5.2
It was the middle of the night, and I was settling in for bed when my phone vibrated.
Are you awake? It was a rather short message from Sakura.
I looked at my phone for some time without touching it, but saw no indication that there’d be more messages. Sakura probably thought I was sleeping. I opened the chat window, marking the message as read. Soon, I received another message.
Did I wake you? it said.
Sorry, I was doing some laundry. It’s okay. A small lie.
She must have felt relieved, because the next message was slightly longer.
I have to meet with Yamauchi-kun at five tomorrow, but…can I meet you before that? I could’ve refused. However, Sakura didn’t have anyone else.
Where are you meeting him?
The same place as yesterday: behind the school building.
I already knew that, but I’d wanted to confirm. Not wanting to inconvenience her, I promised Sakura that I would meet her at the same location behind the school. Then it was time to sleep.
I turned my phone’s screen off and set it down. It vibrated again, though.
Um. I’m sorry for bothering you over and over. Is it okay if I call you?
Her anxiety radiated from her message. It would probably be better if I didn’t leave her hanging. When I called her, Sakura answered quietly.
“You can’t sleep?” I asked.
“No. When I think about tomorrow, I get so nervous. Ahh…” Sakura sighed over the phone.
She sounded depressed. She was probably considering how she’d answer the confession.
“I-I don’t know anything about Yamauchi-kun. That’s a bit scary,” she said.
“I see.”
“I just realized that liking someone, or hating someone, actually comes with a ton of responsibility.”
I supposed that to Sakura, who had distanced herself from those around her until now, that must have come as a shock. In this case, though, my ability to help was rather limited. Sakura would have to make this decision. Yamauchi would live with the consequences. Even someone like me, a complete novice when it came to romance, understood that.
I couldn’t advise Sakura on whether to reject or accept Yamauchi. I could only listen quietly to what she had to say.
“Yamauchi-kun hasn’t done anything wrong, but this… I think I just don’t want this. Still, I do feel sorry for him, since he likes someone like me…”
Love was a rather complicated matter.
“I’ve been thinking about it for a while now, but I just don’t know what to do.” That was understandable. Even over the phone, Sakura’s confusion was palpable. “Why me? That’s what I’m wondering. Why do I have to suffer like this?”
As I’d expected, she sounded troubled about the situation, rather than happy.
“Ayanokouji-kun, this… Well, this might be something you don’t need to hear, but…”
“Ask me anything. If I can answer, I will.”
“Well… I’m sorry to bother you, but are you perhaps dating anyone at the…present time?” For some reason, Sakura was being rather formal.
“No, definitely not. I’ve never dated anyone, and I’m not dating anyone currently.”
“R-really?!”
“You sound happy about that, which makes me feel like you’re being sarcastic.” It stung a little to hear her so delighted about a man never having dated anyone before.
“O-oh, no, that’s not… I didn’t mean to make fun of you! I was happy because you’re like me, that’s all.”
“I was just teasing,” I replied.
“Oh, you!” It was only a little joke, but it seemed to lighten Sakura’s spirits. “Well, has anyone ever confessed their feelings to you? Or have you ever confessed your feelings to someone else?”
She was really grilling me. Well, I had nothing to hide.
“I have zero experience, same as you.”
“Okay, I see!”
Sakura sounded happy again. We chatted for a while about this and that. After some time passed, she seemed to get drowsy, and we ended the call. I hoped she could sleep soundly. Speaking of which, I thought it was about time for me to get to sleep as well.
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