Oneshot 2 How I Became a Lawyer after My Childhood Friend I Liked Got a Boyfriend and Broke My Heart

How I Became a Lawyer after My Childhood Friend I Liked Got a Boyfriend and Broke My Heart

Author: たんぽぽ (Tanpopo)

“My Senpai confessed to me and we decided to start dating today.”

It was a shocking statement I heard from a childhood friend who was walking home with me after school. We had lived near each other since childhood, we were both only children, close to both parents and although we never made any promises of marriage when we were kids, I had liked her since childhood and had vaguely thought that we would become lovers one day. But honestly, I knew. Kaori Tachibana had been popular since childhood because of her outstanding looks, while I was just an average-looking boy.

I just had the advantage of having known her since childhood. But until now, I was the only man she was close to, and I thought we liked each other. But. Yes, I was wrong.

And her Senpai was a handsome guy, popular with everyone in the school. From the beginning, I had no chance.

“Oh, congratulations. Well, from now on, I have to keep my distance so as not to be misunderstood. I have something urgent to do, so I’ll be leaving now…”

I, Junpei Yamada, a high school freshman, have lost my heart. …

To be honest, I still don’t remember how I got home. When I came to, it was night before I knew it, and here I was, lying listlessly on my bed. Water was streaming from my eyes. I kept wondering if I had confessed my feelings to Kaori first, would we have become lovers?

I didn’t have the courage to confess, and in the end, my childhood friend dumped me. Ah, I’d rather die like this.

Looking back, I can really laugh about it, but at the time I was serious.

When I was in bed crying, I saw a book. It was a lawyer’s autobiography. My parents had given it to me for my birthday, but I had left it in a corner of the bookshelf without reading it. Suddenly, I felt the urge to read it, and without thinking, I started reading it.

To be honest, the book came as a shock. The author of the book had lived such a hard life, had only a middle school education, but had overcome difficulties to become a lawyer, and yet I wondered what I was doing here.

I was so ashamed of myself for living my life without any drive that I wanted to beat myself for thinking of dying just because of lost love.

I wasn’t a fast reader, so before I knew it, it was morning and I had read until then. I was lucky it was a weekend and I didn’t have to go to school.

“I guess I could be a lawyer if I tried hard enough…”

I was surprised by my own monologue, but it occurred to me that I could do it, too.

It’s not that I lost my feelings for my childhood friend, but after crying incessantly and staying up all night reading the book, my feelings cooled off because I was tired.

I immediately enrolled in a cram school.

After my heartbreak, I became estranged from my childhood friend, or rather, I started avoiding her myself and stopped any kind of contact or conversation with her…

On the first day of cram school, a plain girl with glasses sat next to me. I decided to say hello to her because I didn’t want to ignore her.

“Hi, I’m Junpei Yamada. It’s my first day at school, so I’m looking forward to working with you.”

The girl seemed startled for a moment but returned my greeting in a low voice.

“Hello. I’m Sarah Otsuka. Yes, I’m looking forward to working with you too.”

If this were a novel, my romantic story would have started at this point. But unfortunately, that was not the case. Firstly, when I suddenly started going to cram school, I struggled to keep up because I had no interest in studying. The girl sitting next to me also didn’t seem to have any potential for beauty, even if she took off her glasses. Secondly, I wasn’t the type of person who looked good with bangs. And lastly, to her, I might have appeared like a stalker who could get arrested by the police for being obsessed with br🬀🬀sts. So, a romantic comedy like in the novels was only possible in my dreams.

But, after some time at this school, my grades started to improve as I worked harder, and I got 17th place in the final exam of the first semester.

I was really surprised at myself because I was about average in the midterm. Of course, there was no development of my romantic comedy and I was still an air in the classroom, but I was really happy to be moving towards my dream. …

Oh, about my childhood friend.

I honestly didn’t care because from that day on I was so focused on studying. I never heard about her again. I still feel a little sad when I think of her, but I didn’t care because I had already cooled off.

The time somehow turned into summer vacation.

When I waited for classes to start. The girl sitting next to me, who is usually quiet, suddenly started talking to me.

“Um, do you like that book?”

She asked, pointing to the lawyer’s autobiography in my hand. You know, after that day, I often read this book when my heart was troubled, but I had never brought it to cram school. This was the first time I brought the book to cram school.

“Yes, after reading this book, I’m motivated to become a lawyer.”

Then she said shyly in a low voice,

“You know, this book was written by my mother. Ah, it’s a little embarrassing to hear compliments about my mom’s book directly.”

I was really surprised.

“What? Really? Can I meet your mother? I’d like to get her to sign my book.”

I exchanged contact information for the first time with a girl who was not a childhood friend, met her mother, and had her sign my book. Apparently, she was a classmate of my mother’s in elementary school.

After elementary school, my mother moved to another city and they lost touch, but she happened to see a book written by her old friend and was so happy that she bought it and gave it to me as a birthday present.

They were reunited by their children and began to interact, and of course, I began to see Sarah often in person.

Now she attends an all-girls high school. She is not a pretty girl, even when she takes off her glasses. But she is a hard worker who wants to be a lawyer. Although she was shy and introverted, she put a lot of effort into everything she did, and the more I saw of her, the more attractive she became. …

It was Christmas Eve. For some reason, both families had gathered at my house for dinner, and the lawyer said something that sounded like a bomb.

“Junpei-kun, you have always worked hard, and we have decided that you will marry my daughter in the future.”

I thought it was a joke, but I was too nervous. So…

“Ah, yes. I will be a good son-in-law.”

I realized what I had said and felt very embarrassed. But maybe because it was Christmas Eve, my tongue was brave.

“… at first, we sat next to each other, but I was so busy studying that I didn’t know what kind of person she was. But we talked well, our personalities matched well, and I fell in love while working toward the same goal… Sarah, please go out with me!”

“Yes! Please take care of me… Junpei-kun.”

Sarah accepted my confession with a flushed face and covered her face with the palm of her hand.

When I realized that I had confessed in front of both our parents, I wanted to bury my head in the hole, but they congratulated us with warm eyes…

One day in winter, when we walked home together after cram school, I honestly told Sarah what my reasons were for enrolling in cram school, and she told me with a smile on her face.

“I am personally grateful to Tachibana-san. She made it possible for me to meet Junpei-kun.”

Even though she looked simple, I fell in love with her even more. …

After the winter break, I had to go back to school.

There was a rumor that Tachibana’s boyfriend was cheating on her with four girls at the same time and had broken up with her, but it was none of my business anymore.

One day, while taking a walk to refresh myself while studying, I ran into Tachibana’s mother, whom I had not seen since the day of my heartbreak.

“It was a long time, Junpei-kun. Maybe you haven’t heard about Kaori’s current situation? She’s been suffering a lot since she broke up with her boyfriend. I thought our Kaori was dating Junpei-kun, but… Haah, I know we are estranged now, but if Kaori calls you, please listen to her.”

I said I understood, although I honestly wondered what she was talking about.

Then, a few days later, Kaori said she had something she wanted to talk to me about, and although it was too much trouble, we made an appointment and ended up talking in a cafe.

“I’ve been thinking about this ever since I broke up with Senpai. I knew Junpei liked me, but I accepted Senpai’s confession and agreed to it. I am truly sorry. I have been remorseful ever since, so please give me a chance.”

I was speechless.

“Hey, Tachibana-san, it’s all in the past, I don’t care anymore. You don’t have to apologize to me either.”

When I said that, she responded with a cheerful expression. I wondered if she misunderstood.

“Really? Junpei-kun. Thank you. I will only take care of Junpei-kun from now on.”

“No, what I mean is… Back then, Tachibana-san liked your Senpai and chose him, right? I liked Tachibana-san back then, but now you’re just an acquaintance I’ve known for a long time, and I have no love or hate for you anymore…”

“eh?”

I couldn’t understand why she thought I wouldn’t change my mind when I was in a densely populated area where she wasn’t the only woman, and was she blind? Look, half the people on the street are women.

She chose him, so I can’t feel sorry for her. No matter how bad a Senpai was, she liked him at that time, and she chose him instead of me. Just as Tachibana-san has freedom, I also have freedom.

“And I have a girlfriend now, I don’t want to hurt her feelings… So let’s establish a relationship like a longtime acquaintance. Tachibana-san.”

“What? A lie!!!”

A lie? Is there even a law in the Japanese Constitution that says childhood friends must stay together? I couldn’t understand why she thought I was still in love with her who didn’t even like me. It’s hard at first because of the pain of a broken heart, but it heals over time and people tend to move on with their lives.

Maybe it was Tachibana-san’s friend who encouraged her to approach me so suddenly. I guess they thought I still liked her. It was just annoying to me. I was shocked that they made fun of me so much.

I think it’s also because they only know that the only woman I know is my childhood friend, but I managed to turn it around and met a nice woman who couldn’t compare to Tachibana-san.

No matter how beautiful Tachibana-san was, she had different values and thoughts from mine, and I had no connection with her from the beginning, that’s all.

After that, my childhood friend never talked to me. I went to the same university as Sarah, and a few years later we both graduated at the same time, and I proposed to her right away.

Now, I am a lawyer and a father of two.