Chapter 14
The culprit who’d committed the outrageous act of confessing to me was a senpai one year above me.
To add some context, he was so plain-looking that he’d resorted to the outdated practice of a ‘confession letter’ in the twenty-first century.
“I-I’ve been in love with you for a long time!!! Please go out with me!”
Not long after I met the plain-looking man, he suddenly bowed his head. It was an even more textbook bow than the 90-degree greeting Arai had once shown me.
Of course, in this situation, it only made me feel disgusted.
“………Um.”
“Yes!”
Jeez, you startled me.
When I tentatively spoke to him, he lifted his head without straightening his back. He was unnecessarily loud, too, with an irritatingly enthusiastic voice.
How can he be so oblivious……?
“Sigh.”
I sighed. There was no reason to bother winning this guy’s favor, so I didn’t bother hiding how I felt.
“First, straighten your back.”
“Ah, yes….”
At my irritated words, he finally seemed to take the hint. The plain-looking man studied my expression and slowly straightened up.
Perhaps he’d anticipated what was coming, because I saw his expression gradually stiffen. That even made me feel a little sorry for him.
Of course, regardless of how I felt, I intended to reject him properly.
“You…. Tsk. No, Senpai, do you know me well?”
“Huh? Not really, but still―――”
“Then why did you confess to me? When you barely know me?
“Eh.”
At my aggressive tone, the man’s face went pale. I looked at him and let out a loud sigh.
“Ah, so I could get to know you――”
“And what if you don’t like me after that? Would you break up with me after a day? That’s incredibly irresponsible of you to say.”
“Urk.”
What kind of thinking led him to believe we’d go straight from a first meeting to dating?
His favorability score—the only measure he had to go by—would be close to zero.
And he didn’t have any other qualities to make up for that low score, like ‘looks,’ ‘wealth,’ or ‘popularity’—anything that might make the idea seem plausible.
The more I considered all these details, the harder it was to understand his baseless confidence.
‘Why did he confess to me, anyway?’
No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t understand. It was simply absurd.
“By now, you get the picture, right? I’m turning you down.”
“Ah… Th-then, could we start as friends?”
How clingy. Friends, my foot.
“I’m turning you down. Besides, friendship isn’t a relationship you can establish just by saying so.”
With that, I turned my back on him.
I heard the man’s urgent voice behind me, but… I ignored it completely. I didn’t want to prolong a meaningless conversation.
In a few days, I was supposed to meet Arai. I’d been busy preparing for it lately. Honestly, I wanted to go straight back to the mansion right now, and be done with the whole confession business.
In fact, I’d kept glancing at my wristwatch the whole time I was dealing with that guy.
“Whew.”
Thinking about all the time I’d wasted—and how little time I had left to work as a result—I couldn’t help sighing in dismay.
‘Maybe I should stop doing this soon?’
Until now, out of a basic consideration for the other person, I’d met them in person to turn them down, like I had today. That had only been possible because my workload wasn’t what it was now.
‘I’ve been so busy lately.’
A few weeks ago, Kaede and Arai had begun meeting in earnest.
And in the process, I’d wound up taking on all sorts of additional tasks on top of my usual work, coordinating their schedules.
I was so busy that lately I’d cut back on my hobbies and devoted myself entirely to work. Even attending classes at school felt like a break.
‘This really won’t do.’
After a moment’s hesitation, I shook my head.
After turning the thought over and over, I couldn’t think of any reason to keep rejecting confessions the way I did now. Before, I’d had time to spare, so I’d meet them face-to-face and show them a kind of mercy, but…
I didn’t have that kind of time now. There was no reason to meet them in person just to turn them down.
“Can’t be helped. …For now, I should at least put up a warning inside my shoe locker.”
I knew it wouldn’t work, but I had to at least give it a try. It was the only thing I could think of right now, anyway.
“Ugh…… Hm?”
A pathetic little sound escaped me as I swallowed a groan. As I walked along, lost in my grumbling, something came into view.
‘The tennis club.’
It was a place I couldn’t possibly fail to recognize.
For one thing, it was where I’d turned down countless guys. It was also a spot I had to pass whenever I headed behind the building.
And it was the club that Kaede and Arai, two important people to me, belonged to.
‘I wonder if Kaede’s practicing.’
I peeked through the fence. Fortunately, it was a grid fence, so it didn’t obstruct my view much.
“Ah.”
As I scanned the area, I spotted a familiar face. Among the group of boys, one stood out for his looks: Arai Shota.
Arai, the precious guy who’d secure my future by becoming Kaede’s boyfriend. I was glad to see him, so I stopped looking for Kaede and watched Arai and the people around him.
‘I guess they’re doing something as a group.’
There was a man who looked like a coach, with several male students lined up in front of him. I couldn’t tell exactly, but it looked like they were receiving some kind of instruction. The girls were elsewhere, probably training indoors.
“It must be hot.”
The sun was pretty strong. If they stood there for long, the heat had to be miserable. But judging by their expressions, not one of them looked displeased.
Maybe it was because he was the protagonist; his grit was impressive.
“……….”
Maybe it was because Arai was there, but even though the scene meant nothing to me, I found myself staring blankly at them, despite knowing I had to get back to work right away.
And so, for a few minutes…
“Ah.”
My eyes met Arai’s.
Hmm. It’d be awkward to just ignore him and walk on.
Should I wave?
“………!”
Maybe he hadn’t expected me to be there, because the moment I waved, his body jolted. The seriousness vanished from his face in an instant.
Finding that amusing, I couldn’t help letting the corners of my mouth curl up in a smile.
“Good luck.”
I added that, though I didn’t know if he could hear me. Maybe he could read my lips and figure out what I meant.
“………Huh?”
…Just as I was about to stop waving and head home, a strange scene unfolded. The tennis club members, who had been quietly listening to the coach, started to grow noisy.
What on earth had happened? I could hear them murmuring from here. Wanting to see what was going on, I strained my ears.
“……Did you see? ……Takamine waved!”
“No way…! ……It’s true!”
“Takamine was looking at me when she waved!”
Huh?
The distance kept their words from being clear, but from the bits I could hear, I understood the source of their confusion.
…Yeah, it seemed to be because of me.
It looked like I’d unintentionally caused quite a stir among the guys. I hadn’t expected that at all.
‘I should go. Hurry and get out of—’
“What are you all doing?! Where are you looking?! Everyone, bow your heads!”
As I hurried to leave, the coach noticed what was happening and barked at them. His voice did the trick; the commotion was immediately suppressed, and silence took its place.
“Ugh. Sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”
As I walked away, I could feel the heavy atmosphere behind me. I realized I’d helped create the situation.
I mean, I’d shoved Arai into the middle of all that pressure.
Maybe that’s why a little guilt bubbled up inside me. I mulled it over, then secretly looked back to check Arai’s expression.
And as a result,
“Ah.”
My eyes met Arai’s. I wasn’t sure, but since his head was turned, it seemed he’d been watching me walk away.
He was already out in the blazing sun, and because of me, he’d have to endure a separate lecture, too. I felt bad about that, and my face twisted with guilt.
Just then,
――Bye.
Arai mouthed those words and secretly waved at me behind the coach’s back.
Technically, I’d just made things even harder for him. And yet he didn’t seem to resent me at all.
…He really is such a good person.
Seeing Arai like that made me smile without thinking.
――See you tomorrow.
I exaggerated my lip movements so Arai could understand. Then I gave him a little wave, just enough for him to see.
All without stopping my steps.
‘Maybe I should message him to apologize.’
That would make an apology the start of our first conversation, but…
…Well. It didn’t matter.
I took my smartphone out of my pocket.
―Me : Sorry about today. You got scolded because of me.
“This might come off a little stiff.”
Should I add an emoji?
―Me : (rabbit pressing its paws together emoji)
Hmm, that should do it. Maybe he’ll read the message I sent when he’s finished with club activities and heading home?
‘I wonder what he’ll reply.’
Maybe because it was my first message from someone outside my family, I was strangely looking forward to it.
The moment the ‘Read’ indicator beside it disappeared.