Fun Little Game of Friends
“There’s something I want to talk about.”
Ayaka’s friend, who stood in front of Yuuki, said that, but Yuuki looked at her with eyes filled with genuine annoyance.
First thing in the morning, he had been troubled by Yume, and now it was her.
He wondered if today was some kind of unlucky day, but then thought there was no reason to listen to her at all. So he ignored her, pulled an English vocabulary book out of his bag, and began reviewing for the quiz.
Perhaps angered by that attitude, the girl snatched the vocabulary book from Yuuki and slammed it roughly back down on his desk.
“I said I have something to talk about.”
Yuuki felt a wave of irritation, the kind of thought that made him mutter inwardly, “this is why women are such a pain,” though he knew it was a dated way of thinking. Still, after yesterday, he had learned that ignoring things would only make matters worse, so he reluctantly decided to listen.
“What is it?”
“What did you do to Ayaka?”
Yuuki wondered what on earth she was even talking about.
After all, he hadn’t done anything. He was the one who had been deceived all along by the false confession.
He was the one things had been done to.
“I didn’t do anything.”
“If you didn’t do anything, Ayaka wouldn’t be crying.”
Even as she snapped back sharply, Yuuki responded in the same calm tone.
“Like I said, I didn’t do anything.”
“Don’t lie!!”
With a loud bang, she slammed her hand on Yuuki’s desk again.
Before he realized it, the classroom had fallen into silence. No voices, no chatter, only the weight of his classmates’ stares fixed intently on the scene.
Fed up, Yuuki let out a heavy sigh and then said,
“I really didn’t do anything. We just talked.”
“Talked about what?”
“I only said we should break up. That would be better for both of us. That’s why I’ve been saying all along I didn’t do anything.”
At those words, the girl glared sharply at him.
“That’s it. That’s the reason. You’re the one who dumped Ayaka.”
“What are you saying? How is that my fault? I’m the one who got tricked with a fake confession.”
Yuuki went on speaking, brushing off her fury as if it were nothing.
“What’s the problem? What’s the issue? Are you saying that I, the one who was deceived, am somehow the one at fault?”
“Th-that’s…”
“I’m the one who was harmed by your group’s nasty little game. If you want to play pretend at being friends, then do it without dragging me into it. I can’t stand it, it’s nothing but unpleasant.”
Yuuki spoke matter-of-factly. His words only deepened her anger, but she couldn’t argue back. Instead, she latched on to the only thing she could.
“It’s not some stupid game of friends!! That’s exactly why you’re disgusting.”
“Ah, is that so. Then that’s fine. Because I honestly thought you all were disgusting too. Now that I don’t have to be involved, that’s good for both of us.”
With just that, Yuuki picked up the vocabulary book that had been slammed down earlier and resumed studying.
Seeing that, the girl grew irritated again, but still found nothing to say in return.
“Gross.”
She spat the word bitterly before walking away, and Yuuki kept studying without even looking at her.
The classroom remained as silent as before.