(Un)Fortunately the Yandere is Not After Me

Mr. Bear

Arata was dumbfounded at what had just transpired in front of him. Of all the things he was doing to try and talk with the girl, he never imagined that she'd run off crying like that. Yet her words continued to echo in his head as the boy came to the bitter realization that perhaps his friend was too far gone.

"I'm so sorry." He apologized to everyone once they had somewhat calmed down from the scene caused. "Maybe I was being too naive to think that things could return to normal with Ichiri."

"That's what you deserve for being as dumb as her." Hifumi scolded him with littler reservation. Despite being the first girl to confess to him, she was the one being the hardest on him today.

"Hey, that's a bit much, don't you think?" Yurime defended him, while Arata himself only resigned to taking the insults. "He's trying his best."

"You really couldn't have thought that it'd be so easy or simple to just get her to be friends with you." Especially when he only wanted to be friends. At least, without fully accepting or rejecting her confession. Yet even if he did want to accept her, she didn't seem to be able to handle that result either.

They all heard what she said. Those feelings she felt for the boy were still there, and it seemed they were as strong as ever. Unfortunately, her lack of self-esteem was her undoing. It wasn't that he rejected her, but rather that she rejected herself. "Have you even considered how you feel about that girl?"

"No." It was something that Arata had tried to keep out of his mind while dealing with Ichiri. With all the other girls around him, he was still fighting to figure out his own feelings with the matter. With time running out, the stress was reaching into his mind once more.

"Maybe you should take the time to think about it." Hifumi told him. Even if she wanted to be the one to come out on top at the end of things. She wanted him to ultimately be the one to make the right decision for his heart.

"Let's go look for Ichiri." He responded different as the boy got back up on his feet. "We can't go home until we find her." Though his response didn't mean that he wasn't listening to her words. Arata simply was going to use this time to make up his mind.

While they walked, he thought about who Ichiri was to him. She certainly was a bit of a handful as a girl who was her junior in age. Not only did she lack a lot of humility, that he would've thought that he'd dislike a lot. Yet at the same time, she was a truly loyal girl who held him in high regard. Probably more so than everyone else that had fallen for him.

Was that what he wanted? It seemed that each girl had something different to offer to him in a relationship. Perhaps this was the thought process he should be having when it came to making a final decision. It somehow made plenty of sense, but also seemed a bit too mechanical to what was considered a love question.

"Say." Matsu grabbed everyone's attention as they walked near a convenience store. "I'm sure that some of you are thirsty, I know I am. So maybe we should take a break." They would need a lot of morale to be able to search for a girl in a town like this. Everyone agreed, but as they walked inside, Arata was reminded of this location.

"This place seems really familiar." He said.

"Well, I don't know if you've ever been here, but I have some fond memories of this place." There wasn't anything special with this store by any normal person's standards. After all, it was simply just a part of a chain known as 8-Twelve. "I wonder if that mascot is still around. Whoever wore it really helped me out once." When Matsu brought that up, he instantly remember this place now.

When he was in junior high, there was a time when Arata took the long commune to work at a place to feed his otaku addiction. He hoped that no one he knew would come by while he wore such an embarrassing costume. Funny enough, it turned our that he would meet two girls that he would consider friends at this very job.