41 - My feelings for Yuichi

A few hours ago.

Hello, it's me again, Nagi Nagi. As usual, once classes are over, Yuichi and I would head home together. That’s how it’s supposed to be.

However— unlike usual, this time Yuichi had an appointment to meet with someone. So, she couldn’t come home with me.

I didn’t get a chance to ask what the appointment was, and to make matters worse, my phone’s battery died, so I couldn’t send her any messages.

"Did Yuichi get a confession again?" I sighed and put my phone back into my pants pocket.

Anyway, Yuichi is a popular girl... I’ll just have to get used to it as time passes.

Come to think of it— two months have passed since we started school here, and so many unexpected things have happened.

The star wish, Yuichi’s gender change, my troublesome friendship with Kaito, my reunion with my childhood friend and also Yuichi's little sister. And then there’s the recent issue, Akane’s arranged marriage with Rion.

I’m grateful that I’ve managed to get through everything without further problems. Although some of those things were exhausting, but— I’m happy. If I hadn’t come to this school, I probably wouldn’t even be able to imagine how boring my life would be now.

Although most of the big conflicts are over, there’s still one thing I need to handle.

"My feelings for Yuichi."

My face slowly heated up, and my heart started pounding.

The more time passes, the more I realize that my feelings for Yuichi are not just ordinary friendship.

This is the first time I’ve ever felt like this...

Am I in love with her beautiful appearance now?

Yuichi really does have an unmatched charm, or maybe— her looks just happen to be my type. Her soft short hair, small face, and those beautiful eyes with long lashes— all her beauty, can make any person's heart on this Earth race with love.

Not only that, Yuichi’s body is also very well-proportioned. Her small waist paired with her large hips increases her charm by a hundredfold.

Her chest is also pretty... big... I don’t know the exact size, but it’s definitely more than an E cup. Maybe F?

...

For some reason, talking about this made me sound perverted... Am I really a pervert, just like what Yuichi always says?

"UWAAH!"

THWACK!

"OHOGH!"

The sudden touch on my left shoulder just now made me reflexively use all my strength and elbow Kaito, who was standing behind me, with all my might.

"Nice hit...!" Kaito said while giving a thumbs up, holding the spot where I hit him with a pained expression.

"..."

"Sorry, Kaito... I didn’t expect you to be behind me," I said while scratching my head awkwardly.

Kaito stared at me with sharp eyes, looking furious. "HOW COULD YOU SAY THAT?!" he yelled with an intimidating aura, repeatedly poking my chest with his fingers in frustration. "DON’T TELL ME YOU BELIEVE THAT A SMALL HIT LIKE THAT COULD HURT ME? HMPH. DON’T UNDERESTIMATE ME!"

...

I thought he was angry because of the strike.

Kaito’s eyes sparkled with light, like stars, so bright that they blinded me for a moment. "I AM THE PRODIGY CHILD OF THE TAKEDA FAMILY!!! ONE OF THE GOLD MEDALISTS IN THE NATIONAL BASKETBALL COMPETITION—"

"TAKEDA... KAITOOOOO!!"

Okay. This guy is not normal.

I just wore a flat expression while watching Kaito continue yelling and bragging about himself.

My focus shifted from Kaito when I noticed a group of girls approaching us. One of them had a flushed face and was holding an envelope in her hand.

Does she want to confess to Kaito?

I was surprised to see that Kaito was still quite popular among the girls, I think it's still makes sense, he’s a basketball champion after all. Still, it was a bit shocking.

Hm... I should just leave so I don’t disturb their moment.

I grabbed my bag, preparing to head home.

Just as I was about to leave, unexpectedly— the shy girl I saw earlier didn’t go to Kaito, she came right up to me instead, and handed me the letter with enthusiasm.

"Nagi Nagi-kun! I like you!"

Huh... Eh?!

My face heated up a bit upon hearing that confession from the girl.

Not Kaito... but me?!

The girl’s gaze was serious as she looked at me, while her two friends hid in the distance, cheering her on excitedly.

Is this serious..?

"Nagi-kun... I admired you when I saw your heroic act on social media! Especially when Yamashita-san shared the story on TV... My heart raced when I saw how hard you worked to save her, Nagi-kun," the girl explained with passion.

Eh... Everything was solved thanks to Yuichi’s plan... I don’t deserve any of that attention.

She didn’t want to take credit, so the spotlight ended up on me and Akane.

"It was like love at first sight. I thought— you were a hardworking man who can be relied on!"

"So... I like you, Nagi-kun..." she continued. The girl avoided making eye contact with me, and her face turned even redder as she confessed her feelings.

I swallowed nervously. Even though there was a beautiful girl confessing to me, my mind was solely focused on Yuichi right now.

I glanced at the name on the girl’s uniform.

Riko Nishida.

"Nishida-san." I called her name gently. The girl immediately responded, looking at me with a nervous expression.

When she looked at me with hopeful eyes, my heart hurt even more, and my mouth felt heavy.

No.

Even so, I had to say it.

Sorry. This might be painful for you, Nishida-san. But— there's already someone else in my heart.

"Sorry."

That one word was enough to shatter all of Riko’s hopes. She seemed shocked for a moment but tried to hide her sadness with a smile.

"Ca-can I know why, Nagi-kun?" she asked, stammering.

I gently patted her head, giving her a soft smile without even realizing it. For some reason, this has become a habit of mine— comforting others with a pat.

"I like someone else. So I can’t return your feelings. I’m sorry, Nishida-san."

The girl nodded in understanding. "I understand." She then smiled gently at me. "I’ll go now, Nagi-kun. Sorry if I disturbed you." Then she left quietly. This is the least I can do for her, I couldn’t comfort her more than this. After all, I was the person who hurt her.

I didn’t expect the day when I’d receive a confession from a beautiful girl to come.

It’s actually quite hard to do.

If a person doesn't accept a love confession, one of them will inevitably be hurt.

From a distance, I saw the girl join her friends. She looked like she was wiping her eyes a few times, but her friends were trying to cheer her up by making funny faces.

I could only breathe a sigh of relief from afar.

At least, she has good friends.

As I was reflecting— suddenly, all the hairs on my body stood up. I felt a murderous aura coming from behind me, so strong that I reflexively stepped back a few steps.

"K-Kaito!"

Kaito glared at me with eyes glowing red, as if possessed by an evil entity, grinding his teeth repeatedly, causing sparks to fly from his mouth.

"Wake up, Kaito!! Don’t let that evil creature control you!" I shouted desperately.

No! Wait. Looking at it again. That’s not the aura of an evil entity, it’s Kaito’s own aura! How could... He, a regular human, have such a strong aura?!

The wind blew past Kaito’s body. The scent of his sweat from the intense exercise made my nose start to numb, and my legs began to lose strength.

This is dangerous...

Is Kaito jealous because I got a confession?

He was preparing to attack with a basketball in his right hand. Even though it was just a ball, it could become a deadly weapon in Kaito’s hands, a national champion.

Kaito stood in a ready position to attack, using a stance and gathering all his strength into the basketball he was about to throw.

"One," Kaito muttered with unwavering focus.

W-WHAT.

"Two."

Is this what they call a countdown to death?

I gritted my teeth in frustration.

I CAN’T JUST STAND HERE!

"Three."

Without thinking twice, I grabbed an item from my pocket. As Kaito gathered all his strength for the basketball, he threw it at me with full speed.

I almost failed. But in a split second— I managed to protect myself from Kaito’s full-force attack using a sacred card.

"Uno REVERSE!" I shouted with all my might.

BAAAAAAAAAMMM!!!

The ball bounced back to Kaito, hitting him square in the head. Kaito’s eyes slowly lost focus, and his body fell to the ground with a large bump on his forehead.

...

Sorry, Kaito.

I wiped the sweat from my face with a towel after the intense battle with Kaito.

"Hmph. You’re not a worthy opponent, Kaito!" I said while striking a pose.

A group of girls who had been hiding, including the girl I rejected earlier, burst out laughing loudly at our goofy act.

This is so embarrassing...!

I pretended not to notice, focusing on Kaito who was passed out. But out of the corner of my eye, I was glad to see that our act had been a complete success.

The girl I rejected earlier seemed to have forgotten all her sadness. She laughed happily, supported by her friends who joined in the fun.

I sighed in relief.

Thank goodness. It looks like she’s not sad anymore. Luckily, Kaito is quick to respond.

Even though I didn’t say anything, he was already ready to act for her. You really are a good guy, Kaito.

I stared at Kaito’s unconscious body, giving him a faint smile.

By the way, are you curious how I did that magic trick earlier? It’s simple. I just leaned forward while extending my right hand holding the Uno card. When the girls were focused on my card, I used my leaned body as a blind spot, so I could throw the basketball back at Kaito with my left hand without them seeing.

Pretty cool, right?

But...

"Kaito. Hey. Kaito!" I crouched in front of Kaito, who seemed to still be pretending to be unconscious. "The act is over. Wake up!"

I slapped his cheek a few times but got no response.

Is he... really unconscious!?

"Uh-oh..."

TO BE CONTINUED.