More Than a Married Couple, Not Lovers: If - Shiori Sakurazaka's Unrequited Love
Jirou Yakuin has one goal: earn an A Rank in the school's Marriage Training program and use his partner-swap privilege to reunite with his childhood friend, Shiori Sakurazaka—the girl he's loved for years but never confessed to. There's just one problem. His partner is Akari Watanabe, the class's flashiest gyaru, and the closer they get to A Rank, the less certain Jirou becomes that Shiori is really the one he wants.
But Shiori has a secret of her own. The quiet, gentle girl everyone adores has
More Than a Married Couple, Not Lovers: If - Shiori Sakurazaka's Unrequited Love - A Chance Encounter in the Library, and the Whereabouts of Unreachable Feelings
The after-school library smelled of old paper and wood.
The library on the fourth floor of Seishun Academy High School boasted a collection of forty thousand books. Sixty reading seats. After classes let out, it grew moderately crowded with students studying for tests and others hoping for a "chance encounter" as part of their marriage training.
Sakurazaka Shiori sat in the third seat from the window. Straight black hair falling long past her shoulders—today, a thin braid hung down only on the left side. She wore the navy blazer of the school uniform, her plaid skirt neatly aligned over her knees.
In her hands was a manga volume set in space. The famous series about a protagonist chasing his dream.
"...Phew."
Shiori let out a small breath. The fingertips turning the page trembled, just slightly.
(I'm fine. It's okay, Shiori.)
She told herself this, silently.
Today was the day Yakuin Jirou came to the library. He'd mentioned before that the librarian, Enomoto-sensei, had called him in about his career plans. So if she waited here, she was bound to run into him.
She'd say, "What a coincidence," naturally. That was all she needed.
The list of point-deducting behaviors. Being alone with a member of the opposite sex outside your pair meant minus ten points. But a "chance encounter" wasn't subject to deductions.
So this was a coincidence. Just a coincidence.
Shiori glanced at her phone.
A message from Hamano Mei.
*I'm watching from behind the bookshelf. You got this.*
Shiori gave a small nod.
Mei was her best friend. Boyish, always wearing a knee brace on her left leg. She knew Shiori had feelings for Jirou, and she'd agreed to help with today's "coincidence operation."
Behind the bookshelf. Mei had her phone camera pointed at Shiori. Not for posterity—so she could give Shiori advice later. "Your face looks stiff right there."
"...He's here."
Mei lowered her voice.
The library entrance.
Yakuin Jirou walked in.
Short black hair. His bangs ran a little long, half-hiding dark brown eyes. A hundred and seventy-two centimeters tall. He wore his blazer a bit sloppily. His presence was faint. Truly, faint.
Nobody noticed him in class. If someone bumped into him in the hallway, they didn't even apologize. That kind of guy.
But Shiori recognized him instantly.
(Jirou-kun...)
Shiori's heart gave a tight squeeze.
Jirou stopped at the entrance and scanned the room. He was looking for Enomoto-sensei. The librarian, Enomoto-sachi, was forty-seven. A quiet woman with glasses. She was usually behind the counter, repairing books.
"...She's not here."
Jirou muttered under his breath.
Shiori closed her book.
Deep breath.
Once.
Again.
She stood.
Slowly, so as not to make a sound.
"...Huh, Sakurazaka?"
Jirou noticed her.
Shiori felt her heart leap.
" Oh—Jirou-kun. What a coincidence."
Her voice came out a little high.
"Yeah. Some coincidence."
Jirou said this and stood beside her.
About a meter of distance. A little far, for childhood friends.
(Come closer.)
Shiori murmured it in her heart.
But she couldn't say it aloud.
"What're you reading?"
Jirou peered at her hands.
" It's *Space Brothers*. You liked it, Jirou-kun, so I thought I'd give it a try."
Shiori hugged the volume against her chest.
"Wait, seriously? That one's great."
Jirou's face brightened a little.
"Yeah. The protagonist works so hard chasing his dream... it's a really good story."
Shiori put on a smile.
(Good. He's happy.)
"You remember that scene? Where the protagonist looks at the moon with his little brother?"
Jirou leaned forward.
"Yeah, of course. That part really got me."
Shiori nodded.
"Right? Every time I read it, I almost cry."
Jirou smiled, looking a little embarrassed.
A flash of his canine tooth.
Shiori felt warmth spread through her chest at that smile.
(Of course. Jirou-kun's smile is my favorite.)
"And the astronaut selection exam part was really good too."
Shiori continued.
"Ah—that part. That communal living in a closed environment—kinda like our marriage training, huh?"
Jirou laughed.
"Heh, true. Being watched, getting points deducted..."
Shiori laughed too.
(Good. The conversation's still going.)
"Oh, speaking of which—Akari."
Jirou suddenly brought up Akari's name.
Shiori's smile froze for just a moment.
"What about Akari-chan?"
Shiori asked, feigning calm.
"No, it's just—Akari's really good at making tamagoyaki. The other day I was practicing for bento, and the tamagoyaki she made was seriously delicious."
Jirou's tone was buoyant.
"Oh, is that so."
Shiori nodded along.
"She looks like that, but she's seriously good at cooking. She even taught me how to hold a knife."
Jirou kept going.
"You've gotten close with Akari-chan, huh."
Shiori said it, still smiling.
Her fingertips trembled.
Her hands tightened around the manga volume.
"Well, we're partners. Living together, lots of things happen."
Jirou scratched his head, looking sheepish.
"I see... That's nice."
Shiori murmured quietly.
"Hm? Did you say something?"
"No, nothing."
Shiori shook her head.
("That's nice," I said. That Akari-chan is nice.)
Inside Shiori's heart, something dark seeped outward.
(Not me—it's always about Akari-chan.)
"Oh, but Akari's got a sharp tongue, and she gets mad easily. She's nothing like you."
Jirou said it hurriedly.
"Heh, what's that supposed to mean?"
Shiori laughed.
But her heart wasn't laughing.
("Nothing like you." ...That means he's comparing us, doesn't it.)
"Oh, shoot—Enomoto-sensei's here. I'm gonna go talk to her."
Jirou turned toward the counter.
"Yeah. Go on."
Shiori waved.
Jirou walked toward the counter.
Shiori watched his back as he went.
(Jirou-kun's head is full of Akari-chan.)
Her chest tightened.
It was hard to breathe.
"...Shiori."
Mei poked her head out from behind the bookshelf.
"You okay?"
" Yeah. I'm fine."
Shiori answered with a smile.
"...I'm gonna go to the bathroom."
Shiori set the manga on the desk and left the library.
She walked down the hallway.
Only her footsteps sounded, strangely loud.
She entered a stall in the bathroom.
Locked the door.
Stood before the mirror.
What reflected there was a single high school girl with a pale face.
Straight black hair. A braid. Amber eyes.
(So this is the face I was making.)
Shiori murmured to herself in the mirror.
"...Something happened with Akari-san."
Her voice trembled.
Jirou's face when he talked about Akari.
Those gentle eyes.
That happy voice.
That was a face he'd never turned on her.
"...I haven't lost yet."
Shiori told herself in the mirror.
"I haven't lost yet."
No tears came.
But the back of her eyes burned.
"Shiori, are you okay?"
Mei's voice came from the bathroom entrance.
" Yeah, I'm fine. Coming out now."
Shiori washed her hands and left the bathroom.
"...Your face is red."
Mei said, looking worried.
"I'm fine. I was just a little startled."
Shiori put on a smile.
Mei looked like she wanted to say something.
But she didn't.
"...Let's go home."
"Yeah."
The two of them started walking side by side.
The brace on Mei's left knee reflected the fluorescent lights of the hallway.
"Shiori."
"What?"
"...I really think you should tell him. Properly. Tell Yakuin."
Mei said it with a serious face.
Shiori was silent for a moment.
"...I know. But I still can't find the courage."
Shiori looked down.
"I'm scared of what it'll do to what we have."
Mei didn't say anything more.
She just walked silently beside Shiori.
That night.
Shiori sat on her bed in her room, clutching her phone.
The only light was the indirect lamp. An orange glow softly lit the walls.
A message arrived on the screen.
From Tenjin Minami.
*Looks like Akari's seriously fallen for Yakuin.*
Shiori read the line over and over.
"...No way."
Her voice shook.
*What do we do about our pair? If Akari's serious, I'll step aside.*
Minami's second message.
Shiori started typing a reply.
*I see. Thank you for telling me.*
...Delete.
*What should I do?*
...Delete.
*What do you want to do, Minami-kun?*
...Delete.
Her fingers trembled.
She typed and deleted, over and over.
In the end, Shiori sent only a short reply.
*Let me think about it for a bit.*
Send.
She set the phone on the bed.
Looked up at the ceiling.
(Akari-chan is serious about Jirou-kun.)
(About my Jirou-kun.)
(...He's not mine, though.)
A single tear spilled from Shiori's eye.
It traced down her cheek and soaked into the pillow.
"...What am I even doing?"
Shiori whispered.
The tears wouldn't stop.
The next morning.
The classroom was wrapped in the usual morning clamor.
Yakuin Jirou was at his desk, rummaging through his bag.
"...It's not here."
His life diary was missing.
A required submission for the marriage training. An A5-sized dedicated notebook. The one where you wrote down daily chore divisions and conversation records.
"Hey, Yakuin."
A voice came from behind him.
He turned to find Watanabe Akari standing there, the pink-haired gyaru.
Her nails were flashy again today. Her big, bright brown eyes glared at Jirou.
"W-what is it?"
"What is this?"
Akari thrust a scrap of paper in front of his face.
A torn page from the life diary.
"...Where'd you find that?"
"On your desk. It was sitting there when I got here this morning."
Akari's voice was low.
"Who did this?"
"I'm the one asking."
Akari took a step closer.
"This isn't Shiori-chan's handwriting, is it?"
Jirou's heart gave a jolt.
"Huh? No way. Shiori's got nothing to do with this."
"You met up with Shiori-chan in the library yesterday, didn't you? One of those 'chance encounters'?"
Akari's voice turned cold.
"...No. We just happened to run into each other."
Jirou faltered.
"Hmm. Happened to, huh."
Akari pressed the torn page against Jirou's chest.
"Sorry for getting in your way."
With that, Akari turned and left the classroom.
Her pink hair swayed.
"...Akari."
Jirou couldn't call her back.
At the classroom entrance.
Sakurazaka Shiori stood frozen.
She had heard everything. All of it.
"...Jirou-kun."
Shiori's voice was faint.
After school.
Shiori stopped Jirou in the hallway.
"Jirou-kun, do you have a minute?"
"...Shiori."
Jirou stopped walking.
"I'm sorry. I was the one who called out to you in the library, so Akari-chan got the wrong idea..."
Shiori looked down.
"I'll explain it to Akari-chan properly."
"No—it's not your fault, Shiori. I'll be the one to tell her."
Jirou shook his head.
"...What do you think about Akari-chan, Jirou-kun?"
Shiori lifted her face.
Her amber eyes looked straight at him.
"Huh?"
Jirou froze.
"Do you like Akari-chan?"
Shiori's voice trembled.
"...I don't know."
Jirou forced the words out.
"I don't know. ...Sorry."
Silence.
Only their two shadows stretched down the hallway.
"...Sorry for asking something weird. Forget it."
Shiori put on a smile.
"See you tomorrow."
Shiori turned and walked away.
Her back was trembling, just slightly.
"...Shiori."
Jirou started to reach out.
But he couldn't reach her.
Shiori didn't look back.
That night.
The living room of the training apartment.
Jirou sat alone in front of the surveillance camera.
The red light blinked on and off, on and off.
In his hands was a new life diary.
He opened to a blank page.
Gripped his pen.
(I have to write.)
(The mutual understanding section. Today's chore division. Points for reflection.)
(...I can't write.)
Jirou set down the pen.
Akari's cold voice echoed in his head.
*Sorry for getting in your way.*
Shiori's trembling back rose in his mind.
*Do you like Akari-chan?*
"...What am I even doing?"
Jirou whispered.
On the blank page of the life diary, he couldn't write Shiori's name, or Akari's name.
He couldn't write either of them.
The red light of the surveillance camera silently kept recording Jirou.
"...Damn it."
Jirou pressed his fist
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