Chapter 50 Asanagi Umi and Amami Yuu (2)

It was in middle school that I noticed something strange in our group.

It had been a few years since Yuu joined our group, and as I expected, she quickly became the center of the class with me. Rather, she became the center of the whole grade.

I had confidence in my looks, but compared to Yuu, I fell short, so it was a given.

I wasnt jealous or anything though, that didnt bother me much.

Oh, its Umi~! Good morning, Umi!

Woah! Hey hey, why are you jumping on me like that? What are you, a dog? Well, youre cute, so if you let me hug you, Ill forgive you~

Ehehe ~ Thank you, Umi.

We were now middle schoolers, but Yuu and I were as close as ever. Unlike back when she was in grade school, she had stopped being shy in front of everyone. She was still clingy to me, though.

Her smile was the same as always.

Im happy that I had a special place in her heart, but at the same time, she was a bit too attached to me.

Sanae, Manaka, good morning.

Good morning, Umi-chan.

Good morning.

My relationship with Sanae and Manaka didnt change. They were still my friends, they just werent as clingy as Yuu. Rather, this should be how a normal friendship looked like, Yuu was way too clingy.

Ah, right, Yuu, arent you on duty today? Have you gotten the journal from sensei yet?

Eh? Ah, right!

Jeez hurry up, go and get it, if youre late, sensei will be mad at you.

O-okay! Everyone, Ill be back soon!

Yuu said as she walked out the classroom. Her blonde hair fluttered as she moved.

She was just going to get the class journal, yet the sight of her running was so picturesque. Like a butterfly, roaming around in a field of flowers.

Everyone was fascinated by her, even though we were all girls here.

Seriously, that girl Anyway, both of you, are you guys free on weekends?

Eh? Hmm ~ Im not sure

Depends, I have to study after all. What gives?

Hehe, you see

I took out a ticket from my pocket. It was a movie ticket. My mom had gotten them for free from her acquaintance and gave them to me so that I could go with my friends.

I have four tickets with me, so why dont we go together? After we finish watching the movie, we can hang out somewhere.

Since we entered middle school, the four of us had been hanging out less and less. Both Sanae and Manaka were busy with their studies, and even when we made plans to hang out, oftentimes, one of them didnt make it, and in some cases, both of them didnt.

This happened so often that I grew tired of even trying, but I still asked them out, nonetheless.

I knew we wouldnt stop being friends even if we didnt hang out for a while, but I wanted to have a good time with my homies once in a while, you know?

Also, I was the leader of our group of friends, it was my duty to keep everyone together.

Uhm ~ Lets see ~ My schedule for weekends Ah

I dont think I can make it this weekend.

Eh? What are you guys up to? Cram school?

I knew it. Oh well.

Mhm. The usual~

I have cram school and other things to do.

I see Well, it cant be helped.

Yuu and I were both from a normal family, but Sanae and Manaka were from rich households. Unlike mine or Yuus family, their families were really strict on them, especially regarding their education.

Im sorry, Umi-chan. Even though you went out your way to invite me

Its fine, its fine. Like I said, it cant be helped.

I patted them on their shoulders as they made apologetic looks.

The tickets would be wasted, but it was okay. Friendship came first, after all.

What about next Sunday? Im free by that time. What about you, Manaka?

Mm. I can ask my parents to let me have a break for a bit.

See? At least everything wouldnt be a complete waste. In the end, we were able to make plans for next weekend.

Thanks for waiting, everyone! I got the journal~

Well, we shouldnt talk about it here Ill wait for you guys in the usual spot, okay?

It would be lonely, but I didnt want the tickets to go to waste, so I decided to go see the movie by myself. I could have invited Yuu to go with me, but I didnt want the other two to feel left out. Besides, watching a movie by myself wasnt a bad idea, I could concentrate on it better.

So, on Saturday, I went to the theater by myself without telling Yuu about it. I went out feeling strangely excited, but everything suddenly took a turn for the worse.

I was on my way to the cinema. It was located in the downtown area, about two or three train stops away from the place where I usually hung out with my group.

Uhm the cinema, where is it~?

I was walking while looking at the map on my phone. I suddenly heard familiar voices.

Yuu-chan, cmon! Lets go over there next!

Ah, you two, wait for me!

At that moment, I felt my chest tightened.

The voices I heard were the voices of my three friends.

Sanae, Manaka and Yuu.

I turned my head toward the direction of their voices, and sure enough, there they were.

Yuu aside, didnt those two tell me that they were busy? Why are they here?

By reflex, I immediately hid in the shadows as I watched them.

Whats wrong Yuu-chan? Your face doesnt look too good. You arent having fun?

Eh? No, Im having fun. This kind of place is new to me, so everything feels exciting But, Umi isnt here

A-ah I see Well, it cant be helped. I invited her to come, but she said she has something to do today.

Mhm. I also asked her, and she answered today is no good.

Wrong. Werent they the ones who said that they were busy? Why were they telling Yuu lies like that? Why were they singling me out like this?

As soon as that thought appeared in my mind, I could feel a wave of nausea hit me. They lied to me. They left me out and hung out with Yuu in faraway places so that I wouldnt find out.

I wanted to confront them. I wanted to know Why did they lie to me? Why were they leaving me out? Werent we friends? Did they think that I was cocky because I was the leader of our group?

Ugh

But, my feet refused to move.

At the last second, I realized something.

If I were to confront them right now, our friendship would be destroyed. If I were to vent my anger at them, our relationship would never be the same.

I have to pretend that I didnt see them here

I whispered that to myself. I was sad and angry about what happened, but I only need to put up with it, a small price to protect our friendship.

That way, Yuus angelic smile wouldnt be tainted by sadness.

Yuu didnt need to know about this.

I ran back home without doing anything so that the three of them wouldnt find me there. I tore up the tickets, which were wet for some reason and threw them into a trash can at a nearby convenience store.

Since then, I kept pretending to not know anything and our relationship didnt change because of it. It hurt me, but I could bear it.

That was what I thought in the beginning. Eventually, I couldnt stand it anymore. I found out that they only lied to me once, but the shock of being lied to by the people I genuinely trusted left a bigger hole in my heart than I expected.

Winter of the third year of middle school. I was supposed to continue at the same high school with them, but I told my parents about my situation and decided to transfer to a different high school.