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!~
By the time I finished reading the official anthology of I Don’t Need Youth!! on a park bench, the sky had turned completely crimson with the sunset.
I closed the book and let out a deep breath.
The official anthology.
It was a terrifying book.
Interactions between characters not seen in the main story, each author’s unique interpretation, short stories that went all out on comedy, and unexpected, precious fill-ins.
The last short story was especially bad.
It was just a story where the protagonist tells the heroine, “I feel calm when you’re next to me,” but it hit me way too hard. On top of that, the heroine takes it as if it were a memory she’ll cherish for a lifetime. Since Hoshimiya, sitting right next to me, is exactly the kind of woman who would interpret it that way, halfway through I felt like I was looking at reality instead of the pages.
Help me.
I was supposed to be the kind of guy who reads romance comedies to satisfy my nostalgia for youth, but lately, every time I read one, I’m forced to check in on where I stand with Hoshimiya.
This isn’t reading anymore.
It’s an interrogation.
“Seita, that last story was great, wasn’t it?”
“It was, but the emotional impact was way too intense.”
“Why?”
“Because the heroine is too clingy.”
“I like her, though.”
“I figured.”
Hoshimiya held the anthology close to her chest, smiling contentedly.
Her pofile, bathed in the evening glow, looked strangely soft.
It wasn’t the polished smile Rino Hoshimiya showed at work. Nor was it the pretty smile she gave to those around her in the classroom. It was simply the face of someone who was happy to be reading a story she loved and sharing her thoughts with the person next to her.
Seeing that face, my heart skipped a beat again.
Latel, I feel like my heart has been overreacting to Hoshimiya.
I want to apply the Labor Standards Act and give it a day off.
“Seita?”
“Nothing.”
“You were thinking something weird again.”
“It’s a regular bout of my ‘youth complex.’”
“What’s today’s episode about?”
“The fact that the real-life heroine is stronger than the one in the official anthology.”
As soon as I said it, I knew I’d messed up.
Hoshimiya froze.
Her eyes widened, and her cheeks gradually turned red.
“…Me, a heroine?”
“That was just a figure of speech.”
“Seita’s heroine?”
“Please don’t read too much into it.”
“But Seita said it.”
“My mouth betrays me sometimes.”
Hoshimiya smiled happily.
Her grip on the anthology tightened.
“I’ll make today a memory, too.”
“That’s fast enough to make the permission system pointless.”
“The day Seita called me the heroine.”
“Please pretend I didn’t say that.”
“No way.”
Her reply was immediate.
This girl saves my slip-ups way too fast.
Is she using cloud backup or something?
As I was thinking that, I heard a faint murmur coming from near the park entrance.
I reflexively looked over there.
A group of what looked like high school girls was glancing this way. Some of them were holding smartphones. Their gaze wasn’t on me, but on Hoshimiya.
This is bad.
Hoshimiya Rino.
A celebrity.
A park.
In a school uniform.
With a plain-looking guy by her side.
Given this situation, a headline is automatically generating itself in my head.
“Popular Idol Rino Hoshimiya: Secret After-School Meeting with a Mysterious Boy?”
Stop it.
Don’t turn my life into a tabloid story.
Hoshimiya seemed to notice too; her expression shifted slightly.
In just a split second, she tried to put on the face of Rino Hoshimiya. A smile that would be fine no matter who saw it. An expression meant to keep the distance just right.
But before she could, I had already stood up.
“Let’s go.”
“Huh?”
“There are more people gathering here.”
I took the anthology from Hoshimiya and put it in my bag. Hoshimiya looked at me with a slightly surprised expression.
The old me would probably have panicked and run away alone.
I might have left Hoshimiya behind because I was afraid of people’s stares and didn’t want the hassle.
But then I remembered that time I ran away in front of Kyosuke and left Hoshimiya behind.
If I run away, I’ll leave someone behind.
Even if I’m the only one who makes it back to safety, the person left behind might get hurt.
So today, I won’t run away.
I gently tugged on Hoshimiya’s sleeve.
“Hoshimiya, this way.”
Hoshimiya’s eyes wavered.
Her expression was a mix of surprise, joy, and a feeling of savoring something.
“Okay.”
Hoshimiya nodded slightly and walked alongside me.
We left the park through an exit in the opposite direction from the high school girls. We walked a short distance and turned onto a quiet street. When we finally stopped, Hoshimiya gently grabbed my sleeve.
“Seita, you didn’t leave me behind.”
“Of course not.”
After saying that, my voice caught slightly.
Of course not.
I could say that now.
For the old me, being next to someone was scary. I might be a burden. I might be rejected. So running away was easier.
But running away from Hoshimiya’s side felt different now.
“I left you behind before.”
“……Yeah.”
“So, I just made sure not to do that today.”
Hoshimiya didn’t say anything.
She just tightened her grip on my sleeve a little.
That silence felt strangely warm.
“Seita.”
“Yes.”
“That just now… made me really happy.”
“You’re exaggerating.”
“I’m not exaggerating.”
Hoshimiya looked up at me.
The last vestiges of the sunset were reflected in her eyes.
“Seita took me with you when you ran away.”
“So you admit we ran away?”
“But we were together.”
That single sentence left me speechless.
Running away together.
Just that, it seemed, meant everything to Hoshimiya.
It’s heavy.
But I’m starting to understand a little.
Not being left behind alone.
Having someone choose to be by your side.
That’s probably much bigger than I thought.
“Seita, you were cool.”
“Please stop. It’ll wipe out my teenage insecurities.”
“Wouldn’t that be nice?”
“It’s part of my identity, so that’s a problem.”
“Well then, I’ll just overwrite it bit by bit.”
“Please don’t say scary things so casually.”
Hoshimiya laughed cheerfully.
Seeing that smile, I couldn’t help but smile a little myself.
On the way to the station, Hoshimiya walked beside me, never letting go of my sleeve.
Not my hand.
My sleeve.
That subtle distance felt just right for us right now.
“Seita.”
“What is it?”
“When I get home today, can I send you the rest of my thoughts on the anthology?”
“We just talked about it at length a moment ago.”
“It’s not enough.”
“Otaku discussion sessions never end, after all.”
“I especially don’t want our discussion to end.”
She says things like that again.
I thought I’d gotten used to it, but my heart still skips a beat.
“…Please keep it to a reasonable extent.”
“Then, until you fall asleep.”
“What do you mean, ‘reasonable’?”
“It ends when you fall asleep.”
“That’s my condition for defeat, isn’t it?”
Hoshimiya nodded with satisfaction.
As we approached the station, the crowd grew thicker.
That’s when Hoshimiya finally let go of my sleeve.
With just a hint of reluctance.
“That’s it for today, then.”
“I guess so.”
“Can I walk to school with you tomorrow, too?”
“As long as you don’t wait right in front of my house.”
“Then I’ll wait a little ways away.”
“So you’re definitely going to wait, then?”
“Yeah.”
Hoshimiya nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
I let out a sigh.
But I didn’t refuse.
Hoshimiya must have noticed that, because she smiled happily.
“Seita, see you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow, Hoshimiya-san.”
“Rino.”
“See you tomorrow, Hoshimiya-san.”
“Muu.”
Seeing Hoshimiya puff out her cheeks in displeasure, I couldn’t help but laugh.
She didn’t miss that smile.
“You just laughed.”
“I didn’t laugh.”
“You did. You laughed at me.”
“You’re really strict.”
“Seita’s smile is worth recording.”
“That’s scary.”
“Because it’s important.”
Hoshimiya said that and walked toward the station.
I watched her back as she walked away.
The old me would have been afraid to even see someone off.
Because I hated the feeling of being left behind.
But now, it’s a little different.
I’ll see her again tomorrow.
Just knowing there was someone I could think that about made seeing her off a little less scary.
My phone vibrated.
It was from Hoshimiya.
“Seita, thanks for taking me out today.”
Then, another message followed.
“I felt like it was okay for me to be right next to you, Seita.”
I stared at the screen for a while.
I hesitated over how to reply.
I could have teased her like I usually do.
But today, I typed my reply a little more honestly.
“You’re welcome to stay.”
The moment I hit send, my face flushed.
It showed as read.
Her reply came quickly.
“That’s cheating.”
“I like you.”
I closed my phone.
I wouldn’t respond anymore.
Any more of this and my heart would file for workers’ compensation.
On my way home at dusk, my bag contained the anthology I Don’t Need Youth!!.
And inside my phone was a message from Hoshimiya that weighed too heavily on me.
My youth is still just as weird as ever.
But I found myself starting to cherish that weirdness, just a little bit.
Maigetsu