───● The College Girl Childhood Friend Accepts It ●○●
It was late December, with the end of the year fast approaching. Today was 12/25, Christmas.
“Then, once again… Merry Christmas!”
“”Merry Christmas!””
Our glasses clinked together, making a quiet, ringing sound.
Today, Koumi and Mizuho had invited me out for a dinner date.
The two of them seemed to have made a reservation in advance. It was a stylish restaurant with a beautiful view of the night skyline.
“Delicious! A drink after studying really hits the spot!” Mizuho cheered.
“That’s non-alcoholic, you know,” Koumi pointed out.
“Oh, come now, Koumi-dono. It’s the thought that counts!” Mizuho teased.
Koumi gave an exasperated retort to Mizuho’s innocent remark.
“I mean, we just partied together for your birthday the other day,” she said.
“Now, now! Since I was little, people always lumped my birthday and Christmas together! I absolutely refuse to let that stand!”
“I kinda get how you feel, but…”
This dynamic between the three of us had become a familiar sight.
It hadn’t even been a year since I met them, but because the time we spent together was so long and dense, it felt like we’d known each other for ages.
…Of course, I intended to give them my answer, but for now, it just made me happy to see the two of them smiling and getting along.
“Come to think of it, Masato, were things okay at the shop? It seems like it’d be busy on Christmas,” Koumi asked.
“You mean the bar? It’s fine. We’re still running the Christmas event, but it lasts for about a week anyway,” I replied.
The Christmas event was going on for roughly a week, but since I only worked one day a week, it didn’t really affect me.
“That event was fun! If you have it again next year, I definitely want to go!” Mizuho exclaimed.
“Please, spare me…” I groaned.
I couldn’t handle being subjected to that kind of public humiliation again…
“I will also be going next year,” Koumi declared.
“Could you not declare your ulterior motives with such a straight face?”
“Ulterior motives? How insolent! I simply have a pure desire to see Masato in cosplay, you see,” Mizuho huffed.
“That’s impure enough as it is!” Koumi retorted.
Seeing Mizuho get karate-chopped, I couldn’t help but laugh.
Conversations like this—where I’d instinctively want to point out that the roles were reversed—now felt normal in this world.
“If you’re going to say things like that, Koumi-chan, I won’t take pictures for you even if his outfit changes next year!” Mizuho teased.
“T-That and this are two different things!” Koumi stammered.
“No, seriously, I don’t think I’ll be wearing anything flashy…” I chimed in.
Since I mostly stayed off the floor, I shouldn’t have needed to wear one in the first place.
…But I felt like Seira-san would demand I wear one every year.
The fact that I was naturally thinking about next year with them made me realize that I, too, wanted to stay close with everyone for a long time.
“So, with that said,”
Once we finished our after-dinner dessert, Koumi clapped her hands together.
“Since it’s Christmas, we brought presents!”
“Of course, I brought one today too!” Mizuho added.
They handed me beautifully wrapped gifts.
“Thank you. Here’s mine to you two,” I said.
“What! Really?! Even though you just got us something for my birthday?!” Mizuho gasped.
“Well, of course, you wanted to keep them separate, right?” I replied.
“Heck yeah!”
Since I’d heard we were having a Christmas party separate from the birthday party, I made sure to prepare gifts for this, too.
They always took such good care of me, so it was the least I could do.
“Can we open them?!”
“Of course. I’ll open mine too,” I said.
I opened their presents as carefully as I could.
I wondered if there was a secret trick to opening this type of wrapping neatly.
When I opened the small package from Mizuho, I found a leather key case inside.
“Wow, it looks so cool! Thanks, Mizuho,” I said.
“Ahem! I’m super happy if you like it!” she beamed.
Mizuho, looking absolutely delighted, gave me a big, bright smile.
Such a carefree smile really suited her.
“Open mine, too! Mizuho and I picked it out together,” Koumi urged.
Prompted by her, I opened Koumi’s present, which was a bit larger.
Inside was… a navy-blue muffler with deep red embroidery.
“Whoa, I love this. I didn’t actually own a muffler,” I said.
“I’m so glad! We’re already in the middle of winter, but please use it if you’d like,” Koumi smiled.
I hadn’t had one, and since it wasn’t overly thick, I was grateful that I could probably use it even outside of midwinter.
As for the key case, I’d actually been struggling with where to put my locker key for work along with my house key, so I’d gladly put it to good use.
“Then I’ll open mine too!” Mizuho declared.
“I don’t know if you’ll like it, but…”
The two of them began unwrapping the presents I had given them.
Just like at Mizuho’s birthday, this part always made me nervous…
“Wow, it’s so cute!”
“Hey, look, Koumi! Mine is super cute too!”
I had chosen bags for their presents.
For Mizuho, who always brought a small bag to the university and ended up not having enough room for her materials, I got a tote bag with a bit more capacity.
Conversely, for Koumi, whom I’d seen carrying larger bags like backpacks a few times, I got a smaller pochette.
I had just given Mizuho a birthday present recently, so I didn’t want to pick out anything too expensive. I tried to choose something reasonably priced.
Perfume would have been a rather bold choice, but with a bag… well, even if it wasn’t to their exact tastes, they could still use it to hold things, right?
“Thank you! I’ll treasure both the perfume and the bag!” Mizuho said.
“I’ll treasure mine with all my heart too,” Koumi added warmly.
…Man, it really wasn’t good for me to think so negatively.
Seeing the two of them clutching their bags so happily made me reevaluate my feelings.
If they were happy with them, then I should just be glad and accept it.
We left the restaurant and headed toward the station.
The cold air of midwinter stung. Grateful for it, I wrapped the muffler Koumi had given me around my neck.
“Ehehe, it really does look good on you,” Koumi smiled.
“Thanks,” I replied.
Koumi let out a bashful laugh.
…Thinking that she was the same girl I used to play with back in the day brought up some deeply emotional feelings.
“Right in the middle of this lively moment… Well then, you two, I bid you adieu! Don’t go too crazy, okay?!” Mizuho announced suddenly.
“Huh? Mizuho?!” I asked.
“Have a happy new year, Masato! I was more than satisfied with my birthday! Make sure you handle the rest just as we discussed, Koumi-kun!” she yelled back.
Mizuho, who had been walking slightly ahead of us, dashed off with a flourish.
“Geez, she could’ve just stayed until the end…” Koumi sighed.
Actually, there was something I’d been meaning to tell the two of them…
Koumi let out a soft sigh and turned back to me with a troubled look.
“U-Um, so with that being said, there’s actually something I want to show you, Masato.”
She gently took my hand.
“So… could you come with me for a bit?”
After a short train ride and a few minutes of walking, we arrived.
“Pardon the intrusion…” I mumbled.
“Come on in! Sorry it’s so cramped,” Koumi welcomed me.
I had been invited to Koumi’s place.
It was a single apartment room. While it couldn’t exactly be called spacious, it was plenty of room for one person living alone.
The furniture was sparse and simple, but with a few girlish beauty products visible, the undeniable tension of being in a girl’s room washed over me.
…No, alright? I get it. Even I know I shouldn’t just follow along so easily, you know?
But I really needed to talk with Koumi properly, just the two of us…
“Here you go. Sorry I don’t have anything better to offer,” she said.
“No, no, thank you for going through the trouble,” I replied.
Koumi brought over some hot tea and gently placed a cup on the desk in front of me.
A pleasant, citrusy aroma rose up with the steam.
Perhaps because it was so cold outside, the warm tea tasted even better than usual.
“Do you remember the day we first met at the university?” Koumi asked.
“That was when you helped me with class registration, right?” I replied.
“Yeah. Back then… when I saw you sitting on the bench… I just naturally wanted to talk to you. Honestly, I’d been so fed up with men until then, but for some reason, reaching out to you felt completely natural. It was almost like instinct,” she admitted.
She laughed it off, adding, “It’s a bit strange, isn’t it?”
If anything, I was the one who should be apologizing for not realizing it at all.
Even after all the times we hung out, and despite how incredibly grateful I was to her.
“I’m sorry I didn’t realize…” I murmured.
“No, it’s fine. It’s the same for me,” Koumi replied, shaking her head. “Just the fact that we can talk like this now makes me happy.”
She closed her eyes and wrapped her hands around her teacup.
…I didn’t know if it was because I realized she was my childhood friend, or because she had confessed to me, but even these casual little movements of Koumi’s struck me as incredibly cute. It was going to be a problem.
“Oh, right! Look at this! It has pictures of Mizuho from high school and stuff, too!” she exclaimed.
“Oh, I might actually be curious about that,” I admitted.
“Let’s see…” Koumi muttered.
She pulled her high school yearbook off the shelf.
Inside, there were photos of the two of them working hard at their club activities.
We spent some time quietly flipping through those pictures of them.
“Hey, Masato,” Koumi called out softly.
“Hm?”
Having finished looking through it, she placed the album back where it belonged.
She straightened her posture and looked me straight in the eye.
“Back then… the reason you stopped coming to that park we went to the other day… it’s because you heard the adults talking, wasn’t it?”
“…Yeah, that’s right,” I confessed.
I recalled the conversation I had accidentally overheard when I was trying to go to the park long ago.
How they had talked about her playing with a dirty boy who was raised in an orphanage.
How I had thought my mere existence would cause trouble for Koumi.
“When we played there together the other day, I sort of remembered it all,” Koumi said. “The days we spent playing there were truly an irreplaceable time for me.”
“Koumi…” I murmured.
She closed her eyes, speaking as if lost in deep emotion.
“That’s why, back then… I really didn’t care what the adults said. As long as I could keep playing with you, Masato, that was all that mattered…”
“…I’m sorry,” I said softly.
The surface of the tea in her cup rippled gently.
“Well, we’re able to see each other like this now, so I guess it’s all good!” she exclaimed.
When I lifted my slightly downcast gaze, the same smiling Koumi I always knew was right there.
“I loved the Maa-kun I played with in the past,” she continued. “I couldn’t forget that, and eventually, I found my next love. I fell in love again with the Masato-kun I met this year.”
I still wasn’t used to having her feelings thrown straight at me like this.
With every word she spoke, I could feel my body temperature rising.
“I realized that no matter what, Igarashi Koumi could never love anyone but Katasato Masato-kun. I’m sure that even if I’m reborn, I’ll still fall in love with you.”
Her cheeks were tinged with red as she made that bold declaration… and I found myself involuntarily mesmerized by her.
That was how alluring Koumi was right now.
──That was exactly why I felt I had to properly talk to her, too.
“Thank you, Koumi,” I began. “I never thought I’d ever be the recipient of so much affection, so I’m truly sorry that I can’t give you an answer right away.”
I needed to choose my words carefully.
“Right now, I have so many wonderful connections in my life that I just can’t make an immediate decision,” I explained. “But I don’t think it’s right for me to just keep everything on hold indefinitely. So, I’ve decided to come up with my own answer by March of next year. I was actually planning to tell Mizuho that today, too.”
Upon hearing that, Koumi’s eyes widened in surprise.
“March… that’s pretty soon,” she noted.
“No, even so, I feel like I’m making you wait too long,” I admitted.
“But for now… is it okay if I treat you the same way I always have until then?” Koumi asked hesitantly.
“Of course it is,” I reassured her. “I mean, if you don’t, I’ll end up being all alone at the university again.”
“I guess that’s true!” she laughed.
Koumi glanced at the calendar on her desk, murmuring to herself, “March, huh… March.”
“…To be honest, I’m scared, but I understand,” she said with a resolute nod. “I’ll wait. I waited for over 10 years, after all. A mere three months is nothing. I can wait that long.”
Looking at Koumi as she smiled so bravely, a thought crossed my mind.
What Aika-san had told me. Her words: ‘Why don’t you try believing in them?‘
She was absolutely right.
I shouldn’t just make my own assumptions; I needed to try believing in them.
And to do that, I had to come up with an answer that I could be satisfied with.
After that.
We spent some time reminiscing about the past. As it was getting late, I decided it was time to take my leave and stood up, but then Koumi called out to me.
“W-Wait…” she stammered. “…Um, actually, I heard from Mizuho…”
“Hm?”
For some reason, she started fidgeting.
“Well… apparently, you and Mizuho had quite a lot going on in that Ferris wheel at the amusement park…?”
“Ah… well, I guess…?”
Being reminded of it, I definitely had enough happen that I could recall it instantly.
Mizuho with her hair down, looking similar to how she did when she dropped her contacts.
Mizuho seductively licking her lips against the backdrop of the night view.
And what happened after that──
Let’s not go there. Thinking about it any further would be bad for my mental health.
A brief pause lingered in the air.
“I-Isn’t it n-no fair that I’m the only one who hasn’t gotten to do that?” Koumi stammered.
“That’s──”
I wanted to say that it wasn’t like I initiated it.
Or that the situation back then simply didn’t allow me to refuse.
But knowing that anything I said would just sound like an excuse, the words caught in my throat.
Koumi grabbed my sleeve.
O-Oh crap. I already recognized this pattern.
“T-Today… it’s Christmas, right?”
“Y-Yeah, it is,” I stuttered.
Koumi took a deep breath.
“W-Would you be mad if… if I said I didn’t want you to go home today?”
She looked up at me through her eyelashes, and the destructive power of those words was staggering.
B-But I couldn’t just get swept away with the flow here.
“…Um, I’m pretty sure my guardian would be worried…” I mumbled.
As I said that, I glanced over at Koumi, only to find her looking like she was on the verge of tears.
──That expression overlapped perfectly with the image of the young Koumi from back then.
“…Staying the night is obviously out of the question… but if it’s just for another two hours or so… there’s still the last train…” I offered.
“…!”
Koumi’s face immediately lit up with joy.
I’m so sorry for being a man with such a weak will.
It was impossible! I mean, she was so cute! And it wasn’t like I disliked her at all!
“Well then… I guess I’ll just have to show you how much I’ve grown, won’t I?” she purred.
In the blink of an eye, I was pushed down onto the bed.
I didn’t even have time to resist.
Lying on my back, the last thing I saw was──
“You’re absolutely not allowed to leave me ever again, Maa-kun,” she whispered.
Koumi’s beautiful face, completely filling my vision.
I felt like I finally understood, just a little bit, how an herbivore must feel when it’s being devoured by a carnivore.
