NTR Kousuke

Chapter 1

"So don't you get it? Kousuke and I just don't match anymore!"

...Wait, what does that even mean...?

June, two months since the start of school. The time when we were finally getting used to high school life.

I'm Saitou Kousuke, a first-year high school student.

After school, she suddenly called me out and told me she had a new boyfriend.

Huh? I'm not the boyfriend?

I had no idea what my girlfriend—who I'd been dating since the start of junior high—was saying.

We'd been talking about everything since fifth grade, sharing our worries, building trust... She was always so neat and cute, my—

"..."

I couldn't speak—no, I couldn't bring myself to speak.

"...There you go again, clamming up! That's exactly why someone took your girlfriend!"

She twisted her beautiful face into a sneer and spat those words at me.

"...I-I really care about you, Satsuki..."

Satsuki didn't even try to hide her irritation as she snapped back,

"Then why did you keep nagging me once I got pretty in high school? What didn't you like about it?"

Satsuki—Mishima Satsuki—is my girlfriend.

She's beautiful, the kind of girl who'd be in the background of the popular group. Beautiful, kind, quiet, a sweet girl on the library committee—she was my pride.

Since junior high, she'd been saying things like, "I want to be prettier!" A desire to transform, I guess? She wanted to be higher up in the class hierarchy.

But I kept telling her I liked her just the way she was. No—I loved her just the way she was!

But she went through what they call a "high school debut."

We studied together and got into Hokushou High School, a private school with a pretty high academic ranking.

It's a rising school that also puts a lot of effort into sports, especially baseball and tennis.

Satsuki, who decided to attend this city-based school with me, got so excited she cut her long hair and dyed it lighter. Honestly, her new fluffy hairstyle is cute. She completely changed her makeup to appeal to guys and even wore her uniform with the chest area open.

She changed everything—how she talked, how she interacted with guys.

I was confused by how different she'd become and did call her out on it. That much is true.

I tried to stay calm as I spoke.

"...B-but, I can deal with you hiding that we're dating because you're embarrassed. But turning me down for a whole month just because you're hanging out with your new classmates? Going out five times a week with a group of guys, ignoring my LINE messages, getting all touchy-feely with other guys in class—of course I'd say something!"

The biggest change in Satsuki was how she interacted with guys.

She'd always use physical touch when talking to them and always say yes to their invitations. If she had plans with me, she'd cancel them.

She even went as far as to say that girls who aren't popular with boys have no right to speak. I couldn't help but feel disappointed...

Still, we'd been together since elementary school. I kept telling myself she'd understand eventually, even if I had to say things she didn't want to hear.

"You know, growing up in the same rural town as you, Kousuke, I only realized this after becoming a high schooler. Back at Shinkawa Junior High, you were cool, athletic, and smart, right? But here, everyone's just as smart? Everyone's stylish? And when I talk to them, they're fun and treat me like a princess. It's a whole different world!"

So that's how she really felt...

"Then why cling to Kousuke anymore? There are tons of taller, hotter guys out there! Ahaha! A date at the park? What are you, in elementary school?!"

That hit harder than I expected.

"Unlike you, Kousuke, I kept working on myself. That's why all these hot guys want me now. I'm not the girl I used to be!"

"...Isn't it just as important to value the things that don't change as it is to change and grow?"

Satsuki looked at me with contempt.

"You know, I always hated those preachy, cheesy things you said. I used to think, 'Wow, he says such deep stuff,' but now it doesn't move me at all. So lame! Why don't you go talk about that junk with your bestie forever?"

I felt angry—like she was mocking my best friend.

Was I wrong about her all along?

"You're so clueless. Kousuke, you're just a quiet, expressionless guy! Don't ever talk to me again, okay?"

She used to say, "You're so cool and mature, talking things through like that!"

Just the other day, on our junior high graduation day, she cried tears of joy when we kissed for the first time...

"Kousuke-kun? Sorry, man. I didn't know Satsuki had a boyfriend."

The guy who'd kept quiet all this time was Yamamoto Masaki from the soccer club.

He's the tall, handsome, popular type—straight out of a textbook.

There were guys like him back in junior high too. I never got the appeal since I saw them as rivals to my best friend.

"...Even so, I still... I still care about Satsuki...!"

It's pathetic, but I clung on!

But Satsuki—

"Actually, I'm already dating Yamamoto-kun. Yesterday, I gave him my first time...♡"

Fidget fidget, squirm squirm.

I don't even know what she's saying anymore... (for the second time)

That quiet and honest Satsuki?

With a guy she just met recently?

My vision went completely dark.

"Didn't I say it from the start? Kousuke and I don't match anymore. Now I could even compete with that Reina Kashii!"

Kashii-san was the most beautiful girl at our junior high. People called her the Flawless Girl.

She's the girl my best friend liked.

Satsuki used to be part of Kashii-san's clique until we changed classes. After that, she couldn't get into any group higher than the lower tiers and spent all of junior high complaining about it.

But Kashii-san was special. Since my best friend liked her and had a lot of interactions with her, I could see how amazing she was. Even the second-best girl in her group—a cool, all-rounder beauty with glasses—could barely win against her once.

It's not about who's better. Kashii-san is Kashii-san. Satsuki is Satsuki. I always tried to tell her that, but I guess it didn't get through...

Ugh! It hit me late.

She already slept with Masaki...

Just imagining it made me feel violently nauseous.

My beloved Satsuki, with that flashy pretty boy?

"It was amazing, you know? Not that a virgin like you would understand. ...Maybe, deep down, I did love you. But I also wanted to mock that guardian-like face you always made. Well, whatever. Just don't go spreading around that we used to date like it's some dark past, okay?"

"Later," Yamamoto said casually, not looking the least bit sorry.

Yamamoto and Satsuki walked off arm in arm.

Did Satsuki come back?

"You've been stuttering this whole time, you know? So gross☆"

Laughing loudly, Satsuki walked off.

Yamamoto looked a little taken aback.

I lost my love, my girlfriend, and my pride.

☆ ☆ ☆