Chapter 9: When Conveying Your Feelings, Be Yourself.

“C-Cancelled…?”

I sat down heavily on my bed, the strength leaving my body as I reread the message from Saho Minakata over and over.

“I’ve had a high fever since last night, and it doesn’t look like I can make it tomorrow. I’m so sorry, especially since I was the one who invited you. When I told Yushiro-san, she said we should just all meet up on a different day, so can we call it off for now and reschedule later?”

It was Saturday—the day after we had made the promise for the three of us to go out: Saho Minakata, the class idol; Yua Yushiro, my childhood friend; and me, Sora Tsuzuki. In other words, it was the day before the big event. Having received word of Minakata’s poor health, we were forced to cancel.

“Well, I guess it can’t be helped…”

Since the purpose of the meeting wasn’t just for fun, I didn’t feel that disappointed that it was off, to be honest. However, because I had steeled my resolve to accept Yua’s proposal, the determination I’d been building up since yesterday now had nowhere to go.

A reconciliation with Yua, using Minakata as a mediator—judging by the message, Minakata was intent on rescheduling, so it wouldn’t be a total cancellation.

“‘Got it. Don’t worry about the promise, just get some rest. Let’s reschedule once you’re feeling better!’ …And, send.”

I swiped across the screen, typed out the message, and sent my reply.

“Come to think of it, when did those two exchange LINE IDs?”

I hadn’t seen them do it in front of me, but the fact that Minakata had informed Yua about her fever meant they must have met somewhere when I wasn’t around. It was only natural to exchange contact info to coordinate plans, but considering how on-guard Yua had been toward Minakata, it felt a little strange.

—Ping.

At that moment, a notification for a new message made my phone vibrate.

“…It’s Yua.”

Seeing the sender’s name on the screen, I opened the app again. She was likely passing on the news that tomorrow was cancelled, or checking in to make sure I’d heard.

“Just as I thought…”

Reading the content, it was exactly what I expected.

“…’I’ve already received the message, so don’t worry.'”

After replying, I found myself scrolling through our past message history. It felt like it had been forever since I’d actually sent Yua a message. The last contact was the one she’d sent several days ago, which I’d left on “read” and ignored.

I’d put off replying because of the awkwardness and my desire for time to think, but in the end, I just never sent anything. Considering Yua’s feelings, my behavior had been pretty terrible.

“It might be a bit late, but I should probably apologize…”

I typed out an apology for leaving her on read and, hoping to use this as an opportunity to get back to a point where we could talk normally, I threw in a different topic.

“By the way, when did you and Minakata-san exchange contact info?”

The message was marked as “read” almost instantly.

“Friday after school. Minakata-san came all the way to Class 6 to give me her info.”

I see. No wonder I hadn’t noticed. Since she’d replied so quickly, I shouldn’t let the conversation die here. While I was racking my brain for a way to keep it going, another message popped up.

“It’s a shame the outing was cancelled. I was looking forward to it, too.”

I wasn’t sure if her being “looking forward to it” was the honest truth, but regardless, Yua seemed intent on continuing the conversation as well.

“Since it’s a health issue, I guess meeting up will have to wait until she’s better.”

“I hope she gets well soon.”

We continued exchanging these safe, polite messages—the digital equivalent of testing the waters. It was the first time I’d ever had such a rapid-fire rally of messages with anyone, which made me acutely aware of how thin my social life usually was. If it weren’t Yua on the other end, I probably wouldn’t have been able to keep a conversation going this long.

“By the way,”

Just as the rhythm of “read and reply” became comfortable, Yua broke the balance, forcefully pivoting the topic. I froze at the formal tone of that one short line.

“The outing for tomorrow is cancelled, but have you already made other plans?”

I could guess exactly what she was going to say next.

“The cancellation notice just got here a bit ago, so no, I haven’t scheduled anything else yet.”

“In that case, do you want to meet up with just the two of us?”

Seeing the expected text on the screen, I reflexively swallowed hard.

“Minakata-san won’t be there. Are you sure about that?”

“Well, if she hadn’t been there in the first place, I was planning on inviting you out one-on-one anyway.”

“For what purpose?”

“Do you really need a ‘purpose’ to see me?”

It wasn’t that, exactly. But in our current, delicate state, meeting Yua alone required a certain level of resolve—a mental preparation I wasn’t sure I had completed. However, if I turned her down now, the hurdle for our next meeting would only become significantly higher.

As I struggled to find the right words, typing and deleting repeatedly, her next message beat me to the punch.

“Because there’s something I absolutely have to show you.”

Something she had to show me? “Something”… like the present I gave her back in elementary school? Even if that were it, I couldn’t understand her intention in going out of her way to show it to me now.

“Does it have to be tomorrow?”

“If it’s not tomorrow, I won’t be able to show you for a long time.”

Her response only deepened the mystery. If it was something that couldn’t be shown later, was she talking about a specific landscape, a one-day event, or something like a festival or fireworks display?

“By the way, what’s the time and place? Since it’s just the two of us, are you going to pick me up at my house like usual?”

“No. I want to keep the place and time exactly the same as we planned before.”

Meeting one-on-one, but keeping the original group plan…?

Back when the three of us were in the classroom, we had already decided on the meeting spot and time. But Yua and I live right next to each other; even if the destination stayed the same, it would be more natural to head there together. In fact, the “old” Yua definitely would have suggested we go together.

What on earth is she thinking…?

Regardless, nothing would move forward if I didn’t accept the invitation.

“Got it.”

I steeled my resolve and swiped the screen.

“We’ll meet at the scheduled time and place—just you and me.”

When I sent that, she replied with just two characters: “Un.” (Yeah.)

I ended the conversation there, tossed my phone aside, and sprawled out on my back on the bed. As I closed my eyes, feeling a jolt of nervous tension, memories of her came rushing back one after another. Depending on how tomorrow goes, my relationship with Yua might change drastically.

Even so, there was nothing left for me to do now… but wait.

☆

The sunlight leaking through the gap in the curtains announced the arrival of Sunday morning. Despite it being a day off, I woke up before my alarm. Unusually, I didn’t feel like trying for a second nap, so I began preparing to head out earlier than planned. I stuffed down the breakfast my sister had prepared the night before, washed my face, and brushed my teeth.

“What should I do with my hair?”

Before my date with Minakata, I was obsessed with looking as good as possible, fussing over every detail of my clothes and hair. I usually at least fix my bedhead for school, but that day I had been desperate, using wax I rarely touch to try and create a “gap” between my school self and my private self.

But going out with Yua was different. No matter how much I tried to act cool, putting on airs meant nothing in front of her—she knew the real me.

That didn’t mean I “didn’t see her as a girl.” Rather, it was because I trusted her completely. When I’m with Yua, I can just be myself without any pretense. That sense of security—that it’s okay to be “just me”—is what envelops me when we’re together.

“Yua probably feels the same way as I do…”

The way she wears a male uniform at school, yet shows her feminine side only to me… showing me that side is likely proof of the trust she places in me as well.

In the end, I kept my hair mostly the same as my school style and picked out a few of my favorite casual pieces to wear. With plenty of time to spare, I left the house. Since we were meeting on-site and she wasn’t coming to pick me up, there was no risk of us crossing paths.

Still, heading to a meeting spot with Yua all by myself felt strangely wrong and a bit lonely, mostly because I was so used to her always being there.

I hopped on the train from my local station and rode for about thirty minutes. I got off at the station where the three of us—including Minakata—had originally planned to gather, and settled in to wait for her arrival.

“I never thought the day would come where I’d feel this nervous waiting for Yua…”

When you’re meeting someone you’re on bad terms with, anyone’s nerves would be on edge.

We might end up arguing again. This might be the end of our friendship for good. —Standing there alone with nothing to do, my anxieties slowly began to pile up. There was still nearly an hour until our scheduled meeting time; I had plenty of leeway. If I was going to worry this much, it would be easier just to see her as soon as possible, but having extra time didn’t provide any mental peace—if anything, it felt like it was grinding me down.

“Maybe I’ll duck into a café to distract myself.”

If I kept moping out here, I’d be depressed before I even saw her. I kept a sharp eye on my surroundings as I moved toward a café, just in case Yua had arrived early like I had and we ended up missing each other.

That said, realistically speaking, the chances of her already being here were slim to none. Honestly, I was the weird one for arriving this early.

“…Eh?”

But—just then, the very person I was supposed to meet came into view. A dumbfounded sound escaped my lips.

I froze for a few seconds—then, snapping back to reality, I ducked quickly behind the shadow of a building so she wouldn’t see me. I rubbed my eyes repeatedly with the back of my hand, checking over and over to see if it was really her.

Hiding from the person you’re meeting is usually a nonsensical thing to do—but that only applies if it’s the person you actually have a meeting with.

Saho Minakata—the girl who had cancelled our plans—was standing right there.

I couldn’t suppress my agitation at the appearance of the person who shouldn’t have been here. Her blonde hair was tied in pigtails, and she wore a neat blouse with a cardigan and a short miniskirt—a soft, adorable, and very feminine outfit.

I had burned her casual appearance into my memory when we met back home. Even without her familiar uniform, there was no way I could mistake her for anyone else.

Then why was Minakata here at this meeting spot?

Just yesterday, she had sent a message full of apologies saying she’d come down with a fever and had to cancel today’s plans. Did she recover and decide to show up anyway? No, that made no sense. Minakata was the one who suggested rescheduling for another day, and I hadn’t even told her that Yua and I were going to meet one-on-one.

Was the “illness” a lie just to avoid us? If so, why on earth would she come to the exact spot we had originally agreed upon? The more I tried to rationalize it, the further I drifted into a fog of confusion. Looking at her, there was no doubt she was here to meet someone—someone who wasn’t me.

Luckily, the original meeting time was still a while off. For now, I just had to watch.

The thought that her illness might be a lie stung, but if that were true, I was consumed by an intense curiosity: who was important enough for her to cancel on us? I covered my mouth, trying to choke back my agitation, and waited.

The logical choice—the choice my brain was screaming at me to make—was to stay hidden until Yua arrived. But I suppose the shock was deeper than I realized. Despite the warnings I was giving myself, I felt like I was being pulled in by a vacuum.

“…Minakata-san.”

My legs moved with an unsteady, hollow rhythm as I walked toward her. I wanted to hear a reason—any logical reason—from the girl I admired. I wanted to hear why she was here and pluck out the seeds of doubt that had just taken root in my heart. I wanted to be relieved. I wanted to hear her say something that made me go, “Oh, then it couldn’t be helped.”

My heart raced, and my suspicion and anxiety swelled in tandem.

“—Minakata-san…!”

Finally, the emotion within me manifested as a voice.

“…? —!? T-Tsuzuki-kun!?”

Noticing the voice calling her name, she looked around frantically, flustered. The moment her eyes met mine, she displayed an excessive, visible level of agitation.

“Why… why are you here today, Tsuzuki-kun…?”

“I was about to ask you the exact same thing.”

Neither of us could grasp the situation as we stood face-to-face. Minakata’s face was more severely tense than I had ever seen it; the gentle, angelic expression she usually wore was nowhere to be found.

“Ah… eh, well…”

Her shoulders trembled slightly. Her hands, unable to find a place to rest, intertwined restlessly near her stomach as if she were physically searching for an excuse.

“…Minakata-san, please. You have a legitimate reason for this, right?”

Please, let the person I admire stay as someone I can look up to. Let me believe that she wouldn’t lie to me.

“Tsuzuki-kun… I’m so sorry—!”

Contrary to my desperate, irresponsible hopes—Minakata turned her back on me.

She bolted toward the station, and I instinctively gave chase. Wait. Please… I’m begging you, tell me it’s not what it looks like. Apologizing was no different from admitting she was in the wrong. The things I wanted to believe were lies were rapidly gaining the weight of truth, leaving no room for excuses. As she ran further and further away from the image I had of her, I felt a terrible, hollow emptiness.

In that moment, the words Yua had told me flashed through my mind.

You should stop yourself from falling in love with Minakata-san.

The words Yua had spat out on the school route the day we argued echoed in my head. Even without proof, she had sensed something—a “suspicious point” about Minakata that I was still blind to.

“Since you went through all the trouble of coming to see us, why don’t the three of us have a nice chat?”

My frantic mind went blank for a split second. The voice felt familiar, sinking into the depths of my ears as if to soothe my turbulent heart.

However—the moment the owner of that voice entered my field of vision, I was forced into a state of total confusion once again. Minakata’s pace slowed with every step until she finally came to a dead halt. I stopped right beside her, and both of us stared, transfixed, at a single point.

“…Yua, is that really you?”

In response to my question, she gave a pleasant nod.

The high school girl known as Yua Yushiro is what people call a “cross-dressing girl.” At school, she wraps herself in the male student uniform, and everyone around her accepts it. Therefore, in my head—in our heads—it was a given that her uniform was the male one. I couldn’t even imagine her wearing the “other uniform” without a very specific reason.

A black blazer layered over a white dress shirt, a short checkered skirt, and a symbolic red ribbon decorating her collar.

I had certainly wished to see Yua dressed like that before, but appearing so suddenly in that form made my brain stall as it tried to process the image. I never could have guessed…

I never imagined Yua would actually show up wearing the school’s official female uniform.

“Yu… Yu… sa…!”

I turned to look at the girl beside me; Minakata’s eyes were wide, and she was covering her mouth with both hands.

Her reaction made perfect sense. Even I, who had caught a glimpse of Yua’s “girly casual clothes” once since we started high school, couldn’t hide my shock at this situation.

“What kind of change of heart is this…?”

“Don’t you remember the promise we made on the day of the fitness test? The one where I said I’d grant you any one wish as a ‘good effort’ prize?”

“…I remember. But why choose today, of all days, to do this…?”

“I just thought the timing was right. If I’m going to show my ‘true self’ in front of a classmate other than you for the first time, Sorato-kun, the uniform is the easiest way to make the point.”

“The easiest way… wait, more importantly! Did you just call me ‘Sorato-kun’?”

“That’s part of being my ‘true self’ too.”

Clasping her hands behind her back, Yua took a slow, deliberate step forward. When she reached us, she reached out and touched Minakata’s shoulder.

“Hau…!”

Minakata’s body practically jumped, her face flushing deep crimson as she stumbled backward.

“I think that when you ask someone for a favor, your feelings won’t get through unless you show them who you really are. …This is my own way of showing my resolve.”

Supporting Minakata by her shoulder, Yua gave a slightly embarrassed smile. “Though it seems my first-person pronouns are a habit I can’t quite break yet.”

“You’re the one who set this whole situation up, aren’t you, Yua…?”

“Well, who else could have pulled it off?”

“…What’s the goal here? All of this?”

“To get people to listen to me. I figured if I used the words of the ‘masked’ version of myself, they’d lack persuasive power. …Besides, Sorato-kun, you’ve already guessed it by now, haven’t you?”

I knew. I just never expected her to go this far.

This was Yua’s way of communicating with me. She was presenting the evidence intended to make me admit she had been right all along. She was exposing the real reason why Saho Minakata—the girl at the peak of the classroom hierarchy—had suddenly approached a plain guy like me and tried so hard to become close.

“Let’s sit down and talk for a bit.”

“…”

At Yua’s suggestion, Minakata remained silent, her face cast downward. Watching her out of the corner of my eye, I gave a small, quiet reply: “Alright.”

The three of us sat in a row on a nearby bench—Minakata, then Yua, then me. Yua began to recount the events of yesterday.

“That message from Minakata-san saying she’d come down with a fever… I’m sure you’ve realized by now, but the one who instructed her to send that to you was none other than me.”

“I figured as much.”

According to Yua, she had given the instruction yesterday evening—only a few dozen minutes before I received the message about rescheduling. Minakata sat there with her head bowed, her fists clenched white over her knees.

The fact that she didn’t deny it meant there was no lie in Yua’s words. Besides, there was no merit in making up a lie like this; from the moment she started talking, there was no room to doubt her.

“So, the core of this… you told her to lie and then called us out separately to show me her ‘true colors’… is that right?”

“Mhm, exactly.”

The true colors. The reason Minakata had approached me. The real goal of the girl who had postponed our triple date just so she could try to meet with Yua one-on-one behind my back.

“Yua, do you already know why Minakata-san approached me on her own?”

“I think I have a pretty good idea. …Though it’s not really something I want to say with my own mouth.”

“Well, I get it. You wouldn’t want to talk about someone else’s secrets based on just a guess.”

“There’s that, but also… I’d be embarrassed if I was wrong…”

“? Why would you be embarrassed, Yua?”

“Because it would mean I was, well, being way too full of myself… you know?”

I was lost. I had no idea what she meant. Honestly, I was already far more embarrassed than she could ever be—I was the one who didn’t even suspect there was an ulterior motive and got all swept up in the excitement like a fool.

In any case, if Yua didn’t have proof, there was no other way to clear this fog than to hear it from the source. I had already been lied to by the person I admired, only to find out she was trying to sneak behind my back to meet someone else on the very day we were supposed to hang out. I couldn’t imagine a bigger shock than that. If any answer I got was going to be depressing anyway, I’d rather just know the whole truth and be done with it.

“Look at the situation we’re in. If you can, Minakata-san, I want to hear it from your own mouth. Why did you try so hard to get involved with a guy like me?”

I steeled my resolve and asked for the whole story. Minakata opened her mouth slightly and took a quiet, shallow breath.

“…because…”

She murmured something in a faint, barely audible voice. I couldn’t catch the important part, so I leaned in closer.

“Sorry, could you say that one more time?”

“Yu…-sama… close… thought if I…”

It was fragmented, but I was catching more of it. Still, I couldn’t make sense of what she was trying to say. I had never seen her this flustered. Whether it was out of a sense of guilt, apology, or perhaps even a defensive feeling of “it’s not my fault,” the atmosphere she gave off was something I never could have imagined from the usual Minakata.

But at this rate, we weren’t getting anywhere.

I was about to ask her once more to speak clearly, when—

“—I just…!”

She lurched up from the bench with such force that the air around us seemed to vibrate. The volume of her voice, a total 180 from the whisper of a moment ago, swallowed the entire space.

“…!?”

Minakata’s gaze pierced through me, and I reflexively straightened my posture. She stood right over me as I sat on the bench, looking down with a sharp, intimidating glare.

There was a strange intensity in her eyes—something different from guilt, apology, or even defensiveness. It felt like a raw “hostility” directed at me, though I had no idea what I’d done to deserve it.

However, the moment her eyes shifted—the second Yua, sitting right beside me, entered her field of vision—Minakata’s sharp expression softened, just for a heartbeat.

“…Listen, Tsuzuki-kun.”

She reached out and grabbed both of my shoulders with her hands. She forced her voice to stay calm, as if trying to suppress a physical surge of emotion, but the grip she had on my shoulders only grew tighter in inverse proportion to her tone.

It was likely her way of trying to maintain self-control… a desperate final resistance. But that resistance shattered the instant she let go of my shoulders and spat out the “reason.”

“I was so, SO incredibly jealous of you for being so close to Yu-sama!!”

It was like a dam breaking; her feelings exploded in a spectacular, uncontrollable burst.

“Yu… Yu-sama!?”

I repeated the name she’d used, my voice cracking with shock.

Since Yua had transferred to Mebuki High, her fan club had been expanding its influence across the school. They were known as “Yuu-s”—and that title, “Yu-sama,” was exactly how those fanatics referred to her.

It was a grand, almost deified title, as if she were a male idol. No normal student, faculty member, or even I would ever call her that—only those people did.

The “envy” toward me that Minakata had spat out… after freezing for a few seconds in shock, the meaning finally began to click. And when Yua’s expression flickered in the corner of my vision, everything finally fell into place.

“I’d be embarrassed if I was wrong.” Yua was right; if she had been mistaken, she’d be dying of embarrassment right now. But looking at her, she seemed to be suffering through a different kind of shame anyway. Yua was looking down, her hands on her knees, holding her breath in what looked like extreme awkwardness.

“U-um, so… basically, Minakata-san, you’re… towards Yua…”

“Stop! Don’t you dare say it! You idiot!”

“Ugh…”

The direct verbal abuse coming from the once-gentle Minakata felt like a physical blow to my chest.

“That’s something I have to be the one to say…!”

With tears welling in her eyes, she grit her teeth and glared at me again.

“…You wanted the reason I got involved with you? Since it’s all out in the open anyway… fine, I’ll tell you! It’s because I thought if I stayed with you, I could get closer to Yu-sama!”

“And when things got messy between Yua and me, the way you tried to help us make up…?”

“If you and Yu-sama stayed on bad terms, my chance to get close to her would disappear too! If you thought about it for even a second, you’d realize that…!”

“O-oh… right. So that’s what it was…”

It felt like waking up from a dream.

Even the initial outing, framed as an apology for the misunderstanding in front of the girls’ restroom, had been rooted in Yua’s presence. Every conversation during our date, every interaction leading up to our second meeting—looking back, almost all of it had revolved around Yua.

It was common sense—someone as popular as Minakata moving so aggressively to close the distance with a guy like me didn’t happen without a reason.

Even though I’d sensed it deep down, I had chosen to keep dreaming, and this was the result. Yua had noticed it from the very beginning and had tried to warn me. It was all for me—yet I hadn’t even bothered to listen. Worse, I had acted like a total jerk and pushed her away.

Knowing I’d been deceived by Minakata hurt, but right now, the weight of my regret and the apology I owed Yua for not believing her was crushing my heart far more.

“…Sorato-kun.”

Yua leaned in close to my slumped shoulders, her voice soft as she rubbed my back with her palm.

“Minakata-san, I’m happy you feel that way. I’m grateful that you want to be friends with me so badly that you’d go to these lengths. …However,”

Yua stood up from the bench and met Minakata’s eyes directly.

“If you truly care about me, I want you to stop doing things like this. Ever again.”

Then, speaking with absolute clarity, as if to drill the point home:

“Could you please never again do something that causes pain to the person most important to me?”

She spoke with a harshness I’d never heard before. This was the first time I’d ever seen her display such raw emotion toward anyone other than me. This anger, too, was for my sake. She was doing this to ensure I wouldn’t be hurt by Minakata’s words or actions ever again.

“U-uuuh… I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…”

Faced with Yua’s rebuke, Minakata’s nose twitched as her shoulders began to shake violently.

“But, I really… I love you so much, Yu-sama! Every day I was just looking for a chance to talk to you… I just wanted to find some way, any way, to make a connection with you…!”

In the midst of her apologies, Minakata’s emotions overflowed, and she practically confessed her heart to Yua. With the tip of her nose bright red, she sobbed like a child, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hands.

“Your methods were wrong, but I’ve received your feelings loud and clear. …Thank you,” Yua said gently, reaching out to pull Minakata into a soft embrace. “This ‘love’ you’re talking about, Minakata-san… what kind of meaning does it have to you?”

“I fell in love at first sight the moment we met. At first, I saw you as an ‘oshi’—someone to support—but now, it’s like a ‘real-love’ crush. I think of you as someone I want to date… I’ve never felt this way about a guy before, so I don’t even fully understand it myself yet…!”

“…I see.”

Taking in the weight of Minakata’s feelings, Yua gave a small, understanding nod.

“This might sound selfish of me… but I want to be as close as possible to the people who care about me. Even though I can’t respond to your desire to ‘date’ me.”

Yua pulled back, her hands leaving Minakata’s waist as she offered a soft, radiant smile.

“If it’s alright with you, Minakata-san… do you think we could build a relationship as ‘friends’?”

“…!”

As if witnessing a literal miracle, Minakata froze, her expression one of utter disbelief as fresh tears streamed down her face. Having just received such a harsh rebuke from Yua, she must have already given up on any hope of a connection.

But Yua isn’t the type to reject people so easily—especially when their mistakes come from a place of genuine affection for her. It’s because she’s so considerate of others that being around her feels so right.

Though it wasn’t the romantic outcome Minakata had dreamed of, Yua’s proposal to be “friends” was an offer I knew the answer to before she even spoke.

“P-Please… I would love to… absolutely, yes please…!”

In her excitement, Minakata spoke so fast she tripped over her own words, nodding her head vigorously.

Setting aside the fact that I had been completely played, it looked like the situation with Minakata was settling down peacefully. For now, it was mission accomplished for this particular mess.

“Sora Tsuzuki!”

Just as I was starting to breathe a sigh of relief, it happened. Minakata pointed a firm, accusatory index finger directly at me, her eyes flashing with a renewed sharpness.

“I apologize for trying to use you. I am truly sorry. …But from now on, I’m going to fight you fair and square!”

“F-Fight…?”

“That’s right! Gender, childhood friend status—none of that matters anymore!”

Apparently, she had completely moved past her breakdown. And, to my absolute disbelief, it seemed she now viewed me as a legitimate rival.

“I’m not handing Yu-sama over to you… I absolutely won’t lose again!”

I never would have dreamed that the day would come when Saho Minakata would declare war on me as a “love rival.”

“…Talk about a complicated feeling.”

This was the emotion directed at me from the girl I had admired: a tangled mess of envy and pride. Though I’d essentially been rejected without ever actually confessing, there was a tiny, strange part of me that felt proud to have seen the “real” Saho Minakata that the rest of the class knew nothing about.

“Anyway, I’m going home. You two do whatever you want for the rest of the day.”

Minakata began walking back toward the station, signaling her departure.

“Wait… we just made progress on being ‘friends.’ You’re leaving already?”

“Today is a reset. As an apology for trying to use you, I’ll quietly let you monopolize Yu-sama just this once. …But you’d better be prepared for the next time we meet at school.”

She looked back over her shoulder and, while glaring at me, placed an index finger under her right eye in a defiant gesture.

“Because I’m a hardcore ‘anti-groupie’ who hates sharing her favorite!”

She stuck out her tongue in a final provocation and wiped a stray tear from her left eye with the back of her hand. Then, to hide her face from us, she hurried away into the distance.

“…She’s gone.”

“Yeah…”

After watching Minakata’s retreating back, Yua let out a long sigh and sank back onto the bench. I looked at her profile—this girl who had gone through so much just to set me straight—and scratched my head, unable to keep the words in any longer.

“…Yua, I’m sorry.”

“Hmm? For what?”

“For not listening to your warnings. For pushing you away. …I was so swept up in my own delusions that I let myself get tricked, and in the end, you had to be the one to save me.”

Regret and a crushing sense of patheticism washed over me. On the night Yua had dinner at my house, I had promised on the way home that I would protect her. And yet, here I was—not the protector, but the one being protected. I could hardly bring myself to look her in the eye.

“Don’t let it get to you so much, Sorato-kun.”

Yua leaned back against the bench, straightening her posture and stretching her arms out.

“If you only look at the result, sure, it looks like I helped you. But if you change your perspective, you could say I was actually being helped by you, too.”

“…What is that supposed to mean?”

“Minakata-san was trying to use you as a bridge to get to me, right? There are always people whose motivation manifests in strange, unpredictable ways, and she happened to be one of them. …If you hadn’t been there, all that ‘motivation’ would have been directed straight at me from the start.”

“So you’re saying… because I acted as a buffer while she was trying to get close to you, you didn’t have to deal with the direct fallout? That I helped you indirectly?”

“Exactly.”

“…That’s a very convenient interpretation for my sake.”

“It’s the truth, though. I mean, while she was hanging out with you, she was trying to fish for my address, wasn’t she? If things had gone differently, she might have started following me directly.”

She had a point, but calling that “saving her” felt like a huge stretch. It was just a “what-if” scenario. The reality remained that she was the one who pulled me out of the fire, and the fact that I had cruelly pushed her away wouldn’t just vanish.

“Oh? You still have that ‘I’m not convinced’ look on your face, don’t you?”

The fact that I was blaming myself internally must have leaked onto my face. She peered up at me from below and let a small smile play on her lips.

“Well, I get how you feel, Sorato-kun. If I were in your position, I’d probably be regretting my actions, too… but you know? I was happy.”

“You were happy…?”

“Back in elementary school, you were always the one saving me… so I’m glad I could protect you in a way that’s actually visible.”

Yua narrowed her eyes and curled the corners of her mouth upward in a look of deep satisfaction. These weren’t just words of comfort meant to appease me. I could easily tell from her expression that she meant it from the bottom of her heart.

“Good grief, you’re even a ‘cool guy’ on the inside. I really am no match for you.”

“I’m not a ‘cool guy.’ If anything, it’s only on the inside.”

“Yeah… I guess so.”

Looking at Yua now—having granted the wish I made on the day of the fitness test by choosing to wear the girls’ school uniform today—there wasn’t a trace of boyishness left in her appearance.

“…Still, no matter how positively you choose to view this, I don’t think I can just let my feelings go that easily.”

“You really don’t have to worry about it, okay? I was the one being meddlesome, knowing full well I was practically forcing you away from Minakata-san.”

“Hmm, but still…”

“Ah! In that case, as both an apology and a ‘thank you,’ would you do me a favor?”

It looked like she had just thought of something. Yua placed both of her hands on my knees and looked into my eyes with a sparkling gaze. I flinched at the sudden physical contact but tried my best to maintain my composure.

“…I-if it’s something I can do, just say the word.”

“Really!? …Then, first off, I want you to tell me your frank impression.”

Her voice bounced with excitement as Yua stood up from the bench. She twirled around once, her skirt fluttering softly in the wind.

“The way I look to you in this girls’ uniform… you haven’t said a word yet, so I couldn’t help but wonder.”

“Usually, an apology involves giving someone a gift or treating them to a meal, doesn’t it?”

“But your wish was that you wanted to see me wearing this, right? I don’t want a thing or a meal—I want to hear your thoughts!”

As for my impression of Yua in the girls’ uniform, it was already floating in my head. However, the moment I thought about actually saying it to her, embarrassment took over. That said, when she asked like that, I didn’t have much of a choice. Either way, it was something I had intended to tell her when the timing felt right.

I let my gaze travel from her feet up to her head, burning the precious sight of Yua in her girls’ uniform into my memory. When our eyes finally met, my mouth opened almost of its own accord.

“…You’re cute. Really.”

Before I knew it, the embarrassment had vanished, and the words just spilled out of my empty head. It was a completely unvarnished, heartfelt impression—and Yua seemed to realize that. Perhaps shocked by such a direct comment, she stood there in silence as her cheeks turned a deep crimson.

“Eh… I mean, well… Ah, jeez!”

Seeing her pure reaction, color suddenly flooded back into my mind. Immediately, the embarrassment of what I’d just said surged through my entire body. Scratching my head to hide my bashfulness, I stood up and left the bench behind.

“Ah… wait, Sorato-kun! Where are you going all of a sudden!?”

“It’s a waste of time just sitting here! Besides, we promised to hang out, just the two of us. Let’s go grab lunch, just like we originally planned.”

The more I wanted to hide my true feelings, the more talkative and full of excuses I became. It was truly pathetic that I couldn’t even look Yua in the face as she hurried to catch up behind me.

However—no matter how embarrassed I was, there was still one more thing I had to tell her.

This was my own form of resolve born from regret—a declaration of intent. To grant her wish and to ensure I never made the same mistake again, I had to make a vow.

“…From now on, I’m the one who’s going to protect you, Yua.”

The moment those words left my mouth, she reached out and firmly grasped the hand of the me who was walking ahead of her.

“Let me protect you, too, Sorato-kun. …Just like you did for me, a long time ago.”

Is it normal for lines like that to come out so naturally? Even setting her appearance aside, it seemed I stood no chance against her when it came to her character, either. And yet… surprisingly, it didn’t feel bad. If Yua was by my side, I knew there was nothing more reassuring.

“…I’ll have to work harder to catch up to you.”

So that one day, I can become that kind of person for her.

Just like back then, when I could say cool things without any shame—so that I can regain enough confidence to walk beside Yua with my head held high once more.