Even Though I Loved You First

~Middle School [ 2nd Year ]

“It’s not here… Agh!”

“Nothing?” (Kei)

“Nope… Nothing… What about you Shiori?”

“Looked through these boxes and found nothing.” (Shiori)

“Sorry to keep you here Kei… I just really needed help…”

“Don’t worry, Aoi. I don’t mind.” After school, Kei found himself inside one of the empty classrooms that was used for storage along with two other girls.

“Still… I should’ve been more careful. That idiot brother of mine, I’ll have to talk to him later.” With waist-length golden hair the same color as her eyes, and a slender build, Kei’s classmate Aoi Izumi, apologized as she bowed her head.

“Yes you should’ve. (Shiori)

“Ugh…” Dealing a fatal blow to Aoi, the girl who’s long white hair was tied up on a ponytail and her snow-white eyes gazed at the girl in question, Shiori Mashiro sighed at Aoi’s carelessness.

Not too long after school was over Kei was called by Aoi, the latter pleading for help to look for her wallet which she presumably left in said storage room earlier today after retrieving some items a teacher asked Aoi for.

Naturally, Kei accepted and lent her a hand, as it was the norm for fellow classmates to rely on him.

They continued searching while Aoi made some chit-chat.

“So~ How are things going with that childhood friend of yours?” (Aoi)

“There she goes again…” (Shiori)

“No, it ‘s okay. How are things going, huh?” Kei pondered for a moment, he recalled everything that happened up until now. One of the most noticeable changes was found in Shizuka herself. True to her word, Shizuka became even more sociable. Still, said change didn’t affect their relationship much, and that was something Kei disliked.

“There have been absolutely no changes… Whatsoever…” A disappointed and gloomy expression prevailed.

“Oops… Should I have not asked that?” (Aoi)

“You really are something… Contrary to your Saint persona.” (Shiori)

“Hahaha…” (Aoi)

“No, it ‘s okay. Don’t worry about it too much, Aoi. Shall we continue searching?” (Kei)

The trio continued searching for Aoi’s lost wallet. Of course, during their time searching the duo of girls gave Kei some advice on how to win Shizuka’s heart (though the two weren’t well versed in love themselves).

✕✕✕

“Pffff! Hahaha!” (Shizuka)

“You really are taking it all in, huh?” (Kei)

‘Food is ready. Wash your hands.’ As Kei gave the laughing Shizuka instructions, the latter struggled to stand up due to how much they were laughing, to the point it brought tears to her eyes.

Today was one of those rare days where Kei will go over to the Sakurajima house and cook a meal for the two of them. As Kei cooked, commented about the early afternoon’s whole ‘wallet’ ordeal. The reason Shizuka laughed uncontrollably was due to the lost wallet’s location. To summarize, it was in Aoi’s bag the whole time.

“You really went through a lot, huh Kei?” (Shizuka)

“Eh. I’ll eventually look back and laugh it off, so it is no big deal.” Kei took out the chair and sat facing Shizuka.

““Thanks for the meal!”” (Kei & Shizuka)

After giving out their thanks, Shizuka quickly took a spoonful amount and directed it towards her mouth.

“Mmmm~! No matter how many times I have this, Kei’s homemade food really is delicious! A part of me wants to keep eating it everyday!” (Shizuka)
At Shizuka’s remake, Kei did his best to keep it cool and try to hide his flushed face. However, he saw this as an opportunity to kind of ‘appeal’ to her and almost as if in a murmur,

“I wouldn’t mind making it everyday, you know?” Kei proposed.

“It’s okay, I don’t want to be a bother. I know how tiring it gets when returning home. Honestly, up until not too long ago I realized how tiring is to be so outgoing…How did you even manage?” (Shizuka)

“Haha… I wonder. Back on topic, is no bother, you know? On the contrary, I wouldn’t mind.” (Kei)

“I’ll keep it under consideration~” Shizuka resumed eating, to which Kei followed.

Not too long after, just about thirty minutes later, they finished their meal and after cleaning the dishes, Kei left Shizuka’s home.

✕✕✕

“Hah~” Lying on the bed in his room, Kei’s thoughts wandered somewhere else. Specifically, towards his childhood friend Shizuka. Up until now, Kei has been doing everything he could think of to stir Shizuka’s heart, but to no avail.

It became completely obvious for those around him about his crush towards Shizuka. Even his newfound friends Riku and Sachi quickly picked up on it.

He was new to romance, he didn’t know how he could confess, when he should confess, nor even where he should confess. But Kei was sure that until now, he was the closest to Shizuka, and he was really happy about that.

That’s why, he thought it was a matter of time until he got together with her as he waited for the day where he could gather the courage to confess. Slowly, Kei drifted off to sleep with a whole new day awaiting him.