The School’s Top Idol Is Acting Like She’s My Childhood Friend for Some Reason and Just Keeps Closing the Distance on Her Own…?! ~Stop Getting All Gloomy on Me Just Because I Turned You Down!~
The day after I went to the card shop with Hoshimiya.
When lunch break rolled around, I slipped out of the classroom with my lunch box, just like always.
My destination was the space between the two warehouses behind the school building—a place I’ve taken to calling my “home.”
Even now, a month after starting school, this place hasn’t changed.
Sandwiched between the walls of two old warehouses, only a narrow strip of sky was visible above. The midday light streamed in through a long, narrow gap, and the ground was covered with dry soil and small stones. In the back, there was a large rock that served as a chair; when I sat down there, the hustle and bustle of the school building seemed a little farther away.
No one could find me there.
No one could talk to me there.
That’s what that place was supposed to be.
At least, at first.
“So, why are you here, Hoshimiya?”
Hoshimiya was sitting next to me, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
She placed her lunchbox on her lap and looked at me with an expression that seemed to say, “What’s the big deal?”
“Huh? This is my vacation home, isn’t it? Of course I’m here.”
“Please don’t go around registering my home as your vacation home without my permission.”
“Then, Seita’s home and my vacation home.”
“Don’t make it sound like we co-own the place.”
Hoshimiya laughed cheerfully.
The midday light touched her hair, making it look faintly brown. Even though we were in this plain space behind a warehouse, Hoshimiya stood out like she’d been cut out and pasted in.
Over the past month, it hadn’t become rare for her to come here.
Or rather, she came almost every day.
At first, she had insisted, “I’ll eat here by myself,” but now sitting next to me had become her regular spot. My “home,” which was supposed to be just for me, had, before I knew it, started functioning as Hoshimiya’s vacation home as well.
It was a terrifying rate of encroachment.
“Seita.”
“What is it?”
“Here.”
Hoshimiya picked up a piece of rolled omelet with her chopsticks and held it out toward my mouth.
It was such a natural movement.
There was no hesitation, as if she’d been doing this for years.
“Huh, Hoshimiya-san?”
“Try it. It’s a home-cooked meal from your childhood friend.”
“We’re not even childhood friends, and that’s no reason for me to eat your cooking.”
“I got up a little early this morning to make this, you know?”
At those words, I closed my mouth.
The rolled omelet was beautifully shaped. It had a slightly sweet, light aroma. It was a bit surprising to think that Hoshimiya had made this.
A top idol.
The most popular girl in school.
And yet, she got up early this morning to make a bento.
And now, she’s trying to get me to eat a piece of it.
It didn’t feel real.
But the rolled omelet right in front of me was definitely real.
“…Just one bite, okay?”
“Yeah.”
Reluctantly, I took a bite of the omelet she offered me.
It was sweet.
It had a slight hint of dashi, and even though it was cold, it was still soft. It was actually pretty good.
Hoshimiya was watching my reaction intently.
Her eyes were too serious.
“…It’s delicious.”
The moment I said that, Hoshimiya’s expression lit up.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“I’m glad.”
She placed her hand over her chest as if relieved.
Her face looked far too happy.
I looked away and tried to focus on my own lunch box. Seeing her like this puts me on the spot. It throws me off. If she were just going through the motions of acting like a childhood friend, I could handle it, but when she looks genuinely happy like that, it makes me feel like I’ve received something precious.
“Hoshimiya-san, come to think of it, what about Hara-san and Shinozaki-san? Aren’t you eating with them?”
I meant to ask casually.
But Hoshimiya’s chopsticks stopped.
“Why?”
“Huh?”
“Why did you bring up the names of other girls just now?”
Her voice was soft.
But her eyes weren’t.
Hoshimiya tilted her head slightly. There was a smile on her lips. It almost looked like she was teasing me. But there was no light in the depths of her eyes.
Hara and Shinozaki.
The names of the two people I’ve been talking to a lot lately.
Just hearing those names mentioned changed the atmosphere around Hoshimiya.
I stumbled over my words.
I had to answer carefully.
If I got this wrong, I’d probably be finished.
Socially.
Or mentally.
“No, Hoshimiya-san, since you’re always with Shinozaki-san and Hara-san… I just wondered if you weren’t eating with them. Even if you were with me, it wouldn’t be as fun as it is with those two.”
After I said that, Hoshimiya looked puzzled.
She stared at me for a few seconds.
Then, she suddenly smiled.
“Oh, come on. Is that all?”
The atmosphere lightened just a little.
With her lunchbox still on her lap, Hoshimiya lowered her gaze to my hands.
“I’m only here because I want to be with you, Seita.”
As she spoke, her hand moved closer to mine.
Almost touching, almost not.
It stopped at that very edge.
My heart began to race.
I pretended not to notice and reached for my lunch box with my chopsticks.
“Seita.”
“…What is it?”
“After school, do you want to come to my house?”
“—Huh!?”
My voice cracked involuntarily.
My foolish voice echoed off the warehouse wall.
Hoshimiya remained completely calm.
“You bought some cards yesterday, right? Since you did, I thought it’d be nice to play a match together.”
“No, but… Hoshimiya-san’s house?”
“Yeah. My house.”
“Well, that… isn’t a good idea.”
“What’s wrong with it?”
“All sorts of things.”
Hoshimiya Rino’s house.
The home of the current top idol.
And I’m going there.
No matter how I look at it, this is just too much to handle.
If anyone found out, it wouldn’t just be a school rumor. More like, my mind wouldn’t be able to handle it. Just going to a girl’s house is a huge deal for me—someone with low romantic comedy tolerance—but when the girl in question is Hoshimiya Rino, the impact is way too intense.
Hoshimiya saw my reaction and leaned in a little closer.
She’s close.
Behind the storage shed during lunch break, this distance is bad.
“It’s okay. My mom’s working late today.”
“That makes it even worse!”
“We’re just playing cards, okay?”
“The words sound innocent, but the situation isn’t.”
Hoshimiya gave a small laugh.
Then she leaned in, peering right at my face.
Even closer.
It was the kind of distance where we might just kiss.
Not close enough for her breath to hit me.
But it was close enough that if I moved even slightly, we’d touch.
“Seita, do you hate coming to my house?”
That was a sneaky way to put it.
When asked if I hated it, I didn’t know how to answer.
I didn’t hate it.
It was just… awkward.
It was way too dangerous.
I had a feeling Hoshimiya knew the difference and was asking on purpose.
“Ah! You were here after all!”
“Well, well. Did I interrupt something?”
A voice suddenly rang out.
I instinctively tried to put some distance between myself and Hoshimiya.
Hoshimiya’s eyebrows twitched ever so slightly in displeasure.
When I looked toward the entrance, Hara Seika and Shinozaki Saki were standing there.
Hara was grinning.
Shinozaki, her eyes still sleepy, had a look on her face that clearly found the whole thing amusing.
“Why are you two here…?”
“Well, I’ve always wondered where you go during lunch break, Rino.”
Hara said in a lighthearted tone.
“And who would’ve thought you’d be having a secret rendezvous with your childhood friend, Takahara?”
Shinozaki continued in a casual tone.
“It’s not a secret rendezvous.”
“Then what is it?”
“…Lunch.”
“That’s a harsh way to put it.”
Hara laughed.
Hoshimiya wasn’t smiling.
Well, the corners of her mouth were turned up.
But her eyes weren’t smiling.
“You two, don’t just barge into Seita and my space without permission.”
“Here we go. Rino’s possessiveness.”
“This is school property, you know?”
When Shinozaki said that, Hoshimiya’s gaze grew slightly sharper.
“But Seita was the one who found this place, so it’s my vacation home.”
“It’s Rino’s vacation home?”
“Yeah.”
“Takahara, when did you give Rino a piece of land?”
“It was taken over without my knowledge.”
Hara and Shinozaki laughed even harder.
This was getting complicated.
Without a doubt, this was getting incredibly complicated.
This used to be my refuge.
It was a place where I could quietly eat my lunch, chat with Hoshimiya about manga or trading cards from time to time, and get a little distance from the noise of the classroom.
And now, two of the most popular girls in class have found it.
It seems my little home is no longer a secret hideout at all.
“So, what’s going on?”
Hara peered between us.
“Weren’t you two standing really close just now?”
“We weren’t.”
“Yeah, you were. Rino, you were totally closing in on him, weren’t you?”
Shinozaki looks at Hoshimiya.
Hoshimiya’s cheeks flush slightly.
But she doesn’t deny it.
“I was just inviting Seita over to my house.”
“Her house!?”
Hara’s voice jumps.
Shinozaki’s sleepy eyes snapped open.
I pressed my hand to my forehead.
Why did she say that?
Why did she say that right there?
“To Rino’s house? Takahara-kun?”
“Yeah. To play cards.”
“So you invite him over just to play cards, huh?”
Hara laughed cheerfully.
“That’s nice. So youthful. After school, playing card games alone with your childhood friend at her house.”
“She didn’t say ‘just the two of us’.”
When I denied it, Hoshimiya looked over at me.
“you hate being alone with me?”
“Please don’t ask me like that.”
“So, is it okay if it’s just the two of us?”
“That’s making it even worse.”
Hara laughed so hard she held her stomach, and Shinozaki clapped lightly.
“Takahara-kun, you’ve got your work cut out for you with the comebacks.”
“Rino’s surprisingly pushy, isn’t she?”
“It’s not surprising.”
Hoshimiya gently took my arm.
“With Seita, I have to really push if I want to get through to him.”
There was a hint of sincerity in her voice.
Hara and Shinozaki’s laughter faltered slightly.
I looked at Hoshimiya too.
She kept her hand on my arm and looked straight at me. It wasn’t teasing. It wasn’t a joke. Over the past month, she’d learned all too well that I’d try to put distance between us at the first opportunity.
That’s why she was pressing in on me.
So hard it felt heavy.
Enough to block my escape route.
Because she thought that if she didn’t, I’d just disappear somewhere.
“…If it’s just playing cards…”
I said quietly.
Hoshimiya’s eyes brightened slightly.
“Will you come?”
“After school, just for a little while. And, really, it’s just playing cards.”
“Yeah. Just playing cards.”
Hoshimiya nodded happily.
Hara smirked.
“Takahara-kun, you’re totally getting pushed around, aren’t you?”
“Rino, that’s great for you.”
Shinozaki said casually.
Hoshimiya, still holding onto my arm, smiled at the two of them with a hint of pride.
“Yeah.”
That smile wasn’t the one she usually wore as an idol.
It was the face of a girl who had finally gotten what she wanted.
Maigetsu