“…Cut it out already!!”

At that moment, Sado raised his voice, breaking the tension in the room.

Sado took a deep breath to calm himself down before speaking.

“The one she originally liked was Majima. In the end, there was never any room for me. She actually rejected my confessions over and over… and that was because Majima was there, right? So trying to force myself into becoming her boyfriend was just my own fault.”

“No, no! That still doesn’t make sense! It doesn’t change the fact that she was cheating!!”

“Y-yeah! No matter how you look at it, this is way too cruel!!”

“But that was unavoidable too… like Majima said, the two of them couldn’t make their relationship public. If they’d been honest about it, there was a real risk everyone would turn against them. And you all actually did gang up on Majima, didn’t you? So there’s no talking our way around that… Fuyunagi-san knew this is how things would end up. So all she could do was hide it. And for someone like me to wedge myself between the two of them… being used was only natural.”

Sado…?

“She originally liked Majima. There wasn’t even a chance for me to squeeze in… In fact, she repeatedly rejected my confessions… Wasn’t that because Majima was there…? So, it’s my fault for trying to force myself on her as her lover.”

“No, no! That still doesn’t make sense! It doesn’t change the fact that she was cheating!!”

“Y-yeah! No matter how you look at it, this is way too cruel!!”

“But that was unavoidable too… like Majima said, the two of them couldn’t make their relationship public. If they’d been honest about it, there was a real risk everyone would turn against them. And you all actually did gang up on Majima, didn’t you? So there’s no talking our way around that… Fuyunagi-san knew this is how things would end up. So all she could do was hide it. And for someone like me to wedge myself between the two of them… being used was only natural.”

“Sado-kun…”

“Sado…you…”

“Please everyone… forgive Majima and Shizuku-san…”

“…If Sado-kun says so, then…”

“Yeah… it’d feel weird for us to keep complaining after that.”

Sado…… you….

He returned my favor… by helping me.

No, that’s presumptuous. In the end, we were the ones who treated Sado badly… I mustn’t misunderstand that….

I have incurred a debt to him that I will never be able to repay.

“Sado…… um…”

“I don’t need your apologies or gratitude, okay? I just did what I wanted to do, as you did.”

“Even so, let me say it… thank you…”

“All I want… is for you not to let things end like this with Fuyunagi-san. If you really feel grateful, then at least handle that part properly. No matter what happens, I’ll be rooting for you.”

“……I understand…”

Thanks to Sado, the situation has calmed down somewhat.

However, it’s not as if everything has been resolved smoothly.

The way everyone looks at me is undoubtedly harsh.

But perhaps because I was prepared for anything, the current situation is much better than I had imagined.

“Yo, hero, you were amazing! I was shocked when you started talking in front of the teacher’s podium!”

“K-Kato…?”

“What? Why are you so shocked?”

“Well…”

Unexpectedly, Kato, the friend character, spoke to me with the same energy as before I went to the teacher’s podium.

I had braced myself for being scolded and cursed as a “scumbag traitor!” So this is very unexpected.

“I thought you’d either get angry and yell at me or cut ties with me and ignore me…”

“Huh? Why would that happen?”

“Well… because……”

“Well yeah… having a traitor among the ‘Unpopular Men’ sucks, but cutting ties over that is way too fast, isn’t it?”

“I honestly thought that’s the level we were at…”

“Sure, it’s enviable and shocking that you were secretly dating Shizuku-san, but to hold a grudge against you for that would be lame. I’m incredibly jealous though! Heh!”

“Kato…you…were a good guy after all…”

“What’s that supposed to mean!? I’m a good guy, you know that, right?!”

“Honestly, I didn’t think you were this good of a guy! Seriously!!”

“You!! ”

Friends are the kind of thing that disappear over the smallest trigger.

I don’t think that view is all that wrong.

Minor disagreements in interpretation, arguments, misunderstandings, and betrayal easily cause friends to disappear.

But that’s precisely why someone like Kato is rare.

You could call him simple and leave it at that, but there’s no denying he’s genuinely big-hearted.

I had misunderstood Kato.

That’s why I didn’t trust him, which makes me feel pathetic.

“If you end up fighting with Shizuku-san, you should talk to her properly.”

“Talk… huh…”

“Well, I don’t know what happened, and if it’s unwanted advice, just ignore me.”

“No, I’ll take your advice.”

That’s right….

This won’t do as is.

I have to talk to her properly….

I thought so.