The Lion's Fang and the White Flower: A Secret Love of Missed Confessions
The summer before their second year of high school. Botan, a member of the literature club, is called out by her classmate, Raiga Shishio, who she secretly has feelings for. With a serious face, Raiga says, "There's something I've always wanted to tell you." Botan's heart races.
But his shocking confession is: "I have a crush on your best friend, Suzume. I need your help." Hiding her heartbreak, Botan forces a smile and agrees. Thus begins a week-long slapstick romantic comedy filled with tangl
The Lion's Fang and the White Flower: A Secret Love of Missed Confessions - A Best Friend's Question and a Heart That Can't Hide
The events of the previous day—how her tailing them at Café Canaria had been exposed, and how Suzume had asked, "Botan, do you actually like Raiga?"—kept spinning endlessly in Botan's mind.
(*Do I like him, she asked.*)
She'd said no. She'd shaken her head with all her might. But at that moment, Suzume's eyes had looked somehow sad. She couldn't even tell if Suzume had believed her.
The light streaming through the classroom window was painfully bright, and Botan narrowed her eyes.
Thursday. The morning lessons hadn't sunk in at all.
The letters on the blackboard looked blurred. The teacher's voice sounded distant. Her hand, which had been taking notes, stopped, and before she knew it, she was gazing absently outside.
(*This is bad. I need to focus.*)
But no matter what, she couldn't get yesterday's events out of her head.
The lunch break bell rang.
The classroom began to buzz with noise. Groups pushed their desks together and spread out their lunches. Boys dashed out into the hallway. Normally, Botan would eat lunch with Suzume too, but today, she just couldn't bring herself to be around people.
"Botan, let's eat lunch!"
Suzume came over with a smile.
The moment she saw that smile, a sharp pang shot through Botan's chest.
(*Right now, I can't.*)
"Sorry, I've got a manuscript for the literature club I need to fix! I'll eat in the clubroom!"
Saying that, Botan grabbed her lunch and hurried out of the classroom.
She was out in the hallway before she could hear Suzume's reply.
(*I ran away.*)
She knew it herself.
But right now, Botan couldn't look Suzume straight in the face.
Her destination wasn't the clubroom.
She climbed the stairs, to the fourth floor. Beyond that, the door leading to the rooftop.
There was a "No Entry" sign hanging on it, but there was a way around it that everyone knew.
She pushed the door open.
It creaked softly.
The moment she stepped onto the rooftop, a wave of muggy heat enveloped Botan.
The July sun beat down relentlessly, and the concrete floor reflected the heat. The distant sound of cicadas crying echoed strangely loud.
No one was there.
Relieved, Botan sat down in the shadow of a water tank.
The concrete was hot, but she didn't care about that.
She let out a quiet sigh.
(*Raiga likes Suzume.*)
(*I promised to support that.*)
(*But yesterday, Suzume asked me if I liked him.*)
What do I really want to do?
She didn't even know anymore.
She liked Raiga. That was true.
But that didn't give her the right to hurt Suzume.
She'd thought that if the two of them could be happy, that would be enough—.
"...Oh, Botan?"
Botan flinched.
Her shoulders jumped violently.
She turned toward the voice.
Suzume was standing at the entrance to the rooftop.
Her usual fluffy bobbed hair swayed in the wind. Her blue hairpin glinted brightly.
Her large hazel eyes stared at Botan in surprise.
"S-Suzume... why are you here?"
"I should be asking you that. You said you were eating in the clubroom."
As Suzume said that, she slowly walked closer to Botan.
It wasn't her usual energetic smile. Somehow, there was a slight shadow over it.
"I just... felt like getting some fresh air."
She offered a casual excuse.
"...Hey, Botan. About yesterday, I want to talk about it properly."
Suzume's eyes looked straight at Botan.
Under that serious gaze, Botan's heart began to pound faster.
(*I want to run away.*)
She thought so.
But she couldn't run.
"Someone might come here. Should we... change locations?"
She suggested it herself.
—They left the rooftop and went down the stairs.
They passed through the hallway, heading toward the gymnasium.
Suzume followed silently behind.
The narrow passage between the gymnasium and the fence.
This was behind the gym.
It was only about two meters wide, and the gymnasium's eaves jutted out overhead. The sunlight was poor, making it dim even in the middle of the day.
It was known as a classic spot for confessions and secret talks, but because it was visible from the gym teachers' office window, it was also a place where you were surprisingly likely to get caught.
But right now, she didn't care about any of that.
She just didn't want anyone to overhear.
That was all.
Suzume stopped walking.
Botan stopped too.
A hushed silence flowed between them.
"Hey, Botan. I want you to tell me the truth."
Suzume spoke up.
It wasn't her usual bright voice. It was a little lower, a serious voice.
Unconsciously, Botan touched her left earlobe.
"I asked you yesterday, didn't I? 'Botan, do you actually like Raiga?'"
"...Yeah."
Her voice grew small.
"Back then, you said no. But... as your best friend, I want to know for sure. How you really feel right now."
Suzume's hazel eyes were wavering.
(*As my best friend, she wants to know.*)
Those words pierced Botan's heart.
Suzume really was a good person.
She was properly thinking about her best friend.
That was exactly why—.
(*I can't say it.*)
Botan clenched her fists tightly.
In her head, Raiga's voice echoed.
*'I like Suzume. Will you help me?'*
That serious face.
That voice.
Raiga liked Suzume.
And Botan had said, "Okay."
With a smile, she had promised to support him.
"...I told you, it's not like that!"
Botan forced a bright voice.
She plastered a smile onto her face.
The dimple that only appeared on her right cheek surfaced above her forced smile.
"Raiga likes *you*, Suzume! So I'm just supporting him, I don't have any feelings beyond that!"
Her voice was just a little shrill.
She knew it herself.
She was trying too hard.
"I'm just a love cupid! A manager! Behind-the-scenes support! You don't need to worry about me!"
The words wouldn't stop.
The more she spoke, the more she felt like she was choking herself.
Suzume silently watched Botan's face.
Her eyes were somehow very gentle, and yet, they looked sad.
"...I see."
Suzume murmured quietly.
"Then, let's keep doing our best with the plan from now on. I'll cooperate properly too."
Saying that, Suzume smiled.
But that smile also seemed somehow forced.
Botan wanted to say it.
—*I'm sorry, I'm lying.*
—*The truth is, I like Raiga too.*
The words were right there, in her throat.
But she couldn't say them.
"Yeah! Tomorrow we've got cultural festival prep too, so let's get fired up!"
Instead, she put on another bright voice.
Suzume looked down for a moment, then raised her face.
"Well, I'm going back to the classroom. I have home economics club work to do."
"Okay, see you later!"
Suzume turned back once and gave Botan a small wave.
Then, she stepped out from the shadow of the gymnasium and walked toward the school building.
Her retreating figure looked just a little small.
—*I'm sorry.*
In her heart, Botan apologized over and over.
Lying while looking at her best friend's face.
It wasn't that she was using her best friend's feelings.
Even so, she felt like the fact that she liked Raiga would end up causing Suzume pain—.
(*I'm the worst.*)
Left alone in the dim passage behind the gym,
Botan folded her arms as if hugging herself.
The humid air clung to her skin.
Even after afternoon classes began, Botan's mind remained hazy.
She looked outside the window.
Beyond the school grounds, the Aoba River glittered and sparkled.
Even though it was so beautiful, right now, Botan couldn't feel anything.
(*I'll give up on Raiga.*)
(*I'll support the two of them.*)
She had definitely decided that, so why was it so painful?
She didn't even know herself.
—After school.
The chatter of the classroom, the footsteps in the hallway, all of it felt distant.
Not wanting to see anyone, Botan headed straight for the literature clubroom.
The east end of the main school building's third floor.
A small room that was originally a storage room for materials.
She opened the door.
No one was there.
The old wooden bookshelves covering the walls were tightly packed with literary magazines and novels.
On the long desk by the window, the half-written script for the cultural festival lay spread out as it had been.
A reading drama based on the legend of Confession Hill.
Botan placed her bag on the desk.
Then, she slowly sat down in a chair.
The old wooden chair creaked slightly.
Outside the window, she could see the cherry blossom tree in the schoolyard.
Summer cherry blossoms were just a mass of green leaves.
Botan slumped over the desk.
She buried her face in her arms.
"...I can't do this anymore."
Her voice was trembling.
As if telling herself, she murmured very, very quietly.
"Why did things end up like this?"
That day, when Raiga called her out to the rooftop.
When he told her, "I like Suzume."
Should she have refused then?
But she couldn't.
Because she didn't want him to hate her.
(*In the end, that's what it comes down to.*)
Botan's actions were always like that.
Afraid of being disliked by anyone, unable to say no, she ended up shouldering everything herself.
She hadn't changed at all since middle school.
The feel of the wooden desk was cold and pleasant.
She didn't want to think about anything anymore.
Thinking that, she squeezed her eyes shut—.
—*Click.*
Suddenly, the clubroom door opened.
Botan's head jerked up.
"...Are you sleeping in a place like this?"
A low, calm voice.
Standing at the door was Toudou Reiji.
His long black hair was casually parted in the center, his bangs falling over one eye. He had a slightly sleepy look in his eyes, but the deep gray pupils behind them were strangely sharp. A silver necklace swayed gently at his neck.
He was over 180 centimeters tall, making the small clubroom door look awfully low.
He wasn't a member of the literature club.
The other day when he came, he said he was returning a book.
"...Why are you here?"
Her voice was a little hoarse.
"I called out to you, but you didn't answer, so I thought I'd try from outside. But you didn't notice that either."
Saying that, Reiji came into the clubroom.
In his hand, he held canned coffee.
Two of them.
"Here."
With a soft *clunk*, a can of coffee was placed in front of Botan.
It was cold.
Water droplets had formed on the surface of the can, creating a small puddle on the desk.
Botan stared at it blankly.
"Before, you said you wanted to thank me for the bookmark. I figured that was still pending."
Reiji said curtly as he opened his own can of coffee.
Ah, right, she had received a message like that yesterday.
*'I'll come to the clubroom tomorrow. I want to thank you for the bookmark.'*
So that was about the canned coffee.
"...Thank you."
Botan picked up the can of coffee.
It was cold and felt nice.
"Don't push yourself."
Reiji suddenly said that.
"...Huh?"
"You look like you're about to collapse any minute."
Reiji's voice was low and curt as always.
But his words were surprisingly direct.
Botan couldn't say anything.
It was the first time anyone had said something like that to her.
She was always told, "You're so energetic."
"You're so cheerful."
But the first person to look at Botan now and say, "You look like you're about to collapse," was him.
Somehow, that loosened the tightly knotted thing deep in her chest, just a little.
"...Because... I was asked to."
Her true feelings slipped out in a murmur.
Even though it was her own voice, it was so small and weak—it didn't sound like her.
"So you're making that face because someone asked you to?"
Reiji pulled out the chair opposite her and sat down heavily.
The folding chair creaked.
"If you were asked to, why do you look so pained?"
—She couldn't find the words to reply.
She looked pained.
Indeed, she probably did.
Because she *was* pained.
She was trying to set up the person she liked with her best friend.
There was no way it wouldn't be painful.
But—.
"...Because if I don't do it, no one will help him."
She managed to murmur that with great effort.
Reiji took a sip of his canned coffee, then looked at Botan.
His eyes still seemed somewhat detached, but they were also stra
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