The Beautiful Girl With a Kind Personality and Good Looks, Who Happens to Be My Childhood Friend, Seems to Have Eyes Only for Me
“…Well then.”
After finishing dinner with Mom and returning to my room, I picked up my phone.
I sent a message to Haru, thanking her again for accompanying me shopping today.
[Thanks so much today. You really helped me out. Want to go somewhere together sometime on a day off?]
I sent it and placed my phone on the desk.
I’d intended to collapse onto the bed, but for some reason, I felt restless and sat down in a chair instead.
I wanted to sort through recent events a little.
Yamato.
Haru.
Ayase Mitsuri.
Kamiya Chiyo.
I traced the faces I’d encountered today in my mind.
Yamato is bright and easygoing. The kind of person who’s always at the center of the class.
Ayase is proactive and speaks her mind. It makes sense she’s often with Yamato.
Chiyo is… Yamato’s sister. I still don’t know her well, but it was clear she didn’t have very good feelings toward me.
And then—Haru.
“…”
Just thinking of her name makes my chest feel a little warm.
She’s bright, can talk to anyone, and is popular with everyone around her.
Yet, for some reason, only when she’s near me does the distance between us seem to close just a little.
Walking side by side in the shopping district.
Her body heat when she linked arms with me.
That look on her face when she looked up at me.
“…What am I thinking?”
I muttered to myself and gave a wry smile.
Opening my phone’s photo folder, an old picture with the same date as today caught my eye.
I tapped the photo without much thought.
A picture from middle school.
Yamato, Haru, and me.
Most showed the three of us together, each wearing a carefree expression.
Laughing, running, falling down, laughing again.
“…Feels nostalgic.”
One photo caught my eye.
Yamato dribbling a ball, Haru bumping into him and falling over, us holding our stomachs laughing at the sight.
Just an ordinary picture.
But for some reason, I couldn’t look away.
“…Huh?”
After staring for a while, I suddenly realized.
Even though there should be three of us in every photo, almost all of them only show Haru and me side by side. There are hardly any where Yamato and Haru are next to each other.
Was it just coincidence?
Or had I, unconsciously, always…
“…I’m overthinking this.”
I closed the photo folder.
Glancing at the clock, it was already past 11 PM.
Just as I was about to sleep…
…I wanted to hear Haru’s voice.
“Nah, it’s way too late for this…”
I thought that once, but my fingers reaching for my phone wouldn’t stop.
“…If she doesn’t pick up after two rings, I’ll hang up.”
Making that excuse to myself, I pressed the call button.
“…She definitely won’t answer—”
‘Hello? Yuma?’
“…!”
It was still ringing on the first call.
“…Haru.”
‘What’s wrong?’
Caught off guard by her unexpected speed, I stumbled for words.
There was no special reason. Just—
“…I wanted to hear your voice.”
“…Huh?”
A brief silence.
Then, I heard the sound of a small intake of breath.
“…When you say something like that… Of course I’m happy.”
Even over the phone, I could feel my face getting hot.
“…Were you awake?”
‘Yeah. I just didn’t feel like sleeping yet… I was thinking maybe Yuma might call.’
Deep in my chest, something tightened.
“…Like that would happen?”
‘It does. Like, right now, we’re talking.’
A soft chuckle.
That sound was unbearably precious.
“…Haru’s voice is so calming.”
“~~…Seriously…”
On the other end of the line, I hear fabric rustling. Probably because she’s embarrassed.
“…Next time, say it while looking me in the eyes.”
“…Yeah. I will.”
After a moment of silence, Haru let out a small breath.
“…Yuma, today…”
“Hm?”
“…I was really happy we got to go home together.”
Deep within my chest, a gentle warmth spread.
“…Me too.”
That alone was enough.
For a while, we chatted about trivial things.
School, Mitsuri, ordinary everyday matters.
But all of it felt comforting.
“…I think I’m starting to get sleepy.”
“Sorry for keeping you up.”
“…But just a little longer…”
Those words felt strangely precious.
“…See you tomorrow.”
“…Yeah.”
Her voice sounded a little reluctant to let go.
“Good night, Haru.”
“…Good night, Yuma.”
The call ended.
“…Huh.”
A warmth lingered deep within my chest.
The restlessness I felt just moments ago vanished as if it had never been there.
Just hearing Haru’s voice could fill me up this much.
“…What the hell is wrong with me?”
Even as he muttered this, his lips curved into a smile.
He closed his eyes.
The image that came to mind was Haru’s smiling profile.
—I’ll see her again tomorrow.
…But lately, that alone wasn’t enough.
Ever since they’d grown closer, impure thoughts inevitably surfaced.
–I want Haru.
It’s not something that can be captured by pretty words like wanting to touch her or wanting to be near her.
Closer, deeper—that feeling swells deep within his chest.
—…But I know.
Because of what happened, Haru surely likes Yamato.
And it goes without saying that Yamato has feelings for Haru.
“…So I just want this one more year.”
He couldn’t form any more words.
One day, in a hospital room.
A boy lay on a bed, pale light filtering through white curtains.
He was still only in sixth grade.
Both arms were wrapped in bandages and casts, his fingertips barely able to move.
He lay completely still, staring out the window.
The sky was an unusually vivid blue.
The boy’s expression showed neither a childish cry nor any sign of distress.
There was only something like emotionless… despair.
Outside the bed, in a corner of the hallway.
Nurses holding charts spoke in hushed voices.
“…Poor kid.”
“Really… He won’t be able to play basketball anymore, the thing he loved so much?”
“Yeah. They said the nerves in both arms are pretty badly damaged…”
“They say it won’t affect his daily life, but he’ll probably have lasting damage to his wrists.”
Another nurse continued with a sigh.
“I’m sure… it was a hit-and-run, right?”
“Yes. And apparently, the perpetrator still hasn’t been caught.”
“Eh… why?”
“There were no surveillance cameras, no one around… apparently, there are no eyewitness accounts.”
Silence fell.
“…Such a little kid…”
“Yeah…”
Though they spoke, their gazes remained fixed on the boy inside the hospital room.
The boy visible through the glass didn’t move a muscle.
He stared out at the world beyond the window as if it were something completely unrelated to him.
――Wearing a uniform.
――Throwing a ball.
Standing on the court with his teammates.
He couldn’t do any of that anymore.
The boy understood this without anyone having to tell him.
On the shelf beside the bed lay a well-worn basketball.
But the boy didn’t even glance at it.
The sky stretching beyond the window.
He thought he faintly heard the sound of someone bouncing a ball in a distant square.
—His place was no longer there.
The boy’s profile, realizing this, was too still, too young.
Outside the hospital room, one of the nurses murmured softly.
“…If only they could catch the culprit…”
But that wish would never be granted.
Maiasa