[Yoshi Point of View]

I fell in love with Yuuri-senpai when I was in the sixth grade of elementary school.

I had been good friends with Hanaka since then, and we often played together at home, but at the time I only thought of him as a “kind older brother.”

It was an incident that made me start to be conscious of Yuuri-senpai.

One day during the summer vacation in sixth grade, I was killing time at the library when an employee of a small company owned by my parents told me to follow him because my father wanted to see me, and he almost took me home.

I often went to visit the company and knew the man, so I followed him, but I realized halfway through that something was wrong. I tried desperately to resist, but I was helpless before the power of a grown man. As I was struggling to make a bad move by screaming loudly in agony, a man heard my voice and rushed over to me. That was Yuuri-senpai.

Yuuri-senpai punched the man and hugged me. Then he said, “I took a picture of everything you did with my phone! I even called the police!” He said, and the guy ran off in the opposite direction and disappeared.

“You’re Hanaka’s friend, right, Yoshi-chan? It’s all right now. You were scared, weren’t you?”

When I heard Yuuri-senpai’s gentle voice, I couldn’t hold back any longer and clung to senpai and cried hard.

“Ugh… ugh… ugh…I was scared. I was scared. I thought I might never see my mom and dad again. I thought I was going to lose them…”

Yuuri-senpai gently stroked my head until the police arrived.

Since then, Yuuri-senpai became a hero in my mind, and I found myself liking him the most.

———

However, I knew from Hanaka that Yuuri-senpai already had a girlfriend. I had seen a glimpse of her, and she was so beautiful that I could never compete with her.

Still, I couldn’t give up on her, so I thought, “If I become pretty, maybe he will turn his head toward me!” So I went to a proper hairdresser to get a pretty hairstyle, and I also tried to lose weight to be slimmer. I loved to eat, so dieting was very hard for me, but I persevered, thinking that I was doing it to get Yuuri-senpai to look at me.

Thanks to my efforts, many guys confessed their feelings for me when I entered junior high school. I had to turn down all of them because the only one I liked the most was Yuuri-senpai, so I managed to gain confidence in myself.

———

Then, before entering high school, I heard from Hanaka that Yuuri-senpai had broken up with Hazuki-senpai. Eh? Could this possibly be a gift from God for my high school acceptance? Because, how could the timing be like this? I vowed not to miss the chance God had given me, and vowed to pursue Yuuri-senpai with all my might once I entered high school.

But we were such good friends, why did they break up? Even if I ask Hanaka, she just gives me a disgusted look and doesn’t tell me at all… Hmmm, well, let’s not dwell on the past! It’s just a matter of me being the support for the heartbroken Yuuri-senpai!

Alright! My first goal in school is to have lunch with Yuuri-senpai at the cafeteria!

———

“Ufu… ufufufufu…ufufufufufufu…”

Yes! Today I got to have lunch at the cafeteria which was my goal, with Yuuri-senpai, who I’ve always loved! We couldn’t be alone together as expected, but everyone was so nice that it was a lot of fun!

As I heard from Hanaka, it seems that Hazuki-senpai and senpai have really broken up, so I might have a real chance! But I have a feeling that Kanade-senpai, Senpai’s other childhood friend, might be my rival.

Her personality is totally different from Hazuki-senpai’s, but Kanade-senpai is also really cute, to be honest… If Hazuki-senpai is a beautiful model, Kanade-senpai has the purity and cuteness of an actress in a morning drama series. To put it bluntly, it’s a too strong and an unfair level of cuteness.

———

Mmmmmm.

But still, I wonder why there are so many cute girls around Yuuri-senpai who have an unusual level of cuteness. Even Tanuki-senpai, who was with me at lunch, was very cute and had a wonderful air about her, even though her looks were not as good as those two…

Hmmm. I don’t think I can win even if I fight normally… I’m at a disadvantage of being younger than her, but having such a cute person as a childhood friend is a cheat.

Oh, no, no, no! I’m too timid, no, no, no, no, no, no. If I get scared at this point, I’m sure to lose.

I’m going to change my status from Hanaka’s friend to a girl and boldly confess my feelings to her before Yuuri-senpai’s graduation! Go for it! Go for it!

(To tell you the truth, I want Yuuri-senpai to confess to me…)

*****

[Hanaka Point of View]

I know Yoshi-chan liked Yuu nii-chan, but I didn’t expect her to take such a hard-line approach by storming into the 3rd-grade classroom during lunch break. Since Yuu nii-chan saved her life in elementary school, I’ve noticed that she’s changed into a more aggressive type of person. She used to be such a gentle girl with a soft and gentle air about her.

…It’s amazing what a girl in love can do!

By the way, I am proud to say that I have been watching Yoshi-chan the most closely, and from that time on, she was making a lot of efforts to get Yuu nii-chan to be interested in her.

As for me, I wanted Yuu nii-chan to marry Hazuki-san, but seeing Yoshi-chan’s efforts, I had no choice but to support her. Because I got to see right in front of me how love can change a person. It would be a lie not to support her after seeing that.

So when I heard from Yuu nii-chan that he broke up with Hazuki-san, I was sad, but at the same time I thought, “Yay, Yoshichan, you did it!” Well, it might be difficult to attract Yuu nii-chan because he still has Kana-chan, too.