My Childhood Friend, Who I Made a Promise To Spend the Future With, Dumped Me... But Ever Since I Started Dating a Beautiful Girl From School, My Childhood Friend Has Been Acting Strange - Episode 3

The Next Day.

Tōma Suzuki was walking alone on his way to school.

As usual, he headed toward the school gates, passed through the entrance, and arrived at his classroom.

Inside the classroom, the usual lively chatter filled the air.

Tōma took his seat and hung his school backpack on the side of his desk.

For now, there was no sign of Saori.

Deciding to pass the time alone, he took out his phone and started scrolling.

Looking out the window, his gaze fell upon his childhood friend—Azusa Saori—walking from the school gate towards the building.

She seemed the same as always. It didn’t look like there would be any problem if he approached her.

A lot had happened with Saori yesterday. But for now, he decided to wait until she entered the classroom before talking to her. He returned his focus to his phone.

“Hey, Tōma.”

A voice suddenly called from behind.

Turning around while still seated, he saw Kamiya Suzuha standing there.

“How are you today? Think you’ll be okay?”

“Well… I guess so. Things with Saori might still be difficult, but I think I’ll manage somehow.”

Suzuha had come over to check on him, concerned.

“You really helped me out, Suzuha. Just having you stay and listen to me yesterday made things feel a little easier.”

“Oh? Well, that’s good to hear.”

“By the way, do you want to go hang out somewhere later? My treat.”

“Really? Then I’ll take you up on that. Oh—Tōma, she’s here.”

Suzuha’s gaze shifted towards the classroom entrance.

There, stepping through the door, was Saori.

She glanced briefly in their direction before heading toward her seat.

“I’ll head back to my seat. We can talk about our plans later, okay?”

“Yeah, sure. See you later.”

With a casual wave, Suzuha walked toward her desk at the back of the classroom.

Saori’s seat was diagonally in front of Tōma.

Normally, she would be the one to start a conversation, but today, she didn’t show any signs of doing so. Instead, she simply sat down, ignoring the presence of Tōma behind her.

Is she really still mad about yesterday?

Or… did I actually do something that bad?

Tōma tilted his head in confusion.

While glancing at his phone, he stole a few looks at Saori’s back.

She never turned around. Instead, she checked the contents of her school bag and organized her schedule on her phone, getting ready for the day’s classes.

Could this be because of something that’s been building up for a while?

Thinking back, Tōma could recall several things that might have caused problems between them.

But… those were all things they had already resolved.

Even in the closest relationships, small things can add up over time and eventually break the connection.

Maybe I should be the one to approach her first.

If I really did something wrong, I should clear it up as soon as possible.

Tōma put his phone away in his uniform pocket and stood up from his seat.

Just as he was about to speak to Saori from behind—

Their female homeroom teacher walked in briskly, signaling the start of the morning HR session.

“Hey… what do you want?”

The first-period class was held in a different room, giving Tōma the perfect opportunity to talk to Saori alone.

After leaving the classroom, he caught up with her as she walked alone in the hallway.

When he called out to her, she surprisingly stopped, allowing them to talk in the empty corridor.

“It’s about yesterday…”

“…I told you, we’re done. I don’t want to be involved with you anymore. And honestly, just stop talking to me. I have my own things to deal with.”

Saori