“W-well, Sakuraba-kun, there’s something important I need to talk about.”
“…What?”
Yunagi-san’s voice through the phone sounded terribly hesitant, dripping with guilt.
Today, I had reluctantly interrupted my reading because of Yunagi-san’s message saying “I want to call you.”
Somehow, it felt like the number of phone calls had been increasing lately.
And for some reason, I tended to agree to her requests.
While watching movies, I completely ignore my smartphone, so during those times, I skip any messages regardless of their content.
But this was really not good.
Before I knew it, conversations with Yunagi-san were gradually permeating my daily life.
I figured it was probably due to her assertiveness and high communication skills, but I needed to take countermeasures soon.
Well, setting that aside for today.
“Somehow, I have a bad feeling about this, judging by your tone.”
“W-well, how should I put it? It’s more like a report, or maybe a request.”
“So, what is it?”
“…I, I kinda spilled the beans to a friend…”
“Spilled? About what?”
“…About us dating.”
“Eh?”
Before I realized it, I froze with my smartphone pressed against my ear.
What an unbelievable girl, really.
“Does that mean someone other than Shirato-san? Did you forget the conditions?”
“I, I remember! But this time, I just couldn’t help but confess.”
“Without even checking with me first?”
“Y, yeah…”
Even through the phone, I could tell Yunagi-san was shrinking in shame.
Knowing her, she probably had some truly unavoidable circumstances and was genuinely remorseful, but still.
“…I see. Well, thanks for everything until now.”
“Eh?! Wait a second!! Sakuraba-kun?!”
So loud.
Due to the overwhelming volume, I moved the phone away from my ear.
I considered just hanging up, but I decided against it because I was afraid of the aftermath.
“Sakuraba-kun, please!! Hello?!”
“…I can hear you. Calm down.”
I heard a long sigh—”Haaaaah…”
She should have known this would happen.
Well, anyway, unless it’s something extreme, me initiating a breakup would be a bad move.
Those three conditions were essentially just deterrents to prevent Yunagi-san from running wild.
So even if she broke the promise like this, there wasn’t really anything I could do, but I couldn’t just let it slide without making her feel some sense of crisis.
To ensure the deterrent remained effective as a deterrent.
“S, sorry, Sakuraba-kun!! I’m really sorry!!”
“You don’t need to apologize. It’s just that if you break the conditions, we break up. That’s all.”
“Eh?! No, no, no!! Forgive me!! Please!!”
“That’s why I’m saying I forgive you. Or rather, I’m not even angry.”
“That’s not what I mean. Eh, so it’s really over…? No more…?”
It wasn’t really over.
But I needed to give her a proper warning.
Still, she seemed to feel more guilty than I expected.
Really, this girl…
“…Fine, at least tell me the circumstances.”
“…O, okay”
Her story boiled down to this:
For some reason she couldn’t tell me, Yunagi-san had reached a point where she absolutely had to confess our relationship to someone she couldn’t tell me about.
She knew it violated the conditions and promised she would never do anything like this again.
So, she wanted me to let it slide this time.
“…That’s quite a convenient request for you, Yunagi-san.”
“Ugh… Y, you’re right! But please, just this once!”
“So that means I don’t even know who this person you told the secret to is, and that person unilaterally knows about our relationship, right?”
“Y, yes, that’s right!”
“And what guarantee is there that this person won’t spill the secret?”
“G, guarantee! There isn’t one.”
“I see.”
A brief silence.
This time, Yunagi-san remained unusually quiet.
Honestly, her actions were quite surprising to me.
Since we started dating, I’ve come to realize that Yunagi-san genuinely, and quite intensely, seems to like me.
It was hard to believe at first.
But I’d witnessed countless instances of her words and actions that left me no choice but to believe it.
And precisely because of that, I couldn’t hide my surprise that she would do something so disadvantageous to me.
Yet that very fact might have emphasized how truly unavoidable her circumstances must have been.
“…If the secret leaks from anywhere,”
“Y, yes…!”
“Even if neither you, Shirato-san, nor this mystery person have any clue about it, we’ll consider the contract void. With that understanding, I’ll let it slide this time.”
“R, really…?”
“And there are no more exceptions. From now on, no matter what the circumstances, if you tell anyone without permission, we break up. If you absolutely must tell someone, consult me first.”
“O, okay! Understood! I’ll definitely do that!”
Sigh…
Well, that should about cover it.
Yunagi-san on the other end of the phone had completely regained her energy.
Good grief.
Maybe I need to reconsider how I handle things from now on too.
“Ah, Sakuraba-kun!”
“…What is it this time?”
“…Can I start calling you by your first name too?”
“Don’t get carried away.”
This time, I actually ended the call and let out a long sigh.
Lying down on my bed, I reopened the book I had closed.
………….
…….
“…Huh?”
…What did she mean by “too”?