Mob Character Reincarnation Loner: As a Result of Supporting the Heroine Who Had Been Rejected, I Ended up Being the Recipient of Her Heavy Emotions…
Inside a large shopping mall, a particularly eye-catching high school girl sat in a cafe.
The three of them were Nanase Hiyori, Serizawa Misuzu, and Tsukimi Hoshino. In other words, the usual crew.
“Phew~ We really hit a lot of places today, huh?”
Hiyori stretched her body with a sigh, sounding cheerful. Today’s haul was spread out on either side of her chair.
Originally, they’d planned to go to a trendy cafe with terrace seating, but the rain forced a change of plans. Instead, they’d enjoyed shopping for clothes and bags at the mall.
“Hoshino, thanks for the other day. Here, please accept this.”
Misuzu handed Hoshino the Peach Mango Frappuccino she and Hiyori had bought together, as a reward for participating in the bowling tournament the other day.
“Mm, thanks.”
Hoshino took a sip of the Frappuccino Misuzu handed her. The sweetness of the frozen peach mango soaked into her tired body.
“Hoshino. Sounds like you had it rough. All kinds of weird rumors are flying around.”
“…Weird rumors?”
Hiyori nodded at Hoshino’s echo.
“Yeah. Like Hoshino got taken home by Bun-kun!”
“……………………”
Cold sweat ran down Hoshino’s back.
“And that you’ve already stayed over at Bun-kun’s place multiple times, like you’re in some scandalous relationship!”
“……………… Seriously, those rumors are completely baseless.”
In fact, that very night, she had gone straight to Irie’s house and stayed over normally.
She couldn’t possibly say that out loud, so she kept silent.
“Misuzu, speaking of which, how did it go? That ‘fake date’ with Irie? You did go, right? How did that even happen?”
Hoshino didn’t quite understand what a “fake date” meant, but sensing it was unwise to continue this topic, she changed the subject.
“Yesterday was really eventful.”
Misuzu’s gaze drifted off into the distance. She pondered where to start for a long moment before finally opening her mouth.
“Well, it starts with me confessing to Irie during lunch break and getting rejected—”
““Rejected!?””
“Yep.”
Mizuki nodded calmly at the flustered reactions of the two.
“Huh? Wait, hold up… What? Mi-chan, you confessed to Bun-kun!? During lunch yesterday!?”
“Yep. My first confession ever, and I got rejected. Yay.”
The two looked confused at Misuzu, who seemed somewhat cheerful as she spoke.
“So, I ended up concluding that maybe I don’t actually like Irie as a guy…?”
“What do you mean!?”
“I went on a date to confirm if I really liked Irie.”
“…Um, Mi-chan confessed but still didn’t know if you liked Bun-kun?”
“Yep.”
Seeing Misuzu’s smug face, the two of them couldn’t help but look solemn.
“…W-well, I guess that happens sometimes!”
Hiyori’s words made Hoshino nod.
The story had way too many plot holes, but trying to make sense of it with this friend was pointless.
“…So, Hiyori, do you like Irie?”
“Huh!?”
Hiyori was caught off guard by the unexpected killer question. Her voice cracked in surprise.
“Wh-why are you suddenly asking that…”
“It’s not sudden. I’ve been wondering for a while. I get the feeling you’re conscious of Irie.”
“Well…”
Misuzu’s clear eyes turned toward Hiyori.
In response, Hiyori took an awkward deep breath before answering.
“I like him. I like Bun-kun, I really do. But… I don’t think this is love… I don’t think so.”
“Is that so?”
“Because it’s different from how I felt with Tenma… With Tenma, my heart would race, I’d feel butterflies, and if he talked friendly with other girls, my chest would hurt and it was painful… Every day sparkled.”
She took another deep breath.
“But with Bun-kun, it’s different. To me, Fumi-kun is… like a soft, fluffy bed… Being with him calms me, it’s very comfortable. That kind of presence… I guess.”
That’s why I want him to only look at me… I don’t want him looking at other girls.
Seeing him talk to other girls makes me feel unpleasant and uncomfortable.
I couldn’t voice that dark, possessive feeling, so different from how I felt with Tenma.
Truthfully, I wanted him to stay by my side forever, and deep down, I feared him drifting away from me.
Things I could tolerate with Tenma, I can’t tolerate with Bun kun. I’m being selfish.
Mizuki stared intently at Hiyori, who was quietly tucking away those feelings, and nodded as if understanding.
“…………Oh, I see. Yeah. Got it. If Hiyori says it’s not love, then there’s no need to hold back, right?”
“Mizuki? What are you talking about?”
“Continuing what I was saying… On the way home from that pseudo-date with Bungaku yesterday, I confessed to him again.”
“Mi-chan?”
“I’m going to start dating Bungaku.”