Even Though I Loved You First

Karane Ichinose and Tama Nakazato were inseparable, no matter what they did or where they went, they two were always together. Of course, most of the time they were also with Kotone. However, it was safe to say that these two were especially close.

They met when they were little, and they went through most of their elementary school together. They were so close that even Karane’s younger brother Kei grew fond of her.

However, things changed when they entered middle school. As teens began to change their perspective in male-female relationships and as the two girls began to grow up, it was noticeably obvious that eventually, they too began to attract attention.

However, unlike Tama, Karane wasn’t really interested in love. Of course, Tama accepted Karane’s preferences and supported her, however the downfall began from that point on.

During the latter half of their first year of middle school, Tama started to get feelings for a boy that was in the two’s class. Time passed and they shared time together, the boy belonged to their friend group back then so it was normal.

And one day, Tama gathered up the courage to confess her feelings for him, only to end up rejected. She wasn’t feeling sad at all… all she was feeling was hatred.

She knew the reason why she got rejected… He was in love with someone else, as fate will have it, Karane to be exact. She has seen the attention that the twins dragged, and she didn’t mind it because she also drew attention a bit. However, Karane seemed brighter than her, and she hated it.

She began to distance herself from Karane, and as if it wasn’t enough, she spread bad rumors around about her in order to tarnish her reputation… All out of pure jealousy.

However, her younger brother managed to act fast and managed to dispel the rumors to some extent thanks to the help of some of his friends. However, on one normal day, Kei happened to overhear her antics.

“The… hell did you say?” Kei was furious, even though he was a gentleman, he wouldn’t forgive those who tried to hurt his sisters.

“Kei, don’t!” His childhood friend Shizuka managed to keep him at bay.

“What? I ain’t wrong now, am I?” The girl who once used to play with him with a smile on her face was nowhere to be found. Kei didn’t recognize the Tama in front of him, he was utterly disgusted.

“Honestly… You and Kotone really are—”

“DON’T YOU DARE DRAG MY SISTER INTO THIS.”

Same thing happened with Karane herself, Tama’s jealousy eventually reached a breaking point, causing the downfall of the friendship of these two.

However, a new variable entered the formula…

↤⨳↦

Kokoro Shiina wasn’t exactly as friendly as she is with them at the present time. If anything, her current character took a long time to build, with a little of iceness left within her.

Karane remembers when she first met Kokoro, they paired up for a project due to the twins dividing themself for once. Then, the two started talking.

It was… kind of hard to get her to open up, if anything, she only gave curt responses and didn’t seem so eager to continue talking. However, Karane eventually broke through her.

Sure, she was still hurt by her former friend’s past actions, but she needed to move on from that… She had to set an example as an older sister.

Eventually, Kokoro opened up a little, and she even smiled once, which didn’t go unnoticed by Karane. Even amidst the great pain of losing a friend, Kokoro seemed to admire how she managed to move on despite that.

Karane became one of the first people to earn Kokoro’s trust, as the latter thought that maybe… some weren’t double-faced like she thought.

With that, the start of their little friend group began. With one down and three to go.