The String of Balls -

“Are you okay?! Nothing has happened to you?!”

Fumie ignored Kotone and ran up to me, groping me as if she were doing a physical examination.

I’m glad that you’re worried about me, but it’s not like Kotone is bullying me…I know that this is an unusual combination, but…

Is it that strange? …Is it strange?

“It’s okay, it’s just… a bit ticklish…”

He smells nice, he touches me all the time, it’s smelling harassment and sexual harassment! But it’s not harassment, it’s a reward for me.

“Hayama-san is so rude… You speak as if I made Kotonoha cry.”

Kotone looked at Fumi with an exasperated expression and then let out a deep sigh.

I let out a deep breath and raised my head, and there was Kotone with furrowed brows and a look of clear hostility in her eyes.

“…Is that not the case?”

“Whose fault is this…?! …Uh… No… Oh well. Hayama-san was also worried about Kotonoha. I’ll let that rude attitude go.”

Kotone, are your eyes twitching? Contrary to what you said, it doesn’t look like the anger has disappeared from your face.

If you don’t follow me, things will get crazy!

“Fumi, Kotone helped me. It’s not like I was being bullied or anything.”

“That’s it… That’s what happened… I’m sorry, Kawasaki-san.”

“I told you to let it go, didn’t I? There’s no need to worry about it. But more importantly, how much longer do you intend to stick to my Kotonoha?”

That’s where you’re angry! No, that’s where you’re angry too!

…But what is mine!?

“……my?”

That’s a catch! Seriously!

“Kotone! I’m the only friend you have! You think that I’ve been taken away from you, right?! I don’t have many friends either, so I understand! It’s kind of alienating when your friends are getting along with other friends, right?!”

“Now that you mention it… I don’t think I’ve ever seen Kawasaki-san with anyone before… I see, the two of you were friends.”

Great! It seems like you understand!

“Hehe… Come on–”

“I told you I have a friend whom I eat with during lunch break! That person is Kotone!”

He ran over to Kotone and stomped over her with all his might.

This woman…she has such a happy look on her face, she’s invincible!

“They call each other by their first names and are good friends. Koto, you never told me anything like that.”

Looking back at Fumie, she seemed to look a little lonely.

Maybe Fumie… no, I’m mistaken…what was I thinking?

He probably just felt left out when he saw his childhood friend getting along with friends he didn’t know.

“I told you I have some friends… but I didn’t say any names…”

” Yeah, we’re good friends. I don’t have any friends, so I’m happy to have Kotonoha. ”

Don’t hug me! Don’t smell my head! Stop making mean remarks!

I can’t smack it off my hand… No matter how many times I smack it, it won’t come off… It’s stuck on like stubborn mold in the bathroom…

Ugh… I can’t take it anymore…

“Then why were you crying? There were rumors about you, and they must be true, right? You can’t tell me?”

“it is……”

“Do you have any idea, Hayama-san?”

“Hey! Kotone!”

This woman said it!

There’s something sharp in his voice… I guess he’s angry for my sake. But that doesn’t mean I want to tell him that. I don’t dare to confess, I just want to be with him.

“I have a feeling… Is it because I said I had a boyfriend? But I told you it was the same as always, right? We’re the same in the morning when we come home and on our days off. That nothing has changed.”

I tilted my head, not understanding why that was the reason I was crying.

When a friend gets a boyfriend, you either congratulate them, get jealous, or don’t care. Usually.

But I’m not normal. Even if I wanted to be normal, I couldn’t. I’m just a disgusting woman who cries and screams because the man I love was taken away from me.

“Even though you’re my childhood friend, you don’t understand anything about Kotonoha.”

After Kotone said that coldly, she muttered softly.

This is too much like Kotonoha…

“…Are you trying to say that Kawasaki-san understands things better than I do?”

Perhaps Kotone’s words had annoyed Fumie, as she twitched her eyebrows, revealing her displeasure.

The atmosphere is tense, and it seems like it could explode at any moment… This is bad!

“Wait! Why are you two trying to fight? You and Kotone! I didn’t ask you to do that!”

“Koto, keep quiet. So, Kawasaki-san, do you know? That Koto wet herself until sixth grade, and that she hated green pepper, so she always had me eat them for her. You don’t know, do you?”

Why are you revealing my dark past in so much detail!?

If you’re going to fight, don’t bring me into it! I’m the one who started the fire!

“Heh… Kotonoha is so cute. Have you stopped wetting the bed yet? Hehe…”

Stop selling stuff! Your face is too close! Get away!

No matter how hard I pushed him away, he just kept smiling and wouldn’t let go. Who is he? Is he a monster or something?

“You don’t know that. Then you don’t know this either, do you? Valentine–”

“Ahh, Fumi! I told you not to fight! It’s not a fight, you’re just telling my secret!”

What’s up with you guys?! If you want to fight, then do it somewhere else where I’m not around!

Also, Kotone, stop hugging me! Let go!

“I’m curious to know more, but I think I’ll have to hear it from Kotonoha’s mouth in detail next time…Hayama-san, you only know Kotonoha, but that doesn’t mean you understand what kind of person he is.”

“What’s that?… You act like you know what you’re talking about…”

“Why do you think Kotonoha is having lunch with me?”

Things are escalating… If we’re going to be serious, could you please stop hugging me?… No matter how you look at it, the composition is weird.

It seems like a two-to-one battle, isn’t that unfair? I’m on my own side, not Fumie’s or Kotone’s. …I’d like to side with Fumie, though.

“What, that’s something? You don’t want to stand out, do you? You hate standing out. If I go to class, I’ll stand out.”

…No, indeed, I don’t like standing out, but that’s not the reason.

“Fufu… I see. I guess you don’t understand anything after all.”

“You always say things in a nasty way… so what?”

“I don’t want to get in your way, I don’t want to drag you down by just paying attention to myself. That servile side of me is cute, though…”

“…Did Koto say that?”

Looking at me, she muttered sadly and shook her head in denial.

How does Kotone know all that?! I didn’t even say it… She just said it was cute. Sorry for being so self-deprecating.

“I only said that because I thought that was probably the case. Then why do you think Kotonoha was crying?”

“Kotone!”

“Kotonoha, stay quiet. I’m talking to Hayama-san right now.”

…I was so overwhelmed by Kotone’s spirit that I couldn’t say anything.

I knew that even though he might reveal my secret, he wouldn’t do anything to hurt me unnecessarily.

“That’s why you came here to ask! What’s going on? I came here to talk to you, so let’s get this nonsense out of the way.”

Fumie couldn’t hide her irritation as she tapped her foot, crossed her arms, and glared at Kotone.

It’s unusual to see Fumie angry…she rarely gets angry.

Kotone continued speaking with a nonchalant attitude, not intimidated by such words.

Do you realize that your attitude is just adding fuel to the fire? You do, don’t you, Kotone? You have a great personality…

“Shall I guess how Kotonoha would react when I told her I had a boyfriend?”

“If you’re telling that to Kawasaki-san, it’s pointless. What would it matter if you guessed it in the first place? Do you think you guessed it because you knew what was going on? That’s stupid.”

“Of course, I haven’t heard anything from Kotonoha. I don’t care what you think though…”

“Hmm… well why don’t you just say it then?”

Why am I the only one left out when everyone is talking about me?

You should just ask Moon if he told me about it…

“…Congratulations. I don’t care about me, but you should prioritize your boyfriend, I guess?”

“See, I’ve heard about it from the beginning.”

I… I haven’t even talked about that.

Why is Kotone so concerned about me…?

“Fufu… I wonder if I was right. This is also the result of love… just kidding.”

Kotone looked into my face, grinned, and then returned to a serious expression.

What is this…what is this…

“No matter what happens, I’ll be by your side. So don’t worry… I love you, Kotonoha.”

Looking at me with an unusually serious look in his eyes, he whispered words of love to me in a soft voice that seemed to embrace all my impatience and anxiety.

“Ahh….Ah….”

My face is hot and I can’t speak.

No, anyone would feel the same if someone said that to them. It’s not like I was particularly conscious of Kotone, I just thought she was a little cool, and, like, I felt relieved…

The person in question walked briskly towards the door without paying any attention to me…

…I don’t agree!

There was no way he could have understood how I was feeling and waited for me, as there was a clang, followed by the sound of the door opening, and the person I loved peeked his head out.

“Hello, Hayama-san.”

“What? …What!”

“Text…”