Chapter 6

Shō couldn't hold it in any longer and called Shihō on RINE.

The ringing tone sounded, and the other end picked up before the first ring even finished.

"…Shihō"

"Ahaha… Good evening, Shō-chan."

"Ah, good evening. I never thought I would be deceived by Shihō."

"I didn't deceive you. I just guided you a bit to make it easier for you to talk."

"That's what the world generally, and I would say, calls being deceived…!"

"Aahaha, but Shō-chan, you were so cute. You never confessed your feelings without realizing it before."

"Ugh…!"

In fact, whether or not he was guided, it was Shō who ended up talking.

Moreover, without confirming how much Shihō had seen at the scene, he ended up telling almost everything, which was a mistake.

But… it was good to know that Shihō had only seen him leaving. This way, Shihō didn't find out that Shō had a crush on Shigemoto before Kuma declared his love.

"But thank you for calling, Shō-chan. Now I can hear all about it!"

"No, I didn't call to talk about that…"

"Hehe, recently I've been asking you for advice about my love life with Shigemoto, but now you can talk about love too, which makes me happy!"

"Ugh… I, I need to go to bed now…"

"It's only ten! Shō-chan, you usually go to bed much later! Don't you want to talk about love with me…?"

"No, that's not it… it's just… embarrassing…"

As Shō squeezed out these words, he could hear a gasp from the other end of the phone.

"…Shō-chan, you were so cute just now!"

"Huh? What…!"

"The way you said it! Even I, a girl, felt a flutter in my heart!"

"I, I don't understand what you mean by the way I said it…"

"Hehe, Shō-chan is really cute. It seems Kuma has made you even cuter."

"What do you mean by that!?"

"Because just hearing your confession, it seems like you were told a lot of things, right?"

"Ugh… Yes, but…"

Shō was guided by Shihō and ended up telling almost everything. He managed to hide the most important thing, but he ended up spilling all the embarrassing details during the RINE call.

"By the way, why did Kuma suddenly confess to you?"

"That's what I want to know too."

Shō and Shihō had some interactions with Kuma, but there was never any indication that Kuma liked Shō.

"How did he confess to you, Shō-chan?"

"Why do you want to know that much…!"

"It's fine. You know, I want to use it as a reference when I confess to Shigemoto."

"Ugh… But I don't know if it will be useful…"

Shō, who always thought of his friends, started explaining the flow and words of the confession that had just happened. There were many parts where Shō got too embarrassed to continue, but he managed to finish the explanation.

"Ah, thank you, Shō-chan… I'm sorry for making you talk about all this."

"Ha, ha… No, it's fine. If it helps with your confession, then…"

"No, it's just… I feel a bit bad asking you to talk this much, so maybe it's too much."

"Why is that?"

"Because it's too embarrassing… and besides, that's not something a student would do. It sounds like a proposal."

"Proposal…!?"

Shō hadn't expected to hear that and ended up coughing.

Shō hadn't objectively grasped Kuma's confession, but he never imagined his best friend Shihō would point out such an objective view.

"Isn't that true? Saying things like 'I'll make you happy' and 'I'll dedicate my life to you'… it sounds like a proposal."

"Ugh… If you put it that way, maybe it does…"

Indeed, when he thought back, Kuma's serious atmosphere and words were close to a proposal. It was almost a proposal, except he didn't say "Will you marry me?"

"I, I also, even if I accepted Kuma's confession, I'm not thinking about marriage…!"

"Wait, so you would accept the confession?"

"No, I didn't say that!"

"So you won't accept it?"

"No, I… I'm still thinking about it…"

In reality, he couldn't keep Kuma waiting for too long. He needed to give an answer soon, and Kuma had said he wanted it quickly.

"Hmm, do you have someone you like, Shō-chan?"

"Someone I like…?"

"Yeah, I've never heard you talk about that kind of thing before."

When asked about someone he liked… the first face that came to Shō's mind was Kuma's. But before that, or before Kuma confessed, the person he thought of was Shigemoto Yūichi, Shihō's crush.

"…No, I don't have someone I like."

That was something Shō couldn't let Shihō know.

"Okay. So how did you feel when Kuma confessed to you?"

"That… I was… happy, but…"

"…Huh? I couldn't hear you, your voice was too low."

"So, I was… very happy."

He inadvertently added an adverb to express how happy he was.

But in reality, he was that happy inside. That's why even now, hours later, he still blushes when he thinks about it.

"Hehe, that's right. It's hard not to be affected by such a passionate confession."

"Ugh… Don't tease me, Shihō. I'm already at my limit…"

"Sorry. This is the first time I've had such a conversation with you, so I got excited."

Usually, they talked about Shihō's love life and relationship advice, but this time it was about Shō's love life. It's understandable that Shihō's excitement would rise.

"But Shō-chan, what are you going to do? Are you going to date him?"

"No… I always thought Kuma was a good guy, but being suddenly confessed to… I'm still not sure."

"Hmm, maybe you don't need to think about it too seriously?"

"…Is that so?"

"Yeah. Well, after hearing Kuma's confession, it might be hard not to think about marriage, but we're still high school students, right?"

"Right, that's true."

Of course, he wasn't fantasizing about marriage.

But before Shihō's message, he had been thinking… if he had accepted the confession, what would have happened…

"Ugh… I was thinking too much!"

"What happened?"

"Nothing, just continue."

He hit the stuffed animal a couple of times to clear his mind of the fantasies.

"This is a story about a friend in the tennis club. Some girls who were confessed to by boys they didn't like decided to try dating them once."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Some of them are doing well, and some aren't, but trying out a relationship without thinking too deeply is one option. Since Shō-chan is serious, it might be a bit difficult for you."

"Right…"

In reality, many high school relationships are like that.

No, not just high school students, even adults might be the same. Couples who are deeply in love and mutually attracted from the start might be the minority.

For high school students, if someone confesses and you find them a bit interesting, it might be okay to try dating them.

After all, you're not going to be with that person for the rest of your life. In that sense, it might be correct.

(But…)

"I like you, Shō. I'll definitely make you happy, so please date me."

Kuma, with his straightforward gaze, said those words seriously.

Could he really date someone like that with the thought, "Well, I don't really like you, but let's try it out"?

"Hehe… No, that's not right."

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"No, I'm sorry, Shihō. I'm not criticizing your friends, but I don't think I can do that. Besides, Kuma was so serious about it."

"…Yeah. I thought the same thing when I suggested it. I don't want you to do that."

"Hehe, that's right."

"Besides, when I confess to Shigemoto, I wouldn't be happy if he agreed just to try it out."

"Right. I think Shigemoto, like Kuma, would take it seriously."

"Yeah, I think so too. After all, he's the person I like."

"…Right."

If Shihō was so confident, maybe Shō didn't need to get close to Shigemoto and investigate him.

If that were the case, Shō wouldn't have developed feelings for Shigemoto.

But if Shō hadn't developed feelings for Shigemoto, he might not have been confessed to by Kuma. So, in a way, getting close to Shigemoto was the right choice.

(No, that's not right. Why does it seem like being confessed to by Kuma was the right thing? I haven't accepted the confession yet…)

"By the way, Shō-chan."

"Wh-What is it?"

Shihō, with a smirk, spoke to Shō, who was thinking a bit too much again.

"Didn't you just confess a little bit again?"

"Huh? No, I didn't confess…"

"But you said that Shigemoto would also take it seriously, like Kuma. That means Kuma was serious with you, right?"

"Ugh… No, that…"

Shō, once again, had unconsciously confessed.