked. Hoshimiya must have noticed, yet she didn’t let it show.
However, her stride—as she walked right beside me—shrunk just a tiny bit.
I noticed that change.
I wish I hadn’t noticed.
On the way to the gym, spring sunlight streamed in through the hallway windows. The black shoes of the freshmen passed one after another over the bands of light stretching across the floor. Everyone seemed a little flustered, and even though everyone should have been preoccupied with themselves, Hoshimiya was, as expected, the one being watched.
Her name.
Her face.
Her title.
Those things drew people’s gaze before she even did.
At the shopping mall yesterday, I didn’t treat her as Rino Hoshimiya. I was simply afraid to get too involved. I just didn’t have the courage to enter her world.
But maybe that looked different to her.
I slowed my pace just a little.
Just a little.
I positioned myself so that Hoshimiya, walking beside me, was hidden from the surrounding gaze by just half a step. I couldn’t completely hide her with my height. Besides, doing that would only draw more attention. So, I kept it natural. As if it had happened by chance.
Hoshimiya looked at me.
I kept walking, facing forward.
I didn’t say a word.
I had no intention of claiming I was helping her. It was just like yesterday. Things like this take on unnecessary meaning the moment you give them a name.
I could just make out, out of the corner of my eye, that she had stopped pinching the sleeve of her uniform with her fingertips.
Just before we entered the gym, Hoshimiya took a small breath.
“Seita.”
Her voice was so soft that no one around us could hear it.
“What is it?”
“It’s always been like this, you know.”
“that ‘back then’ doesn’t exist.”
“It’s increased now.”
I was at a loss for words.
Hoshimiya kept her gaze forward and smiled slightly.
Her profile looked much more natural than when she’d been trying to push through the “childhood friend” act in the classroom earlier. It was a small smile, but it wasn’t forced.
As we stepped through the gym doors, the solemn atmosphere of the entrance ceremony enveloped us.
Plastic chairs were lined up in neat rows, and the stage was decorated with the school flag and flowers. Many adults were already seated in the parents’ section, and their eyes turned toward us every time a new student entered.
I sat down in my seat and rested my hands on my lap.
Diagonally to my right, I could see Hoshimiya’s back.
Her posture was straight, and her hair was neatly styled. From any angle, she looked like the perfect student representative. She looked so picture-perfect just standing there that I wondered if she was actually going to be the representative.
The entrance ceremony proceeded solemnly.
Opening remarks.
The principal’s address.
Greetings from the guests of honor.
Reading of congratulatory messages.
I’m sure they were all important, but not half of it registered in my mind. Partly because I was nervous. Partly because I was sleepy. But the main reason was, of course, Hoshimiya.
A top idol.
The girl I saved yesterday.
My seatmate in the same class starting today.
And, for some reason, the person pretending to be my childhood friend.
It’s just too much to take in.
My high school life hasn’t even been going on for an hour yet, but it already feels as packed as the finale of a second season.
Maigetsu