CH 3

“Uh, Uh…”

What did Ageha just say?

Does she like me?

“–What, a lie?”

I stood up involuntarily as I realized what the words meant.

In contrast, Ageha sat down on the sofa and gave a small nod with her face down in embarrassment.

In the face of this quintessential response, I didn’t ask, “Is that LIKE? Or is that LOVE?”

That would be rude.

Be that as it may, I can’t think straight after the sudden confession.

I had never had a girl confess to me before.

I stood up and froze.

“I’ve been in love with Haru-kun since I was in the fourth grade… no, maybe even long before that.”

“Fourth grade? You’re in the third year of junior high now, right? Six years ago?”

It is very hard to believe.

Rather, she had never shown any pretense of such a thing before. I had never noticed.

When I was amused, she looked up and pouted in dissatisfaction.

“Haru-kun, you had a crush on my sister for over six years.”

“How did you know?”

As Ageha said, it was more than six years ago now that I became aware of my love for Karen.

So you’re saying that you’ve been able to see through me since that time…!

In response to my question, Ageha gives a fleeting smile.

“Okay, I was watching Haru-kun talking to my sister. That’s why I couldn’t tell you how I felt for a long time. I’ve been keeping it bottled up.”

“…………”

“But then I heard that my sister had a boyfriend, and I thought this was my chance…”

I wonder if it was because she was thinking of my broken heart that her once bouncy voice gradually became hushed.

How kind. I thought of her as if she were a stranger to me.

Once she had finished her sentence, she looked up at me from the front again.

“Hey, Haru-kun, Go out with me… just as my sister’s replacement.”

“—-“

The voice of Ageha trembles slightly.

I guess she knows that I love Karen and that I still have feelings for her even after my heartbreak.

I’m really happy that she thinks of me that much.

…Karen’s replacement.

The two sisters certainly have very similar facial features.

In contrast to the calm personality of Karen, Ageha is more active, but if we meditate on that, she could certainly be a good substitute.

But that’s still not good.

“I’m glad you feel the way you do…. I’m glad, but it’s still not good enough. Ageha is a Ageha. I can’t and shouldn’t replace you as Karen.”

As if trying to squeeze it out of her, I told her.

I wondered how she felt when she told me that she could take her sister’s place.

It was very hard to say, but I knew I could not run away from it.

When she heard my response, she blinked at me and had a few tears at the corners of her eyes, and then turned her head down to hide them.

“I knew it…”

Both of her shoulders are shaking. Her voice, too, is trembling.

Eventually, Ageha looked up and laughed cheerfully as usual, sobbing.

“I knew you would say that, Haru-kun. That’s why I love you so much…”

I didn’t know what to say back to her when she said it to my face.

Ageha is smiling healthily. But she has just had her heart broken. By my words, of all people.

I know how it feels to have your heart broken.

If I feel that way, I should have just accepted her proposal.

For a moment, such a thought crossed my mind, but I couldn’t let someone else take the place of a girl who has such feelings for me.

After wiping her tears with the sleeve of her dress, she slapped both cheeks with a spirited “Okay.”

Then she caught me with her eyes full of determination and stuck out her index finger.

“Watch me! I’ll make you fall in love with me for sure!”

“—-“

Unconsciously. I was fascinated by the smile on her face as she told me this.

She sat down on the sofa and looked down again, as if she wasn’t embarrassed by her own words.

“Besides, if I do well on the exams, I’ll be going to the same high school as Haru-kun next year.”

Come to think of it, it seems that Ageha’s first choice was Yodogishi High School, which is where I go to school.

When I heard about it, I thought she wanted to go to the same high school as her older sister, Karen.

“… You, did you go to that high school because of me?”

When I asked her about it, she sniffed with a proud smile. With a hint of embarrassment.

“You’re just realizing it now? Really, Haru-kun, you are too insensitive… I look forward to working with you next year, Senpai!”

I let out a dry laugh when she said this to me with a slightly embarrassed smile on her face.

This winter, when my first childhood friend had a boyfriend and broke my heart, my childhood friend’s sister confessed her love to me.