I Thought She Was the One, but It Turned Out to Be a Fake Confession, so I Decided to Break Up With Her
Shortly after advancing to their sophomore year, Kotone realized she had fallen in love with Daiki.
Unlike their freshman year, when Hina and Daiki were in the same class as her, the three of them ended up in different classes in their sophomore year.
(I thought I was used to spending time alone.)
However, she was overcome by an unbearable sense of loneliness.
In their second year, Hina became an even more indispensable member of the volleyball club, and the time she spent on club activities kept increasing.
Daiki, too, had completely settled into the class—a stark contrast to his first-year self—and began actively participating in school events, spending more time with his classmates.
It wasn’t as if Kotone didn’t have any friends, but Hina and Daiki were, after all, special to her.
(Before she knew it, she found herself unconsciously following Daiki with her eyes…)
In Hina’s case, since they lived close by and were friends of the same gender, they frequently visited each other’s homes on weekends and days when there were no club activities.
Daiki wasn’t part of any club, but he felt uncomfortable just dropping by a guy’s place where he lived alone, or conversely, inviting a guy over to his own home.
Above all, her pride wouldn’t allow her to be the one to go see him.
(Pride, huh…?)
Hina came to Kotone’s rescue, as Kotone found herself unconsciously longing for Daiki.
Hina called Daiki and suggested the three of them hang out together, just like they did in their first year.
Kotone gladly agreed, and the three of them spent a fun day off together.
But without fail, at the very end, Daiki would add a remark that dampened Kotone’s cheerful mood.
“I like you! Please go out with me!!”
Kotone thought of him as a good friend.
But that was all.
She had never once thought of him as a romantic interest.
So, as usual, Kotone turned him down coldly.
As usual, Daiki was disappointed.
And Kotone expected Hina to tease him as usual, saying, “Oh, come on, here we go again~.”
But after they parted ways with Daiki and it was just Kotone and Hina, Hina said something out of the ordinary.
“—Don’t you really like Fujimori-kun?”
“There’s no way I could like him.
Why would I?
He’s just a friend.”
Kotone rattled off those words.
But Hina persisted relentlessly.
“—Well then, just imagine for a second. Let’s say I got a boyfriend. Would you congratulate me?”
“It depends on what kind of guy he is, but if he’s a nice guy, I would.”
Kotone replied.
Then, Hina asked another question.
—So, what if Fujimori-kun got a girlfriend?
Kotone couldn’t answer that question right away, so instead, she blurted out something unrelated to the question.
The idea of Fujimori-kun having a girlfriend is absolutely impossible—even if the world turned upside down.
There’s no way there’s a woman in this world who’d be crazy enough to fall for Fujimori-kun.
He doesn’t have a shred of tact, he keeps making those insensitive confessions over and over, and he gets a big head the moment you give him the slightest compliment…
Even as she answered, Kotone was aware of something.
She realized she was giving an evasive answer that missed the point of the question.
If she truly didn’t see Daiki as a man, all she had to do was say she’d sincerely congratulate him as a friend on getting a girlfriend.
“—So, is it okay if I confess to Fujimori-kun?”
Hina’s words made Kotone’s heart freeze.
And it was at that moment, for the first time, that she realized she was in love for the first time.
“—No.”
It’s up to her to express her feelings.
Kotone had no right to stop her.
It was an obvious fact—one she would have realized if she’d just thought about it for a moment.
But before Kotone could even think, the words had already slipped out.
She was surprised by her own firm tone—so much so that she startled herself.
――What? So you do like him after all.
Kotone interpreted Hina’s choice of such strong words—deliberately saying she’d confess—as simply a way to make her realize her own feelings.
She didn’t really think Hina was seriously in love with Daiki.
No, she tried to believe that.
(Come to think of it, Hina looked incredibly serious back then……)
Just when did Hina start lying?
No, Hina herself had never once said she didn’t like Daiki.
It was just that she had been trying so hard to bring Kotone and Daiki together that Kotone had simply assumed it on her own.
“Since when have you had feelings for Fujimori-kun…?”
Kotone asked Hina, who was standing right in front of her.
To Hina, who, despite her serious expression, looked somewhat flushed—the face of a girl in love.
“Since the second semester of our freshman year.”
“That early…?”
“Yeah. Unlike Fujimori-kun, who could just come out and say it, I’ve been carrying this one-sided crush around, worrying about it all by myself, ever since then.”
Kotone hadn’t truly fallen for Daiki until her sophomore year.
In other words, Hina had been in love with him for more than half a year longer than she had.
Faced with this barrage of new revelations, Kotone’s heart was thrown into turmoil.
Seeing Kotone remain silent, Hina delivered her verdict like a judge.
“I’m going to ask Fujimori-kun to go to the summer festival with just the two of us.”
“W-why…! Weren’t you supposed to be rooting for me, Hina?”
“I was rooting for you. That’s why I warned you so many times. I like you too, Kotone, so I truly wished for both of the people I care about to be happy.”
“Then…!”
“But it was you who betrayed my feelings, wasn’t it, Kotone? I told you not to confess during the penalty game, but you didn’t listen to me at all.”
Kotone was at a loss for words.
Seeing Daiki’s attitude yesterday, could she really say for certain that he still liked her?
It would be easier to just blame him for changing, but she couldn’t bring herself to do that.
(Even if it was a penalty game, a confession is still a confession—I’d convinced myself that Daiki would forgive me for such a prank…)
No, Kotone realized that, in the end, this was nothing more than an excuse.
It was the result of a mix of feelings: her desire to somehow get through the dare—one she’d finally managed to get from friends other than Hina and Daiki—and her reluctance to do it with any boy other than Daiki.
“Listen, Kotone. If you really liked Fujimori-kun, the one you should’ve asked to come here today wasn’t me—it was Fujimori-kun.”
“W-well…”
She didn’t want to give him a cold, and she didn’t want to show him how weak she was.
But more than anything, she was afraid to reach out to him first.
What if he rejected her again, just like yesterday?
She couldn’t hide her confusion at the reversal of their roles—a situation she’d never experienced in her relationships with peers her own age.
And so, Kotone’s mind was filled with nothing but excuses.
“Since we’re on the subject, let me ask you straight out, Kotone. Do you really like Fujimori-kun? Or do you just like the fact that Fujimori-kun likes you?”
“N-no! I really do like Fujimori-kun!!”
“Hmm…”
Hina snorted derisively.
“You know, Kotone, did you know you’re a lot like your mom?”
“People often tell me we look alike, but…”
Why bring that up all of a sudden?
Kotone couldn’t figure out what Hina was getting at.
“It’s not just your face—your personality is exactly the same.”
Hina drove the verbal knife right into her heart.
“You’re the spitting image of her.”
Maigetsu