Arc-1 Chapter-5: Cupid in Love is Narrow-Minded

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"Eh, he's the Cupid of Love...? he doesn't look like a crafty guy to me." (小雪)

"Well.... it was a 'tour de force' to be honest." (Yui)

After shrugging her shoulders, Yui gave a distant look.

"When we were about to graduate from middle school, Naoya suddenly said to us, when the three of us were going home, 'By the way, when are you guys going to start dating?'" (Yui)

"Waoh..." (小雪)

Koyuki raised her voice in disbelief.

It is an undeniable fact, but Naoya has his own point of view.

The three of them had been together since kindergarten, and it was obvious to Naoya that Yui and Tatsumi had feelings for each other, even if he wasn't the most perceptive about people. And yet, neither of them would take any action. Fortunately, it was decided that all three of them would go to the same high school, but the distance between them would naturally change in different environment.

So Naoya gently gave them a push in the back.

That's all I'm saying.

(Well, yeah, I guess there were better ways to do it, but...)

As a result, they started dating, and over a year later, they still have a good relationship.

"Well, that's how he is, he has no sense of delicacy, he sees through everything we don't want him to, and he's meddlesome..." (Yui)

"I know..." (小雪)

It was Koyuki who nodded seriously.

But Yui continued with a smile.

"But, he's a good guy, though. So please take care of him." (Yui)

"I, will...." (小雪)

Koyuki muttered in a small voice.

Those biting words penetrated into Naoya's heart.

In the midst of all this, Yui made a small gesture to the back.

"By the way, I'm pretty sure Naoya can hear this conversation..." (Yui)

"What?! Are you kidding me!? at this distance....?!" (小雪)

When Koyuki hurriedly looked back at Naoya, he responded with a light wave.

Next to him, Tatsumi's eyes narrowed in dismay.

"Hey, man, just show me what you've done. It's fine that you guys are close, but you need to be careful, okay?" (Kono)

"From what? a car accident? Well, it'll a scary thing when you're at the height of happiness like this..." (Naoya)

"No, no, no. What I'm talking about is Snow White." (Kono)

"...Huh...?" (Naoya)

Naoya could only look at him and widen his eyes. From the name, it's probably related to Koyuki...

Tatsumi speaks in a serious tone to Naoya, who gives him a dubious look.

"There's an unofficial fan club, apparently. Among the members are those who were cruelly dumped by the 'Venomous Snow White', and they are keeping an eye out for men who approach Shirogane-San." (Kono)

"Eeeh, such a fan club exists in real life... I thought they only existed in world of Mangas/Novels." (Naoya)

"Well, you're the one who got flagged with a beautiful girl who looks like she's from a romance novel/manga." (Kono)

".....I don't know how to respond to that." (Naoya)

Naoya could only nod his head helplessly.

It is true that Koyuki is a very beautiful girl, and I have heard that many students have been rejected by her.

That being the case, now that Naoya has gotten close to her, there is a good chance that he will be flanked by such people...

"So I guess it's now or never if you want to turn back." (Kono)

"Unfortunately.... I don't think I can do that." (Naoya)

Naoya shook his head in response to Tatsumi's advice.

When I looked in front of me, I could see the back of Koyuki.

She and Yui had a casual chat, and she smiled a little. 

The smile, the hand over her mouth, the slightly lowered corners of her eyes, everything was strongly burned in Naoya's eyes.

She's a girl I'm sure I've only met two days ago, but just by looking at her like that, the feeling of "Fondness" comes to me one after another.

There was no way I could think of pretending that these feelings doesn't exist.

"I also really like Shirogane-san. No matter what kind of enemy appears, I won't be able to give up on her." (Naoya)

"I can't believe you're saying that, even though you were so cold..." (Kono)

Tatsumi let out a faint exclamation, then put his arm around Naoya's shoulders, and smiled teasingly at him.

"I'll pick up your bones, so keep up the good work. I would have gone for her if it weren't for Yui. It's a shame, isn't it?" (Kono)

"Haha..." (Naoya)

Naoya thought to himself, "It's a good thing he got together with Yui before entering high school."

I've been trying to calm Tatsumi down who was attacking Koyuki without any intention of doing it. Yui was shocked by this but, I had to explain everything to her otherwose it would have been troublesome for sure.¹

(Also, it's just simply.... annoying me to death that other guys are courting Shirogane-San.....)

It was at this point that Naoya realized that he was surprisingly narrow-minded.