Chapter 17: Changing Daily Life

Changing Daily Life

The next day.

It happened while the three of them were on their way to school as usual.

As soon as they got on the train, Subaru lost his composure and began restlessly looking around.

“Subaru? What’s wrong?”

Seeing Subaru’s erratic behavior, Akari, clearly concerned, finally had to ask.

Watching this, Taichi felt a small pang of regret for having passed information about Yuki to Subaru the day before.

“Actually, it seems Ueno-san rides this train too, so I was wondering if she might be here.”

Even as he spoke, Subaru kept his eyes wandering, never once looking at Akari.

It was as if she wasn’t even in his line of sight.

Taichi thought he saw Akari’s expression harden for a brief moment, but Subaru, too busy searching for Yuki, didn’t notice and kept talking.

“Yesterday, Taichi immediately went out of his way for me and asked Ueno-san directly.”

“I-I see.”

“I was so impressed, Taichi!”

Subaru cheerfully threw an arm around his shoulder.

Normally, that kind of gesture would have made Taichi happy, but today, his feelings were complicated.

Last night, he had reconfirmed Akari’s feelings, but he had passed Yuki’s information to Subaru before that.

Though he tried to justify it by telling himself the circumstances had made it inevitable, Taichi couldn’t shake the feeling that he had betrayed Akari. He couldn’t bring himself to lift his head.

“…I don’t know if she takes the same train at the same time though.”

“That’s the tricky part. But Taichi, at school your seat is right next to hers. I’m jealous.”

“That just means Ueno-san might come near me if she has something to ask.”

“Exactly! If I hang around you, I might get to talk to Ueno-san naturally. You really are something, Taichi!”

In the end, they didn’t see Yuki on the train.

Even at the station nearest the school, Subaru kept scanning the crowd for her, but when he couldn’t find her, the three of them went to school together.

That day, their commute felt slightly different. To Taichi, Subaru’s cheerful voice stood out more than usual.

They encountered Yuki after they arrived in the classroom.

As Taichi sat at his desk and began pulling things from his bag, his vision suddenly went dark and he couldn’t see anything.

He nearly panicked, but he clearly felt a soft, smooth touch over his eyes and smelled a pleasant fragrance from behind.

“Guess who?”

That voice immediately made Taichi aware of what was going on.

Someone had covered his eyes from behind. Once he realized that, the sensation of the hand over his face became even harder to ignore.

On top of that, it felt like the person had leaned in and hugged him from behind.

The soft sensation pressing against his back threatened to consume his thoughts, and Taichi had to fight not to focus on it.

“Ueno-san! Please let go of me!”

“Ahaha, correeect. You figured out it was me so quickly. I wonder which part of me you recognized by feel?”

“F-Feel? I recognized your voice, that’s all!”

“Ah, right, I forgot to change my voice.”

“Haah, I told you yesterday not to tease me.”

“Ah, but that’s your fault, Taichi-kun.”

“H-How is that my fault!?”

“Because when I see you, Taichi-kun, I just can’t help myself. I want to tease you. So it’s not really my fault.”

“That’s not a valid excuse!”

Just as Taichi was about to sigh at Yuki’s absurd reasoning, he caught sight of Subaru walking over and felt his heart nearly stop.

The surprise attack from Yuki had made him forget, but they were in a classroom full of other students.

Naturally, Subaru was among them.

When Taichi imagined how that scene must have looked, cold sweat broke out all over his body.

From an outsider’s perspective, it looked like Yuki had hugged him from behind. If Subaru had seen that, Taichi dreaded what kind of misunderstanding might occur.

With each step Subaru took closer, Taichi’s heart pounded louder.

“What’s the matter, Taichi? You’re being loud.”

Subaru looked the same as always.

Based on that reaction, Taichi couldn’t tell whether or not he had seen what happened earlier.

“Ah, no, Ueno-san just… teased me a little.”

Taichi gave a stammering reply. It wasn’t a lie. She really had teased him.

He hadn’t done anything himself, and it was completely out of his control. Even so, feeling awkward, he couldn’t meet Subaru’s eyes as he spoke.

“I see… Hey, Ueno-san.”

“What is it?”

“Taichi’s been bullied since he was little, so he’s always struggled with girls and hasn’t really gotten used to them. So please don’t do strange things to tease him.”

Subaru’s words sounded like he was protecting Taichi.

Normally, Taichi would have accepted them gratefully, but right now they felt like they carried a different weight.

Subaru’s slightly stern expression left Taichi wondering whether he was angry on his behalf or upset about seeing him having fun with Yuki, but he couldn’t tell.

Taichi shrank a little under Subaru’s gaze, while Yuki didn’t seem to care at all.

“It’s fine. I’m not bullying him. It’s just skinship.”

“S-Skinship?”

“Yeah. Stuff like this is totally normal between friends, right?”

“I-Is that so… so you’d do the same with other friends too, not just me?”

“Of course.”

“…I see.”

“What about it?”

“Ah, no, it’s nothing. Anyway, Taichi doesn’t like girls, so please try not to do things like that to him.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll be careful. You really are like a dad, you know.”

Unlike when he had walked over, Subaru returned to his seat with his shoulders slightly slumped, looking a little disappointed.

Taichi felt relieved that he hadn’t been directly scolded, but he was sure Subaru had seen Yuki hugging him.

It was a rough way to cover for him, saying that Taichi disliked girls, when in truth he was just bad with them, not entirely opposed.

Subaru’s mood seemed to lift slightly, probably because their conversation had given him hope that if he became friends with her, Yuki might hug him too.

That faint disappointment he had shown earlier was probably because he had wanted to be hugged by her himself.

As Taichi watched Subaru slowly walk back to his seat, he noticed Akari, sitting farther away, quietly staring at Subaru.

What caught Taichi’s attention was the look on her face.

How should he describe it? It was an expression without emotion, so blank and hollow that he couldn’t even guess what she might be feeling.

In the end, Akari continued watching Subaru, while Subaru, unaware, sat at his desk deep in thought.

Watching the two of them, Taichi couldn’t bring himself to say anything.

Toward Subaru, he still felt the guilt of earlier. Toward Akari, he was afraid she would be annoyed if he kept worrying about her.

Taichi had never been this hesitant with his two childhood friends before.

But ever since Subaru had fallen for Yuki, Taichi had become painfully aware that their relationship was beginning to change.