The moment I held my smartphone to my ear, the ringing stopped.
Since I was hoping the ringing tone would just keep going forever, my shoulders jerked with a start and a sharp gasp escaped my throat.
“H-Hiyori?”
My voice came out a bit too high-pitched.
It was fine earlier when we were talking on speakerphone, but now Hiyori’s voice is so close that it makes my heart race.
I felt like I was about to remember the distance between us from last night.
“Hello? What is it? Weren’t you shopping with Seina-senpai?”
“Ah… yeah, I was, but there’s something I wanted to ask…”
As I hesitated to ask Hiyori, Seina whispered right against my ear opposite the one holding the phone: “If you don’t say it, you’re getting the tickle torture, you know.”
Tickling is the one thing I must prevent at all costs, no matter what it takes.
I hate being tickled more than anything else in the world. Seina found that out about me, and she always uses it as leverage in negotiations by turning it into a weakness.
Still, asking Hiyori directly if she likes me is awful—or rather, mentally impossible for me.
Tickling, Hiyori, tickling… Hiyori….
After thinking for about ten seconds, the answer my brain came up with was…
“Hey, Hiyori, do you have someone you like?”
It wasn’t asking directly, and it wasn’t the tickle torture either—a compromise. Seina looked a little dissatisfied at first, but soon smiled.
I heard the sound of Hiyori drawing in a breath through the phone.
I thought I heard a quiet “Why?”, but I didn’t know how to answer and ended up falling silent.
The palm holding my smartphone grew damp with sweat. The sound of my own heart pounding echoed loudly in my ear.
Right next to me, Seina was holding back her breath and grinning. I wanted to punch her right now.
Because Hiyori stayed silent for so long, I regretted it, wondering if I had asked something I shouldn’t have.
I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for Hiyori’s answer.
After a silence that felt like eternity, Hiyori dropped her words softly, like a small pebble tossed onto the surface of water.
“……Yes, I do.”
Hiyori’s voice was calmer than I expected. There was no shyness, no joking tone, just flat and matter-of-fact.
Her absolute seriousness came through loud and clear.
The moment she said that, the depths of my chest constricted sharply.
“…I-I see.”
To my own surprise, my voice was completely flat.
Even though my heart was undoubtedly in turmoil, my exterior was terribly calm.
I’ve been good at pretending to be fine since I was little.
“…Yes.”
With that, Hiyori says nothing more.
The silence spreads and deepens.
“……”
Even though I feel like I need to say something, no words come out. Even though I’m the one who asked, I don’t have the courage to ask any further.
Seina lightly poked me in the flank with her elbow.
“Is that person… someone I know?”
Instead of asking directly who is it?, I phrased it vaguely.
“Hmm, well, I guess so.”
At that ambiguous answer, my eyebrows rose slightly.
Could it be someone I don’t really know?
“I-I see… Sorry about that, asking weird things out of nowhere. Thanks.”
Thinking that if I stayed on the call any longer, my heart and nerves wouldn’t hold up, I said that.
After staying quiet for a moment, Hiyori replied in her usual bright voice:
“No problem! Have fun shopping!”
And with that, she hung up the call.
I couldn’t move, just staring at my smartphone for a while.
Seina slowly starts clapping her hands.
“Well then, thanks for the meal~”
“……Shut up.”
I say that while covering my face with both hands.
I know well enough that even my ears are red.
Hiyori has someone she likes.
Who could it be? She did say it was someone I know, right?
Could it still be Takuto? But her answer was so vague…
Does it mean someone I know in a way, yet don’t really know? Is there even a person like that?
I spin my thoughts in circles, but no such person comes to mind among my acquaintances.
… Could it be, by any chance, me?
Is that why her answer was so ambiguous…?
I might be overthinking it, but I was starting to think that. If it really were me, I’d be super happy.
“Man, you really managed to ask. Was being tickled that bad?”
Just as I was about to continue speaking, Seina’s smartphone suddenly vibrated.
Because it kept ringing continuously, Seina checked her phone. But she closed it right away and switched it to silent mode.
“Is it fine? Aren’t those messages from Reito-san or something?”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. It’s just a message from a maiden in love.”
It’s amazing how Seina handles romance consultations for all kinds of people.
Me? I’m already overwhelmed by my own romance.
Calling Hiyori didn’t make the lingering cloud of doubt go away.
If anything, it just added more mysteries, yet for some reason, my heart feels strangely fulfilled.
I grab my bag and stand up.
“Come on, let’s get going soon.”
“Okay~”
The ice in my Caffe Latte has completely melted into water.
I wish all of Hiyori’s feelings could melt away and become clear like this, too.
♢
My shopping trip with Seina also wrapped up in the early evening.
We had lots of spoils of war in our hands, and both of us were completely full.
We ended up buying lots of clothes, cosmetics, and other things. I’ll have to work hard at my part-time job again.
We were chatting at the train station platform while waiting for the train to arrive.
“Mikoto, are you coming to next week’s club drinking party? They said they’re deciding various things about next month’s barbecue.”
In our club, a barbecue gathering is held every year on the very first day of summer vacation.
At next week’s drinking party, it seems they’ll be deciding things like shopping teams and event organizers for it.
“Hmm, I actually have some plans next week. If it looks like I might end up on the barbecue shopping team or event staff, hurry up and help me dodge it!”
When I said that with my palms pressed together in a plea, Seina laughed in exasperation.
Positions are basically voluntary, but if there are no volunteers, the fourth-years and third-years just assign them arbitrarily.
If someone isn’t at the drinking party, they make prime candidate material.
“Geez, you’re hopeless… It’s actually surprisingly fun once you do it, you know?”
Last year, Seina was invited by Reito-san and did the shopping team. Since the shopping team is basically pairs of guys and girls, I always have the impression that potential couples do it every year.
“Ugh, it sounds a bit troublesome, so I think I’d hate it!”
When I said that with a breezy tone, Seina let out a thin smile and a sigh.
♢
After parting ways with Seina and returning home, I checked my smartphone and saw a message from Hiyori.
I opened the chat screen and looked at the message she sent.
As for the person I like, it’s definitely not the person Mikoto-senpai is thinking of.
That was all it said.
Definitely not the person you’re thinking of…?
Does that mean the person Hiyori likes is not me?
Sending a message like this out of the blue—is it a warning not to misunderstand?
Or does it mean it’s not Takuto, whom I guessed first?
The fingertips holding my smartphone turned cold for a second.
It’s definitely not the person Mikoto-senpai is thinking of.
What does “definitely” mean?
Who is “the person you’re thinking of”?
Hiyori had gently, yet firmly, denied the fluffy expectations that had been floating around inside me.
“……I see.”
I muttered that aloud in the empty room.
Even though there was no one to reply to me, the words just slipped past my lips.
The more I think about it, the less I understand.
Still, what is the point of sending a message like this right after our phone call?
If she truly didn’t care, she shouldn’t have needed to say anything at all.
I sat down on the edge of the bed and stayed frozen, staring at the chat screen for a while.
……I should reply, right?
My finger stopped over the screen.
I’m scared that if I say the wrong thing, our distance might change. But I have no idea what to send.
Even so, saying nothing at all was even scarier.
Gathering my resolve, I typed out the words.
I see. I’m really sorry for asking such a weird thing.
Thanks for telling me.
It wasn’t marked as read right away.
That brought a feeling that was equal parts relief and loneliness.
I flipped my smartphone face down and fell backward onto the bed.
“……What am I even doing?”
Jumping to conclusions by asking, and getting hurt by my own assumptions.
Gazing up at the ceiling, I gave a small, dry laugh.
My feelings won’t reach her.
Hiyori’s words felt like they were telling me just that.