Even Though I Loved You First

“As to be expected of my dear sister, you don’t disappoint.” Karane’s twin sister Kotone, said with a smile.

“Well, they did say I was one of the most promising athletes they had. At least, they wanted me to represent our school even if it was only for a year…” Karane said. Arisa, who was walking next to her, teasingly asked her.

“That’s all good and all, but… You must be so happy, right? I mean, you’ve worked so hard. Now, you’re officially the captain of their volleyball team.” (Arisa)

“Shush, I don’t wanna hear it!” Karane, who seemed to be extremely shy, turned away from them. The three, who were wearing their turquoise school uniforms even though it was summer, were coming back from a sudden meeting that the school held.

A few days before, the school sent a message to a selected few instructing them to come to the school grounds for some guidance regarding the upcoming school year. Of course, out of the three, the twins had already attended the same type of meeting a year prior.

The meeting called students entering their second and their third year, so naturally, some of their acquaintances were also there. Kei, Arisa’s boyfriend and the twin’s younger brother, was also called due to his position in the student council. Same could be said with Ichirou.

However, the two split up from the others because they were going to eat with Riku and Sachi, who also attended.

“Shouldn’t you be happy too, Arisa? Being the president of the Astronomy Club and all.” (Karane)

“Hm? Oh, I don’t really care about it. I don’t have any particular attachment to the club. I didn’t even want to join to begin with.” Arisa shrugged.

“I-I see… Well, I don’t know what I should say…” (Kotone)

“Nothing at all. The club didn’t have many members to begin with. Most of them were third-years, so yeah… I have no idea if the club will last another year.” (Arisa)

“Please don’t be too negative about it!” (Karane)

↤⨳↦

I needed some new sportswear… Karane said as she left a sports shop with a bag in one hand. She split from her best friend and sister because she had some errands to run. The same could be said for the other two.

“This should be enough.” She said as she walked around, “Maybe I should get something for the other two while I’m at it?” (Karane)

She looked around the place for a while, after deciding that she would take some sweets with her, she went to a nearby bakery and bought some fruit tarts. Something that she enjoyed but more importantly, something that Kei himself also favored.

As she walked, she bumped into someone she knew.

““Ah.”” The two of them stared at each other for a while, Karane could somehow make out his face from within her memories. There was a reason for that.

“K-Karane… I-It’s been a while…” The boy said a little uncomfortable. To which she replied,

“…It’s been a while, Souma.” (Karane)

↤⨳↦

Souma Takasaki, he was a boy who during middle school, was a good friend of the twins and Karane’s childhood friend Tama. He was also… the main reason Tama and Karane got into a fight.

“…” (Souma)

“…” (Karane)

The atmosphere was somehow awkward. The two were just there… facing each other without saying a word, they didn’t know how to deal with the other. They were ‘friends’… at least, they once were before love got in their way.

“K-Karane…” Souma called out to her.

“…hmm…?” (Karane)

“I-I’m really sorry!” (Souma)

“…eh?” Karane was confused. All of the sudden, Souma was apologizing to her. Apologizing for what? Is what she would normally think, but it was only the suddenness that got her confused, not the reason.

“Souma…?” (Karane)

“I’ve always wanted to apologize, but I never could… Thanks to me, you two got into a fight and cut-off ties, right? I’m sorry, I’m really sorry!” Souma said with clear remorse.

It has been a little over four or five years since everything went on. Now, when he finally reunited with the girl that was the unfortunate target of his selfish feelings, he wanted to wholeheartedly apologize.

“…It’s… okay. If anything, maybe it was for the best.” Karane said as she leaned against the wall.

“—but!” (Souma)

“I said, it’s okay. It’s not your fault, most middle schoolers at the time were just barely discovering what romantic relationships were. Most of them were too immature to actually be in one though.” (Karane)

It was a fact that middle schoolers wouldn’t know what dating was, nor what it was expected from a couple or from the individuals themselves. However, things like unrequited love and failed romantic relationships are things that are needed to grow as a person… things that are needed to see what real life awaited.

“If anything… I think it’s Tama’s fault for acting so irrational. While I can’t relate to the pain of an unrequited love, it was out of line for her to act like that. Not only to me, but to my sister, who had nothing to do with this. So please, don’t apologize.” Karane said with a gentle smile.

She could only console her younger brother when his love for his childhood friend wasn’t reciprocated, she couldn’t even understand her childhood friend when all this went down.

“It’s been a while since we last talked, let’s catch up.” (Karane)

Souma nodded.

↤⨳↦

“Oh~ So you have a girlfriend, now? Way to go!” (Karane)

“Haha, thanks. I met her through my mother. She was the daughter of my mom’s coworker, we met at a little party her office threw. We talked for a while and got along, she’s a year younger than me, but she’s really kind and family-oriented…” (Souma)

“I see, I see. You really seem lovestruck!” (Karane)

“Is that so? Well… They’ve been telling me that recently.” (Souma)

The two were leaning against the wall within the space where they reunited, with a considerable distance between the two. “What about you?” Asked Souma.

“I’ve been good. My brother got a girlfriend, my sister seems interested in someone. If anything, it feels lonely, haha.” Karane laughed.

“I see, but isn’t Karane interested in romance?” He asked while tilting his head.

“Nah, I don’t think I’m suited for romance.” Karane wasn’t lying. Even now, she didn’t plan to go professional on volleyball. If anything, this was only a hobby of hers.

Still, even if this was a hobby, she was wholeheartedly putting her all into it, she didn’t see herself with someone else… Being with someone meant cutting away the time she spent on volleyball, and she didn’t really like that idea.

“I see.” (Souma)

“Hmm. So yeah, I don’t really want any romantic relationships now. I’m good as I am now, I gained a lot of friends and I’ve met so many new people… I think I’m as good as I am now.” (Karane)

“Hm… Well, of that what you wa— Hm?” Suddenly, Souma felt his pocket vibrate, he picked up the phone and placed it on his ear.

“Hello? Hm? Yeah, yeah…… alright, I’ll be there!” For some reason, he seemed excited. “I have to go, something came up!” He said with sparkling eyes.

“Forgive me if I’m wrong… something to do with this ‘girlfriend’ of yours?” (Karane)

“Unn, unn.” (Souma)

“I see? Well, bye— and he’s gone… Well, he’d always been kind of unique…” Karane giggled before she also turned around, and went home.

↤⨳↦

“Hey, Kei…” As Karane laid down on the sofa, she grabbed the attention of her brother. “Hm? What’s up?” (Kei)

“Did you ever felt any anger at Shizuka’s boyfriend… for, you know… stealing her attention…?” (Karane)

“Huh? What’s with this all of the sudden? It’s been almost a full year since all that went down…” Kei had his eyes opened wide, eyebrows furrow, and a puzzled expression clouds his face. However, his mood shifted suddenly.

“I did. I did hold anger and negative feelings towards him.” He honestly said, “He was the reason why I never knew about their relationship, now that I can properly analyze it without feeling any pain, I can clearly tell that it was somewhat his fault that all of this happened.” (Kei)

“Then, why did you bother befriending him? You didn’t get anything good in return, did you?” (Karane)

Suddenly, he dropped dead silent, and when she looked to her right, Kei had a clouded expression on his face. “Kei?” She called out.

“Actually… I didn’t befriend him with any good intentions at first… O-of course! I didn’t plan on hurting him or anything… at least… I wouldn’t if he really was a good person. I wanted to find a flaw… a little misunderstanding within him that could prove that he wasn’t a good person… I was planning on using Shizuka’s vulnerability to my advantage at the time… Now that I think about it, maybe I was just obsessed with her…” He… was shaking… shaking in fear of being hated.

“If it wasn’t for Arisa, who day by day made me realize the wonders of the world… who made me realize I wasn’t alone… I probably would’ve been nothing but an *sshole..: I swear I’m not usually like this sis… but at the time… friendship was only a means to try and get her back…” (Kei)

Kei was an extremely sociable person, if anything, he could get along with anyone regardless of age… that was just him. However, he wasn’t a completely good person, he also had some bad thoughts here and there, however, he knew how to analyze its consequences.

But… What if? Yeah… What if he was about to explode? Will he have made a huge error? No, you can’t call it an error. It would be an action since an error is only something trivial.

Kei composed himself, and as he cleared his throat, he apologized. “Sorry, I lost myself for a moment there…” He said as Karane looked at him with eyes of concern.

“What I was saying… After spending a little while with Arisa, which surprisingly made me mature a little bit more, I realized that it was life. I’ve met so many people ever since then that I’ve realized that such things were normal day by day…” (Kei)

“Then… what do you think friendship really is…?” She asked. You may think that this sort of philosophical talk can’t happen in real life, simply because they’ll feel extremely sweet and uncomfortable to hear… however, sometimes talks like these are the most efficient way to grow as a person.

“It’s like the central pillar of a building. There may be other pillars surrounding it… but I think that it’s the kind of pillar that when you take it away, all comes crashing down. Friendship is about connections, give and take relationships, something that benefits both parties.” (Kei)

“I see. I think I learned a lot, little brother!” (Karane)

“Haha… what’s with that?” Kei said with a wry smile. Karane wasn’t exactly rushing her way into knowing what ‘x’ thing meant or what ‘x’ thing existed for… If anything,

For her that was only part of the fun. And even if her long-time friend envied her and cut-off ties with her… she was only seventeen, she had a long,

Long,

Long

Long path ahead of her.