I Became Friends with the Second Cutest Girl in My Class

Since it wasn’t like there was anything we could do about what Sora-san decided, we decided to just go to Amami-san’s house after going back home and change out of our uniforms.

“…I never expected I’d be going to Amami-san’s house in such a gloomy mood…”

Putting on my long-sleeved cardigan—my choice of attire for the season—I let out a sigh.

My face that was reflected on the mirror looked gloomier than usual. Well, my usual face always looked gloomy, it was just, my eyes looked darker and more sunken than usual, as if I had reverted to my old self.

After this, I’d need to meet up with Amami-san, but after hearing all that… Honestly, I didn’t know how to treat her…

‘Dummy. Why are you so kind to me, Maki-kun?’

Her words back then kept echoing in my head.

“I guess I really am an idiot, huh? You were right, Amami-san.”

Of course, it wasn’t like I was doing all that because I wanted to get Amami-san to see me in that way or something. I just wanted to cheer up my friend, that was it.

Haa… Where did it go wrong? Should I just left her alone back then? I already had Umi, I probably shouldn’t pay attention to any other girls no matter what.

If I were to do that from now on, would our relationship go back to normal again?

“…I don’t have time to dwell on this. Umi is waiting for me.”

Before I realized it, it was already six in the evening. It seemed like I had been out of it for quite some time.

I really didn’t feel like getting off the couch—my legs felt like they had turned into lead, but since I had decided to join the dinner party, it wasn’t like I could just chicken out at the last minute like this.

Things would be awkward between us for sure, but… I needed to use this chance to clearly convey my feelings on the matter to Amami-san.

I’d tell her that I only had eyes for Umi, and I wouldn’t reciprocate her feelings, not now, not ever.

…If this decision caused my relationship with Amami-san to grow estranged, well, that would be too bad, I guess.

The future where I’d be sacrificing my relationship with Umi wouldn’t happen no matter what.

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My stance on this had been the same since last Christmas, since the moment Umi and I had become lovers.

I loved Asanagi Umi, that feeling wouldn’t change, and I wouldn’t let anything change it.

※

As usual, I arrived at Umi’s place five minutes before the appointed time. Then, together with Umi, who had changed out of her uniform, we went to Amami-san’s house.

“Alright, let’s go.”

“Mm… By the way, Umi…”

“Hm? What’s wrong, Maki?”

“Nothing, it’s just… Um, your hand…”

“Ahh~ So you want to hold hands?”

Noticing the hand I timidly held out, Umi put her hands behind her back and let out a mischievous smile.

Normally, she’d just obediently hold my hand when I asked her to, but at times, she’d do something like this to tease me.

In other words, this wasn’t anything unusual. She was just being her normal self; the cute Umi that I always liked.

“I-I do…”

“You really, really want to?”

“I really, really want to.”

“Alright, sure.”

After saying that, she happily grasped my hand tightly.

It was the same thing as always, but right now, I couldn’t feel at ease unless I was holding her hand.

“Hehehe, you’re being so clingy today, Maki.”

“Is that so? …No, maybe I am.”

“Oh my, you aren’t so obedient normally… Ah, is the thing with Yuu bothering you?”

“…Mm.”

I didn’t mean to bring that topic up, but oh well. Now I felt bad for her.

Although she wouldn’t say it out loud, or show it in her face, Umi didn’t really like it if I were to talk with other girls.

It had been like this even before we were dating. Whenever I was talking with Amami-san, she’d secretly sulk (or at least that was how I see it).

“…Sorry, Umi.”

“Hm? Why are you apologizing? You haven’t done anything wrong, Maki.”

“But… You’ve made it clear that you ‘hate’ this sort of thing during the summer vacation, and yet I still…”

“Summer vacation? Oh, when we went to the pool?”

“…Mm.”

I was talking about the time when I went down the water slide with Amami-san (Nozomu was there too). It was the first time I made her really jealous.

Since then, I’ve grown closer to Amami-san, Nozomu, and Nitta-san, but it felt like I’ve been worrying about them more than about Umi.

Of course, I loved Umi more than anyone else. Whenever we were together like this, my heart would spark with joy, and I’d be sad if she wasn’t around, but…

That didn’t change the fact that everyone was important ‘friends’ of mine.

“Maki, it’s fine.”

“Umi…”

“It’s fine. You haven’t done anything wrong, you’ve only been acting like your kind self, like always. I know that you just can’t sit still when someone important to you is in trouble. You’re just a little clumsy in your approach, and way too straightforward for your own good. That’s why things turned out a little messy. But, it’s okay.”

She pulled me closer and embraced me.

“…”

“Hm? Huh, are you crying, Maki?”

“No, of course not… But, can we stay like this for a while longer?”

“Of course… Here, come closer.”

“…Thank you.”

Of course I knew that Umi had her own thoughts about this whole thing, but she kept silent and chose to soothe me instead.

Seriously, she was too good of a girlfriend for me…

“I’ll say it again and again until you feel better again. You haven’t done anything wrong, Maki. You’re just doing what a normal human would do in that situation. Yuu and Nina too, they haven’t done anything wrong. It’s just, right now, everyone is feeling conflicted. That’s why we got in this mess.”

“Umi… Do you think we can go back to the way things were? With these guys… For the first time in my life, I enjoy talking with people… Even though at the end of the day, we were just talking nonsense, still…”

“Of course we can… As long as we put our mind into it, definitely.”

“I see. You’re right.”

“Mhm. Remember that you aren’t alone. I’ll always be here. With you.”

‘I’ll always be here. With you.’ Those words gave warmth to my heart.

Yeah. She would always be there for me, and I would always be there for her. No matter what, no matter how hard the obstacle was, we’d push through together. Like how it always was.

This time would be the same.

As I thought about such things, my appetite started to come back—I previously didn’t have any. It felt like I could eat a whole mountain worth of food now.

“So? Feeling better now?”

“Mhm. Thank you, Umi. Also, I love it when you hug me like this. It feels warm…and you smell nice…”

“You just like my boobs.”

“…Yeah, but can you not put it that way? It sounds like I’m some kind of pervert when you do.”

“But you are.”

“…Well, I’m your pervert, I guess.” 

I loved her. I wanted to spend more time with her. I wanted to do things that I wouldn’t do with others with her.

I never felt that way towards other girls.

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