Is It Permissible To Abandon a Childhood Friend Who Has Become a School Idol and Be Happy

29

It’s already December.

On this chilly Sunday, the first snow of the season is about to fall.

I’m walking alone in front of the deserted station.

“Haa…”

My breath is visible.

The cold air passes through my nose, and I shiver involuntarily.

It happens every year, but I still hate this season.

It’s just plain cold, and there’s nothing good about it.

Once the snow piles up, I’ll hardly be able to go outside.

I only came out today because my parents asked me to run an errand. Otherwise, I would have stayed in my room and studied.

“It’s too cold to even refresh my mind…”

Two weeks have passed since that date.

I haven’t spoken to Misaki since that day.

At school, Misaki is still everyone’s idol.

Her hair is down, and she’s not wearing glasses.

She’s a beautiful girl without a trace of plainness, and during break time, she’s always surrounded by classmates, smiling.

She doesn’t show even a hint of the anxiety she displayed when we parted ways after our date.

“Why am I being such a wimp?”

I can’t help but laugh at myself.

I decided to break up with her, but there’s a part of me that wants her to still like me.

What a loser. Seriously, I’m being such a wimp.

I’m a hopeless human being. I’m really nothing like Misaki. I’ve heard that girls can move on quickly, and maybe that’s the case with Misaki.

I can’t even figure out how to break up with her, let alone move on.

“I’m such a coward.”

It’s not just that I didn’t have the courage to talk to her. Even though I had resolved to break up with her, I didn’t have the guts to have a normal conversation with her.

I’m terrible at being manipulative, and I hate being blamed even more.

In the first place, I can’t stand being scolded.

The other day, when my mother lectured me about Misaki, I was so fed up.

I don’t think anything will improve just because people around me say whatever they want.

“Thinking about it this way, childhood friends aren’t all that great.”

I realize once again that while being close has its advantages, it also has its disadvantages.

Both of our parents know that we’re dating, and since we’ve known each other since we were little, they’re very supportive. But because they know us so well, they also meddle in our relationship a lot.

I guess they see us as family now, and they probably think our relationship will last forever.

I’m sick of hearing things like, “You’ve gotten so pretty,” and “She’s such a nice girl, don’t let her go.” I just want them to leave me alone.

Don’t they think I, the person who’s actually dating her, know that?

I was deeply irritated by the adults who expected our relationship to stay the same, yet only ever said things I didn’t want to hear.

BAM

“YIKES!”

“WHOA!”

Was it because I was thinking about such things as I walked?

Suddenly, an impact like I had bumped into something ran through my entire body.

“Oof!”

I instinctively braced myself, but at the same moment, a loud thud and the sound of something slipping followed close behind, reaching my ears.

“Ow…”

I looked at my feet where the noise had come from and saw a girl sitting on her butt.

The girl, who was dressed somewhat lightly for winter, had her hands on the concrete ground and was grimacing in pain.

“A, are you okay!?”

I quickly crouched down and offered her my hand.

All the things I had been thinking about up until now had completely vanished from my mind.

“Ah… Y, yeah, I’m okay… Don’t worry about it…”

“No, please stand up for a moment. The ground is cold.”

When I spoke to her, she seemed to notice me, and made a surprised expression for a moment, but then shook her head.

But there was no way I could just leave her there. I grabbed her arm somewhat forcefully and pulled her up, but for some reason, her body felt incredibly light.

“I’m, I’m sorry… I caused you trouble…”

For some reason, she apologized. That should be my line.

“No, I should be the one apologizing… I wasn’t paying attention. Are you hurt at all?”

“Ah, yes. I’m okay. I wasn’t paying attention either… I’m not used to this place, so I couldn’t help but look around…”

We both bowed our heads to each other. Looking at her closely, she seemed quite petite.

Was she around 150 centimeters? I’m not particularly tall myself, but I was tall enough to look down at her.

She was probably around the same age as me, but she was definitely shorter than Mio.

Her bangs were also long, covering her eyes. Her skin was very pale, probably from the cold, but her voice was soft, making her not stand out much.

Her outfit was also plain, consisting of a black duffle coat and a dark green muffler.

If we hadn’t bumped into each other, I probably wouldn’t have remembered her.

It was rude of me to think this, but she was an overall shadowy, plain-looking girl.

Even so, for some reason, I couldn’t take my eyes off of her.

That’s probably because…

(Somehow…)

She looks kind of like Mio.

That’s what I thought.