A Friend's Confession 2.4

Once again, I found myself unable to focus during my teacher's lectures. The vibe from when I left and bolted earlier seems to have lingered, making everything feel kinda off. It's giving me this really uneasy feeling.

Thankfully, the final bell rang. My classmates stood up from their seats, some looking in my direction, whispering with each other. I don't blame them. This always almost happens when someone tries to scream their feelings out loud to the wrong people.

My feet feels weak and my arms feel like jelly. Different parts of my body are shivering, and it feels like I can't even walk. I could walk though, and forced myself to exit the classroom.

When I opened the door, a familiar voice called out to me.

"Um, Yuuji-kun...?"

When I turned to face the voice, I saw a girl with braided hair looking at me with worried eyes. Taking a closer look at her, I realized that it was Yui Hikari, a member of the Literature Club. There was someone else behind her. It was my classmate, Rin Satou.

"Yui-san, what are you doing here?" I asked.

I remembered her words from our last meeting, so it was fine with me calling her by her first name. And considering she gave me permission to use hers, I'm guessing she's using mine now.

"I wanted the three of us to go to the clubroom together, so..."

When I looked at Satou-san's face, she quickly averted her eyes and and gave me a blank expression. I could see some hints of worriedness, though.

"...Is it okay?" Yui-san asked.

"...Sure," I blankly replied.

For now, we needed to go to the club.

We all started walking towards there, with Yui-san taking the lead and Satou-san falling behind.

On the way there, I didn't have much to say. I couldn't think of any conversation starter, any topic worth talking about. I remembered Satou-san and what happened earlier.

I slowed down to match Satou-san's pace, and then talked to her quietly so that Yui-san wouldn't hear.

"I'm sorry about what happened earlier," I said. "I know you were just trying to not get me to involve in their business as someone who doesn't deserve it, but..."

"It's fine," she said. "I was thinkin' of something stupid anyway."

She didn't look at me, but she still spoke.

"I already knew that I could've help Yui in some way," she added. "Like you said, I should've just helped her since we're friends 'n' all, but I was just thinkin' of myself more than her, ain't helping her in some way like a true friend would. Seems like I really did deserve what you did earlier."

"...Sorry, really."

After that, we both stopped talking.

The hallway was quiet that we could clearly hear our own footsteps. The baseball club is still going on with their club, and we could hear them for just a bit.

After a bit, we reached upstairs and headed towards the clubroom.

"Hm? Yui, Aka, and Rin. Headed for the club?"

On the way there, we bumped into Rika Yamaguchi-senpai coming out of a random classroom. It's been awhile since I last saw her, and the only memorable thing I remember from her was her bag of chips. And sure enough, I saw her eating it.

"Mm," Yui-san said. "Mind us walking together?"

"Of course not. You're my cute little kouhai, after all."

She said little, but their height kind of has a big gap. For comparison, Yui-san is almost as tall as me, just reaching her height by my neck, whilst Yamaguchi-senpai could just reach my chest.

We all headed to the clubroom once again, this time with Yamaguchi-senpai.

"Coming in," Yamaguchi-senpai said as she opened the door.

Inside, we saw both Kentarou Matsubara and Akiko Tanaka-senpai talking with each other, sitting side by side. I didn't really mind Kentarou, but I was surprised to see that Tanaka-senpai was here, considering what I had heard from the other club members a few days ago.

They said that Tanaka-senpai hadn't been going to club for about three weeks now, and the only time they saw her again was when Kentarou first joined for the approval and greeting Kentarou. After that, she kept her absences from the club consistent.

The first thing I noticed about them was that Kentarou was enjoying their conversation quite well, and Tanaka-senpai was just giving him dead responses. But I could tell that Kentarou was really enjoying it.

When they both saw us, Kentarou was the first to speak.

"Ah, Yui! Where have you been the past two days?" Kentarou asked as he smiled at her. "And also Rin and Yuuji are here too.

"Don't call my name so casually," Satou-san said as we took a seat across them.

I didn't know where to start. Did Kentarou even know about Yui-san's feelings? He's been interacting with her as far I can remember, and they've been pretty much close with each other.

"Yuuji...?" Tanaka-senpai muttered. "Are you perhaps Yuuji Akamatsu? From Taka Junior High?"

She somehow remembered me even though we haven't met in the past three years.

"It's, uh, great to see you again, Tanaka-senpai," I said.

I was really having a sense of uneasiness just from talking to her, but it's not like I was uncomfortable around her or anything.

Now that I think about it, we haven't seen each other even after I enrolled in this school. The first one that I met in my previous club was Senpai-san, and I only met Tanaka-senpai way after that. It's strange to think that it all transpired in just one week.

We all took a seat, and just stayed there without anything to do. Suddenly, Tanaka-senpai stood up and then started to speak.

"Since everyone's here, let's start club activities." she declared.

"Before we do that," Yamaguchi-senpai suddenly spoke. "Senpai, what kind of relationship do you have with Kentarou?"

I was really confused. The words that I thought was supposed to be said by me, came out from the mouth of someone not involved.

"My relationship with him...? We're mere club members."

"I wouldn't think so."

She set down the bag of chips that she was eating, and, with her usual monotonous voice, suddenly became dead serious.

"You come barging here the moment a guy asks you. Me and Yui-chan have only been the sole members of this club ever since you left. You came back when Kentarou came by, but left just a few minutes later."

I couldn't sense anything that could even be considered a normal message. It felt like she meant something about it, like she was trying to convey a message.

"Did you even have some time to think about this club of yours? About why you're the president?" Yamaguchi-senpai asked. "Before Kentarou came, We were pretty much happy. Even when Kentarou joined the club, the lingering moments without you here were the only things that we could ask for."

No matter how hard I think, her seriousness was confusing me. Although we've met just four days ago, she's showing a side that even I couldn't be aware of.

"...What are you trying to imply by saying all that, Yamaguchi?" Tanaka-senpai suddenly asked.

"I'm saying that we were all content on just continuing without you," Yamaguchi-senpai said without a hint of hesitation. "The things that this club had when you weren't there to visit it, we experienced it all. But the moment you came, we suddenly became all broken."

I realized something. Something that I should be the only one aware of. Something that was really obvious for me.

The words that Yamaguchi-senpai said, the thoughts that she bursted out on Tanaka-senpai.

It wasn't hatred for Tanaka-senpai. It was far from that. Yamaguchi-senpai and I were both similar, both trying to achieve the same thing that only I've been struggling with.

We were just trying to make Yui-san happy again.

"...Stop," Kentarou said. "This is all my fault."

His earlier cheerful demeanor diminished the moment the two girls had their conversation. He became...well, I couldn't explain it right, but his words definitely sounded he was truly feeling sorry for something.

"If I hadn't gave the suggestion of bringing Aki-senpai back here, none of this would've happened. The only thing I was trying to achieve was for the club to be one again."

"And what exactly compelled you to do that?" Yamaguchi-senpai asked.

"Yui-chan," he said, staring at Yui-san. "I could tell for awhile now. She feels like something was missing. Something wasn't in place. And the only things that entered my head was the president of this club."

I looked at Yui-san. Her eyes seemed to say that it wasn't true. That she was content with all the things that she had. But to be honest...

I also somewhat felt that there was actually something that she wanted.

"...But this isn't what you wanted, wasn't it?"

Yui-san couldn't speak. She stayed silent, not making eye contact with the guy that she likes. It was all because she was anxious, not because she was embarrassed.

Without a moment's thought, I suddenly spoke.

"That isn't what she wants."

All the attention were suddenly drawn to me. Every single member present in both the club and this room were all just staring in my direction, waiting for things that I was about to say.

And, although anxious, I still tried.

"The things that she wants was already beside her all along. And the source of the thing that she wanted was the thing that made it broken as well."

"What...? Do you mean..."

"Ask her yourself. I don't want to meddle in with your business more than I already have. Let's go now, Satou-san."

"Ah, sure," she said. My declaration was sudden that she didn't even have time to think about it.

Without anyone to stop both of us, we both made our way to the exit of the club.