“Let me guess. It’s a handsome actor who happens to be named Ryou.”

My answer was so wildly incorrect that Fushimi’s face went blank, and her eyes took on a dull sheen.

“Yeah. That’s it.”

There was no emotion in her voice.

Look, if this were a manga or an anime, I’d get it. The childhood friend going Ryou, I love you! is so typical. But the characters’ relationship in those cases is unbreakable. They’re together their whole lives.

As for us, I hadn’t really spoken to her since way back in middle school.

She never came to wake me up; we didn’t go to and from school with each other. Our families didn’t go on outings together.

I sat down on the stone steps to try to calm down. Fushimi quickly followed my lead and sat down beside me. She wrapped her arms around her legs, making her dainty body even more compact, then buried her face in between her knees as if it might make her invisible.

“Ryou, you really do like trendier girls.”

“I already told you, that’s not true.”

How many times do I have to repeat myself?

“You might not be aware, but I’m actually quite popular.”

“Yes, I know.”

Well, at least she can tell. I mean, how could she not?

“You think nothing when someone else asks me out?”

“No, I do.” I did have my own thoughts about it—many of them, in fact.

Fushimi raised her eyebrows, surprised. “Really?”

“Really. I couldn’t picture you going out with someone. Considering how many guys you’ve turned down, I just assumed you’d keep doing it.”

“That’s all?”

“Once I got used to it, yeah. Before that…”

I stared into space, thinking back on things.

I didn’t know when exactly I started getting used to it, but I thought it might’ve been around our first or second year of middle school.

“Before that, it did get under my skin. I was sure they only asked you out because of shallow reasons, like they only thought you were a pretty face or whatever.”

In retrospect, that was more than enough reason for a middle schooler to fall in love with a girl.

“Yeah, they were shallow, all right,” Fushimi said. “I mean, how can you say you like someone you’ve never even talked to before? Most times, I could barely put a name to their face, and I told them that when I said no. Figured it was kinda like fans with a celebrity.”

I totally get you.

I mean, if someone you’d never spoken to before showed you affection and demanded a yes or a no, you’d go with the latter.

“Yeah, the general impression the guys had was that you always said no, so they’d try it out just for fun without expecting anything.”

The potential risk involved in asking Fushimi out was quite low because the probability of her saying yes was also low.

“Yeah… Now that’s shallow. And shameless! If they were serious about it, I might consider thinking it through myself, but getting asked out ‘for fun’? Why would I ever say yes to someone I don’t really know and who doesn’t even care?”

The more I heard her talk, the more sense it made why she’d never dated anyone. Surely not everyone was like that, but they were the majority.

“You said you were annoyed, right? Why?” she asked.

“Good question.”

“You weren’t…jealous, were you?!”

“No wa—”

No…way? Really?

“‘Nooo! Another man will take my dear Hina from meee! What an annoying jerrrrk!’…kinda stuff?”

“I don’t talk like that.”

But it’s true I was annoyed…

Was I afraid that I would lose an old friend once she got a boyfriend? Or could it be a more…romantic emotion…?

No, no, no, no, no.

“Hee-hee. You’re really thinking this through.”

“Well, I don’t know if my feelings were romantic or not…but yes, I was probably jealous.”

That was an embarrassing thing to say to her face. But it was true.

Fushimi was staring at me. “…Can I scooch closer?”

Even after all these years seeing her face, it was as cute as ever. I felt like I was going to pass out and die, but I tried to keep my cool.

“Sure. Fine.”

“Okay, then…” She came closer, pushing her shoulder against mine. “Hee-hee-hee.” Her face melted into a smile.

“You’re enjoying this too much.”

“Well, you’re smiling, too.”

I am?

I rubbed my face with both hands.

“…Guess I’m turning into a delinquent, too.”

“What do you mean?”

“…I don’t want to go back to school. I want to stay here with you.”

“Hey, you don’t have to be good all the time.”

“Yeah. Then let’s be bad. Just for today.”

We decided to skip school entirely.