A Childhood Friend Told Me “I Can’t Get a Boyfriend Because of You,” So I Distanced Myself From Her and She Stopped Coming to School the Next Day
After school, walking home in the evening sun, I suddenly remembered and opened my mouth.
“Natsuki, I heard you got a confession of love again?”
My childhood friend Shinohara Natsuki, who was walking next to me, raised her eyebrows lightly.
“Who told you?”
“No, it was a girl in my class who told me.”
“……I see”
Natsuki kicked a pebble at her feet. She seemed to be in a bad mood.
I tried to sound cheerful.
“You’re still as popular as ever. How many have it been?”
“It’s my second one.”
“Eh, that’s all?
I thought there were more.”
“I told you there are only two.”
Natsuki’s wrinkles between her eyebrows become darker.
“I’m sorry. I was persistent.”
“No, I’m sorry for being so harsh.”
Natsuki’s eyes were downcast.
(It’s only been a short time since we enrolled, but I’m sure she would be confessed more.)
That self-assessment is correct.
Natsuki has the good looks and style to be scouted as a model. Even without the childhood friend correction, she is without a doubt the most beautiful girl in her grade.
“The kids at my high school have way too much sense of judgment…”
“It’s because they have good judgment.”
Natsuki responded to my spontaneous murmur in a cold tone.
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“…No, it’s nothing.”
Natsuki sighed softly and shook her head.
After a short pause, she muttered something as if she had thought it over.
“…Everyone’s giving up because Rei is there.”
“–!”
I was surprised by her sultry tone.
Natsuki raised her eyebrows in wonder.
“What’s wrong?”
“No, …… nothing.”
“…… hmm?”
Natsuki gave me a searching look, but didn’t pursue the matter.
There was silence from then until we arrived at Natsuki’s house.
“Then, Bye.”
“See you later.”
When we parted, the atmosphere was still somewhat awkward.
Natsuki and I are neighbors. I went into my room less than a minute after seeing her off and threw myself on the futon without taking off my school uniform.
“I must have been standing in Natsuki’s way. ……”
It’s not that I didn’t see what everyone else saw.
Just because I’m her childhood friend, I stand beside her as if I own the place, and no one else could get close to her.
[It’d be a problem if we got lost, so let’s go together.]
On the day of the entrance ceremony, it was Natsuki who invited me to go with her.
Looking back, I think she was worried because she didn’t know anyone. She may look like a shy person, but she is.
But I interpreted her words in a convenient way and started to pick her up as a matter of course, just as I had done until junior high school.
(I guess I couldn’t say that I didn’t intend to do so, since she had invited me.)
Natsuki is not an honest girl, but she is sincere.
That is why she never tried to go out with anyone while she was going to and from school with me.
–I was the one who was interfering with Natsuki’s youth.
[Because of Rei, everyone would give up, right?]
That line must have conveyed that.
The blunt tone of her voice must have been evidence that she was getting frustrated.
It is natural to get angry when you are told by the intruder himself that someone has confessed to you and then told that “the other guys don’t have eyes”
“…It’s time to move on.”
I moved my leaden arms and pulled my cell phone out of my pocket.
I type a message, exhale, and send it.
–We’ll go our separate ways starting tomorrow.
—Eh, why?
The message was read right away, and then the reply came without a moment’s pause.
I guess she was wondering if I understood her position.
–I thought that even though we were childhood friends, we were a man and a woman, and since we were indeed high school students, we should go separately.
This time, it took a little longer for the reply to come.
–I see….
What I eventually received was a single, bland message. I can’t read her emotions from the text, but I guessed she was relieved.
As I smiled to myself in self-mockery, I received a follow-up message.
–I’ll go first, then.
“…… I see.”
I guess she meant to make sure we didn’t overlap.
–I understand.
With that one word, our “conversation” ended.
It might be the first time that Natsuki did not send me a stamp at the end.
If you just look at the facts, we just started going to and from school separately. If we wanted to see each other, we could see each other immediately.
And yet, I felt as if my relationship with Natsuki itself had come to an end.
◇ ◇ ◇
On the first Monday of the week, I left home later than usual.
After heading to Natsuki’s house, I turned on my heel with a wry smile on my face.
(I guess I don’t have to take the long way around from now on.)
Even though we are neighbors, Natsuki’s house was in the opposite direction from the school, so it must have been a few dozen steps closer.
–The walk to the school seemed awfully long, even so.
On the way, I passed by a new construction site.
(Before I knew it, it was almost finished. …… I thought construction had just started a few days ago.)
The speed of construction these days is tremendous.
The moment I enter the classroom, an unvoiced murmur spreads.
(Natsuki is here first, so they must already know we’re going to school separately–hmm?)
There was still no bag or uniform on Natsuki’s seat diagonally in front of me.
(She said she was going ahead of me. Did she oversleep?)
Every morning, when I rang the chime, Natsuki would immediately show her face.
(I don’t have a weak image of her in the morning. ……)
But then she didn’t show up.
Soon the chime rang, the homeroom teacher came into the classroom, and homeroom was held.
–There, Natsuki’s absence was announced.
Maiban