“Wha—!? Kirishiro!? Why are you here!?”
“Is this one of your friends, Yuu-kun?”
Taketsuru panicked at the sudden lunchtime intrusion, while Niwashita-san merely blinked in mild surprise, a faint smile still lingering on her lips.
Meanwhile, Meiko had frozen halfway through trying to stop me, trapped in an awkward crouching posture behind the bushes.
Ignoring the utter confusion written across everyone’s faces, I pointed dramatically at Taketsuru and declared:
“Taketsuru! Which matters more to you—your ‘best friend’ or your ‘harem members’!?”
“!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?”
“No, wait—that’s not what I meant!”
“O-Oh!?”
That was close.
For a moment, I had accidentally envisioned the future where Taketsuru chose his harem over returning to Japan and abandoned me forever, and I’d instinctively lashed out.
No, that wasn’t it.
That wasn’t what angered me.
What truly frustrated me was how pathetic Taketsuru was being right now.
“Taketsuru,” I continued seriously, “you’re my ‘best friend.’ Correct?”
“Honestly, I still have mixed feelings about that label. Actually, hearing it in this situation is making me lean heavily toward rejecting it.”
“So you’re Yuu-kun’s best friend? Nice to meet you. I’m Niwashita Sumire.”
“No, Sumire-neesan, can we maybe hold off on accepting that premise for a minute?”
Taketsuru looked deeply pained as he protested, but really, what was he talking about?
Out of the four people present, if Meiko, Niwashita-san, and I all agreed we were best friends, then by majority vote he was objectively my best friend.
“Exactly. I’m your best friend, Taketsuru. And if that’s true, then you already know what I came here to say.”
“I genuinely have absolutely no idea.”
Taketsuru glared at me with narrowed eyes and a visibly worsening mood.
But I had anticipated this reaction.
After all, this entire scenario had already been properly input into my mental database.
This was basically “Best Friend Event Scene Number Seven” straight out of a romance light novel.
Specifically—
this kind of scene.
“When you see your best friend in trouble, it’s normal to jump in without hesitation. Right, Meiko?”
“Could you maybe not drag me into this atmosphere right now? Seriously, I have nothing to do with this. Like, actually nothing.”
“Yes. Meiko taught me everything important. Including what I’m supposed to do in moments like this. Right, Meiko?”
“I really, REALLY wish you’d stop involving me in your rampages, Gouto-kun… seriously.”
Why?
This kind of event was absolutely listed in the guidebook Meiko made for me.
Well, whatever.
Now that I thought about it, childhood friends usually didn’t participate directly in “best friend intervention scenes.”
Fine.
I would handle this ordinary event alone.
“Taketsuru. If your best friend is lost and hesitating, then it’s the duty of an ordinary college student to push him forward. That’s why I came here today.”
“?????”
“?????”
Taketsuru and Meiko both tilted their heads simultaneously, still completely lost.
Only Niwashita-san watched us with a soft, “Oh my?” sort of expression, like she was enjoying the strange drama unfolding before her.
Honestly, if they still didn’t understand after all that, then I had no choice.
I would have to explain it from the beginning.
“Tell me, Taketsuru. There’s someone you love, isn’t there?”
“!? W-Wait, you—what the hell are you suddenly saying!?”
“You only have two days left before being sent to another world. So why haven’t you confessed yet?”
“H-HUH!? W-Wait! HERE!? NOW!?”
Taketsuru exploded into motion and sprinted toward me at terrifying speed, grabbing my shoulders hard enough to hurt.
Actually hurt.
“H-Hey, Kirishiro,” he hissed desperately. “Calm down for a second. What exactly are you talking about…? No, more importantly, what do you know? Explain.”
“I’m saying that you and—”
“Actually DON’T explain! Never mind!!”
First he demanded answers, then he immediately begged me not to say anything.
What an indecisive man.
And this was supposedly the guy who claimed he “wasn’t interested in harems,” only to apparently build one anyway in another world.
Honestly, I was starting to get annoyed.
“Sumire-neesan! Can you cover your ears for a bit!?”
“Ehh? If it’s Yuu-kun’s love story, I wanna hear it.”
“Please, I’m begging you! Seriously, this is a once-in-a-lifetime request! Go somewhere far away for a minute! Please!?”
Taketsuru looked so genuinely desperate that even Niwashita-san finally relented.
With visible reluctance, she wandered a short distance away and obediently covered her ears.
Only then did Taketsuru turn back toward me with watery eyes filled with equal parts anger and confusion.
“So what are you actually trying to do here?”
Well, confusion was definitely the dominant emotion there, but overall this still fell within the acceptable range of “normal best friend event.”
“Taketsuru,” I said solemnly, “do you know what best friends are?”
“Hm?”
“When one of them is happy, the other shares in that happiness. When one of them suffers, the other quietly supports them. And when one of them is making a mistake, the other stops them even if they have to punch them to do it. That’s what that relationship means.”
“That sounds a little stereotypical, but I get the point. So?”
“If one of them is about to leave Japan in two days without ever confessing his feelings, then the correct response from a normal best friend is to yell, ‘You idiot! If you truly care about her, then tell her how you feel properly before you go!!’ Right?”
“I KEEP TELLING YOU I’M NOT GOING TO ANOTHER WORLD!! Are you actually insane!?”
To be fair, there was certainly a possibility that my sudden ability to see hallucinations indicated some kind of mental problem.
However—
acknowledging that possibility would mean admitting I wasn’t normal.
So naturally, I ignored it.
Meanwhile, beside us, Meiko finally seemed to understand my intentions.
“Ahhh… so THAT’S what this whole thing was about.”
“Well, whether or not you’re actually going to another world doesn’t matter right now,” I continued firmly. “Even without that situation, this is still something a best friend should say.”
“Say what?”
“Are you really satisfied staying like this?”
“…………”
Taketsuru glared at me silently.
But I returned his gaze directly without flinching.
There was no reason for me to back down.
Because I wasn’t wrong.
And after several long seconds of eye contact, it was Taketsuru who finally looked away first.
“What the hell do you know about it?” he muttered bitterly. “You don’t understand what it feels like to spend ten years in love with someone while knowing you never had a chance.”
“Yeah,” I answered honestly. “I don’t understand at all. Even if you explained it to me, I probably still wouldn’t fully get it.”
“H-Huh? Aren’t you supposed to lie and say ‘I understand’ in moments like this!?”
I had simply answered truthfully.
I wasn’t a psychologist or some emotional counselor.
I was just a “normal” human being.
So if someone suddenly asked whether I understood the pain of a decade-long unrequited love, the honest answer was obviously no.
But—
if Taketsuru truly was my best friend—
then there were still things I could do.
“But,” I continued quietly, “if you get rejected, I can still be miserable with you. No matter how heavy those feelings are, I can help carry them with you. Tell me, Taketsuru. Do you honestly believe saying nothing is the right choice? Will you really have no regrets if things stay this way?”
“Tch… easy for you to say.”
Taketsuru’s face twisted bitterly as he forced the words out.
But deep down—
he already knew.
He knew this couldn’t continue forever.
He knew nothing would ever change if he kept living like this.
Our eyes met again.
And when he realized I still refused to look away, Taketsuru finally let out a long sigh.
“Damn it… I never thought I’d end up getting pushed forward by someone like you, Kirishiro.”
“We’re best friends. Of course I would.”
“You’re literally the only one calling us that… Ah, screw it! Fine! You’re right! I’ve been pathetic this whole time! Even if your reasons are ridiculous, you really did push me forward! But if I get rejected, you better take responsibility for this!”
“Leave it to me. I’ve already studied proper post-rejection support methods. You may proceed with your glorious defeat in peace.”
Yes.
There were countless examples in fiction showing the proper ways ordinary people should support heartbroken friends.
O tragic losers of romantic comedies—
may you all someday find happiness.
“So, are you boys done talking now?”
Niwashita-san smiled warmly as she peeked back over at us.
Taketsuru and I exchanged a silent nod.
Then, gathering his resolve, he slowly walked toward her.
“Sumire-neesan… there’s something I want to tell you.”
“Mhm? What is it? Tell me all about Yuu-kun’s love life.”
She still looked utterly relaxed.
Completely unaware that she herself was about to be confessed to.
As I watched the scene unfold, Meiko approached me wearing the same bewildered expression she’d had this entire time.
“Well, Meiko? That was a perfect example of a completely ordinary college student encouraging his best friend, wasn’t it?”
“I mean… yeah. I can’t deny it kinda felt like a page straight out of a youth drama. But… is this really okay?”
“What do you mean?”
Meiko stared at me with a look that practically screamed, Are you seriously this stupid?
Then she spoke.
“I mean, sure, it’s fine if Taketsuru-kun finally gets properly rejected here. But… if that helps him move on emotionally…”
She paused.
“Wouldn’t that just make it easier for him to build a harem in another world and never come back to Japan?”
“……………………O-Oh no!?”
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