NTR Kousuke

Chapter 2

Honestly, I can't remember how I even made it back home.

This morning, I overheard a rumor that my best friend Shou's crush got a boyfriend.

That crush was the most beautiful girl in our grade back in junior high, always ranked number one on tests, and even made it to the national tennis tournament—she was known as the "Flawless Girl" in our year.

She was the same Kashii-san that Satsuki was super conscious of.

Kashii-san went on to attend the hardest high school in the prefecture... but I mean, she's that kind of girl, you know...

I tried to message Shou about it during the day, thinking about how I should tell him, when Satsuki dropped her bombshell.

I've got plenty of friends too, and Satsuki isn't everything.

Even so, the people who take up the biggest space in my heart are my best friend Shou and my girlfriend Satsuki.

It was the kind of junior high life where I supported Shou's chaotic rom-com days, slowly nurtured my feelings with Satsuki, and gave it my all in events and school activities with our classmates!

I believed those days would continue, even if the shape changed.

But I've hit my limit... Shou, I... I can't think straight.

I'm done.

That's all I could type.

I just sat there, zoning out for a while.

"Kousuke?"

"..."

How long had I been like that?

Before I knew it, the room had gone completely dark.

Right in front of me was Shou, looking like hell.

He always looks like an average guy.

But he's a man like a warlord. A kind man with a burning soul and rare honesty.

My irreplaceable best friend since childhood looked at me with concern.

Don't make that face, okay?

"Kousuke!"

My best friend was shaken.

I haven't even told him the real reason to be shaken yet.

"...Ah, s-shou..."

I can only get out a hoarse voice...? Huh, it's hard to talk?

My stutter's coming back again.

I don't want to talk, but I have to, and then I stutter... but it's Shou, so it's okay. It's Shou, so it'll be fine.

Shou won't make fun of me... not like Satsuki does.

"...A-a-actually, t-there's a r-rumor that K-Kashii-san got a boyfriend..."

"...I actually just heard it too..."

"B-but it still might not be true, right? Shou?"

I always try to stay calm and speak carefully so I don't stutter, but today's just impossible.

Maybe that girl actually likes Shou. It could be a false rumor, right?

Even as Shou's expression darkened,

"...I heard it too, so it's probably true. But more importantly! What happened to you, Kousuke?!"

Shou's always like this. He always puts others before himself.

...But I've hit my limit too.

"...S-S-Satsuki... right? She started... dating another guy... Yesterday, yesterday, yesterday she did it for the first time... Hahaha! I don't even know what I'm saying."

A line from a Sandwichman comedy sketch.

One of Shou's catchphrases. I actually copy him a lot—it's very Shou-like.

Shou turned on the room light, shut the curtains tight, maybe asked my mom? He brought two cups of warm tea and leaned against the wall in the corner of the room.

"Just let it all out—whatever you want to say, whatever you're feeling. I'll listen."

I started talking, with no grammar or structure.

Like I was vomiting.

Tripping over my words again and again, gagging as I spoke.

And still, something remained deep inside my heart.

Shou mumbled, repeating back what I said.

My plain-but-pretty girlfriend, Mishima Satsuki, had always thought of herself as a high-ranking girl in the social caste, and used high school as her debut!

She cut her hair, put on flashy makeup, and wore her uniform all loose.

That once-elegant girl suddenly turned into a flashy party girl!

At her new school, she lost sight of herself trying to be someone different, and ended up falling for some flashy, player-type guy?

...And today. Mishima Satsuki told me that she slept with that playboy yesterday, and that I shouldn't talk to her anymore?

Fuck!!

Shou snapped.

Shou basically never badmouths anyone.

He's such a good guy that even with the scheming pretty boy he hated and fought with all the time, he still always acknowledged the guy's good points.

And now?

He's calling Satsuki a piece of shit?

He's angrier than I am—I was stunned.

"Kousuke, let's go to her house right now and tell her family, 'Your daughter's a filthy pervy mess inside and out!'"

He got mad for my sake. That made me kinda happy.

But seeing my precious best friend insult my precious girlfriend was really painful.

Shou's a man who understands the pain in people's hearts.

So he talked to me about all sorts of things, being considerate of how I felt. I was too tired to talk anymore and just listened quietly.

Shou said,

"...I'm kinda dense, so it took me a while. Sorry, Kousuke. But tell me, okay? It wasn't all bad, right? Tell me how many happy, fun memories you had... it's late, but I wanna know."

Hot tears poured from my eyes.

What I felt earlier, that thing left deep in my heart, exploded like a swirling storm of emotion.

That torrent was like a dam breaking, an overwhelming flood of feelings.

It all started when I sat next to Mishima Satsuki at the fifth grade Christmas party.

The memories and interactions we built up day by day.

We started dating in junior high, went on dates by the station and at the riverside park, went shopping at the terminal station, studied together to get into the same high school, and passed!

On graduation day, we had our first kiss in the middle school library in front of my house, then held hands and went to the entrance ceremony together...

Those were such wonderful days.

I'm angry, I feel betrayed—I never want to see her again!

...But I loved her! I'm nowhere near sorting this out.

I can't bring myself to hate her!

I didn't even realize it myself, but with my best friend's help, I did a deep clean of my heart.

After flushing out all the black emotions—anger, hatred, sadness, jealousy—what remained were only the beautiful memories.

Those happy memories, like cutouts from a photo album, hurt me even more than the dark emotions did.

And yet,

The very last drop squeezed out from my heart was

"I really loved you. Thank you."

Shou didn't say anything more.

Thank you, truly.

Because Shou was there, I was able to reach that state of mind.

I know it'll probably come back soon, and I'll have flashbacks, and it'll take a while to move on.

But thanks to Shou, I was able to see the depths of my own heart.

It still hurts, I'm still sad, I'm still in pain, I still feel pathetic, and I'm still angry.

I'll probably run into Satsuki again, and she'll rub it in, and the wounds on my heart will reopen.

But even if it takes time, I know I'll recover.

"...S-sorry, I'm taking tomorrow off. But the day after, I'll be back to normal. Just... tomorrow, I probably won't be able to reply."

"It's fine, two days, three days—take whatever you need."

Shou left with a smile.

But he was crying.

I can tell—we've known each other forever.

I'm really glad Shou was there for me.

Strangely enough, my best friend and I both had our love end at the same time.

Our high school life has only just begun, though.