Living with the Arrogant Queen from High School is Surprisingly Not Uncomfortable

Akari and I arrived at the designated restaurant five minutes before the meeting time.

We were set to reunite with Ito and Ota at an izakaya. Of course, we weren’t going to drink alcohol.

“They’re not here yet.”

“Seems so.”

We got to the private room that Akari had reserved, but nobody was there yet.

Probably, since Ito and Ota are both living in their hometowns, they will arrive together.

“They said they would be a little late.”

“Yeah. Let’s take a seat for now.”

I moved to the back of the seat and sat down.

Without any hesitation, Akari sat down next to me.

“Let me know if you need to go to the restroom.”

“Okay.”

Well, this seating arrangement is far better than having Ito or Ota next to me. However, considering the recent awkwardness with Akari, I still found it slightly uncomfortable. But then again, I had the feeling that maybe I shouldn’t have come here today.

I let out a sigh.

“Meg, a photo.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s show them off?”

Contrary to her provocative words, Akari seemed very excited.

While being wrapped around by Akari’s arm, I was forcefully taken a photo on her phone. Akari was making a peace sign, and I responded with a straight face.

Well, this is more like me than trying to act cute.

“Wow. Meg, you’re cute.”

“Your eyes are quite generous, Akari.”

“Not at all. I’m gonna set it as my phone wallpaper.”

“…Do as you please.”

Come to think of it, all my female friends in high school were like this.

They all tried hard to make me happy, and Akari was no exception.

However, Akari’s approach felt a bit different from others. I mean, it didn’t feel like flattery, more like she genuinely meant what she said.

I always respond to Akari’s remarks with a straight face.

If it was flattery, I would say thank you, but if it’s genuine…honestly, I don’t know what to say.

But one thing is for sure, it was a bit embarrassing.

“Ah, Ito-chan, Ota-chan. Long time no see.”

“Ah, long time no see, Akari.”

“Long time no see. And to you too, Hayashi-chan.”

“Hmm, long time no see.”

At the entrance of Ito and Ota, who finally arrived, I even showed a bit of a smile. After graduating from high school, it was a reunion after about half a year. I thought it was better to make some effort to put on a smile.

“You two have quite a bit of luggage.”

Akari pointed out.

Indeed, the two who sat in front of us had a lot of branded paper bags in their hands.

“Sorry. The store was crowded.”

Ito apologized with a slight bow, but it was clear from her light-hearted manner that she didn’t really feel sorry.

If it was the high school me, I probably would have complained about their lateness, but today, I wasn’t in the mood for that.

“Thanks for coming today, Hayashi-chan, Akari.”

“No problem. I was also thinking that I wanted to see everyone after such a long time.”

“Right.”

I agreed without much thought.

“No, we were the ones who wanted to see both of you. After all, you two are amazing. You’re attending M University and K University, right?”

“Yeah, we could never have attended such famous universities.”

Ito and Ota are now attending a private university in their hometown. It was easy to tell from their faces that they were leading a fairly enjoyable student life.

… I felt a bit of alienation.

Everyone here, except me, seemed to be enjoying their campus life at college. That made me feel a bit uncomfortable.

“How is college life?”

“I’m getting by. Meg, too, right?”

In an easy-going manner, Akari lied.

I truly appreciated her consideration. I didn’t have the courage to push through the lie out of guilt.

She really is… a very capable girl, far different from me.

A pang of jealousy for Akari surged through me.

Because it was Akari… Yamamoto.

Ito and Ota were easily fooled by Akari’s lie.

They didn’t even imagine that I was living with a man who was domestically violent, forced to drop out of college, and now living with Yamamoto.

What shocked me a bit was that the two in front of me didn’t even mention that I had been out of contact for a while.

My phone was once destroyed by that man. If they tried to contact me during that time, they should’ve felt strange when I didn’t reply.

But not a word about that implies… they didn’t want to keep in touch with me despite saying they wanted to meet me.

Well, that’s how it goes.

I wouldn’t have asked about any issues they may have had during our long-awaited reunion.

Even though we were in the same group in high school, our relationship was essentially just that.

Afterwards, I felt like I could laugh like I used to in high school.

Maybe I was regaining my old rhythm.

The conversation with Akari, Ito, and Ota was quite lively.

We ordered a two-hour free drink course without alcohol at the izakaya we entered.

In the cheerful atmosphere of the somewhat noisy izakaya, everyone became jovial.

“Hayashi-san, you’ve changed.”

“Huh?”

At one point, I was told by Ito, “You’ve changed, Hayashi-san.”

“Really? I wasn’t aware. In what way?”

“Eh, you’ve definitely changed, right?”

“Yeah, you’ve changed! Don’t you think so, Akari?”

“Uh…I wonder?”

“No, you’ve definitely changed.”

I felt a bit irritated.

They kept repeating that I’d changed, without addressing the core of the matter.

If this were high school, I would’ve demanded they spit it out already. But now, I didn’t quite feel like getting angry.

…Oh, I see.

I realized.

That was what the two in front of me meant when they said I had changed.

“Are you saying that I’ve become kinder?”

“…Are you implying that I wasn’t kind before?”

“No, no, I didn’t say that.”

Even though I hadn’t raised my voice, Ito’s face turned somewhat fearful. Despite everything, it seems she still finds me a bit intimidating.

“Well…Haha! Right! Now, I think you could even get along with that Yamamoto!”

My body twitched at the name Ito had spoken.

The way Ito spoke irked me.

The “that Yamamoto” she referred to was undoubtedly the Yamamoto I know.

The way Ito spoke clearly carried a note of contempt for Yamamoto. I didn’t like it.

…I felt like retorting.

Yamamoto isn’t the type to demean others.

Yet you easily belittle others, I thought.

The reason I didn’t say it was because the high school me never experienced Yamamoto’s kindness.

…If.

If Yamamoto were in the same situation, I wondered what he would say.

If Yamamoto…reunited with an old friend from high school, and that old friend said something bad about me…no, Akari would be a better fit. Anyway, if Akari was insulted, what would he think?

I don’t think he would get angry.

But, I don’t think he would go along with his old friend’s words either.

If it were Yamamoto…he’d probably navigate through the situation with an awkward expression, and then he would console me, who would be boiling in anger, saying:

“It’s good that you notice the good in people that others fail to see.”

…It’s strange.

Despite someone I care about being belittled, my anger towards the two disappeared.

And then, I wanted to see Yamamoto soon.

Well, it’s only one more hour.

“Yamamoto, wow, that’s nostalgic!”

The two in front of me laughed even more joyfully upon hearing the name of a male classmate.

“Right? He was quite stubborn.”

Akari laughed.

Well, I agree with this point. In fact, since I started living with him, I realized his stubbornness was beyond what I had imagined.

“He never does anything himself but always criticizes others. He should do it himself before he talks.”

That’s not true.

He is actually very strict with himself and lenient with others. And, he’s the type to do everything himself until he’s satisfied.

If she thinks that, then she only sees Yamamoto’s superficial traits.

“Right? That’s why he did that, didn’t he?”

“Yeah, that was a terrible story, really.”

That…?

I couldn’t follow the conversation they seemed to be sharing.

…No.

No, that’s wrong.

That’s right.

I remembered.

I started remembering.

…During high school, I disliked Yamamoto.

The main reason was probably that we didn’t get along. But, there was another reason.

That was…yes, that’s right.

It was during the summer of our first year.

Yes…something that happened at the school festival.

“Yamamoto’s incident, the one that ruined the after-festival party”

My vague memories started to come back.