I barely remember anything after Kano confessed at the sports park. We must have talked more, but the content was completely gone from my head.
Being confessed to by a girl for the first time in my life — perhaps unavoidable. (Strictly speaking I’d been confessed to a few times in middle school by girls who’d mistaken me for my brother, but those don’t count.)
“Kano-san’s person being me — too out of left field…”
On the Hakone trip, in the love-talk before bed, she’d called him incredibly cool — I had no reason to suspect it was me.
If I’d suspected it was me, I’d be a god-tier narcissist. The confession was so surreal my brain still hadn’t caught up.
I’d been at my desk for hours and the English homework was untouched. Two-plus hours and I hadn’t opened the workbook.
“This isn’t a dream, right?”
I pinched my cheek — hurt normally. Yeah, not a dream. I’d never seen Kano as a romantic target, and assumed she didn’t see me that way either.
Her features resemble Suzuno’s, but more refined — properly beautiful. I’d seen her as a TV-actress-tier untouchable. Until a few hours ago.
“I’m pathetic — getting hyper-aware the moment she confessed.”
I’m supposed to be in love with Suzuno and yet a Kano confession has me too jittery to function. Maybe I’m the worst kind of person.
As I was sinking into self-loathing, my phone vibrated with an incoming call. Yuki Kano on the screen. I hesitated for a moment, then hit answer.
”…Hello?”
“You finally picked up.”
She sounded basically normal. After confessing love, how was she this composed?
Could this whole thing have been a prank? If so, that’d be sad — but our normal relationship would resume, and there’d be a measure of relief in that.
“Oh — just so you know: the confession wasn’t a dream or a prank.”
“I wasn’t thinking that.”
“Hmm. If you say so.”
She didn’t buy my deflection. She saw straight through me.
“So why are you calling out of nowhere?”
“Does a phone call with someone you love need a reason?”
I almost dropped the phone. That hit hard.
“Don’t blindside me like that.”
“Sorry, sorry — you’re someone I love, I had to tease.”
“You can’t say it and then slip it in again like that…”
My HP was at zero. One more hit and I’d get sent to the Church with half my gold.
“I’m glad you’re getting nervous — it would’ve been sad if my confession landed and you weren’t affected at all.”
“Of course I’d be affected. Wait — you’re not even trying to hide it now?”
“I confessed, so I figured there’s no point hiding my feelings for you.”
She said it cleanly. Was she planning to always talk to me with this voltage now?
“So — prepare yourself. I am going to make you pick me.”
She hung up. I sat there in shock until I heard noise from next door — my brother home from practice.
“Calming down and thinking it through — this situation is… seriously bad.”
I like Suzuno who likes my brother who likes Kano who likes me. Yeah — a perfect square. Whichever pairing happened, the result was a soap-opera train wreck.
I held my head in my hands as I pictured the relationship diagram.
”…At all costs my brother cannot find out.”
If he did, we’d see the biggest sibling fight of our lives. Or worse.
Love triangles are dangerous, they say — real blood could flow. That, I had to avoid.