I Thought She Was the One, but It Turned Out to Be a Fake Confession, so I Decided to Break Up With Her
In just a few minutes, the fireworks marking the end of this summer vacation will light up the night sky.
Despite all the upheaval, it had been a summer vacation I had no regrets about.
Lost in those thoughts, I could feel Hina’s warmth.
—Just then.
“…What are you doing?”
Suddenly, a figure appeared right in front of me.
A beige silk blouse with a subtle sheen.
A lace collar framing her neck.
An indigo pleated skirt fluttering in the summer breeze.
A small earring peeked out from between her long, meticulously groomed black hair, and the light falling at her feet sparkled in the silence.
“…Koto—”
I started to call her name, but swallowed it back.
“Shimazaki… what are you doing here?”
“What am I doing…? You’re the one I should be asking, Fujimori-kun. What are you doing here—alone with Hina?”
Shimazaki’s tone was sharp.
But her expression seemed to betray confusion and shock.
It was just like when she was standing there alone in the sudden summer downpour, without an umbrella.
(Even so, I should probably tell her the truth.)
Having come this far, there’s no way I can keep covering up my relationship with Hina.
No matter what Shimazaki-san thinks of me now, it’s already in the past.
It pains me to see our relationship as childhood friends turn sour.
But I’ll just have to make up for it.
If it’s true that Shimazaki-san doesn’t like me, then our friendship as childhood friends won’t be ruined.
“Shimazaki, actually—”
“You’re here pretty early, Kotone.”
But Hina cut me off and stood up abruptly.
She faced Shimazaki as if they were about to confront each other.
“W-well, I had my reasons, too!”
“I can pretty much guess what those reasons are… So? Did you tell Fujimori-kun the truth about that?”
“W-well, that…”
Reasons?
As for me, I couldn’t quite figure out the specifics of what the two of them were talking about.
But at the very least, I realized that Shimazaki-san was keeping something from me.
“That doesn’t matter right now! What were the two of you doing in such a secluded spot?!!”
Shimazaki stomped her foot and shouted.
It was the first time I’d ever seen her—who always maintained such dignity and composure—get this worked up.
Hina snorted softly.
“What do you mean, ‘what’? You can see for yourself, can’t you? A date. I told you, didn’t I? I said I’d ask Fujimori-kun to the summer festival because I like him.”
H-…!”
“If you hated it that much, you could’ve just said something to Fujimori-kun. Told him not to accept my invitation. But you didn’t, did you? Even though we live in an age where you can contact anyone anytime with a smartphone.”
Shimazaki couldn’t come up with a rebuttal and just shrugged.
To an uninformed bystander, it would have looked as if Hina was bullying him.
Meanwhile, I realized that a serious conversation had taken place between the two of them while I was away.
One serious enough that I couldn’t just butt in.
“A-anyway! Don’t flirt with my boyfriend! That’s just common sense, right!?”
“You’re only dating him as part of a penalty game, right?”
“W-well, whether it’s a penalty game or whatever, I confessed to him and Fujimori-kun said yes, so he’s my boyfriend!!”
“So, Kotone, have you ever actually acted like a proper girlfriend to Fujimori-kun even once?”
While Shimazaki-san was getting emotional, Hina remained completely calm.
It was as if she’d anticipated this all along.
She didn’t have her usual cheerful demeanor; instead, her expression was that of the volleyball team’s ace taking on a serious match.
“You just try to control him without showing any affection. What’s that all about? You just wanted to train Fujimori-kun to be an obedient dog, didn’t you? You don’t actually love him as a boyfriend.”
“N-no, that’s not it! I-I…”
Shimazaki-san slumped her head in defeat and clenched her wrist tightly.
The fingertips of her clenched right hand were trembling slightly.
In the back of her mind, she might have been hoping for a moment when I’d tell her, “That confession back then wasn’t actually a lie.”
But Shimazaki-san never uttered those words.
“I’m not like Kotone.”
After declaring that, Hina turned around and walked toward me.
Then, standing on her tiptoes, she wrapped both arms around my neck and whispered in my ear.
“Can I kiss you?”
At that question, Shimazaki’s eyes widened.
Then, as if to say “Stop,” she shook her head slightly.
Does Shimazaki really like me?
I’m too clueless to tell.
But Hina, standing right in front of me, has told me she likes me time and time again.
So I’ll just prioritize Hina, who definitely likes me.
“Okay.”
“Thank you.”
Hina pressed her body tightly against mine and pressed her lips against mine.
The lingering scent of the street food we’d eaten together today mingled with our saliva on my tongue.
When I opened my eyes slightly, I saw Shimazaki-san holding both hands over her mouth, as if trying to hide her flushed expression.
I wondered why her big eyes were glistening.
Being the clueless, tactless guy that I am, I couldn’t figure it out.
—BOOOOM!
Just as Hina and I shared an intense kiss, a thunderous explosion reverberated deep in my gut, shaking the air.
Looking up, I saw a massive firework piercing the night sky, blooming into a golden blossom.
Hina pulled her lips away and turned her face toward Shimazaki-san.
“I can put Daiki before myself. Kotone, what about you?”
Amid the chain of explosions ringing in my ears.
Did Shimazaki-san even hear Hina’s words?
With a thud, Shimazaki-san collapsed to the ground as if her legs had given out.
Through the trembling air, a faltering voice, tinged with anguish, reached me.
“I—I—I—”
Once again, Shimazaki’s figure overlapped with my own from my third year of junior high.
She who had always been perfect.
Toward the person who once saved me, I now feel pity and sympathy.
But at the same time, a feeling I’d call “pleasure”—an emotion I myself consider despicable—wells up inside me.
(Anyway, Hina is all I have left now.)
I want to repay her.
But I have to act in a way that doesn’t make Hina anxious.
To do that—
“Hina, I didn’t bring a handkerchief. Can you lend Shimazaki one?”
“Okay.”
I lied.
Even though I had my own handkerchief in my pocket.
Hina took a handkerchief out of her drawstring pouch.
Then she approached Shimazaki-san, knelt down, and held out the handkerchief.
“…I don’t need it!!”
Smack!
Shimazaki-san forcefully swatted Hina’s hand away.
The handkerchief she was holding was knocked out of her hand and fell to the ground.
But Hina just smiled.
“I see. So that’s Kotone’s answer. You’ve had enough of even Daiki’s kindness, huh?”
“……!”
Shimazaki looked at me.
I regretted saying something I shouldn’t have and instinctively looked away.
Then, without pausing, I said to Hina,
“I’m sorry—you went to the trouble of finding such a great hidden spot—but would it be okay if we went somewhere else?”
“Sure, that’s fine. As long as I’m next to Daiki, anywhere is fine with me.”
Hina stood up, glanced down at Shimazaki-san, and then linked her arm through mine.
I wanted to get away from there as soon as possible.
Maigetsu