Chapter 22: CH 22

The bad news arrived last night.

“Thanks, Souta-kun! Thanks to your encouragement, I was able to confess my feelings to Yuki-kun and we’re going out! Thank you so much!”

A text from Kanae with a rabbit emoji at the end.

And today, the three beautiful girls have been talking about it since this morning.

It’s good that Kanae-senpai confession was successful and Souta-senpai was a nice assist.

“The two of them look great together. And brother, your words to Kanae in the corridor were heard even in the student council room.”

“Um, I’m really glad that the confession was successful. Fufu, but for some reason, Souta also believed in Yukiya.”

In response, I think with a vague smile.

I’m not sure why this happened…?!

It’s as if the important parts of my words were cut out with malicious intent, and the true meaning was not conveyed.

To be honest, I was seething with a rage that threatened to kill me, but I managed to keep my poker face.

Besides, I have other things to worry about right now.

“Oh… I don’t care, but you’re not sticking with me today.”

So, today is the only day that the three of them are not sticking around, and the girls are joking around and having girl talk.

Of course, as a loner, I welcome the lack of attention, but if the girls are pushing themselves, that’s not what I want.

So, for the sake of the girls, I’ll give them a pass.

But…

“Well, I think I’ve had enough of that kind of flirting…”

“I’ve already made friends, and I’ve gotten to know my brother well enough.”

“Well, especially when I see those two, the coldness of the actions I’ve been doing on the spur of the moment becomes more apparent…”

I followed Azaka-senpai’s gaze as she stared ahead.

“Good work, Yuki-kun! Here’s a towel, okay?”

“Oh, that helps. Thanks, Kanae.”

A few steps beyond the school gate, on the way to the entrance, Kanae and Yukiya were huddled together in the middle of a whirlwind, playing with each other with the distance of two lovers.

At that moment, my breathing stopped with a hiccup-like lurching of my throat, my ego collapsed, and I was struck by an intense emotion that hit my brain, and with a sudden urge to urinate, my knees buckled inward as I laughed, my vision turned upward, and my consciousness receded.

“Oh, it’s true that when I see real couples around me, I feel cold about what I’ve been doing. Of course, it was fun to joke around in the morning when I was in the mood for it, but once I woke up, the pain would explode.”

“Yes, I did. Even though I was worried about whether I would be able to adjust to my new home and school, I think I acted insanely. I’m sorry.”

“I’m very sorry. In all honesty, that morning joke is a disgrace… I’m really sorry you had to go along with that weird flirtation, Souta.”

With the words of the three of them and my own strong mental strength, I managed to avoid passing out.

What the hell is going on? No, it’s obvious. The pain and emptiness that wrenches at my heart is, no matter how you look at it, due to “cuckoldry” and “betrayal” – yes, I have been betrayed once again by my childhood friend whom I trusted.

And now, because of the mistakes made by Yukiya and Kanae, we are on the verge of collapse!

In the midst of all this, I think about what I should do.

No, in the past and in the present, when a childhood friend betrays you, the most common response has been “Zama”

.I realized that I actually liked my childhood friend, even though she had a boyfriend–“Zama!”

Anyway, any childhood friend who chooses someone other than me, no matter what, will be absolutely– “Zama!”

It’s an ironclad development in the kind of novels I like. I guess we can learn a lot from books. In such a case, a way to cope with the situation will come to my mind immediately.

I guess this is the result of my time spent reading and studying myself, and not wasting time on other people as a loner.

I can already see what will happen next.

First of all, I’m going to make Kanae realize her true feelings for me by showing her that I’m in love with someone else, and then I’m going to teach her the mistake and regret of choosing Yukiya.

Normally, this would be the end of the story, but I dare to show my sweetness. In the end, Kanae regrets her mistake, and I forgive her and accept her. By doing so, I also make Yukiya feel sorry for me.

And so, before I can gloat in anticipation of what will happen next…

“Hey, Yuki-kun, why don’t we have lunch in the courtyard today?”

“Well, since we have P.E. before that, I’ll go ahead and save a spot for you.”

I can hear the conversation between Kanae and Yukiya a few meters ahead of me, as they are walking at a similar speed to the crowd on their way to school.

To be honest, the conversation between the traitors makes me want to puke. I was unconsciously biting my lower lip and snorting.

Oh, my goodness. I feel so miserable and pitiful that my childhood friend is so happy about her fake happiness.

So I made a decision. At this point, I can’t just pretend that no one will get hurt.

I decided to choose either Azaka-senpai or Rinka, and prepare to hurt either of them for the sake of “Zama”.

I have the cold-heartedness to choose any means to achieve my goal.

“Rinka! Azaka-senpai!”

Then I shouted loudly so that the students around me as well as Kanae and Yukiya ahead of me would notice.

As planned, the attention of the people around them was drawn, and Kanae and Yukiya also turned to look at us–okay, watch carefully, Kanae…!

I’m going to take the first step in my “zama”. If I accept Azaka-senpai’s or Rinka’s confession… Well, what kind of face will Kanae have?

The catharsis I can only imagine makes my skin crawl, and I snort in a different way than before.

“Right here, right now! I’d like to respond to the confession I received before!”

I’m not sure what kind of expression Kanae is having right now–Oh, I’m sorry, but since Kanae is not in my sights right now, I’m not going to look her in the eye, okay?

When I stared at Rinka and Azaka in front of me instead of Kanae, I was met with eyes that said, “Are you saying that here?” I nodded my head in agreement with her.

The sudden scene of confession made the students around us on their way to school stop and some even turned their phone cameras towards us.

In the midst of such a crowd, Rinka opened her mouth first.

“I’m sorry, Souta-kun. I was going to tell you in secret later, but please pretend that my confession last time never happened.”

What?

“Well, if I heard the hot encouragement of Souta-senpai yesterday… It was really rude to confess to Souta-senpai with a light feeling for no good reason… So, really. I’m sorry! “

Rinka bowed deeply in apology.

Then, Azaka-senpai, who was standing beside me, also spoke up.

“Yeah, I was also inspired by Souta-kun words yesterday and decided to get back together with my ex-boyfriend after realizing my true feelings. You are an amazing boy. That’s why I’m asking you not to confess to me either.”

Chris raised his voice a little when Azaka-senpai said it so simply.

“Oh, Azaka-senpai, have you ever been in a relationship before?”

“Oh, come on, what’s the surprise? What do you think I am? I’ve always had boyfriends.”

Azaka-senpai said she had been with six men and had only gotten back together with her first boyfriend.

The situation was too much for me to comprehend.

However, the noise around me, the sound of camera shutters and flashes, and the countless arms holding smartphones stretched out to focus on my face brought my consciousness back to reality.

“Ah… ah… uh… ha, uh, yeah…”

My mind instantly began to spin at high speed, boldly trying to correct its course even in this extreme situation.

“Hee hee… good, good, good, yay! That’s it! Oh, my…! It was just perfect! I was hoping to get rid of you, It’s just what I wanted!

After a moment of frozen silence, there was a chuckle.

Rinka, Chris, and Azaka-senpai were all laughing, although they were desperately trying to keep the onlookers at bay. Everyone is laughing. Sekai is laughing. Ironically, however, the only ones not laughing were Yukiya and Kanae.

I could feel the blood rushing to my head.

No, this is not shame. This is not shame. It’s anger!

I turned on my heel and walked resolutely back the way I had come. I’m walking fast. I’m not running.

…I can’t deal with those sneaky people who laugh at others for being uptight, oh dear.

I went home.