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 next morning.
I was taking deep breaths even before I opened the front door.
The reason was simple.
There was a high probability that Rino Hoshimiya would be waiting outside.
It was a prediction I trusted more than the weather forecast. If there was a 40% chance of rain, I might hesitate to bring an umbrella, but with an 89% chance of Rino being there, I needed to steel myself.
Standing in front of the door, I told myself in my head.
Calm down, Seita Takahara.
This is just going to school.
It’s definitely not a romantic comedy event.
A scenario where a beautiful girl is waiting in front of your house in the morning doesn’t happen in real life.
It is happening, but as long as I don’t acknowledge it, I’ll be fine.
I opened the door.
“Good morning, Seita.”
It was happening.
There she was, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
She was in her school uniform, holding her bags in both hands, smiling in the morning sun. Her hair looked a little different from yesterday; it was softly gathered at the sides of her ears. It was probably a style she’d picked up during a photo shoot for work or something.
She was beautiful.
And my “youth complex” died instantly.
The me inside my heart is rolling around clutching Volume 7 of I Don’t Need Youth!!.
Before school in the morning, the heroine is waiting in front of the protagonist’s house.
Her hairstyle is different.
The protagonist notices.
The heroine smiles.
That kind of thing is a potent drug that should only exist on paper. It must not be brought into reality. It should be designated a hazardous substance. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology needs to regulate these “youth romance comedy” events.
“Seita?”
“…Good morning.”
“Let’s walk together today, too.”
“Since you’ve come this far, I suppose that’s how it’ll be.”
Hoshimiya smiled happily and walked up beside me.
As we started walking, the sound of our footsteps mingled with the quiet of the residential neighborhood. It’s a path I usually walk without a second thought, but just having Hoshimiya beside me makes me feel strangely uneasy.
Plus, yesterday’s phone call was still stuck in my head.
[You know, I want to have Seita all to myself, too.]
Just remembering it made my heart skip a beat.
To shake off that memory, I tried to focus on the latest side story of I Don’t Need Youth!!. But the heroine of that side story was pretty intense, too. In the end, my thoughts kept coming back to Hoshimiya. There was no escape.
“Seita, did you get a good night’s sleep last night?”
“I did.”
“Really?”
“I did. The protagonist from I Don’t Need Youth!! even showed up in my dream and lectured me.”
“What kind of dream?”
“He told me, ‘It’s about time you took responsibility.’”
Hoshimiya froze for a moment.
Then, her face flushed, and she gave a small laugh.
“That protagonist says some good things.”
“Not good at all. I want to tell him not to invade my dreams and lecture me.”
“But the fact that you’re having dreams like that means he’s thinking about you.”
“It’s a side effect of my ‘Youth Complex.’”
“Me?”
“…In a broad sense.”
Hoshimiya narrowed her eyes contentedly.
No matter how much I deny it, she picks out the parts that suit her from the cracks. Her verbal net is too fine. My true feelings get caught in it immediately.
By the time we arrived at school, I already felt like I’d fought a mental battle.
When I entered the classroom, Hara and Shinozaki looked at me and laughed at the same time.
“Good morning. Coming to school as a married couple again today?”
“Thanks for the morning supply.”
“It’s not a ‘supply’.”
When I immediately denied it, Shinozaki tilted her head with a sleepy expression.
“Takahara-kun, did you talk to Rino on the phone yesterday?”
“How do you know that?”
“Because Rino’s face is fully charged first thing in the morning.”
“Please stop treating people like batteries.”
Hoshimiya reacted quietly beside me.
“Seita is my charger.”
“Please don’t use her as an example.”
“Then, my personal charger.”
“That’s getting worse.”
Hara laughed, slapping the desk.
A few people in the classroom looked over at us. I pressed my hand to my forehead. Next to me, Hoshimiya was smiling happily.
Seeing that smile made me feel a little less angry.
And that, in turn, made me even more annoyed.
Lunchtime.
I headed to the usual spot behind the storage shed.
Hoshimiya arrived a little later. In her hands were a lunch bag and, for some reason, two volumes of the manga I Don’t Need Youth!!.
“Seita, I want to talk about this particular chapter today.”
“Volume 9?”
“Yeah. The chapter where the protagonist takes the heroine’s hand but never calls her his girlfriend until the very end.”
“It’s a masterpiece, but it’s the kind that gives you a stomachache.”
“It’s just like you, Seita.”
“Please stop. Don’t lump me in with the ‘stomachache’ crowd.”
Hoshimiya sat down next to me and opened the volume.
There, a scene was depicted where the protagonist, afraid of getting close to people due to past failures, still refuses to let go of the heroine’s hand.
I looked at the page, and my breathing grew a little shallow.
A memory from the past suddenly surfaced.
The hallway in middle school.
The cold gaze of the girl I liked.
[Could you please stop coming near me?]
When I heard those words, I felt as if I’d been denied the very right to get close to anyone.
If I get close, I’ll be rejected.
If I overstepped, I’d be a nuisance.
If I showed my feelings, I’d put the other person in an awkward position.
So I learned only how to keep my distance.
If someone approached me, I’d take a step back.
I wouldn’t ask for anything myself.
I’d swallow my true feelings as much as possible.
I thought that was safe.
But now…
Hoshimiya, sitting next to me, noticed that I’d fallen silent.
She said nothing, but gently tugged at my sleeve.
I didn’t brush her hand away.
Instead, I moved my fingertips just a little, letting her know I was there.
Hoshimiya’s hand stopped.
“Seita.”
“…What is it?”
“You didn’t run away just now.”
“Could you please stop acting like I run away every time?”
“But you didn’t run away.”
Hoshimiya’s voice trembled slightly.
I looked away as I spoke.
“…I just remembered something from the past. But now, you’re here.”
After saying that, I wanted to strangle myself.
What was that line just now?
Was that the kind of thing that gets printed on the cover of I Don’t Need Youth!!?
Was that the kind of thing my editor would mark in red, saying, “This is the climax”?
Every single member of the “Youth Complex Committee” in my head collapsed, foaming at the mouth.
Hoshimiya was completely frozen.
Her lunchbox still open, chopsticks unheld, she just stared at me.
“Seita.”
“Please forget about it.”
“I can’t.”
“I knew it.”
“This moment today will keep me going for a whole week.”
“I don’t know if that’s good or bad fuel efficiency.”
“But I want to refuel again tomorrow.”
“So it’s bad after all.”
Hoshimiya smiled.
But the corners of her eyes were slightly moist.
“I’m so happy that even when you remember the past, you think, ‘I have you now.’”
“……It helped me a little, too.”
Hoshimiya froze again.
Then she covered her face with both hands.
“I can’t.”
“What is it now?”
“You’re too honest, Seita. I can’t handle it.”
“Are you complaining?”
“I’m at my limit of happiness.”
She was writhing in agony behind the warehouse, where there wasn’t even a desk, with her lunchbox in front of her.
Seeing her like that, I couldn’t help but chuckle a little.
A top idol writhing in agony behind a warehouse.
My youth is completely crazy.
But it’s not bad.
As lunch break was coming to an end, Hoshimiya closed Volume 9.
“Seita.”
“Yes?”
“Let’s play cards at my place again sometime.”
“Cards?”
“Yeah. I want to play cards, and I want to read I Don’t Need Youth!! with you too.”
“Isn’t that just an excuse to hang out?”
“Yeah. I want to hang out with you, Seita.”
She said it straight out.
I was at a loss for words.
In the past, I would have made up an excuse and run away right then.
But I didn’t run away.
“…If our schedules work out.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Hoshimiya smiled happily.
The moment I saw that smile, my heart skipped a beat again.
More than friends.
Less than lovers.
Our relationship still has no name.
But even without a name, it’s definitely there.
The prep bell rang, and we headed back to class.
On the way, Hoshimiya whispered softly.
“Seita, don’t run away this afternoon, okay?”
“From what?”
“From thinking about me.”
“That’s…”
I tried to deny it.
But I probably couldn’t.
“I’ll do my best.”
“I don’t want ‘do my best.’”
“…I’ll think about it.”
Hoshimiya nodded, looking satisfied.
During the afternoon class, I ended up thinking about Hoshimiya after all.
And without realizing it, I had written this in the margin of my notebook:
—I may have said I don’t need a youth, but I never said I don’t need Hoshimiya.
The moment I realized it, I erased that sentence with all my might.
But Hoshimiya, sitting next to me, had seen it clearly.
She was propping her chin in her hand, smiling at an angle only I could see.
It’s over.
My “youth complex” has been defeated by Hoshimiya Rino once again today.
Maigetsu