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「Ah, *um*, I know saying this might weird you out, but… But still! I want to properly relay my feelings…」

As to be expected, we fell silent.
I don’t know if it’s the same with Miyu, but honestly I can’t think of anything to say. With a blush on her face, Ruka waves her hand as though to give justification.

「It’s not like I want an immediate response or something! I just wanted to tell you… I couldn’t hold back any more! I’m sorry! It’s troubling, right? Being told this all of a sudden…」

It’s not that I can’t understand.
Confessing to the person you like is a crazy dopamine high.
But please don’t do that right now. If you do that, I’ll be in a pickle.

「*Um*, Misaki, you might not remember, but you really saved me once in the past!」
「*Eh*?」
「It was right after the opening ceremony, at the toilet! You don’t remember? The seniors were eyeing me for my hair and stuff…」　

Ruka leans forward, as if to allow me to examine her face.
Thinking about those keywords, I trace back my memories.
Right after the opening ceremony. At the toilet. Seniors.
Tawny hair in a high side pony tail.
… *Ah*, I remember something.
Is she perhaps speaking of that time?
That day, I got cocky and ate ice cream early in the morning, so by the time I reached school, my stomach was in pure pain.
As soon as I entered the school building, I went straight for the nearest bathroom.
And then there was a crowd of 3-4 girls causing a ruckus in front of the bathroom door for some reason.

「Are you a first year? Your hair is pretty cute; really fired up, *huh*?」　
「Are you aiming for a high school debut? How nice, must be fun.」

They were grinning as they surrounded one girl.
They weren’t necessarily showing clear hostility, but they had a sarcastic tone. They seem to have their eyes on a cheeky-looking freshman.
However, at that time, frankly speaking, none of that mattered to me. I just wanted them out of my way.

「*Ah*, excuse me, sorry to interrupt when you’re busy.」
「*Ha*? What?」

They were dumbfounded at first, but seemingly misunderstanding something, one of them blocked the path ahead of me.

「A freshman? Are you her friend?」

I didn’t know why I was mistaken for the girl’s friend, but I didn’t care.
Freshman, second-year, it didn’t matter at that point. I just wanted to get into the toilet.

「*Um*, could you move out of the way?」
「What? You have a problem with us?」

With a slightly strong tone, she glared at me.
Simultaneously, a strong wave washed over my body. The irregular rampaging in my stomach came in strong and weak waves.
It was weak for the past few minutes, but then it suddenly reared its head. It was biding its time.

「I f̲u̲c̲k̲i̲n̲g said move, don’t you hear me?」

Pissed off, I glared back in response.
After all, I’m about near my breaking point.
Obviously I have a problem.
The f̲u̲c̲k̲ will you do if I make a mess on the first day of school? Can you take responsibility? Will you get me a change of underwear?
I think at that time I had the look of death.
A demon may have possessed me. I was beyond Asura.
Losing to my intensity, she had a face saying, 「What is this crazy b̲i̲t̲c̲h̲…」 and left.

… And so that happened.
That means the girl they were being sarcastic to was Ruka?
I really didn’t pay attention, nor did I have the leeway at that time. I ran straight to a toilet stall as fast as I could.

「Since then, you were always in my mind, but I couldn’t approach you… Eventually, I mustered my courage to talk and then we got close… Being with Misaki was a lot more fun than being with my boyfriend…」

Is that the thing she was conflicted about that is probably related to me she mentioned earlier?
I had a bad feeling about this, but she really did it. She dropped a bomb in the worst time possible.

Being my first time in this kind of crisis, my brain was overloaded.
What do I even do about this? How do I break through this? Is that even possible to do?

「I like Misaki, you know!」

*Ha?* I turned back to the source of the voice.
Miyu wasn’t looking at me, but at Ruka.
She wasn’t saying it to me but to Ruka.

「For far longer than you, Ruka-chan.」

Miyu stares Ruka down, her eyes unwavering. It’s as if she had mustered her resolve.

In an instant, she gains dominion of the atmosphere.
From the side, it’s like a climatic scene from a movie. If Miyu were cast, she would either be the leading lady or her arch nemesis.

Meanwhile, I’m between them with my mouth agape like Mr Popo¹.
Look to my left, look to my right; so this is the normie experience?
… *Huh*? That’s weird. Having a lot of character traits as a former boy-turned-super beauty, I should be a main lead myself.
At this rate, I’ll be completely overshadowed; I have to say something too.
But what?

「Stop! Don’t fight because of me²!」 「Then let’s settle it in the finals³.」

… No, I absolutely can’t f̲u̲c̲k̲ around in this situation.
Even I know when I need to get serious. I won’t let them call me indecisive or a cheater.

「Sorry, Ruka… I… like Miyu too, so…」

I finally spoke up.
Still, the answer was set from the start. There was nothing to be conflicted about.
Ruka’s line of vision moves from Miyu to me.

「Yeah, I know that… But what about me then?」
「*Umm*, that’s… Sorry.」
「Sorry? For what?」

Ruka tilted her head. She genuinely looks confused about my reply.
*’I know that,’* she said… *Eh*? That’s scary. Is Ruka-chan perhaps *that* kind of person?
Same kind as me? Maybe a higher tier? The type that won’t let you go until you agree?　
Not a Yandere, but a Killdere?

Feeling pressured, I subconsciously trembled like some two-timing trash protagonist. Finally, I’ve got a leading role.

「W-well, you see, I like Miyu…」
「No need to repeat, I know that. It’s so obvious, too.」
「*Eh*? So obvious…」
「I mean, I like Miyu too, you know?」
「*Hae*?」

With my mouth agape, I had a stupid look.

「At first it felt like there was a wall between us, but I’m really glad Miyu came today and we got a lot closer! You were so cool when you shooed off the guys before; I fell *hard*. Not only that, you’re cute and you have big boobs, too～… Yelling, *’Lift your skirt!’* together was really fun! We’re basically comrades!」

Ruka smiled with her teeth beaming.
There’s no phonyness from it at all; it’s the very image of an innocent smile. It can probably purify a low-level Yandere on sight.

「In class, people don’t vibe with me that much. Being alone makes me feel uncomfortable… Do I, like, scare off people? I don’t really know, though.」

Ruka hung her head. Her voice is also shrinking away.
True, she does kinda stand out in class. Because of her looks.

「Onee-chan said that I look cuter this way and played with my looks, but I’m thinking maybe people don’t like it much…」

Ruka twirls the end of her hair.
Is her sister the root of this evil? Does she delight in customizing her little sister? She has made Ruka cosplay before, so she probably has some other offences.

「I know you two are close friends… I feel comfortable when I’m with you two, so… I hope we can continue being close even at school, too…」

*Even at school, too…?*

*Eh*, don’t tell me…
Is Ruka’s ‘like’ not the one with certain *implications*?
Like, actually ‘like’ and not ‘love’?

「Misaki said that we were already friends before, too… Is that no good?」

Ruka timidly looks up to me with puppy dog eyes. I nervously peeped at Miyu’s expression.
Miyu had her mouth half-open with a stupid look. She probably had the same assumption as I had.
Receiving our stares, she came to her senses and frantically answered.

「Y-yeah! O-of course it’s fine! We’re friends! Right, friends! *Woohoo*! I like you too, Ruka-chan! Let’s stay good friends okay～!」

Miyu was uncharacteristically flustered. Her intonation is weird here and there. Where has her leading lady aura disappeared to?
She’s suddenly bad at acting.

「*Ya～y*! I’m so happy～!」

Ruka didn’t take notice of Miyu’s cheesy acting at all.
Almost flying off her seat, Ruka grabs onto Miyu’s hands and does a fist pump.
As Miyu had a cramped smile, our eyes met. 「This is your fault, you know?」 Her eyes seemed to protest. 「No, in the first place, it’s your fault for making that fake NTR announcement about having a boyfriend,」 I replied. She definitely didn’t get it.

「Then what about Misaki? Do you only like Miyu? What about me?」

Completely over the moon, Ruka then drew her face close to me.
I can’t afford to make the wrong move here.

「*Oh* c’mon, that goes without saying, you know～? I wuv wuv wuv Ruka, of course! I welcome anyone knocking the door, so no need to be reserved! You can even sit on my lap if you want!」

I ended with a thumbs up, and Ruka had the brightest smile on her face. She’s so delighted, to the point I’m getting conscious of other people.

While I breathed a sigh of relief, my eyes met with Miyu’s, who was in front of me. 「You overdid it,」 Her sharp gaze seemed to say.
… Yeah, well, maybe I did overdo it.