Even Though I Loved You First

“Is everything done, Ichirou?” (Kei)

“Unn. There doesn’t seem to be anything pending. For now, the matter about the clubs’ budget will be left to the current secretary and the treasurer. The required paperwork is also ready to be filled.” (Ichirou)

“Alright, shall we meet up with the other’s now?” I said as we packed up our things. “Unn. Let’s go.” (Ichirou)

It has been a little over four months since Arisa and my sisters graduated and I was already in my third and last year of highschool. After being coerced by my friends to postulate myself for student council president of this year, we made a campaign and not too long after, I ended in said position.

At first, I wanted to help Ichirou with his postulations because I didn’t really feel like it. However, it seems even Ichirou didn’t want to take the position. He said he didn’t plan on anything big, and that being the president was too much work so he refrained from doing so.

As we closed the door, I took the key to the council office while Ichirou went and met up with the others. As I entered the teacher lounge, I headed over to where the keys were placed.

“I came to deliver the keys to the council office, I’m leaving them here!” (Kei)

“Ah, Kei. Good work, going home now?” Haru, who was working on some papers nearby, approached me. “I plan on taking a detour with my friend.” (Kei)

“I see, don’t stay out too late. Don’t want Kaho and Touya to worry.” (Haru)

“Don’t worry about it. I’m not really into going out anyways. Side-effects of dating a bookworm as you can see.” I laughed.

Arisa and I both liked books, so we don’t really go out that much. Whenever we have a date, we would usually read a book in her room or watch a movie all cuddled up, indoor activities were our favorite.

“I can see that. How is she doing?” (Haru)

“Still adjusting to her college life, she didn’t move for university so I can head straight over to her house without much trouble. Same with my sisters, they’re still there with us.” (Kei)

“Good for you, isn’t it? You won’t miss them as much.” Haru teased. “Please… spare me from that, you saw too much of an embarrassing side…” At one point in time just before my sister’s graduation, I ended up confiding in Haru about the fear of being alone if my sisters were to move. Even though she helped so much, I still feel the need to remind her to keep quiet as I don’t want my sisters to find out.

“Then, I have some papers to grade, so I’ll leave you be. You also have some places to be I presume?” While maintaining it professional, Haru bid me farewell as she headed off to her own desk.

I also left the staff room and walked down the hallway to where the others were waiting for me. Until a random thought came to my head. Now that I think about it, I heard there was a teacher interested in Haru, right? Well… good luck, bud. She’s a tough nut to crack.

↤⨳↦

“Areh? Where’s Riku and Sachi? Is it only you two?” As I approached the two people Ichirou was speaking with, I asked them about the whereabouts of two of my friends that didn’t seem to be around.

“Oh, they left.” Hayato said.

“The two said they had an afterschool date scheduled,” Shizuka, who for some reason was hugging Hayato from the back, answered more in detail.

“Those two are getting way worse than me—” (Kei)

“Yeah, let’s not over exaggerate.” (Ichirou)

“…” (Kei)

I’ve been getting comments left and right about how close Arisa and I are… no, all they’ve been telling me is that there are couples who marry right after highschool.

I know what they insinuate with it. I mean— believe me I’d like to change her surname as soon as possible, but I just don’t have any resources for it… Well, I’m not prepared in any way.

“I can’t understand why, but I think you’re having some weird thoughts right now.” Shizuka said, inspecting my face.

“N-no, I-I—” (Kei)

“Eh? Was I right? Come on, tell me, tell me!” She grabbed my arm and shook me back and forth. Luckily, Hayato interfered and pulled her away from me.

“I don’t know about you, Sakurajima. But I don’t really want to know about what he is thinking. I doubt it’s something I can escape unharmed.” (Ichirou)

“Hah? You’re one to talk, I-chi-rou.” (Kei)

“It’s brother-in-law, thank you very much.” Pissing me off without much effort, Ichirou only stuck tongue with a mischievous grin as he turned away along with the conversation.

“What are you two doing today?” (Hayato)

“The two of us have an appointment with them.” To my words, Ichirou nodded, with an embarrassed smile on his face.

“A double date, is it? Sounds nice. I have to go home since I promised to help my mother with something from work.” (Shizuka)

“My sister and I took a part-time job, so I also have to head home. It’s a shame that we’re all busy.” (Hayato)

“We have to schedule another outing like the one we did two years ago.” (Kei)

“Agreed. It was a nice change of pace, we’ve all changed since then, so maybe this time we’ll be able to go to more unique places.” Ichirou seemed to think the same way I did. Since the summer of our first year, we’ve all met new people and visited new places, we were someone completely different now.

There was a lot of room for playing around.

Parting ways with the two of them, Ichirou and I both walked towards the same direction with the goal to meet up with our respective partners.

“—and so, he just randomly updated the game. Everything he did was just uploaded to his social media ‘Check Game Page’, people were going crazy.” (Ichirou)

“Well, they’ve been waiting for seven years for it to finally come out. He also works at his own pace, so no wonder, haha.” (Kei)

When it came to game developers, some of them worked as if they had all the time of their lives, while some do work hard and all but are still pretty much laid-back.

Usually they were a one-man team, though…

“Christmas is soon, it’s getting colder by the day, isn’t it?” (Ichirou)

“True that, I’ve been sleeping with multiple blankets due to how cold it is.” (Kei)

“Are you weak against the cold?” (Ichirou)

“Very much so.” I nodded.

“My hometown is usually cold for the most part of the year, so ‘ve been exposed to said temperatures until I was fifteen.” (Ichirou)

Adaptability really works wonders on some people. In my case, no matter how long I’m exposed to those things, for some reason I can’t seem to adapt at all. It’s the same all year round, shame.

“Kei, we should hurry up. We don’t want to keep them waiting and I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who wants to see their lover.” Ichirou smiled as he took some steps in front of me.

“You’re right, they told us that they’ll be at the usual cafeteria.” (Kei)

“The cat one?” (Ichirou)

“No, no. The other one,” I said with a laugh, “The one with the couple’s drink.” At my words, Ichirou blushed as if remembering some pretty embarrassing memory.