The Love That Never Started ②/6 "Girl Friends"
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September 1994
After the summer vacation of my third year of high school, which I spent entirely on entrance exam preparation, I dyed my hair back to black for the start of the new semester.
When I went to the classroom for the first time in a while, the class was already clearly divided between those aiming for recommendations and those taking entrance exams.
I think that's what a college-prep school is like, but
the all-girls school I attended didn't have that kind of atmosphere, and both the recommendation group and the exam group continued to spend their days together in a friendly manner as always.
In the midst of that,
I was curious about what happened between C-ko from that group date and the guy she was interested in, so we spent all our break times talking about it. From what I heard, they were both still being shy and hadn't really made any progress lol
After that,
unfortunately, it turned out that C-ko and that guy didn't end up dating. I remember C-ko confessed to him, but it didn't work out.
For a while,
the topic was taboo in front of C-ko, but since we were typical high school girls, it became a complete laughing matter after a few weeks.
When I was talking to C-ko about that whole situation,
C-ko asked, "Ayachi, is there anyone you like right now?"
So I replied,
Me: "Hmm, not really. I like my English teacher at prep school, but well, he's 35 and married (lol). Ah, but if I had to say..."
C-ko: "Eh? Is there someone?"
Me: "Maybe... Kuga-kun, who was at that group date."
C-ko: "Ehhhhh! That Kuga-kun? Wait a minute, Kuga-kun? You mean that Kuga-kun with the natural curls?"
Me: "I-I said if I had to say."
C-ko: "Hey, B-ko-chaaaan! Ayachi says she likes Kuga-kun!"
Me: "W-wait, C-ko! S-stop it. I said *if* I had to say."
B-ko rushed over immediately,
B-ko: "Wait, what's going on? What, what? Ayachi likes Kuga?"
Me: "Wait a second, I didn't say that much. Hey!"
B-ko: "S-mi!!! Hey S-mi, come over here! Ayachi wants to ask for Kuga's phone number!"
Me: "Wait a minute, I didn't say that much."
S-mi runs over and joins the circle.
S-mi: "What, what, what? Kuga? Kuga? Is it Kuga? Aya-chan, wait a minute.
Kuga is... that short guy with the natural curls... it's funny, Aya-chan, this is hilarious!!"
Me: "That's why I said... it's not... not that much..."
S-mi: "Hey Y-ko!!! Listen, Aya-chan says she likes Kuga!!!"
Y-ko also runs over.
Y-ko: "Wait, wait, wait!!!
That's hilarious! Aya-chan and Kuga? You mean Kuga and Aya-chan? I don't know why, but... that's a perfect match!!! I'll support you! Good luck, Aya-chan!"
Like that, we were super excited with the kind of love talk typical of high school girls. It's fickle, isn't it? Just because things didn't work out for C-ko and her guy, they got all excited about a different combination.
However, S-mi expressed some reservations here.
S-mi: "You know... actually, because of what happened with C-ko, things got awkward with the organizer from that time. Originally, that guy was just a friend of a friend, so we weren't that close anyway. Even so, Kuga is the only one from K High. The rest are local friends, so there's really no connection, is there?"
Me: "S-mi, it's fine. It's my fault for not asking for his phone number back then, and it's also a thing that he didn't ask me... so it's fine. I thought Kuga-kun was nice, but it's not like I'm that into him."
B-ko, C-ko, Y-ko: "S-mi! Can't you do something about it?"
C-ko: "I think I should ask XX-kun, but since he turned me down..."
Me: "W-w-wait! Even you, C-ko, it's fine. Stop it, I'm okay."
B-ko: "Hey S-mi!!!"
Y-ko (draws a portrait of Kuga-kun and a love umbrella on the blackboard)
S-mi: "Hmm..."
...
I think it was a few weeks after that.
Autumn was deepening,
and when I was studying at home at night, my sister told me there was a phone call for me on the landline.
"A-chan, it's for you."
I immediately took the phone.
Me: "Hello?"
"Hello, this is Kuga."
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