[Fantasy Novel Category] "√365" | Baby's Breath and Gin Buck

▼ This story is part of "√365". Once you have read the "Prologue," you can read any of the other chapters as standalone stories.

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　What I thought was destiny was actually a trap. That was the reason my love faded.

　When I was 20, I fell in love.

　Haruya-kun was different from the people I had liked before. It wasn't that he was particularly good-looking, nor was he the type to stand out.

　I know it might be strange to compare a man to a flower, but he was like baby's breath. Modest, thoughtful, and someone who would quietly support you. Despite his tall, fair-skinned, literary appearance, he was surprisingly a basketball enthusiast since elementary school.

　I met Haruya-kun in a club.
　He was a year older than me, but since he had spent a year as a ronin student, I treated him like a classmate. I am well aware that I am a sucker for good looks, so when I first met him, I thought he was a nice person, but I didn't think of him as a man I would be attracted to at all.

　However, as he would quickly help me whenever I was in trouble, walk me home, or happen to run into me at my favorite shops, I found myself gradually drawn to him.
　I was often invited to drinking parties with upperclassmen from the club, and since he was usually there, we had many opportunities to talk.

　Once he found out I liked cooking, and with the added convenience of him living just five minutes away from the university, my place became the venue for our home drinking parties more and more often.

　Even then, it was always him who would accompany me to go shopping, carry the heavy bags, or stand in the kitchen with me. So, even if we were the only ones working while everyone else was having fun, it didn't bother me that much.

　I wonder when it was that the number of members gathering for these parties started to decrease. And they left in pairs, too. More and more people in the club started dating, and before I knew it, the drinking parties were just the two of us.

　He was sincere.
　Even though it was just the two of us, nothing strange ever happened, and unlike when everyone was gathered, he would leave before 10:00 PM. I had started to care for him enough that watching his back as he walked away felt lonely.

　I knew he had feelings for me. I thought it might be fun to date him, too. But I would rather be confessed to than confess myself. So, I waited.

It was a summer night after the Obon holidays when Noah and Yurika from my circle came over to visit. Having just returned from visiting my parents' home, I was genuinely happy when I heard from them. It had been a long time since we girls had gathered like this.

I gave the two who arrived at my house around 8:00 PM some extra pajamas and towels I kept for such occasions, and we headed out. We washed off our sweat at a local public bath, bought some alcohol and food at a convenience store, and returned home.

Even though we had just taken a bath, it was such a humid night that sweat broke out just from walking a little.

Noah, who works part-time at a bar, prepared cocktails by mixing gin and ginger ale.

"It's called a Gin Buck. It's supposed to have lemon juice too, but they didn't have any at the convenience store, so this is a simplified version."

"I prefer something sweeter, though."

Yurika pouted. I agreed with her.

She, who is good at cooking, was making potato salad with potato chips, tuna, and hard-boiled eggs we bought at the convenience store. Since they sell hard-boiled eggs at the store, she peeled them and mashed them roughly with a spoon. Then, she added the crushed potato chips, drained tuna, and mayonnaise, and mixed it all well.

I like cooking, but I'm the type who can't do anything without a recipe, so I just set the mood by turning on the indirect lighting. I also tried playing a CD of cafe music.

"--Once you hear the story, you two will want to drink this kind of strong alcohol, right?"

Noah smiled defiantly. Yurika and I shrugged.

"Actually, I broke up with Tatsuya."

"Why?"

Yurika's voice and mine overlapped. We had seen them out on a date in town just yesterday.

"Because he pissed me off."

Noah said, as if spitting out the words.

Do you remember when the guys went out for drinks after the club's welcome party?

Yeah.

What do you think they were talking about then? They had a notebook, and they wrote down everyone's name in the club. Guys on the top row, girls on the bottom. Then they discussed who was going to target whom. They each approached the person they decided on that way. I fell for it easily.

Yurika's face turned pale.

Targeting them... didn't you guys overlap?

We did. They said they used a ghost-leg lottery to decide in those cases. The loser wasn't allowed to approach the person they liked at all. That was the rule. Kenji-senpai came up with it. He liked you, Yurika, and didn't want anyone else to take you, so it seems he thought of that system as a way to keep people in check. It's ridiculous.

Saying that, Noah downed her Gin Buck in one go.

Do you know why Sasaki-senpai is being ignored by the guys in the club?

We shook our heads.

They say he couldn't give up on you, Yurika, so he dropped out of the agreement. He contacts you normally, right? You were talking about going on a date with him the other day, weren't you? That's why everyone is angry and ignoring him.

...What is that?

Yurika muttered. Yurika also downed her Gin Buck. She choked a little. Her snow-white cheeks were dyed a faint cherry blossom color.

At that moment, I understood. Why I hadn't been confessed to by that person.

Noah has exotic, deep-set features and is a dignified beauty. Yurika is fair-skinned, slender, and has an atmosphere that makes you want to protect her. Her large eyes, framed by long eyelashes, are impressive.

On the other hand, I like good-looking people, but I'm not particularly good-looking myself. No matter how much I use makeup to transform myself, and even if I look at myself with a biased eye, I'm at best slightly above average.

My childish face with no makeup, my short stature, my low, round nose... there's nothing attractive about me.

Maybe the person Haruya-kun wanted to target overlapped with someone else's. And so, I was assigned to him. The affection I felt wasn't a lie. So, maybe he came to like me as we talked.

But I didn't want it to start like this.

"And then, the fact that Seiya-kun and Rikka met so often was also orchestrated. They were getting information from us and feeding it to him. I hate to dampen the mood when Rikka was so happy, but... it wasn't anything as cute as 'cooperating.' To those people, our feelings were just like a game. In fact, even though Misa-chan and Tachikawa-senpai just started dating, he's already cheating on her."

"I'm quitting the club!"

Yurika said, crying.

"Me too."

Noah followed. With my mind gone blank, I nodded, not really understanding what was happening. I could feel the confidence I never really had in the first place crumbling down with a loud crash.

Ten years have passed since then. Now, I have the composure to think that what they did was 'stupid.' While I think the upperclassmen who started it were malicious, I can't help but think that some of them might have actually liked us and approached us sincerely.

The three of us who gathered back then still meet regularly. That might only last a little longer, though, since Yurika got married.

Noah goes through a cycle of dating and breaking up with various people. She cries every time, but she quickly moves on and heads toward a new romance.

After that, Yurika started dating Sasaki-senpai. They broke up once, but they got back together and got married last month.

I've dated a couple of people since I started working, but I hit my thirties without ever reaching marriage, and I'm starting to get anxious. Even though I had the strongest desire to get married out of the three of us.

Just then, someone walked in through the bar door. Having guessed who it was, I hurriedly downed my Gin Buck. To give myself courage. The drink I found painful and hated back then has now become an indispensable companion to me. But today, my hand holding the glass is trembling.

"Long time no see."

I turned around at the nostalgic voice. I wasn't surprised. I didn't know when it would happen, but I had been told it would.

"--Sorry, I got some information and came here again today."

He said that with a bitter smile. Haruya-kun had changed quite a bit.

He looked tanned and rugged. It seemed he had stopped wearing glasses, too. As always, I wouldn't go so far as to say he looked wonderful, setting aside my own feelings, but I could tell he had aged well. Yet, that bashful, troubled expression of his was the same as it had been ten years ago.

I had received word from Sasaki-senpai that Haruya-kun wanted to see me after Yurika and senpai's wedding. Actually, he had been invited as a guest of senpai's too, but it seemed it had overlapped with an overseas business trip.

Senpai had said, "Kenji's stupid game was the worst, but it's true that Moriya fell in love with Rikka-chan at first sight."

At that moment, I felt saved.

"I know it's not a coincidence."

I replied, trying my best to appear calm. He looked awkward and continued, "I heard you're still single and don't have a partner right now."

"And what of it?"

"--If you're willing, could we start as friends? I ended things without ever being able to confess to you, Rikka-chan, and it's been on my mind."

Haruya-kun said that in one breath and held out his hand toward me. A large palm with a simian line. That hand, which I had actually wanted to touch, was trembling slightly.

I stared at his face in surprise. It wasn't the words I had imagined.

I thought he would say something evasive. Or perhaps apologize, or say something that hinted at fate. His bashful face looked somewhat stiff. There was a hint of nervousness in his voice as well.

That night, I thought I was glad I had been told about the men's agreement. But at the same time, I regretted it, wishing I had remained ignorant. If I hadn't known anything, I could have just kept moving forward. That was how much I had come to like him.

Over the course of ten years, my feelings changed many times. I didn't spend the whole time thinking about him. I fell for other people again and again. There was even a time when I was dating my boyfriend from junior high school.

But Haruya-kun was always in a corner of my heart, and whenever I remembered him, my chest would ache. I had been hung up on him, after all.

I downed the refill of Gin Buck in one go. Looking straight into his eyes, I took his warm hand.

▼ This novel is a part of √365. You can read it one chapter at a time from anywhere, but reading the prologue and epilogue creates a subtle connection in the story.