Volume 2 - CH 3.2

After school. A cool breeze caressed my face, a sign of the approaching autumn.

On my way home, I went to a certain luxurious apartment. Shiina’s house.

“…Good evening.”

Today was the scheduled day for her curse’s treatment.

Shiina appeared at the doorway. She bowed with a nervous expression.

She was treating me like a stranger again.

I thought our exchange earlier this morning had fixed our relationship somewhat, but it didn’t seem to be the case.

“I’ll serve you some tea.”

Said Shiina before she went to the kitchen.

I sat on the sofa while waiting quietly for her.

After she served the tea, she sat down right next to me.

The reason why she didn’t sit in front of me was because we needed to have physical contact to treat the curse.

Ever since I realized my feelings for Shiina, whenever I was this close to her, my heart would start beating faster. I wonder if the sound of my heartbeat reached her? Anyway, I should take a sip of that tea and calm down.

Sipping hot tea inside a room with AC felt nice. It was the same feeling as when you eat an ice cream while half of your body is inside a kotatsu.

For a while, only the sound of me sipping my tea could be heard inside the room.

Perhaps she was unable to bear the silence, Shiina turned on the TV.

A program with a laid-back atmosphere started to play. That eased my nerves a little.

“…Hey.”

“W-W-What?”

But for some reason, I was the only one who was calm.

Shiina replied to me with a high-pitched voice.

Nervousness was contagious, so I hoped that she would calm down a little. Why was she even feeling nervous in the first place, anyway?

…Well, I guess it felt awkward to be in the same room as the person you just dumped.

“Can we talk normally again?”

“…Talk normally?”

“Yeah. Don’t you realize? Things between us have been quite awkward… We’re still friends, aren’t we?”

I wanted us to stay as friends at least. It was pathetic of me, I knew.

My heart started to ache because of my own words.

Shiina started to freak out. For some reason, her eyes began to tear up.

…Why though?

“R-Right. W-We’re friends, so let’s talk normally.”

Her tone was as if she was trying to talk to herself.

Was it that hard to talk to me? She seemed to be pushing herself so hard just to do it.

Unknowingly, I’ve placed a tremendous burden on her shoulders.

It was understandable. After all, someone who was merely a friend and had a business-like relationship with her suddenly tried to get closer like that. It was no wonder that she’d feel uncomfortable, especially when she didn’t have the same feeling as me.

I had been disregarding her feelings all this time, hadn’t I?

Getting carried away by the atmosphere just because she was my first love.

All this self-loathing was starting to drive me insane.

“…Last week, I went to watch a movie with Kirishima-san and the others.”

Shiina made eye contact with me for the first time today and started to speak.

“Come to think of it, you guys invited me too back then, right?”

“Yeah. You couldn’t make it, though.”

Back then, I still had an interest in that movie, but right now, not even a speck of it remained.

“After watching the movie, Kirishima-san, Shindou-san and I went to the food court. We had a great day.”

She giggled as she continued her story.

As she began to reminisce, her stiff expression started to relax.

The fact that she didn’t say anything about the movie meant that it didn’t leave much impression on her.

If it did, that would be the first thing that she’d have mentioned.

“We even managed to find out about what was going on between Kudou-san and Shindou-san…”

“Sounds fun.”

If it was Shinji who went with them, he’d find a way to brush the topic off. But, since it was Yuuka, they could press on her and she’d spill everything. While Yuuka always acted like a mother-figure to everyone, her embarrassed look was really cute.

“…Also, Kirishima-san and I talked about you.”

“Hina and I? Why? Are you interested in our relationship? We’re just childhood friends though.”

“Your story is interesting. You two have been together since both of you were kids and you two are on good terms with each other. It’s like something out of a novel, you know?

I could see her point.

For me, it was something that I was already used to, so I didn’t think about our relationship that much.

Honestly, I think my relationship with Shiina would make a better story.

“…Can I ask you something?”

Unaware of what I was thinking, Shiina asked me a question.

“What is it?”

Her tone gave me a bad feeling.

“What do you think of Kirishima-san?”

Why did she even ask me that question?

The person I liked was asking me about another girl, what an amazing situation I found myself in.

…But, Kirishima Hina, huh? She was an important childhood friend of mine.

She had been with me since we were kids. We were so close to the point that I couldn’t imagine living a life without her.

That girl had been taking care of me, fixing my flaws as we grew up together.

She was always energetic and cheerful, my mood was always better when she was around.

What do I think of her?

“Obviously, I like her.”

I didn’t even need to think much. I liked her from the bottom of my heart.

She was my best friend, someone who understood me the most.

“…I see. Good for you.”

Said Shiina.

I didn’t understand why she said that.

I liked Hina, yes, but it wasn’t a romantic kind of like.

The only person I’d ever fall in love with romantically would be Shiina Mai.

I thought she was aware of this. Why did she even ask me this question?

The reason why I phrased it as if I had a romantic feeling for Hina was to make Shiina feel more at ease. If I put it this way, she wouldn’t need to worry about my feelings toward her anymore. Well, I couldn’t deny that I said it partly because I felt irritated toward her question.

Still, I was nowhere near ready to hear this kind of answer from her,

“I’ll support your love. I hope you can find your happiness.”

Her words took away the little hope that I had.

It forced me to face reality that I had to give up on her.

When Shiina held my hand and beckoned me to start the treatment, I didn’t feel any excitement anymore.

“O, evil that lies deep inside, show your form before me…”

As usual, I started to cast my exorcism.

With a smile plastered on my face, to hide my broken heart.

*   *   *

Shiina’s PoV

What ‘good for you?’ I was clearly lying when I said that.

During the fireworks festival, Godou held my hand, it seemed like he was trying to get closer to me.

I almost made a mistake thinking that he actually liked me that way. So I reaffirmed our relationship that day.

We were merely friends. Having a friend like him made me happy.

That was why I had to let go of this feeling in my heart.

I mustered all my courage to find out who exactly that he liked.

My guess was correct, it was Kirishima-san.

Not only was she his childhood friend, she was also cheerful, cute and she was the only person who’d stay by his side to support him. Unlike me who was clumsy, gloomy, plain and troublesome. There was no reason for Godou to not like her.

With that, I knew for sure that he didn’t have any feelings for me. I could safely move on from him.

‘I love him. I love Shiraishi Godou. Out of everyone in this world, I love him the most.’

I recalled Kirishima-san’s declaration.

The depth of her feelings, I could understand it clearly.

Now that I knew that both of them had feelings toward each other, I could safely leave him to Kirishima-san. She’d definitely make him happy.

That’s why I’ll give them my support. May their relationship go well.

*   *   *

Godou’s PoV

The day of the ball tournament was finally upon us.

Everyone felt so excited because there was no class scheduled for today.

They gathered in either the gym or the yard, depending on which game they participated in or which game they wanted to watch.

It was currently early September. The summer heat was still lingering around, but the autumn breeze made it more bearable. At least, playing in this kind of weather was way better than playing under the blazing summer heat.

“The tennis match is about to start!”

“Let’s cheer for Sagami-kun!”

“Isn’t he Misuzu’s boyfriend? Great, I wanna see what he looks like!”

My girl classmates walked past me while talking with such excitement.

Everyone was in a festive mood, which made sense because it was the sports festival.

Well, I said everyone, but there was someone who was still acting like his usual self. It was this guy lying down next to me.

The said guy, Shinji, yawned and looked at me.

“What? I’ll do my part, so let me sleep when I’m able to.”

“Cheer for your classmates, dude.”

“Why would I? It isn’t like my cheering will make them win.”

“Cheer for Yuuka at least.”

“Too troublesome. Besides, it’s embarrassing to cheer her out in the open like that…”

“So you can get embarrassed.”

“It’s called gap moe.”

While Shinji and I were having this dumb conversation, I heard someone approaching us.

I turned around to see Hina in her P.E. uniform.

“What are you two doing? Cheer for the class! We’re going to sweep through all the matches this year!”

I could see a blaze in her eyes.

She seemed to be going all out this year too.

Because our words wouldn’t work on her, Shinji and I decided to give up and follow her whims for now.

…Honestly, I didn’t feel particularly motivated today.

I even considered just completely ditching school. I just felt too tired to move my body around. But, if I didn’t go, my classmates would be troubled, so I had no choice but to go.

“It’s exciting, isn’t it?”

When we arrived at the tennis court, we could see our classmates, Satou and Takahashi, playing on the court.

Our other classmates were cheering for them, so we joined in.

Hina immediately took command of everyone and started cheering from the center of the group. Meanwhile, Shinji scurried over to Yuuka’s side.

I couldn’t keep up with everyone’s high spirits, so I moved toward the corner. That was when I noticed someone’s gaze on me.

It was Shiina. She was standing alone a little further from where everyone else was.

She looked somewhat pale. At first, I hesitated on whether to call out to her or not, but my concern outweighed the awkwardness I felt toward her.

“Are you okay?”

“Y-Yes. I-I’m just nervous…”

Shiina would be playing in the basketball match if I recall correctly which wouldn’t start anytime soon. Anyway, it was understandable that she’d be nervous. Her athletic capability was zero. She was probably worried that she’d drag everyone down.

“Take a deep breath.”

She took a deep breath.

“If you’re too nervous, you’ll break down during the real thing. For now, just empty your head and focus on cheering.”

“O-Okay… I-It’s a little hard to do that though…”

That seemed to ease her nerves a little, but her complexion still looked pale.

“Well, everyone is heated up, but this is just a school event, they won’t really be taking it too seriously. Don’t say it out loud though. Also, even if you mess up later, no one will blame you, so take it easy.”

I repeatedly told her that everything would be okay.

Honestly, I wanted to tell her that I’d fight anyone who’d dare to blame her, but…

I don’t think she’d appreciate it if I were to say that. It isn’t like I’m his boyfriend or anything.

That was why I only said that much to her.

Despite that, she let out a soft smile and said, “Thank you.”

“Good luck to you too. I’ll be cheering on you.”

When I heard her saying that, I felt elated. At the same time, I felt dumb for being happy about it.

…I’ve resolved myself to give up on her after all. I just wanted to become her friend.

If I kept harboring this feeling with me, I wouldn’t be able to be a good friend for her.

Staying beside her would be hard because of this feeling of mine.

I was the one who asked her to become my friend.

Therefore, I had to act my own part for her sake. She was the one who went out her way to accept that request of mine, after all.

Even if we couldn’t be lovers, I swore to make Shiina Mai happy as her friend.

As long as she could spend her days happily, I didn’t care if I was hurting.

“Thank you. Well, I’m a peerless player, so you don’t need to worry about me.”

“I’m not! …Also, don’t you think you’re cheating?”

“Cut me some slack. This much should be allowed. Besides, I didn’t even play soccer back in my previous life.”

“I’m kidding. Well, it was because of me that you reincarnated to this world to begin with. I don’t have the right to complain if you want to use your previous life’s knowledge here… Anyway, good luck.”

“I guess that logic works… Well, I’ll do my best.”

I smiled as usual as I placed my fist in front of my chest.

*   *   *

Our first soccer match was about to begin.

We were matched up against a first year team, so we should be able to handle them if we just played like normal.

Since soccer was the main event of the ball tournament, there were a lot of people coming over to watch the matches. They also provided a wide space for the spectators.

I was doing some lifts to pass time at the edge of the court when Hina came over to me.

“How are you feeling? Will you be able to win?”

“Who knows. Sakuragi will do something about it, I guess, so it shouldn’t be impossible to win. Shinji will be there too.”

By the way, Shinji was an ex-soccer club member, so we could always count on him.

“What about you?”

“I’ll help out whenever I can.”

Hina took a step closer to me.

Her well-defined face filled my vision.

“…Is it true that the reason why you’ve been down these days is because Mai-chan dumped you?”

I couldn’t answer that question.

For a moment, silence enveloped us.

“…How did you know?”

“It just came to mind when I saw the two of you.”

“…I see.”

She hit me on the chest when I was standing still.

“Cheer up.”

“If it was that easy, I wouldn’t feel so depressed…”

“It’s one thing to be depressed, but using it as a reason to act like this is just lame.”

“Ugh…”

Those words hurt. Why couldn’t she just comfort me in a normal way?

“Good luck.”

“Why are you so harsh on me?”

“Because it’s you. I believe that you’ll get through this.”

“Where did that come from? I thought I was just an overly self-conscious chuunibyou?”

I used her own words to self-depreciate myself.

“That one is true too.”

“You should comfort me there!”

“Will you accept my words quietly if I did? You won’t. You know that.”

We didn’t know that. I swear, this childhood friend of mine was too strict on me.

“…Even if you’re an overly self-conscious chuunibyou, it doesn’t matter.”

She said in a low voice.

“Even if you’re a total waste of a human being, I’ll always be here to help you. If it gets too hard on you, just lean on me. I’ve been doing this for a long time and that won’t change anytime soon.”

Her gentle words seeped through my heart.

But, even though I knew that she was a kind girl, she wasn’t this sweet of a person.

“And so, in exchange…” She continued.

“Show me your cool side.”

“…It can’t be helped.”

I let out a wry smile. I’m no match for her.

This girl always found a way to make my mood better. She always had my back.

She really was a precious person to me.

“Leave it to me.”

That was why, it was a given that I’d answer that request of hers properly.