“—I don’t want us to be just friends anymore…!”
The summer festival was at its height, the fireworks roaring in the sky, and yet Konoe tried her best to convey these words with all her might.
“…What?” Unable to say anything, I just returned a blank question.
She doesn’t want to stay just as friends. These were the words I heard all too clearly, despite this loud ambient noise.
“……”
No no no no, hold on. What’s that supposed to mean. What meaning is she even using here? This is worse than anything I anticipated. What a pinch. If this was a volleyball or basketball team, the coach would be taking a timeout right about now, but sadly life doesn’t have such a convenient function.
Hence, I had to use my own thoughts, and had my brain cells do the heavy lifting. If she says that being just friends isn’t good enough…then she wants to become something more than friends?
“…!”
H-Huh? Weird. Wait a second. No matter how I think about it, that phrase just now could only mean…!?
“…Ah, y-you’re wrong!” Konoe must have felt awkward seeing me quiet for such a long time, and frantically opened her mouth.
“Wrong…with what?”
“~~~! T-That just now…wasn’t a confession or anything.” The dear butler explained with flapping hands.
If that wasn’t a confession…then what was it?
“That’s why…Um…What I said wasn’t a confession or anything like that…” Konoe repeated herself, and another silence followed.
She seemed to be thinking about something.
“………Best friends.”
“Best friends?”
“That’s right! I want us to become best friends! So don’t get the wrong idea, that just now wasn’t a confession or anything! It definitely wasn’t like that!”
“Yeah yeah, I got that part already.”
But, best friends? That sure came out of nowhere.
“It should be fine, right? Before, you called another classmate of yours like that.”
“Kurose? Well, it’s true that we go back a long time.”
I’ve had him around for the longest time after all. We’ve known each other since middle school, and lived through a lot. Now, these are all important memories.
“Do you…not want to?” Konoe asked with a worried voice.
She put her hands together in front of her chest, like she was praying for something.
“Do you not want to become best friends with me, Jirou? If so, that’s fine. I don’t want you to hate me, so…”
“H-Hold on! Why would you suddenly arrive at that!?”
“B-Because you wouldn’t respond at all…”
“I was just surprised because that came out of nowhere. There’s no way I’d be against it.”
“…Eh? Then…”
“Yeah, let’s.” In order to reassure Konoe, I strongly nodded.
Best friends. If you were to give it another more direct word, it would be ‘Dear friend’, right. It sounds pretty embarrassing alright, but I don’t hate it. How could I? If she’s happy, then I’m happy.
“Come on, let’s shake hands to seal the deal.”
“…T-Thanks…”
When I offered my hand, Konoe took it with her small one. As a result, I felt her warm palm. Since it would activate my gynophobia again, we only held hands for a brief moment.
“But, why’d you suddenly bring it up? You surprised me.” I asked after pulling my hand away.
I mean, Konoe and I would often eat lunch together, so we’re pretty close, but that sure came out of the blue…
“Ah..that’s…We couldn’t see each other as much because of summer break, so I just wanted to reconfirm our friendship…!”
“I mean, we really aren’t meeting each other every day, but with the classes outside the curriculum, we’ve been seeing each other here and there, right.”
The Private Rouran Academy we are attending has these super annoying outside-of-term classes, which force you to come to school despite the heat basically killing you. It’s so annoying.
“~~~! W-What’s it matter!? It’s not that awful of a thing, right!” Konoe sounded like she desperately tried to explain herself.
Well, whatever. Maybe it really was just on a whim.
“Either way, let’s get along, best friend.”
Amidst the explosions in the sky, I said those words to Konoe. Summer break is going to end eventually, and the second term will start. That’s why, this isn’t so bad—becoming best friends with Konoe.
“…Yeah, that’s right. We are…best friends.”
And yet, Konoe’s expression didn’t look as happy as I was hoping it to be. Something’s weird. But, she was the one who brought it up first, so she must be happy no doubt. If I had to guess—she’s probably just embarrassed. Coming to this conclusion, I averted my eyes from the girl, and enjoyed the fireworks filling the sky.
“—I don’t want us to be just friends anymore…!”
The summer festival was at its height, the fireworks roaring in the sky, and yet Konoe tried her best to convey these words with all her might.
“…What?” Unable to say anything, I just returned a blank question.
She doesn’t want to stay just as friends. These were the words I heard all too clearly, despite this loud ambient noise.
“……”
No no no no, hold on. What’s that supposed to mean. What meaning is she even using here? This is worse than anything I anticipated. What a pinch. If this was a volleyball or basketball team, the coach would be taking a timeout right about now, but sadly life doesn’t have such a convenient function.
Hence, I had to use my own thoughts, and had my brain cells do the heavy lifting. If she says that being just friends isn’t good enough…then she wants to become something more than friends?
“…!”
H-Huh? Weird. Wait a second. No matter how I think about it, that phrase just now could only mean…!?
“…Ah, y-you’re wrong!” Konoe must have felt awkward seeing me quiet for such a long time, and frantically opened her mouth.
“Wrong…with what?”
“~~~! T-That just now…wasn’t a confession or anything.” The dear butler explained with flapping hands.
If that wasn’t a confession…then what was it?
“That’s why…Um…What I said wasn’t a confession or anything like that…” Konoe repeated herself, and another silence followed.
She seemed to be thinking about something.
“………Best friends.”
“Best friends?”
“That’s right! I want us to become best friends! So don’t get the wrong idea, that just now wasn’t a confession or anything! It definitely wasn’t like that!”
“Yeah yeah, I got that part already.”
But, best friends? That sure came out of nowhere.
“It should be fine, right? Before, you called another classmate of yours like that.”
“Kurose? Well, it’s true that we go back a long time.”
I’ve had him around for the longest time after all. We’ve known each other since middle school, and lived through a lot. Now, these are all important memories.
“Do you…not want to?” Konoe asked with a worried voice.
She put her hands together in front of her chest, like she was praying for something.
“Do you not want to become best friends with me, Jirou? If so, that’s fine. I don’t want you to hate me, so…”
“H-Hold on! Why would you suddenly arrive at that!?”
“B-Because you wouldn’t respond at all…”
“I was just surprised because that came out of nowhere. There’s no way I’d be against it.”
“…Eh? Then…”
“Yeah, let’s.” In order to reassure Konoe, I strongly nodded.
Best friends. If you were to give it another more direct word, it would be ‘Dear friend’, right. It sounds pretty embarrassing alright, but I don’t hate it. How could I? If she’s happy, then I’m happy.
“Come on, let’s shake hands to seal the deal.”
“…T-Thanks…”
When I offered my hand, Konoe took it with her small one. As a result, I felt her warm palm. Since it would activate my gynophobia again, we only held hands for a brief moment.
“But, why’d you suddenly bring it up? You surprised me.” I asked after pulling my hand away.
I mean, Konoe and I would often eat lunch together, so we’re pretty close, but that sure came out of the blue…
“Ah..that’s…We couldn’t see each other as much because of summer break, so I just wanted to reconfirm our friendship…!”
“I mean, we really aren’t meeting each other every day, but with the classes outside the curriculum, we’ve been seeing each other here and there, right.”
The Private Rouran Academy we are attending has these super annoying outside-of-term classes, which force you to come to school despite the heat basically killing you. It’s so annoying.
“~~~! W-What’s it matter!? It’s not that awful of a thing, right!” Konoe sounded like she desperately tried to explain herself.
Well, whatever. Maybe it really was just on a whim.
“Either way, let’s get along, best friend.”
Amidst the explosions in the sky, I said those words to Konoe. Summer break is going to end eventually, and the second term will start. That’s why, this isn’t so bad—becoming best friends with Konoe.
“…Yeah, that’s right. We are…best friends.”
And yet, Konoe’s expression didn’t look as happy as I was hoping it to be. Something’s weird. But, she was the one who brought it up first, so she must be happy no doubt. If I had to guess—she’s probably just embarrassed. Coming to this conclusion, I averted my eyes from the girl, and enjoyed the fireworks filling the sky.
