After I Kept Telling the Angel Who Transferred to the Seat Next to Me "I Like You" and "You’re Cute" Every Day, I Realized Our Relationship Was Too Close. When I Tried to Be More Reserved and Put Some Distance Between Us, the Angel Started Closing the Gap Herself — Part 3

"You say ‘cute’ and ‘I like you’ way too much. Honestly, I’m sick of hearing it. When you say it every day, it starts to feel meaningless. Like when a player says it casually—it’s that light."

"Guh…!"

Her words hit me like daggers.

"And calling out my name loudly and running toward me every time we meet? That’s annoying too."

"Gyaaah!!"

Another stab.

"Also, you’re just too close, Tomoki-kun. You’re always sticking to me. Honestly, if it were any other girl, she’d have rejected you outright ages ago. I’m only tolerating it because it’s me. But seriously, you shouldn’t do this to any other girl."

"A-a-a…"

I was utterly defeated. My heart was shattered into pieces. If this is what it feels like, I’d rather have been born as a tree or a blade of grass…

"I’ve made up my mind!! From now on, I’ll work to make Hina-chan think better of me! I’ll interact with her while keeping a proper distance! I’m calling it… the Zero-Sum Strategy!"

"At this point, you’re already deep in the negatives…"

"Hina-chan!! Just watch me starting tomorrow!!"

"…Then starting tomorrow, let’s ban you from saying ‘cute’ or ‘I like you,’ alright?"

"…Eh… w-wait, I take back everything I just said… I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Please don’t look at me with such cold eyes!"

And so, my battle against myself began.

The Next Day

Hina Sonoda’s Perspective

As I was walking to school in the morning, I noticed a familiar back ahead of me.

It was my classmate, Tomoki Mitsuya.

…Once again, I’ve run into Tomoki-kun first thing in the morning.

If he were just a normal friend, I’d run up to greet him. But since it’s Tomoki-kun, I don’t. I don’t want to be exhausted right from the start of the day.

I’ve transferred schools many times since elementary school, so I’ve always struggled with making friends.

When no one would talk to me because I was too shy, Tomoki-kun was the one who always approached me cheerfully.

Even though he was better at schoolwork than I was, he’d still ask me for help with homework or class assignments. He even told everyone I was great at explaining things, helping me connect with the rest of the class.

The reason I can talk to my classmates now is because of Tomoki-kun.

For that, I’m still grateful.

He’s a good person… but his sense of personal boundaries is completely off.

He tells me “I like you” and “You’re cute” every day, is overly enthusiastic, lacks tact, acts overly familiar, and doesn’t know how to hold back.

That’s why I can’t help but speak frankly to him.

Luckily, he didn’t seem to notice me this time. Maybe I can just keep my distance—

Just as I thought that, Tomoki-kun suddenly turned around.

Ah, our eyes met.

Oh no—! I braced myself, but he just turned back around and kept walking as if nothing had happened.

…Huh? That’s strange.

Normally, he would shout my name and run over to me with a big grin. But this time, he just acted like everything was normal.

"…Maybe the distance was too far, so he didn’t notice me either?"

I muttered to myself as I continued toward school.

When I arrived and entered the classroom, everyone greeted me with a cheerful “Good morning.”

…Wait a second.

Where’s the usual overly loud, bright voice?

I scanned the classroom and saw him. Tomoki-kun was talking with his friend Kishi-kun. When he noticed me, he gave me a casual wave.

…What? That’s it?

Normally, he’d shout something like:

"Hina-chan!! Good morning!! You’re so cute today!!"

…And then come running over to me.

But this time… nothing.

I wasn’t the only one surprised by this. Kishi-kun, Akane-chan, and Mana-chan all looked equally stunned.

The classroom buzzed with confusion.

That’s when I remembered what Tomoki-kun had said yesterday:

"I’ve made up my mind!! From now on, I’ll work to make Hina-chan think better of me! I’ll interact with her while keeping a proper distance! I’m calling it… the Zero-Sum Strategy!"

No way… he was serious? Well, a quiet Tomoki-kun isn’t a bad thing, I thought as I sat down.

Lunchtime

As I was pulling my bento from my bag, Tomoki-kun came to my desk.

"W-what is it?" I asked, my voice involuntarily rising from the morning’s events.

"Uh… what is it? You dropped your eraser, so I picked it up for you," he said, handing it over.

…Wait… why did he call me by my last name? What is… huh?

He handed me the eraser and walked out of the classroom.

"Hina-chan… did something happen between you and Mitsuya-kun?" Mana-chan asked, sounding concerned as she ate her lunch.

Did something happen? Well… how should I even explain this?

"Not really. Nothing in particular," I replied.

"Eh? But Mitsuya-kun seems different today, don’t you think?" Akane-chan chimed in, clearly skeptical.

"Maybe it’s that plan he mentioned yesterday?"

At that, the two of them seemed to remember and exclaimed, “Ahh!”

That’s right.

Even though I was startled by him calling me by my last name earlier, I was the one who told him not to use my first name.

So, really, there was no reason to be surprised.

"I give it three days, tops. But Hina-chan, aren’t you going to feel lonely during that time~?" Akane teased.

"Not at all. If anything, the quiet is relaxing," I replied, trying to sound indifferent.

"Ahaha…" Mana chuckled awkwardly as she watched me argue back against Akane’s teasing.

However, Akane-chan’s prediction was wrong, and Tomoki-kun's behavior didn’t change as the days passed. A full week had gone by.

After school, I got ready to leave. Today, Akane-chan and Mana-chan weren’t around because of their club and committee activities.

Normally, at this point, Tomoki-kun would appear out of nowhere, saying:

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