“I don’t know what I’m gonna say to her…,” Fushimi muttered, looking down at her feet.

Torigoe was already gone by the time we got back to the classroom.

Fushimi had told me what had happened—apparently, Torigoe had set us up to make us realize our feelings for each other.

“She mediated for us, but I’m pretty sure she did like you!” Fushimi glanced at me from the side, puffing her cheeks again.

“That doesn’t make sense. Why would she do that, then?”

“A girl’s heart is more complex than you think.”

Is it?

Fushimi and I had just confirmed that we were each other’s number one, although I still didn’t know whether this was love. The more seriously I thought about it, the more complicated it got.

I’d told Fushimi as much, and she’d said she was fine with that.

“I guess I shouldn’t go to the physics room in the meantime.”

“Well…hmm… I wonder about that. I feel like still talking with her like normal would be fine, but also I kinda feel like it’d be better to leave her alone…”

“Wow, good thing I’ve got an expert on girls here to teach me all about them, eh?”

“Hey, we’re not a hive mind! I can’t know how everyone would feel!”

She actually got mad at that joke.

I hadn’t given Torigoe a direct answer, but I guessed she’d come to a conclusion. I mean, pretty hard not to when the boy you confessed to immediately runs after another girl…

She was probably super frustrated with me.

Although, she was the one who’d told me to go after Fushimi…

“Ah, then how about we go for a nice middle ground? Instead of just the two of us…you join us, too.”

“W-would that be okay…? I don’t know what to think anymore.”

Guess our only option is to ask her directly. I took out my phone and started typing the message.

“Ryou, what are you doing?”

“I’m asking Torigoe what she wants.”

“Wait, you insensitive jerk! How can you not realize that—?” Fushimi started hitting me, fuming.

The reply arrived instantly.

I want us to act like normal.

“…Guess that’s it.”

“…I—I see. Well, if that’s what she wants.”

Then I got another message.

I still want to hang out with Fushimi.

“There you have it.”

“T-Torigoe…!” Fushimi got teary-eyed reading the message on my phone’s screen.

“Good thing you’ll still be friends.”

“Yeah.”

Fushimi said it might be awkward to go to the physics room the day after this whole mess, so she decided to wait a week or so for things to calm down.

“I’ll bring over tons of my novel recs for when we’re back!”

She started talking to herself about which ones to take, counting them off on her fingers.

I walked her home, then went back to my house and called Torigoe to thank her for what she did for us.

“Hey.”

“What?”

“I’m sorry about all the trouble you went through. And I wanted to thank you.”

“It’s fine. I couldn’t stand watching you both. I just gave you a little push.”

Fushimi had said Torigoe actually did like me, but her voice sounded like normal now.

Maybe the whole thing really was an act to encourage us.

“So you’re dating now?”

“Hmm? No…not yet…”

“…What the hell is Fushimi doing?”

“Huh? You’re blaming Fushimi? Not me?”

“Why does she think I did all this? She better not be thinking she’s okay now just because you’re a stupid loner with a head full of rocks…”

“And now you’re insulting me.”

“She’s never told you she likes you?”

Of course not… Wait.

Back when we skipped school for the beach…? Did she mean…me?

“Sounds like something came to mind, huh? You absolute dumbass.”

“Wait a second—don’t you think that’s a little harsh, Torigoe?”

“It’s just the right amount of harsh. And I have every right to be.”

Why?

“Fushimi’s keeping a promise we made when we were little… She really cares about doing things right, so I think she just feels bound by that…”

“Do you have any idea how much energy it takes to tell someone you like them? Who cares about some promise? Her love is not something that shallow, I’m pretty sure.”

Really?

All this time, I’d believed there was no way the prettiest girl at school would be in love with me, and any indication to the contrary was only because she meant to keep her promises, not because she truly liked me.

But if Torigoe was right, I’d been way off the mark.

“If she said anything about any promises, she was using it for cover. I can tell you right now that she loves you for real.”

She…loves me…

Hearing it like that made me blush.

F-Fushimi, do you really…?

“Bubby, what’re you grinning about?”

“Whaaa—?!” I jumped in surprise and walked backward until I hit the door.

Mana was giving me a weird look.

Right. I’m still in the doorway.

“N-nothing!”

“Really?”

I could hear Torigoe laughing over the phone. She must’ve heard and pictured what had just happened.

I snatched up my bag and rushed to my room.

Once Torigoe finished cackling, I went over what Fushimi and I had talked about regarding lunchtime, then hung up.

One week later, Fushimi was ready to see her again, and we class reps went over to Torigoe’s desk.

“Hey, Torigoe, let’s go to the physics room.”

“Huh? Ah, yeah.”

Torigoe seemed surprised for a moment, but once she saw me grinning behind Fushimi, she accepted with an awkward smile. “…Thanks for inviting me,” she said, and Fushimi giggled.

She had a paper bag in her hand. I’d asked her about it that morning, and she’d said it was her top twenty novels. She’d very seriously stated they were her ultra, definitive, Hina-approved seal-of-quality favorites.

She was extremely confident in her choices and planned on gifting them to Torigoe.

“What’s that?” Torigoe asked, pointing at the bag.

Fushimi couldn’t hold it in anymore and burst with passion to present them to her: “It’s the Hina Fushimi Selection! My handpicked top twenty!”

“Nice. You can tell a lot about a person by their top twenty.”

“Yesssss!”

Fushimi was over the moon with excitement. In her eyes, I saw her approval (“You really are a woman of culture”), to which Torigoe silently nodded (“Oh, yes. I get you, sister”).

“Fushimi, I already have this one.”

“A-an overlap! I see you have taste!”

“We both do.”

They kept praising each other whenever one of them already owned or had read a book the other recommended.

Between Torigoe’s calm and Fushimi’s energy, they complemented each other quite well, like yin and yang.

Then I realized they were going to leave me in the dust while we were hanging out.

Oh well. At least they’re having fun.

They talked with an enthusiasm they never showed our other classmates.

“…I really made the right choice,” Torigoe muttered, just loud enough for me to hear.

The smile she gave then is etched in my memory.