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 41

Tōma Suzuki was typing everything the three of them had discussed into the memo app on his smartphone.

After school today, they would need to meet again to finalize their ideas and bring them to life.

Tōma was in the classroom, attending his afternoon classes.

When the chime rang, the teacher standing at the podium closed their textbook and instructed the class to solve the problems written on the blackboard before the next lesson.

After the class finished their end-of-lesson bow, the teacher left the classroom.

Tōma quickly copied the assigned problems into his notebook before the blackboard was erased.

Before solving them, however, he needed to leave school early today.

“Tōma, once you’re done getting ready to leave, don’t forget our promise, okay?”

Kamiya Suzuha, a classmate of Tōma, approached him with light steps.

Tōma simply replied that he would get ready now. He placed his school backpack on the desk and packed his assignments inside.

After that, the two of them left the classroom together.

“Why… how could this happen…?”

A man sat in a chair at his desk, staring at his smartphone screen.

“It’s all because he betrayed me… If Yoshizaki hadn’t done that—”

Azusa Saori’s older brother muttered angrily at his phone screen, blaming Yoshizaki for everything that had gone wrong.

“You don’t have to keep running the business anymore, brother.”

Standing behind him, Azusa Saori spoke with concern.

“I… I haven’t given up yet.”

“But I have. Look at all the criticism online. And our parents kicked us out, didn’t they?”

“Yeah, I know… But I’ve survived in all kinds of tough environments before. Even if I hit a wall, I can just start over.”

The two spoke without turning to face each other.

“That may be true, but… what about this month’s living expenses? What about rent?”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve been investing, so I still have some money. We’ll manage for a few months. By then, I’ll have set up a new company.”

“Can you really do that?”

“Yeah… Huh?! Wait, what?! The stocks I invested in are plummeting?!”

“What?! What are you going to do?!”

“…Well, I’ll handle it somehow.”

“How exactly?”

“Uh… I guess I could start doing something online first.”

“Do you think that will make money?”

“…Damn it. I guess I’ll have to find a part-time job… Saori, you’re still a student, so I have to take responsibility.”

“Have you ever had a part-time job before, brother?”

“…No.”

“Then do you think you’ll be okay?”

“…Y-Yeah… I-I’ll figure it out somehow…”

Her brother forced an uneasy smile, sweating nervously.

Saori couldn’t help but feel deeply worried.

At least Saori’s tuition would still be covered by their parents until she graduated high school.

While she could still manage, her brother seemed to be at his limit.

“Saori… Are you really okay with this?”

“…Yeah.”

Saori nodded.

“You could have stayed at home, you know.”

“I know… but I wanted to reset my environment. A lot happened at my previous school. And even if I stayed, the rumors about me have already spread online. There was no way to fix that.”

“I see… Saori… Because of me, you’ve had to go through so much trouble…”

Her brother turned to face her and bowed his head deeply.

“Huh? No, you don’t have to do that!”

“It’s my fault we’re in this mess. I really am sorry.”

“You’ve always worked hard for me, haven’t you? I know that. You’ve helped me so many times… So now, I think it’s my turn to work hard.”

Looking at Saori, her brother let out a deep sigh, lost in thought.

“Saori… I might still cause you trouble, but will you stay with me?”

“That’s fine. But if things go south again and we end up in another online scandal, I might cut ties with you, okay?”

“Yeah… Honestly, it wouldn’t be surprising if you already did. Saori, let’s start over again.”

“Yeah.”

The siblings began thinking seriously about their future.

However, before they could begin anew, her brother needed to find a part-time job—without one, nothing could start.

Just as her brother reached for his phone, the screen suddenly went black.

At the same time, the lights in their apartment flickered off.

It seemed it would take a long time before they could return to a stable life.

“Tsubaki, does this look okay? I want you to check it for me.”

On a weekend, Tōma turned around in his study chair and showed his computer screen to his junior, Sakurada Tsubaki.

“Let me see, senpai!”

It had been nearly two weeks since Tōma, Tsubaki, and Suzuha had started designing an avatar together.

Tōma had been illustrating their ideas on his computer.

The character displayed on the screen was an elf-inspired avatar.

With long, yellow-green hair, the character had an adorable appearance—perfect for a two-dimensional avatar.

“It looks great! I knew asking you to do it was the right choice, senpai!”

“Thanks. I was actually kind of worried about how it would turn out.”

“Not at all! You should have more confidence in yourself!”

“I’m just glad you like it.”

After two weeks of effort, Tōma had finally completed a design that satisfied Tsubaki.

Seeing her smile made it all worth it.

“How’s it going?”

Suzuha entered Tōma’s room.

Along with her was his younger sister, Emi.

Emi took out snacks from a bag they had bought at the supermarket and placed them on a folding table in the center of the room.

“Emi and I just came back from the store. This milk tea was super cheap, so I bought two!”

“Suzuha-senpai, Tōma-senpai finished the drawing!”

“Really? That’s great! Since this is a good stopping point, let’s all take a break.”

Suzuha sat down at the table and poured milk tea into four cups.

The four of them paused their work and gathered around the table, enjoying their afternoon snacks.

As they happily munched on their treats, they also discussed their plans for the future.