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When Yui returned to the classroom, she thought she would be able to just sit down and relax, but that was not the case.
The moment she entered the classroom, a classmate near the door noticed her and muttered, "Oh, Yui-chan." Then, for a moment, the noisy classroom was filled with silence, and then immediately with voices several times louder than before.
It was as if fans waiting outside had spotted the celebrity they were waiting for arriving.
(Well, I'm an actress, so I'm not wrong.)
Yui had anticipated this might happen, so she accepted it without too much panic.
I thought there were two options: either she would talk about love as they were at that age, or she would be worried about the fight they had yesterday. The other, less likely possibility, was that she was being harassed by the girls who liked Takuya.
"Hey, hey, what's your relationship with Takuya-kun?"
A petite female classmate asked me.
(...I'm sure you had a boyfriend.)
Yui pulls up information about her classmate from her brain.
If this question was coming from a female student who didn't have a boyfriend, there could be something ulterior motive.
Yui hasn't really been involved in those kinds of "X-chan likes X-kun, so don't make a move" conversations, but as a young girl of marriageable age, she is aware that such exchanges do happen.
I was wary of that for a moment.
"What kind of relationship do you have? Judging from how things were yesterday, you're probably dating, right?"
Then the boys joined in the conversation.
The classmates who weren't taking part in the conversation were either sending glances or not, but it was clear that they were concerned about Yui's words.
"Well...yeah. That's right...Takkun and I are going out."
She answers bashfully, fidgeting so that it "looks" embarrassing.
In reality, her heart was already set on Yu, so she didn't have the slightest bit of such feelings.
Yui is only doing it because Yu told her to.
However, the classmates, who naturally had no idea about the situation, especially the girls, screamed in excitement.
"Um, uh, Yui-chan. Since when? How long have you been dating?!"
"Umm..."
This is the first time that Yui has received this much attention from her classmates since they first realized that she was the actress Shimotsuki Yui.
"...Since July."
"What, before summer vacation?! I didn't even notice."
"...I'm sorry, well... you see, I'm an actress. My manager told me it's better not to say such things to people."
Although it was a spur of the moment lie, there was no way for the classmates to confirm it since they had no opportunity to meet Yui's manager.
"I see. Well, that's true, there are comedians who are under fire online..."
Combined with Yui's apologetic attitude, her classmates seemed convinced by that explanation.
"So, is everything okay after the fight yesterday? Has Takuya apologized to you yet? Or not?"
He probably didn't know the details, but it seemed the classmates had concluded that Takuya was in the wrong, so he asked in a way that seemed to take Yui's side.
"...Well, what happened yesterday was, well, I was also wrong. So I just apologized to Takkun who was practicing in the morning. And then Takkun said he was sorry too."
"I see. I'm glad then."
Both of them stand out in this class, and if they're fighting, the atmosphere in the classroom will remain unpleasant.
"Hey, hey. Was it Yui who confessed first? Or was it Takuya who confessed first?"
"Ummm... Takkun."
Yui was unsure whether it was OK to say it without the person in question being there, but she decided to answer honestly because she felt guilty about having kept it a secret from her classmates.
"Well, even a girl like me thinks Yui-chan is really cute."
"Really? Thanks."
"Yes, yes, that's right... So, Yui-chan, have you liked Takuya-kun from the beginning?"
Ask why he accepted the confession.
In truth, Yui wanted to be released as soon as possible, but she couldn't do that if it meant swaying the attention of all her classmates.
"Umm..."
Yui hesitates.
It's not that I'm being stingy or embarrassed.
She simply couldn't remember why she had liked Takuya.
"I saw you before..."
However, she knew that this was probably the reason why she had started to worry about Takuya.
"What?"
"Takkun was taking care of a lost boy."
"That's all?"
"Yeah... the main character in my favorite manga from way back did the same thing."
How did you discover this manga?
"Fufu, even though they call her an angel, Yui-chan is still a human being after all."
"I guess so."
I must have first learned about this manga when I was still in elementary school, and by that time the series had already finished.
(How did I know that...?)
I remember the title of the manga and the name of the main character because I reread it from time to time, but I don't remember how I discovered it.
(First of all, I remember knowing about the manga before I bought it myself...??)
I listened to the questions from my classmates and thought about it.
....
(Oh, I see... It's Yu-kun. Yu-kun taught me that a long time ago.)
Yuu learned about this manga from his father, who is a producer. His father believes that in order to create good works, they should know other good works. This manga was highly recommended by Yuu, and he grew to like it as he read it.
He also taught it to Yui, in order to get closer to the girl he fell in love with at first sight, and also because he simply wanted other people to know about this work.
(Back then, Yu-kun was the only one I could call a friend...)
When she first started going to elementary school, she had some friends. But when she started acting as Shimotsuki Yui, there were times when she had to suddenly cancel plans to hang out after school. If that happened repeatedly, she would stand out.
It was during this time that she met Yu, a child of the same age as Yui, a rare sight on set.
At first, Yui had no intention of deepening her friendship with Yu, as she was worried that even if they became close, they would become estranged again.
Yuu then handed Yui a manga. It was an old one, but it was interesting, so she should read it.
At first, Yui wasn't sure what to do with the manga she received, but since it had been so long since she had appeared in any dramas, she began reading it to pass the time.
She was so drawn to the story that she asked Yu if she wanted to read the next chapter. From then on, they talked about wanting to read the next chapter of the manga and talked about the contents of the manga. As a result, Yu and Yui became closer.
In the manga, there is a scene where the main character is kind to a lost child. It reminded me of that scene, and that's why I first became interested in Takuya.
(...I see. It's all from Yu-kun)
Then Yui realized something.
(I was in love with Yu-kun back then...)
At the time, Yui was still young and working as an unfamiliar child actor, so she was too busy to notice. She had no friends to talk to, and her mother was busy with work. Airi and the others were too young to be confidants.
As a result, I mistook my feelings for friendship, and before I knew it, that misconception had become reality. Before I knew it, I had forgotten that memory, along with the many other memories.
The reason she was interested in Takuya, as he seemed to overlap with the main character of her favorite manga, may be that her body was remembering the past and her feelings for Yu were reminded of him, which she mistook for affection for Takuya.
That's what Yui thought.