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 homeroom, Natsuki stood up with her bag.
I called out to her back.
“Then, do your best.”
“Yeah. –Ah”
Natsuki nodded lightly and was about to walk away when she suddenly turned around.
“Other than Yu-senpai, there’s no one who’s going to bother me. Don’t mistake her for a boy even though she’s wearing a polo shirt, okay?”
“I-I know.”
Blushing, I nodded, and Natsuki chuckled as she left the classroom.
“What’s wrong, did you mistake a girl for a boy and get jealous or something?”
Yamada, a classmate, sniffed mockingly.
“What? Seriously? You can tell if she’s a girl or not just by looking at her breasts and bottom.”
“That’s it.”
Hayashi and Tadokoro, who were nearby, also snickered.
They were the three who always hung out together, and were the one that had looked me with jealousy when I started dating her
“People don’t like jealous men, you know? Have you been forgiven?”
“Yeah.”
I answered curtly without making eye contact with them and continued getting ready.
I had thought that I intended to make it clear that I had no intention of talking, but they seemed to see the fact that we were alone as an opportunity, and their sarcasm continued unabated.
“Even so, I’m jealous that you can have such a cute and stylish girlfriend just because you are a childhood friend.”
“I mean, isn’t it unfair? If it was someone as good-looking as Kanzaki, I could understand that.”
“That’s exactly what I mean. It’s not a parental gacha, it’s a birth gacha.”
They said whatever they wanted and smiled ostentatiously at me.
When I continued to show no reaction, they approached me directly again.
“Hey, Shiraishi. Have you done it with Shinohara yet?”
“…. That would be rude to Natsuki, not me.”
“Wow, the way you said that, you definitely didn’t do it!”
Yamada clapped his hands happily.
“Are you, by any chance, the type that thinks girls should be treated with care?”
“I know there are guys out there like that. But that’s just an excuse for people who are scared.”
“Women can be pushed around if they want to be pushed around.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Yamada was leaning back with his hands behind his head, and Hayashi and Tadokoro nodded with smug looks on their faces.
I wonder if these guys have a lot of experience. I’ve rarely seen them talking to girls.
“You should spit early okay?”
“By the way, if it were me, I’d f*ck her the day we went out.”
“It’s always someone like Shinohara who can’t resist pressure!”
“Hey, you guys!—“
I was about to raise my voice, when I heard the sound
“–That may be true. But there’s no way I’d be overwhelmed by you guys.”
Abruptly, a cold voice rang out.
When I turned around, Natsuki was looking down at Yamada and the others with her arms crossed and a stern expression.
“Shi-Shinohara?!
“Why are you here ……!?”
“Well, don’t tell me you’ve been eavesdropping ⁉︎?”
“Ha? I don’t think so.
I’m not interested in you guys. I just heard a vulgar conversation when I came to get my water bottle.”
Natsuki’s sharp gaze pierces Yamada and the others.
They stood up impatiently and began to defend themselves.
“I-it was just a joke between guys.”
“Even girls talk about pretty nasty stuff, right? It’s the same thing.”
“Don’t take that so seriously, okay?”
“… huh.”
Natsuki let out a sigh and raised her eyebrows.
“What’s wrong with you? I don’t really care what you think. Like I said, I’m not interested.”
“””…..!”””
The faces of Yamada and the others twisted ugly, but Natsuki did not seem to care and continued to speak.
“That was to Rei.”
“…Ha? W-What do you mean?”
“Please correct your statement that you were jealous that he has me as girlfriend just because we were childhood friends and apologize. That is an insult to Rei.”
Here, Yamada and the others seemed to understand what Natsuki was angry about.
They countered with a drawn-out smile.
“W-Why do you have to correct me?”
“It’s true, isn’t it?”
“You’re only going out with her because you’ve known her since childhood!”
Natsuki sniffed.
“It seems that you are dreaming too much about childhood friend.”
“W-What do you mean?”
Natsuki looked at the indignant Yamada and the others with even more pity.
“You guys probably don’t know this, but women aren’t so easy to fall in love with just by being with you. In fact, in many cases, the more time goes by, the less of a love interest they become.”
“T-That’s just Shinohara’s opinion.”
“That’s right. But it is true that the longer you are with someone, the more you can see all the good and bad things about them, isn’t it? If Rei was the kind of person who would make fun of his classmates out of jealousy, I definitely wouldn’t have gone out with him.”
““……!””
Yamada and the others all held their breath. They were probably aware to some extent of what they were doing.
However, it seemed they weren’t mature enough to honestly admit it.
“D-Don’t change the subject!”
“Y-yes! After all, you are childhood friends, but that doesn’t change the fact that you are dating.”
“If that wasn’t the case, we wouldn’t even be involved!”
They ranted and raved.
Natsuki, however, kept a quiet tone.
“Maybe so. But so what?”
“W-What?”
“There’s no point in hypotheticals. We’re childhood friends, and we’re actually dating. I think that’s all there is to it. But, you know, if I were to step into your ring—”
Natsuki lifted the corners of her mouth,
“—Even if we were childhood friends, there’s no way I’d ever go out with you guys.”
“Nah…..!? you don’t know that!”
“And it does not hurt or itch to be told by you that you like a plain guy like Shiraishi!”
“That! If he was a good-looking guy like Kanzaki, that would be one thing.”
“—Don’t use people’s names without permission.”
This was the second time today that a voice interrupted from outside the classroom.
The faces of Yamada and the other students were upset.
“Nah, ……!”
“Kanzaki ……!?”
“Why are you here ……!”
“The chairman just finished his work.”
Kanzaki replied as if to throw up and glared at Yamada and the other three.
“I only heard about it partway through, but I pretty much understand the situation. If you can’t brag about it unless it’s someone else’s name, then don’t start arguing from the beginning. At the very least, wait until you can assert that you are more deserving of the name before you say anything.”
““ugh……!””
Yamada and the others were at a loss for words.
These guys had been hyping up Kanzaki more than necessary in order to bring me down. Now that Kanzaki has spoken the truth, I’m sure they won’t be able to say a word.
Natsuki and Kanzaki are looking at the three of them coldly, and I am angry with them.
–I’m angry, too, but I can only speak for myself.
“I understand how Yamada and the others feel.”
““……!?””
Not only the three of them, but Natsuki and Kanzaki also looked in my direction in surprise.
It might have been the first time I’d seen Natsuki look so goofy.
That was a positive experience in itself, but of course I didn’t intend to end it there.
“Kanzaki is good-looking both inside and out, and there are many other guys who are more attractive than me. To be honest, I’ve thought about it too, that if we weren’t childhood friends, she wouldn’t have even looked at me.”
“Rei, that is–”
Natsuki raised her voice in an unintentional way.
I then suppressed it with my eyes, and strengthened my tone.
“But now, I don’t think about it that way.”
“…!”
After smiling at Natsuki, who was writhing, I looked at Yamada and the others and continued.
“It would be rude to Natsuki, who chose me, if I said I wasn’t worthy. To be honest, I’m still not confident, but I’ll work hard so that I can proudly call myself her boyfriend, and more than anything, so that Natsuki will want to be with me forever.”
As I concluded, the classroom fell silent.
Kanzaki quietly told the stunned Yamada and the others.
“For now, you guys should go home and cool your heads. You need to think a little bit about how you would feel if you were Shiraishi….”
Without responding to Kanzaki’s words, the three left the classroom in a huff.
Soon after that
“I-I’ll see you later!”
“Eh? N-Natsuki?”
Before anyone could stop her, Natsuki ran out of the classroom.
“—-Why did she do that?”
“That’s of course.”
Kanzaki shrugs in exasperation.
“It was almost like a proposal.”
“Eh? Ah.”
…Indeed, thinking back on it, that might be true.
I could feel my face getting hotter and hotter.
“That part is kind of like Shiraishi, but …… you’re prepared for it, aren’t you?”
Kanzaki is turning a sharp gaze at me.
“—yeah”
I nodded vigorously.
There were parts where I acted on impulse, and I wasn’t sure what sort of face I should have when I met Natsuki after this, but I was definitely not all talk.
What I just said was without a doubt my true feelings
My resolve was conveyed, and Kanzaki nodded in satisfaction.
“That’s fine. Then, I’ll join the club too…”
“Ah, Kanzaki!”
I stopped him as he turned on his heel.
“What is it?”
“I know it’s brazen of me, but can I ask you to do one thing…..?”
Maiban