Chapter 4 (2/2)
Up until now, she’d never felt the need to talk about her feelings, so she had always interpreted things in a way that made it convenient for herself, and becoain
‘All this tis’
As Natsuki sat there in silence, Koyuki responded by lowering his head
“I’s…”
“Ah, you don’t need to apologize! Honestly, I think that’s how it probably is, too”
Waving both of her hands frantically, Natsuki suggesting they continue with their lunch
“More importantly, let’s eat the pasta while it’s still fresh!+”
Koyuki looked back up, and see to say, but when Natsuki looked at him questionably, he only shook his head The expression on his face looked just a little sad
‘Did Koyuki-kun get tired of me…?’
After all, the reason they’d just had that conversation earlier was because she’d been spacing out
To top it off, she felt like Koyuki-kun had helped solve the proble her, but since it was such a personal matter, she couldn’t really tell him the details about it
‘Once I tell Yuu how I really feel, that’s when I’ll thank Koyuki-kun properly, too’
If it was Natsuki that had given Koyuki a push froiven her that push she needed
When she thanked hirateful she was for that
At that ti before that day would come
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
‘What do I do, we’re already at the park…’
Natsuki let out a quiet sigh next to Koyuki, whose eyes were shi+ning unusually bright
She was happy when he’d said he would see her off, but she didn’t think he meant all the way to her doorstep
She’d been surprised enough that he’d accompanied her to the nearest train stop, but when Koyuki started to walk ahead, casually saying, “Co but follow after him
‘Even when I said I’d be fine since it’s still light out, he didn’t listen to me at all’
Koyuki had been surprisingly stubborn
After worrying over it long enough, Natsuki boldly stopped in her tracks
“Koyuki-kun, really, you don’t have to walk me all the way… You won’t reht?”
“…Alright I don’t want to be a bother to you, after all”
Natsuki smiled wryly at the honesty of Koyuki’s words
‘He’s been like this the entire day…’
Koyuki had always been polite when speaking, but today, he’d acted just like a butler or a knight would He’d treated Natsuki just like how a upper-class lady or a princess ht be treated, so she couldn’t help but feel shy about it
‘I ’
As if it were only natural, he’d held open every single door for her, along with pulling out her chair, and even walked on the side of sidewalk facing the cars
‘I felt bad when he said he’d pay for lunch, since he was the one who had invited h’
Koyuki really was a nice person
Even if she tried to return the favor in soible form, he probably wouldn’t accept it
That hy, for now, Natsuki siratitude
“Thank you for today! I had a lot of fun”
“No, thank you It was… like a dream”
“Ehh? Quit exaggerating, Koyuki-kun”
Giving an eh, Natsuki playfully hit Koyuki’s upper arm, just like she’d do to Yuu or Haruki
Although his arms looked thin and soft, she felt muscle there when she hit him
‘Well, duh, Koyuki-kun’s a guy too, after all…’
“Enomoto-san!”
Koyuki suddenly called her name, and took hold of her wrist
Seeing the serious expression on his face, Natsuki held her breath
‘Is he the type that doesn’t like being touched?’
She was used to h skinshi+p with Yuu and the others, so it’d slipped her mind It was possible that Koyuki wasn’t very comfortable with physical contact
Just as she was about to apologize, she heard the sound of a bicycle going by right behind her
She flinched on instinct, and Koyuki io out her hand
“S-Sorry! Did I hurt you?”
“No, I’ you”
As she apologized to Koyuki, Natsuki watched the bicycle from the corner of her eye
It was a perfectly ordinary ladies’ bicycle, with super one was a woht it was
“Enomoto-san? What’s the matter?”
“Ah, I was just re how this is his usual route…”
She see out words, and saying things without context
But for some reason, Koyuki understood exactly what she uchi-kun’s”
How did he know that?
Before she could ask, Koyuki grabbed her wrist again
He pulled her towards hiht into his collarbone
‘Ouch, that must have hurt…!’
Those were her first thoughts, but Koyuki seemed unfazed Instead, he wrapped his other arainst his chest
“Do you knohat kind of face you made just now?”
She heard his voice at her ear, and tried to shi+ft her body around to look up at him
However, Koyuki’s arht, and the most she could do was turn her neck
‘Koyuki-kun, what’s gotten into you…?’
Between her confusion and uneasiness, Natsuki couldn’t register what he meant by that question
As if impatient with her silence, Koyuki continued
“If it were ive you reason to make such a sad face I would try hard for you, with only the best of intentions”
The pounding of Koyuki’s heartbeat rang clearly in her ears
Natsuki’s own heartbeat sped up as well, restless like she’d just done a sprint
So much that it hurt
“So, instead of Setoguchi-kun–”
“Instead of me, what?”
She heard a voice fro off Koyuki’s speech
There was no
“…Yuu…”
Pulling away frorip, she turned around with slow steps
With the sunset directly behind him, Yuu’s face was cast in shadow and hard to make out
But strangely, it was obvious that he was angry The atmosphere was strained, sothere
“Say, Ayase,”
Yuu acted like Natsuki wasn’t there, and glared only at Koyuki
Koyuki didn’t even falter, and simply nodded with a smile on his face
Feeling the tension inevitably rise, Natsuki clenched the hem of her dress nervously
“Have you ever heard of the ter mindful of how to act when it comes to certain tihborhood residents likeby If you’re so casual about things like that in public, you’ll cause trouble for Natsuki”
“‘Things like that’?”
Whether he really didn’t understand, or if he was just testing hi to
Yuu clicked his tongue, so he rarely did, and stepped closer to Koyuki
“Ilike her boyfriend, then at least think about her feelings more”
“…Shouldn’t you be following your own advice first?”
“No need to”
When Yuu gave a quick reply, the smile disappeared from Koyuki’s face
His eyes widened as if surprised, and then narrowed into a glare
Unable to keep up with the two, Natsuki could only watch them in silence
“May I ask why that is?”
“It’s because Natsuki and I are childhood friends… Even the neighbors can confirm that”
“Ahh, childhood friends I see”
Koyuki seemed to scoff, and Yuu became even more visibly annoyed
Even to Natsuki, it looked like Koyuki was trying to provoke Yuu
‘Why is he acting like this? Is this… really Koyuki-kun…?’
She knew that she had to get between the two of thes wouldn’t move
Even when she tried to yell, which was the least she could do, her voice wouldn’t come out
The , the
‘Please, don’t fight…’
She stared at thee Yuu was the first to notice When their eyes radually, the wrinkles between his eyebrows increased
‘B-But why? Did it backfire?’
Could it be that he thought she was trying to stand up for Koyuki?
Despite the panic that Natsuki was currently in, Yuu took another step in front of her
“In any case, I won’t forgive anyone who makes Natsuki cry”
It was clear by Yuu’s indifferent voice that he hadn’t given into Koyuki’s taunt
Letting out the breath she was holding, Natsuki felt so cold and wet drip down around her collarbone
‘What was that…? Rain?’
She looked up at the sky, but before she could find any clouds, her vision blurred over
As she weakly lifted her hand to rub at her eyes, she felt a daertips
“…H-Huh?”
“That’s how it is, so let’s go”
Without waiting for a reply or even bothering to ask her opinion, Yuu wrapped his ar
She tried to tell him to wait, but all she could do was sniff
‘Stupid, this isn’t the ti…’
I have to apologize to Koyuki-kun
I have to clear up Yuu’s
Despite these thoughts, the tears just kept falling, preventing her fro
“It isn’t fair of you to do this if you aren’t going to compete!”
She heard Koyuki yell after them, but it wasn’t for them to stop
To top it off, she wasn’t sure who his words were directed at
When she looked up at her childhood friend walking beside her, he had a dissatisfied look on his face
‘Then… that was meant for Yuu?’
However, he gave no reaction whatsoever, and his lued shut
After that, Koyuki didn’t say anything else, and she heard the distant sound of his footsteps as he ran off
‘Why…? Why did things end up like this?’
Holding back her sobs, Natsuki repeated this answerless question in her head
The sunset that day was a terrible strain on her eyes