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!~
After school, Hoshimiya headed off to work.
Her back as she walked out of the classroom—though she was wearing her usual uniform—seemed somehow distant.
Her manager had come to pick her up. She had an interview. Instead of stopping by somewhere after school or going to a card shop, she was returning to her life as a celebrity. That simple fact strangely tugged at the back of my heart.
I went home and opened the volume of I Don’t Need Youth!! in my room.
It was right in the school festival arc.
It was the chapter where the protagonist realizes the heroine’s true feelings but can’t bring himself to act on them—yet he refuses to stop simply being by her side.
In the past, I think I would have just agonized over how “precious” it was.
But now it was different.
There were moments when the heroine on the page looked just like Hoshimiya.
Her face, forcing a smile to hide her vulnerability.
The hand grabbing her sleeve because she didn’t want to be left behind.
The way she knows her feelings are a burden, yet still can’t hide them completely.
I closed the book.
This is bad.
Really bad.
If I’ve started replacing the story’s heroine with Hoshimiya, isn’t that a pretty serious problem?
It was right then that my phone vibrated.
Rino Hoshimiya.
“In the dressing room right now.”
A photo followed.
Hoshimiya was sitting in front of a vanity mirror. She wasn’t wearing her school uniform, but a pale-colored outfit. Her hair was curled more carefully than usual, and her makeup looked a little more mature. The person reflected there wasn’t the Hoshimiya who ate her lunch at school, but the Rino Hoshimiya everyone knew.
She was beautiful.
So beautiful it took my breath away just a little.
“What do you think?”
A short message.
Even though it was only two characters, I felt like I could see her anxiety through the screen.
I hesitated for a moment before replying.
“It looks great on you.”
The moment I sent it, my heart skipped a beat.
It was marked as read immediately.
“Really?”
“I’m glad to hear that from you, Seita.”
Even though it was just text, I could picture Hoshimiya’s bashful expression.
Then, another message followed.
“But you know…”
“Apparently, they’re going to ask me about my views on love in today’s interview.”
I stared at the screen.
Views on love.
Rino Hoshimiya’s views on love.
That must be a pretty intriguing topic for an entertainment article. Her fans would surely want to know. Her type, her ideal date, whether she’s ever been in love. Those kinds of questions might come flying her way.
Why is that?
Deep down in my chest, I felt a slight flutter.
“That sounds tough.”
As soon as I replied, it was marked as read.
“Are you curious Seita?”
I stopped typing.
I am curious.
To be honest, I am curious.
What kind of answer will Hoshimiya give? Who will she have in mind when she speaks? Is there even a tiny bit of me in there?
I felt a little repulsed by myself for thinking such things.
“A little.”
I replied briefly.
A few seconds later.
“Then I’ll answer while thinking about Seita.”
I almost dropped my phone.
I hurriedly grabbed it back.
“Please don’t.”
“Why?”
“It’d be a big problem if people found out.”
“I’ll say it without anyone noticing.”
“That’s not the issue.”
Hoshimiya’s reply was a little slow.
That silence felt strangely heavy.
“So, should I answer as if I’m not thinking about anyone at all?”
The words on the screen stabbed at my chest.
“As Rino Hoshimiya, would it put your mind at ease if I just smiled politely and said I don’t have a crush on anyone?”
I held my breath.
That might be the right answer for a celebrity.
An answer that reassures the fans.
An answer that protects her image.
But behind those words, I felt like I could see the light in Hoshimiya’s eyes fading.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Then what do you mean?”
I stumbled over my reply.
What did I want her to do?
Did I want Hoshimiya to think of me?
Or did I want her to give a safe answer as a celebrity?
I still couldn’t quite put my feelings into words.
After thinking for a moment, I typed.
“Please give me an answer that won’t put you in a difficult position.”
“But you’re free to think of me if you want.”
After sending it, my face grew hot.
What on earth was I writing?
A few seconds later, it showed as read.
A reply was a long time coming.
Eventually.
“Seita, that’s unfair.”
“When you say something like that, it shows on my face even though I’m at work.”
I instinctively covered my mouth.
Even through the screen, I felt embarrassed.
Another message arrived.
“You know…”
“When I’m asked who I like, I always say I want someone who sees me as ‘me,’ not as Hoshimiya Rino.”
“Is that okay then?”
I reread that message several times.
She didn’t mention anyone by name.
But I knew.
She was talking about me.
Hoshimiya was probably writing that with me in mind.
My heart started racing.
“I think that’s fine.”
That was all I could manage to reply.
It was marked as read almost immediately.
“Then I’ll answer that way.”
“Because Seita gave me permission.”
It’s not permission.
I was about to reply that, but I stopped myself.
Probably, to Hoshimiya right now, even that would feel like a promise.
A little while later, Hoshimiya seemed to have headed off to work, and the conversation ended.
I set my phone down and opened I Don’t Need Youth!! again.
But I couldn’t take in the story.
The words the heroine directs at the protagonist.
The emotions the protagonist can’t bring himself to express and just swallows.
It all seems to overlap with us right now.
More than friends.
Less than lovers.
I don’t even know if it’s okay to just brush it off with such a convenient phrase.
Hoshimiya calls me her childhood friend.
I deny it.
But even as I deny it, I’m starting to accept that she’s right here beside me.
Maigetsu