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 ho 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 et 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 , 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 in that way or sothing. I just wanted to cheer up my friend, that was it.
I didn’t know that my casual gesture would shake up her heart so much that she started having feelings for .
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 ti to dwell on this. Umi is waiting for .”
Before I realized it, it was already six in the evening. It seed like I had been out of it for quite so ti.
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.
My stance on this had been the sa since last Christmas, since the mont Umi and I had beco 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 ti. 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 tis, she’d do sothing like this to tease .
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 sa 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 an 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 sumr vacation, and yet I still…”
“Sumr vacation? Oh, when we went to the pool?”
“…Mm.”
I was talking about the ti when I went down the water slide with Amami-san (Nozomu was there too). It was the first ti 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 soone 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 ssy. But, it’s okay.”
She pulled closer and embraced .
“…”
“Hm? Huh, are you crying, Maki?”
“No, of course not… But, can we stay like this for a while longer?”
“Of course… Here, co 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 instead.
Seriously, she was too good of a girlfriend for …
“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 ss.”
“Umi… Do you think we can go back to the way things were? With these guys… For the first ti 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. Rember 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 , 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 ti would be the sa.
As I thought about such things, my appetite started to co 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 like this. It feels warm…and you sll nice…”
“You just like my boobs.”
“…Yeah, but can you not put it that way? It sounds like I’m so kind of pervert when you do.”
“But you are.”
“…Well, I’m your pervert, I guess.”
I loved her. I wanted to spend more ti 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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