Chapter 423

Tetsuya's voice was dead serious.

I could tell even from a distance. For Miyuki, stuck listening to his shitty voice up close, it was only natural she'd sense something was off.

"What's this all of a sudden?"

The creaking stopped.

Noticing his darkened mood, Miyuki had brought her swing to a halt.

"I meant exactly what I said. Do you like Matsuda?"

"Of course I do."

"How much?"

The more he interrogated a childhood friend who clearly had feelings for someone else, the more he was just going to hurt himself...

He was being an idiot. Not that this was anything new.

"Um... do I have to put a number on it? That's kind of hard..."

"You must like him a lot."

"I do. I really like him."

Miyuki was much firmer today than when she'd consoled him after his massive screw-up on the school trip.

It was almost as if she could sense the shady vibe radiating off him.

"I see..."

He trailed off into silence. I started to worry about Miyuki.

I peeked over the wall, but thankfully, my fears hadn't materialized.

Was I worrying too much? No matter how badly Tetsuya's inferiority complex had flared up, he wouldn't actually hurt his childhood friend...

Still, it was better to stay on guard.

Right as that thought crossed my mind, Tetsuya spoke again.

"Miyuki, I don't want you getting too close to Matsuda."

Unlike last time when he'd subtly trashed me, he was saying it straight to her face now.

It was remarkably direct for Tetsuya.

"Um... why?"

"You know exactly what kind of person he is. You used to consider him a thorn in your side."

"Things are different now."

"Back in middle school... Third Year, to be exact. Do you remember when you reported everything that one delinquent did to the teachers?"

"Ah, back then? Of course I remember."

"You were fuming. You told me that human nature rarely ever changes."

"Yeah. I remember that, too."

"And yet, with Matsuda..."

"Tetsuya-kun."

Miyuki cut him off.

Tetsuya hesitated for a moment before answering in a bewildered tone.

"Yeah...? What is it?"

"Do you like me?"

"Well... of course I do. When have I ever not liked you?"

"Not as a friend. Romantically."

"H-huh...?"

The question hit him completely out of nowhere.

It was so uncharacteristic of Miyuki. Even without looking at Tetsuya, I knew exactly how hard he was panicking.

He was struck dumb for a moment, clearly agonizing over his response. When he finally spoke, his answer was—

"I'm... just worried about you as your childhood friend..."

—an absolute, irredeemable strikeout.

Ugh... This was exactly why I despised Tetsuya.

He had absolutely zero decisiveness.

The guy always tried to leave himself an out.

Just like now. He knew what she would say if he confessed he liked her romantically, so he dodged the question.

If Miyuki outright told him she didn't see him as a man, things would get awkward and it would be hard to keep in touch. He wanted to avoid that at all costs.

Just a second ago, I thought he was actually being bold for once. I take it back.

Just as he'd told Miyuki, human nature really didn't change.

Tetsuya was just Tetsuya. The exact same Tetsuya from when I saw the ending of Doki-Aka.

He didn't realize it, but his sheer indecisiveness was only going to make him more miserable.

Not that I had any intention of enlightening him.

He needed to figure that out himself.

"I see. Was I mistaken?"

"Mistaken...? Um... I guess you could say that."

Miyuki already knew. She knew Tetsuya saw her as a woman.

But with Tetsuya giving such a pathetic non-answer, he'd made it difficult for her to draw a clear line.

Let's see how she'd wrap this up.

"Is that really true?"

"I said it is, didn't I...?"

"Really? That's a relief."

"A r-relief...?"

It looked like Miyuki had decided to draw her sword today.

She countered his ambiguous answer perfectly.

It was a little disappointing that she didn't just come out and say she'd never seen him as a man, but with Tetsuya's garbage answer, I guess it couldn't be helped.

If Tetsuya had actually confessed that he liked her, she definitely would have shot him down outright.

"Tetsuya-kun, you've always worried about me since we were kids. I still remember when we were building sandcastles in this very playground and I scratched my hand. You panicked and ran off to get medicine."

"Y-yeah, that happened a lot. I remember too."

Tetsuya's voice was laced with frantic desperation.

It was painfully obvious that he was still clinging to hope, even after Miyuki had tactfully rejected his feelings by calling his denial a 'relief.'

"Yeah. But the Tetsuya-kun from back then and the Tetsuya-kun right now are different."

At Miyuki's suddenly lower tone, he couldn't hide his bewilderment.

"Huh...?"

"Back then, you purely cared about me. But now... it feels like you have a terrible ulterior motive."

"An ulterior motive...?"

"Yeah. I don't have any proof, so I'm hesitant to say it, but... it really feels like you're just trying to drive a wedge between me and Matsuda-kun."

That hit the nail right on the head.

It was also the firmest she had ever been with Tetsuya.

"Did you get into a fight with Matsuda-kun today?"

Tetsuya began to stammer at Miyuki's sudden question.

"No... we didn't fight... but Matsuda is..."

Was it because she could tell he was about to start trash-talking me again?

Miyuki cut him off cold.

"That's enough. I don't want to hear it. You've been acting incredibly strange today. You were like this on the school trip, too... You're not the Tetsuya-kun I used to know."

"..."

"I can see you're getting worked up. I think you should go home and cool your head."

"...I... yeah, I guess I should."

He let out a heavy sigh, and the sound of his feet hitting the ground reached my ears.

Tetsuya had gotten off the swing.

I figured it was about time to pretend I was just arriving. But right as I stepped back to widen the distance—

"Tetsuya-kun."

Miyuki suddenly called out to him.

"Yeah...?"

"Do you honestly think the things you said to me today weren't wrong?"

"I... I think so."

"Really? Then I think it's best if we don't contact each other for a while."

The moment I heard that, I poked my head back over the wall to watch the two of them.

I simply had to see her face. It felt like a monumental day—the day Miyuki finally cut ties with Tetsuya.

"W-what...?"

"I'm really disappointed in you today."

"..."

I thought she might be feeling guilty for giving the cold shoulder to a childhood friend she'd known for over fifteen years... but looking at her expression, that didn't seem to be the case.

She wasn't forcing her expression. Miyuki genuinely seemed fine.

Her voice hadn't wavered, either. It was absolute proof that she had made up her mind.

Even so, a small part of her had to feel a little conflicted.

Should I have settled things directly with Tetsuya at the team dinner?

No, even if I had, Tetsuya still would've ended up clinging to Miyuki just like this.

It was better this way.

Hearing harsh truths from the person you like is the only way to mentally grow up and finally move on.

Still, even if he'd brought this all on himself, had I grown somewhat attached to the idiot?

Watching Tetsuya get verbally battered by Miyuki almost made me feel sorry for him.

No, wait. It was just because he was acting so pitiful.

There wasn't a single reason to pity him. I refused to let his terrible acting fool me.

Tetsuya eventually hung his head and trudged toward the playground exit.

I quickly and carefully backed away from the wall, putting on a clueless expression as if I had just arrived.

And just like that, I made eye contact with Tetsuya as he walked out the entrance.

"..."

Despite running into me in his own neighborhood, Tetsuya didn't look surprised.

He must have heard I was coming over while he was chatting with Miyuki after running into her.

"What are you doing here?"

I furrowed my brow. Tetsuya glanced back toward the inside of the playground before answering.

"I bumped into Miyuki."

"Is she in the playground?"

"Yeah. Go on in. And congratulations."

Ah, fuck.

If he had just left off that last part, I would have let it go, but I couldn't help the curse that leaped to my mind.

"Congratulations?" He was definitely being sarcastic about me completely winning Miyuki's heart.

Sympathy really was a luxury wasted on this guy. I felt so pathetic for feeling sorry for him even for a second that it drove me crazy.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Never mind."

Tetsuya refused to confront me directly, opting instead to play his gloomy little mind games.

Well then, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. It was only fair that I returned the favor in kind.

There's a saying that you shouldn't stoop to their level and should just take the high road, but that's a load of bullshit.

People only learn when they get a taste of their own medicine. Starting today, I was going to sever his ties with Miyuki permanently.

I was a master at this kind of acting. Time to set up the perfect scene.

I stared at Tetsuya with a provoking look, and his expression twisted into an offended scowl.

I provoked him just enough, and as I started to walk past him—

Bump.

He walked right into me, intentionally bumping his shoulder against mine. I sneered internally.

He reacted exactly as I'd expected, down to the absolute letter. He really was beyond saving.

Right next to me was a thick-poled streetlamp illuminating the sidewalk.

Realizing I could use it, I matched the timing of my body being shoved backward and purposely slammed my forehead against the metal pole.

Smack!

My head bounced off the pole with a dull thud.

A sharp, throbbing pain flared across the upper part of my forehead. Rubbing the spot, I stared at Tetsuya in sheer disbelief.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Ah, well..."

The hostility in his eyes had completely vanished.

He'd poured out all his pent-up inferiority, and his senses had finally returned.

He was finally realizing just how pathetically he had acted.

But it was too late for regrets. He had already dug his own grave.

I had absolutely no intention of letting him off the hook.

I wanted nothing more than to punch him in the face, but Miyuki hated violence.

Even if it was completely justified, she would be deeply uncomfortable with it. Plus, with her right there in the playground, I couldn't afford to cause a scene.

Things were going to play out exactly as I wanted anyway, so all I had to do on the outside was act like the bigger person.

"Forget it. Just go."

Waving him off as if dealing with him was too much of a bother, I stepped into the playground entrance.

"Matsuda-kun!"

Spotting me, Miyuki's face lit up with pure joy as she ran over.

It didn't take long for her to notice that something was wrong.

"What's that on your forehead...? Is that blood?"

She asked, examining my forehead illuminated under the moonlight and the streetlamp's glow.

I touched my forehead with a bewildered look, acting as if I had no idea what she was talking about. Feeling the sting of the slightly busted skin, I winced, mixing in a little exaggeration.

"What is this?"