Chapter 16: Machi Chika's Suspicion

Lunchtime had come and gone, and now we were back in the classroom. Usui-sensei was currently delving into a lesson on a topic in science that I couldn't focus on. Why? Because I was under the intense scrutiny of two individuals.

Specifically, it was my two girlfriends who had apparently caught wind of me talking to another girl in the library during lunch. Word had spread that I was "flirting" with Amanome. Amanome was a well-known figure in our school, and she apparently ranked in the top ten for the most beautiful girls. She was considered an unattainable flower, beyond the reach of many guys. Honestly, I didn't get all the hype because I hadn't paid much attention to Amanome back then, let alone seen her up close. But now, having seen her closely, I had to admit, she was undeniably beautiful.

I need to make things clear, though. Despite her beauty, I hadn't developed any feelings for her. Sure, I might have been a bit inexperienced with girls during my first and second years, but now I had two girlfriends! Plus, I was no longer a virgin.

Under the weight of those two intense gazes, I did my best to pay attention to my teacher.

Little did I know, it wasn't just two people watching me. There were five.

×××

As evening approached, many students began to leave the classroom. I had cleaning duty today, so I began tidying up alongside five others who had the same task.

"The lessons today were so hard to understand... I don't even know what we discussed," grumbled a girl as she erased the blackboard. "And my head is killing me with all those calculations... I don't get why we're even learning this. What's the point of math in real life?"

She was a fashionable high school "gal" with strawberry blonde hair tied up in a high ponytail with a pink scrunchie. Her emerald-green eyes stood out, and she wore the standard school uniform, though with the first few buttons undone. Loose white socks completed her look.

This was Chinatsu's friend, Machi Chika.

I'd heard rumors that she was involved in prostitution, but I refused to believe that someone like her could be friends with my Chinatsu. I'm not one to judge people solely based on appearances. Sure, she might have looked like someone who could be in that line of work. To any casual observer, she might have seemed promiscuous. But to my eyes, she just appeared... fashionable.

Perhaps I'd been judgmental in the past, but now, I was starting to see her in a different light. If Chinatsu trusted Machi, then I would trust her too.

"Hmm? Why are you staring at me, Kurogane? Got something on your mind?" she asked.

I quickly averted my gaze. "Nah, it's nothing."

"Oh, really?" She shrugged and went back to cleaning the blackboard.

"Chika-chan! We're heading out!" called my classmates when they finished their cleaning duties.

"Alrighty~!" replied Machi.

Now, I was alone with her, and for some reason, I felt a bit awkward. Machi was the kind of girl I found somewhat difficult to interact with.

I quietly went about cleaning the armchairs. Once I finished, I retrieved my bag from my chair and was about to make my exit when Machi paused in her cleaning by the board.

"Wait a minute," she said. I halted in my tracks. "You're not... dating either Natsuchi or Chi, are you, Kurogane?"

I turned around to face her. This was a conversation that felt unwise to have with my back turned. I should be looking at her when we talk. Once I did, I saw that she had a serious expression.

"Why are you asking?" I inquired.

"Your relationship... the dynamics between the three of you... it doesn't seem normal. It looks like you've gone beyond the friend stage."

"Well, what do you expect? The three of us are childhood friends."

"'Childhood friends' is just a label for people who were close when they were kids. It's the same as calling them 'close friends' or just 'friends.' They all mean the same thing, right? In other words, it's all just semantics. But it seems like the definition of 'friends' has eluded the three of you."

I didn't quite grasp what she was getting at, but it was clear she suspected something. She seemed to find it odd that we weren't behaving like typical childhood friends. I mean, what we did in public was pretty much what any group of close friends might do – eating out, hanging out together, and occasionally going places. Unless Machi had somehow caught us entering a motel or something, she wouldn't have concrete proof of how peculiar our relationship truly was. But to the best of my knowledge, she hadn't seen anything like that. It seemed she was just going off her intuition. Women did tend to have a strong intuition, after all.

"I'll ask again, Kurogane. Are you involved with either of them romantically?" she pressed.

"I'm not," I replied, my voice steady and calm.

"But you do have feelings for them, right?"

I tried to conceal my unease. She was really digging into this. "I do care about them, but it's more like the way I care about my sisters."

"So, you see them as sisters, then?"

"Exactly."

Machi approached me, her footsteps ringing in my ears like an alarm, a warning.

"Do you honestly think I'd buy that?" she asked.

"You can believe whatever you want. I really don't care. Besides, what's your basis for all of this? It sounds like you're just going off your gut feeling. Are you sure you're not way off base?" I retorted.

"That's true. I don't have concrete proof, but I do have evidence."

"Evidence?" I questioned.

"Both of them are in love with you, aren't they?" she pressed.

"What are you getting at?"

"Don't act clueless, Kurogane. I know you're aware that both of them have feelings for you. It's been pretty obvious that many people have noticed. Chi even confessed to me that she has feelings for you. She even sought my advice on how to get you to notice her."

So Chinatsu had been seeking advice from Machi. It made sense; Chinatsu and Machi had been friends since our first year, and perhaps, even back then, Chinatsu had been doing whatever she could to win my affections. After all, she had undergone a significant transformation in her appearance, clearly trying to catch my eye. I suspected that Machi might have advised Chinatsu to undergo a "gal debut," which was how Chinatsu had adopted her gal-like style.

"I also noticed that Natsuchi was always looking out for you," Machi continued. "She had this mature, onee-san type of personality that many girls admired. She cared for them like a true onee-san, and some of the girls in our class even called her 'onee-sama.' She looked after both of you, of course. And so, no one realized she was in love with you. No one except me."

Her eyes bore into me, filled with conviction. It was clear she trusted her instincts.

"Natsuchi's eyes held the same warmth when she looked after her classmates. But when she looked at you, it was a different kind of gaze – the gaze of a woman in love."

She was remarkably observant. I had to work hard to keep my jaw from dropping to the floor.