I should have realized it long ago; otherwise, how could it be called former lover’s literature?

The familiar side ponytail she usually wore was already undone, and messy bangs tumbled over the girl's eyes. Amber eyes shimmered with something that seemed almost like affection, her sweet, gentle breath brushing against the boy’s cheek, bringing to mind the memory of their first kiss.

“Hey, let’s kiss, for old times’ sake,” she whispered.

The blanket cocooned them both. At some point, her hand had slipped around his waist.

Tsukiyomi Jinji gazed at her in silence, unable to tell whether she was joking or speaking from the heart.

The girl inched closer, little by little, and Jinji simply blinked, holding her gaze intently.

When her nose finally touched his, and those long, dark lashes trembled, Sakura Sazakura finally spoke.

“Aren’t you going to push me away?”

“…No.”

“Careful, or I really will kiss you.”

“If that’s what you want to do.”

Sakura Sazakura gazed at him for a long time. At length, she withdrew her hand from his waist and put some space between them.

“Honestly, Tsuki, why can you always see right through me in the strangest ways, when you don’t understand me at all?”

“Maybe because I know what kind of girl you are, Sakakura.”

The girl puffed out her cheeks, a little sullenly, and reached out to pinch Jinji’s nose.

“Aren’t you getting a bit too pleased with yourself?”

“Am I?” His voice was thick with nasal sound.

“I’ve seen you hanging around the student council president lately, looking awfully comfortable. And you say there’s no old flame there.”

“Of course there isn’t.”

“Are you developing an ‘ex-girlfriend’ kink? You pervert.”

“If that’s the case, then wouldn’t you…”

She pinched his nose sharply.

“Don’t say it.”

“…Alright.”

Perhaps, for Sakura Sazakura, she still couldn’t accept being given that label. Maybe that was why she’d rather remain just his childhood friend.

Suddenly, the girl pulled Tsukiyomi Jinji into her arms, catching him off guard. His hands floundered awkwardly in the air, unsure where to go.

At last, he simply let them rest on the futon, surrendering himself to this childhood friend—this ex-girlfriend—as she rested her head on his chest.

“Miss Sakakura, isn’t this a bit inappropriate?”

“What’s inappropriate about it? We used to do this all the time when we were little.

“And besides, I know my boundaries. Did I ever do this when you had a girlfriend?”

“Well, no…”

“There you go. I’m not interested in someone else’s boyfriend.”

“What about your boyfriend, then?”

“He can fend for himself.”

Fair enough, since he was fictional anyway.

The girl breathed in the scent of Tsukiyomi Jinji, slowly closing her eyes.

“I told you, I’ll wait for you. I’ll wait until you find your true self.

“All I have to do is wait here, because you’ve always been a boy who needs looking after, Tsuki. I have to wait for you, wait until you’ve walked out of your past. Otherwise, you’d lose your way if you didn’t see me.”

“I can read a map.”

“Idiot.”

Sakura Sazakura held him even tighter, nuzzling his neck.

“So which of us is the pervert?” Jinji couldn’t help but say.

“Hehe~”

After a moment, the girl stared at him, her cheeks flushed, and whispered, “Pervert.”

“So you’re just going to wait here for me?”

“Hmph, I’m going to sleep in my own bed now, or things will get dangerous.”

She laughed, shoved him away, and climbed into her bed alone, wrapping herself in the blanket, leaving only a sliver open for her amber eyes to peek through, blinking incessantly.

Jinji could only smile wryly.

He knew there was still a long road ahead for him and his childhood friend.

His feelings for her back then had been genuine, beyond a doubt. But later, that honest heart had been shackled by the System.

Three years had passed before Jinji finally broke free from its grip and uninstalled it without mercy.

But he realized, suddenly, that his true heart from back then had vanished long ago.

Now, he wasn’t sure he had any true feelings left.

So, whenever he was beside Sakura Sazakura, he couldn’t help but feel a little inferior.

…

The next morning, Tsukiyomi Jinji and Sakura Sazakura got up early to prepare for school.

Their mothers had both taken the day off, apparently enjoying some leisure after finishing a big project.

Jinji didn’t really understand the grind of adult work-life. After feeding the cat, he left the house with his childhood friend.

Once they exited Nakameguro Station, Jinji and Sazakura parted ways. He deliberately slowed his pace, watching from a distance as Sakura Sazakura greeted her friends and walked to school with them.

He thought he still preferred going to school alone.

“Yaho! Good morning, senpai!”

Just as that thought crossed his mind, an annoying presence appeared.

Bouncing along energetically, Jinji worried she’d trip over her own feet at any moment, falling flat and revealing teddy bear underpants fit for a grade-schooler.

Well, the teddy bear underpants were probably just his prejudice.

“Morning, Hitsujiya.”

“Senpai’s going to school alone again today—are you an ‘Ichi Libocchi’ now?”

“You brat, mouthing off to a senior so early in the morning.”

“I’m not a fan of that whole senior-junior thing, are you, senpai?”

“Well…I’m not, either.”

“But I know you actually rode the train with that upperclassman earlier. You split up as soon as you got off, though.

“Are you secretly dating and trying to keep it a secret?

“I’ll have to tell President-senpai what a playboy you are.”

Jinji was a little taken aback, but quickly composed his expression.

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb; I’ve already figured it all out.”

“Oh?” He was a little curious now.

Hitsujiya You stood on tiptoe, sniffing forcefully near his shirt, making him instinctively step back.

“Senpai, you smell like toasted bread. And when that upperclassman passed by me earlier, I caught the same scent—the intensity was almost identical.

“That means you two were at the same bakery, at the same time.

“But here’s the clincher! Oh, senpai, could you please lower your head?”

The short underclassman jumped up and plucked something from his hair.

It was a fine, light-colored strand—far too delicate to belong to a boy.

“If I compare this hair to hers, I’ll know if I’m right.

“If you weren’t riding the train together, how would you have a girl’s hair on your head?

“Well? How about my brilliant deduction? Admit defeat already! Mwahaha!”

But as the girl turned around in triumph, Tsukiyomi Jinji was already walking far ahead.

“Drat!”