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!~
With the “Name-Calling Event” taking place, my high school life has taken another step into irreversible territory.
During class, I feel a gaze from my seat on the right.
Rino Hoshimiya—no, Rino—is looking at me.
She pretends to be taking notes while glancing at me every now and then. When I notice and look her way, she smiles happily, her cheeks still flushed.
Stop it.
We’re in class.
This is a classroom, not the setting for a romantic comedy event.
Plus, just a moment ago, I wrote “I’ll do my best, Rino” on a note with my own hand. The evidence is already there. If this went to trial, I’d definitely lose. I’d be found guilty in the “Youth Trial.”
I look at the blackboard.
There are mathematical formulas written on the blackboard.
But in my head, the “Name-Calling Episode” from Volume 7 of I Don’t Need Youth!! was playing.
The protagonist calls the heroine by name for the first time.
The heroine turns bright red.
The protagonist also looks away, embarrassed.
The readers punch their pillows.
I did the same back then.
But now, I’m not the one doing the punching.
I’m the one getting punched.
Someone, please throw a pillow at me.
When class ended, Hara and Shinozaki came over as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Wow, I never thought the day would come when Takahara-kun would call her ‘Rino.’”
“It was ‘Hoshimiya-san’ just yesterday. Things sure are moving fast, huh?”
“It’s not ‘moving fast.’”
I denied it immediately.
But my denial lacked any conviction.
Rino, sitting to my right, was looking at me with her chin resting on her hand. Her expression was that of a girl who was completely content. The more I denied it, the more it seemed to prove the opposite to everyone around me.
“Seita.”
“……What is it?”
“Call me Rino right now.”
“Why?”
“Because I want you to.”
“Please don’t make demands like that in the classroom.”
Rino lowered her eyes slightly.
“Aren’t you going to call me that anymore?”
Here it comes.
That voice.
A thin, quiet voice that cuts straight to my sense of guilt.
Hara muttered, “Whoa, Rino’s signature move is out,” and Shinozaki cheered, “Go for it, Takahara-kun!” as if it were none of her business.
I exhaled deeply.
“…Rino.”
The moment I said it, Rino’s face lit up.
Hara clapped her hands.
“Yes, so noble!”
“That’s youth for you, huh?”
Shinozaki nodded casually.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“What’s different, then?”
“……Everything.”
My rebuttal was weak.
I knew it myself.
Rino happily tugged at my sleeve.
Her fingertips felt just a little softer than usual. It wasn’t the way she used to grip me to keep me from escaping, but rather a touch that seemed to confirm I was right there.
Does just calling my name make such a difference?
I was taken aback by the change.
Lunchtime.
As we headed to our usual spot behind the warehouse, Rino leaned toward me slightly before opening her lunchbox.
“Seita.”
“Yes.”
“Today, I’m going to call you Seita by your name more often, too.”
“You’ve been calling me that all along, haven’t you?”
“Yeah. But today, it means something different.”
“How is it different?”
“It’s the kind of ‘Seita’ I’ll call you on the day you call me Rino.”
“Is that some kind of philosophy?”
Rino had a serious expression on her face.
I almost laughed, but I held it in.
For her, this was serious.
Calling my name.
Having me call her name.
She cherished something as simple as that so deeply.
When she treated it with such care, I couldn’t bring myself to treat it casually either.
“Seita, do you want some rolled omelet?”
“Again?”
“Today’s rolled omelet is to celebrate us calling each other by name.”
“What kind of celebration is that?”
“I made it a little sweeter.”
“So the celebration shows up in the seasoning, huh?”
After hesitating a moment, I ate the rolled omelet she handed me.
It’s sweet.
A little sweeter than before.
Rino was staring intently at my reaction.
“……It’s delicious, Rino.”
I called her name on my own.
I realized it after I said it.
It’s over.
I’ve already started calling her by name naturally.
Rino froze, still holding her chopsticks.
The next moment, she set her lunchbox on her lap and covered her face with both hands.
“Seita, I can’t handle that.”
“What can’t you handle?”
“‘It’s delicious, Rino’—that’s a no-go.”
“You’re the one who asked me to call you by your name, weren’t you?”
“But catching me off guard like that is different.”
“That’s unfair.”
Rino’s face was flushed all the way to her ears as she kept her hands over her face.
Seeing her like that, I felt a warmth deep in my chest again.
The old me would have run away from this kind of atmosphere.
It’s getting close.
Too sweet.
I have to walk away before I get hurt.
That’s what I would have thought back then.
But now, I didn’t run away.
In fact, seeing Rino looking so happy made me feel a little happy too.
That was the biggest change of all.
After we finished our lunches, Rino took the “I Don’t Need Youth!!” anthology out of her bag.
“Seita, let’s read yesterday’s ‘name-calling chapter’ again.”
“Was there even a ‘name-calling chapter’ in this anthology?”
“Yesterday was our ‘name-calling chapter.’”
“Please don’t turn reality into a series.”
“Then today is the sequel.”
“Please don’t turn this into a story.”
Rino laughed cheerfully and opened the book.
What was printed there was a short story in which the heroine practices calling the protagonist by his first name.
The moment I saw the cover, I clutched my head.
“Why that one right now?”
“Maybe it’s fate.”
“It’s a trap set by the editorial department.”
As I read on, the heroine blushed repeatedly just from calling his name, while the protagonist pretended not to notice but was secretly flustered inside.
I stopped turning the pages.
It hit me hard.
It hit me way too hard.
It was too closely linked to reality.
“Seita, you’re just like this protagonist.”
“I knew you’d say that.”
“But you call me by my first name properly, unlike this protagonist.”
“Please don’t compare me to him.”
“That’s why I like you.”
Rino said it casually.
I tried to act like I was used to it, but failed.
My cheeks grew hot.
Rino saw that and smiled happily.
She really seems happy when I get embarrassed.
I wonder if she feeds off my reactions.
“Seita.”
“……Yes.”
“You know, people often call me Rino Hoshimiya.”
Her voice suddenly softened a little.
“On TV, in magazines, at school—everyone calls me ‘Hoshimiya-san’ or ‘Rino-chan’ or ‘Hoshimiya Rino.’ But when you call me ‘Rino,’ Seita, it feels a little different.”
“Different?”
“Yeah. It feels like you’re looking right at me when you call me that.”
Rino closed her book.
“It feels like my name, not just the name of a celebrity.”
I was at a loss for words.
Calling her by name.
Something as simple as that means so much to her.
Hoshimiya Rino—so many people call her by that name.
But for most of them, it’s just a name on a screen, maybe something like a brand name.
The “Rino” I call is the name of the girl right next to me.
When I thought of it that way, those two characters suddenly felt so heavy.
“…Rino.”
I called out softly.
She looked up.
“Yes?”
“There are still a lot of things I can’t quite say right yet…”
My throat tightened a little.
Still, I didn’t back down; I kept going.
“At least I’ll make sure to remember how to call you.”
Rino’s eyes widened.
Her eyes slowly filled with tears.
“Seita.”
“Please don’t cry.”
“I can’t help it.”
“That’s too soon.”
“But that’s what you said, Seita.”
Rino laughed as she wiped the corners of her eyes with her finger.
It was hard to tell if she was crying or laughing.
But seeing that expression, I felt a little relieved.
It was because I felt that this time, my words hadn’t been a rejection, but had actually reached her.
The prep bell rang.
On the way back to the classroom, Rino called my name repeatedly from beside me.
“Seita.”
“Yes?”
“Seita.”
“What is it?”
“I just wanted to call you.”
“That’s a waste of breath.”
“Call me too.”
“…Rino.”
“Yeah.”
Just that exchange was enough to make her smile with genuine happiness.
When we got back to the classroom, Hara and Shinozaki reacted as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Welcome back—the ‘call-each-other-by-name’ couple.”
“We’re not a couple.”
“Then what are you?”
Hara asked with a smirk.
I was at a loss for words.
Friends.
Saying that felt like a lie.
Lovers.
That wasn’t quite right either.
Then what were we?
As I struggled to answer, Rino quietly laughed beside me.
“A relationship that doesn’t have a name yet.”
At those words, the classroom fell slightly silent.
Hara’s eyes widened.
Shinozaki let out a soft “Whoa.”
I looked at Rino.
She looked at me, seeming a little shy but still happy.
“But Seita is Seita, and I’m Rino.”
Rino said that.
“At least that much is settled.”
I couldn’t argue with that.
A relationship without a name.
But a relationship where we can at least call each other by our real names.
It was ambiguous, precarious, and still a little scary.
But for us right now, that was probably enough.
When I sat down, another note slid over from Rino.
“Seita, starting today, please call me Rino properly.”
I thought for a moment, then wrote my reply.
“Got it, Rino.”
When I handed the note back, Rino buried her face in her desk again.
Hara saw this and couldn’t hold back her laughter; her shoulders were shaking.
Shinozaki muttered, looking sleepy.
“It’s actually pretty amazing that they’re not dating, considering all this.”
I pretended not to hear them.
To my right, Rino was holding the note carefully with both hands.
I exhaled softly as I looked at the blackboard.
My teenage insecurities still haven’t gone away.
But if just hearing her name makes my heart feel this warm…
Maybe this weird kind of adolescence isn’t so bad after all.
Maigetsu