"This all happened before I entered high school."
Asanagi took a deep breath. She really had prepared herself to tell us this story. The way she spoke was so easy to understand that even I, who had nothing to do with her back when she was in middle school, could empathize with her easily.
…The younger Asanagi was still Asanagi, huh?
Anyway, I escorted Nitori-san and Houjou-san away before she started telling us her story, so they weren't here currently.
If they were here, I didn't know what Amami-san would do to them.
"T-that's… So, when you said your parents didn't have enough money to pay for your tuition and you had to go to a different school…"
"That was a lie, I'm sorry. I just wanted to run away from everyone. I didn't think I could handle it if that situation were to go on any longer… Because of that, you went as far as following me here, I'm sorry…"
"No need to be sorry! Umi is my best friend! Sure, Sanae-chan and Manaka-chan are also my friends, but you're irreplaceable to me! Sure, in exchange for that, my parents got really mad at me and I had to study hard for my exam, but it's all worth it! A life without you, I don't think I can handle that, Umi!"
I could understand her feelings.
Asanagi was the first person who reached out to her. If Asanagi turned a blind eye to her back then, who knows what would've happened.
"Yuu, you said that I'm your best friend, right?"
"Eh? M-mhm…"
"…That was the source of the problem… Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to hear that from you, but that was the reason why everything turned out like this…"
"Eh?"
"Actually, I did confront those two. Back at the graduation ceremony, I asked them, 'Why did you two lie to her at that time?'"
That explained why their faces stiffened up when they saw Asanagi.
"They told me, 'If it weren't for you, she would smile at us more often,', 'Even when you weren't there, all she was thinking about was you, we were her friends too, it isn't fair!' And even after I decided to leave you, you still thought about me and abandoned them…"
I could understand that.
When I saw Amami-san for the first time, no, when I saw her smiling face for the first time, I thought to myself, 'A girl this cute does exist, huh?'. I'm sure everyone in the class also thought the same.
For better or worse, Amami-san was just that charming.
Since those two girls had been hanging around her for years, it would be normal for them to feel jealous toward Asanagi.
"As you started to blend into our group of friends, I felt more and more left out because everyone would only look at you. The girls who used talked to me often started to ignore me and only talked to you…"
The friends that she loved and cared about, were starting to be taken away by Amami-san before she noticed. Just thinking about it made me wince.
And this girl had put up with it for years.
"…But, in the end, everything was my fault, no? I was the one who introduced you to my friends. I was the one who told you to smile. There's no way I could tell you to go back to your gloomy self just to make me feel better… I couldn't do it…"
Amami-san did nothing wrong. She was just doing her best to live and have fun. And like Asanagi said, in the end, she brought this upon herself.
If at that time she didn't reach out to Amami-san, she wouldn't lose her friends, but if she were to do that, then what would happen to Amami-san?
…Everything was a mess.
Neither of them did anything wrong. Things just turned out horribly wrong.
"Then, the reason why you didn't tell Amami-san about our relationship is…"
"…Mhm. I didn't want her to take you away from me…"
By keeping Amami-san and I away from each other, she tried to minimize the possibility of that happening. In addition, I couldn't care less about getting more friends, so my circumstances were perfect for Asanagi.
I, who wanted to stay away from the rest of the class, and Asanagi, who didn't want to experience that pain again.
We managed to keep our relationship a secret for a while, but of course we simply couldn't hide it from Amami-san.
You could say that we were too careless about keeping it a secret from her, but she was bound to find out eventually.
"Hey, Yuu."
"…What is it?"
"Do you like me?"
"Of course I do! You've always been my best friend ever since I first met you!"
"Me too. I love you so much… But at the same time, I hate you… I'm sorry, I must sound really selfish now…"
"…Umi…"
She loved her, but at the same time she hated her.
The two conflicting feelings existed at the same time in her heart.
Seriously…
Why were human emotions so difficult to understand?
"…Sorry, I think I need some time to calm down."
"Umi, wait–"
"It's fine, Yuu. I'm not going to run away. I just need to be alone for a while, okay?"
After saying that, she walked away and blended into the crowd.
I had a vague idea on where she went. The whole school was crowded, so if someone needed to be alone, there was only one suitable place.
"…I'm going outside for a bit, Amami-san. I have a lot to talk about with her, after all."
"Maki-kun…"
She told Amami-san to not follow her, not me. So she can't say anything if I were to follow her.
She'll probably call me an idiot again, but who cares.
"Please, Maki-kun… The only friend that can help her is you… I think she needs you more than anyone right now…"
"Roger. Don't worry, I'll bring that dumbass back real quick, okay?"
After receiving Amami-san's blessing, I chased after Asanagi.
I understood Asanagi's feelings. As promised, Asanagi had laid bare her feelings to me.
All I needed to do was to give her my response properly.