CH 50

The week begins with Monday.

I, Ichikawa Aoi, walked to school with heavy steps.

I really wanted to take a day off.

I told him last night that we will go to school separately on Monday.

Komiya kun responded with a cat stamp that said OK.

I couldn’t bear to see Komiya kun, but I also had the contradictory feeling that I didn’t want to see him.

In a situation like this, that person would be able to …….

I compare Komiya kun to that person.

“…..Ts”

W-What am I thinking.

I put a lid on my lowest feelings.

This blur was something that had begun to sprout over the past few days.

But no matter how many lids I put on it, it will overflow.

“I can’t do it. Not at this rate.”

Sighing does not make this sinking feeling any better.

The teacher entered the classroom at that moment.

Is Komiya kun off ……?

He was not in his seat.

It was lunchtime and as usual I headed for the stairs leading to the roof.

So I take out my lunch box alone and start eating lunch.

No matter how long I wait, Komiya kun will not come here.

During homeroom, the teacher informed me that he would be absent today due to a cold.

I felt both relieved and disappointed. I had mixed feelings.

Still, I came here because I wanted to be alone and I felt like I could feel him here.

“…………..”

As usual, I was frustrated by my own contradictory feelings.

“Fiuh……”

After finishing my lunch, I think in a daze about what is to come.

I wonder if I should go visit him.

I should go there usually. But…

I was lost.

“I found you.”

“—-?!”

The stairs where I sit.

I thought someone had come up from downstairs and wanted to see me.

“So you used to eat here all the time.”

“………….”

Then he sits down beside me.

I turn my body slightly away and shift so that we are not in close contact.

“Alone? Or should I say, Alone today?”

“What do you mean? Jinguji kun.”

He still stares at me with a smile on his face, not knowing what I am thinking.

“You don’t have to hide anything from your friends. About you and Komiya kun.”

“……..”

He knew.

I didn’t mind telling him already, but somehow I felt that Jinguji kun should not know.

“So, I heard something interesting from Kou that day.”

He then showed me the smartphone he was carrying.

I have a bad feeling about this.

“This is Aoi, right?”

“……Tsss”

What was projected on the screen was myself in junior high school. Unlike now, I was a fussy person, wearing glasses and with densely grown hair.

I was soaking wet and miserable in my underwear.

◆

Monday came again after the holidays.

I headed off to school, feeling a little sluggish at the beginning of the week, but then I got a fever.

Unseasonal cold.

So this was the cause of my laziness. I wonder if I was just tired.

I think I pulled it off for the first time in about two years.

And today, for the first time in three days, I finally went to school after getting over a cold.

In the meantime, everyone was contacting me with their concerns.

Among them was Tohno san, who, according to Aki, was feeling depressed because of her own confession.

It sounds like Tohno san, but I don’t think the confession has anything to do with it at all.

I certainly had my head in the sand about the confession and Ichikawa san.　

Ichikawa san has been communicating with me normally after that.

I had hoped that she would come to visit me, but she was busy and that wish was never fulfilled.

Instead, Tohno san, Aki, Suzu, and Sakino san approached me to visit, but I turned them all down.

I might move on, and above all, it felt somehow different to meet with a girl other than Ichikawa san in this current unstable relationship.

It was the first time I had been to school in three days, but my steps were still heavy.

Even though we are communicating on line, the last exchange with Ichikawa san was like that, and most importantly, Tohno san is next to me.

What in the world am I supposed to look like when I go to school?

That day. I remembered Tohno san’s confession to me.

＊＊＊

“I love Komiya kun!”

I froze at the unexpected confession from Tohno san.

Beside me, Aki looked at me the same way in surprise and froze.

My mind was blank.

That Tohno likes me ……?

Tohno san, whom I liked?

Does that mean we were in love with each other?

So, if I had confessed to Tohno san, would I have gone out with her?

[If you go out with me and don’t like me, then you can leave me.]

“……..”

I shook my head at the lousy idea that passed my mind for a moment.

Calm down. Tell yourself that you are just confused right now.

I had never experienced anything like this before.

I can’t believe that the person I gave up liking confessed to me.

And in a situation where I am dating someone else.

I don’t know how to answer what.

Perhaps sensing my confusion, Tohno san continues to open her mouth.

“But…….But I don’t want an answer now.”

“…….Eh?”

Again I fall into confusion.

Then the question of why pushes in.

“That’s……I-I was actually going to say at the end of the day …… that ……”

“……..!”

Tohno san glances at Aki. Something has happened between her and Aki.

“So, you know? Even if I say it suddenly!　Komiya kun, you too! I thought you should have time to think about it!”

Tohno san panics and takes me in the direction of postponing my response.

“Ah, What should I do?! I’m getting embarrassed……..aaa……”

She was now beginning to realize that she had just confessed to me, and her face rapidly turned red.

The momentum from earlier to the confession was fading fast.

“W-What am I going to do……I was going to have lunch afterwards with you, but now I’m too embarrassed to go with you……”

I could even hear the small murmur of her worries.

“…… Can’t help Hitomi anymore. Youta.”

“Y-Yes!”

Then Aki, who had been quietly watching until a few minutes ago, interrupted.

Is it that she can no longer watch her childhood friends in their current state?

“Hitomi is like this, so that’s all for today, okay?”

“Ah, yeah. I’m good, but ……”

It was a suggestion I was grateful for.

“W-Wait Aki chan ! Why are yo—”

“Look at your face. It’s bright red. You look like a boiled octopus. Can you and Youta go on a date after this in that condition?”

“Auu….”

Tohno san, perhaps a figurehead, becomes small at Aki’s suggestion.

Date……..

“I-I’m sorry. Komiya kun. I was going to celebrate your birthday, but …… well, I’ll see you later. Shall we do it another time?”

“I-I don’t mind.”

“So today, we’re disbanding. I’m sorry, Youta. We’ll stay here a little longer.”

I can’t help but feel that this day is becoming more and more unrelated to my birthday, but does another time mean there will be another time?

Was it right to make such a promise?

Aki looks at me. I left the two of them behind.

Somehow. Now, I wanted to see Ichikawa san and decided to look for her again.

＊＊＊

“Good morning. Komiya kun. Is your cold alright already?”

“G-Good morning. Tohno san. I’m all right now.”

Maybe it’s because I’m too conscious, but Tohno san is the same as before.

I was awkward, though.

“Thank god. I was so surprised when I heard you had a cold. Maybe it’s my confession…!”

However, Tohno san was not unaware of this.

I am at a loss for words if I remember saying it myself.

I’m embarrassed by that too, remembering again, and we both look away from each other.

Awkward …….

I looked sideways at Tohno san and saw her face reddening.

“…………..Ts”

“Tss”

Tohno san also glanced at me sideways and our eyes met. The moment we met, she looked away from me with a tremendous force, and I turned even redder than before.

Oh …… how long can I stand this air ……

When am I supposed to get an answer?

But the answer to this question will come sooner than you might think.

“Komiya kun. Let’s part ways.”

“…….Eh?”

It was an abrupt farewell from Ichikawa san.

(TL/N : You don’t know how much I am sweating just to know what will happen with Ichikawa’s story

Oh yeah BTW, the author said this message at the end of the episode, so I think I can take a small breather…

[The comments section was a parade of “Stop NTR!” But the current trend is completely Ichikawa-san’s. …… No, it’s nothing.

I don’t want to say too much that will crush your anticipation of what is to come, but I will say this.

I hate NTR in romantic comedies!!!] 

Oh yeah, btw, with this, the story will enter the final arc, and I just took a glimpse of what’s waiting….and the arc is full of drama….