I agreed it was best to let Shiba-kun and Kurumi deal with their own problems.
Whatever was going on between them… it seemed deeper than anything I should get involved in.
And, for some reason, that bothered me.
Then I found out exactly why.
A knock came from the door.
"Hey~ Are you Takumi's girlfriend?"
Kurumi's voice.
What the hell—?
That's what they are to each other?!?
"Because I was about to say, I'm Takumi's girlfriend. And if you two did anything while I wasn't around, that's technically cheati—"
Okay, that's enough bullshit.
I hadn't even thought of Shiba-kun that way. Not once.
So don't drag me into whatever relationship problems you two have.
I opened the door.
"Will you shut the hell up, Kurumi?"
There she was, standing with her hands on her hips.
Shiba-kun was behind her, looking absolutely mortified.
I glared at Kurumi.
"You're disturbing the neighbors. Do you seriously have to make such a damn scene?"
Kurumi's face fell.
She glanced between me and Shiba-kun before her eyes settled on him.
"Of course it's Aika…"
Her voice was suddenly colder.
"You always acted like you hated this bitch, and now you're trying to cheat on me with her?"
What the hell?
I knew Shiba-kun well enough to know he wouldn't try something like that. Not with me, anyway.
If anyone between the two of you was going to cheat, it'd probably be you.
That idiot wouldn't even dare look at another girl if he had a girlfriend.
Shiba-kun groaned, and an exasperated "Women" growl escaped his lips.
I glared at him.
Seriously?
"Anyway. Like you said, we're bothering the neighbors, so let's just go inside," Shiba-kun said, motioning toward the door.
Kurumi rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, yeah. Let's hear you out," she said, doing her best to sound bored.
From where I was standing, Kurumi seemed like a pretty terrible girlfriend.
How did Shiba-kun end up with her of all people?
We went inside his apartment.
And, unlike the last time I was here, Kurumi's stuff was everywhere now.
A few Kuromi plushies. Makeup tools. Even pads.
I stared for a second.
…Okay.
So they really were that close.
As the two love birds stared each other down, I decided I'd had enough of the silence.
"Okay, so… first of all, Shiba-kun is my classmate."
I looked between the two of them.
"The whole beef between us started because I turned down his offer to collaborate. I felt bad about how I handled it, we eventually made up, and somewhere along the way, I started considering him a friend."
I sighed, crossing my arms.
"So, yeah. I think I deserve to know how my classmate and my groupmate somehow ended up dating."
I turned my attention to Kurumi.
She raised an eyebrow.
"Wait. Did you approach Forsaken because he dissed me?"
Kurumi blinked.
Then a slow smile spread across her face.
"Oh?"
She leaned back in her chair, crossing one leg over the other.
"So that's what you think happened?"
I frowned.
"Well, did it?"
Kurumi let out a soft laugh.
"Not exactly~"
She glanced at Takumi for a moment before looking back at me.
"I knew about the diss, obviously. I thought it was fucking hilarious."
My eyebrow twitched.
"Hilarious?"
"Mm-hmm~"
She grinned.
"But I didn't approach him because of that."
"Then why?"
Kurumi's smile became a little more mischievous.
"Because I met him before I even knew he was Forsaken."
I stared at her.
"…You did?"
"Yep~"
She tilted her head.
"He was working at a bar in Matsumoto. I thought he was just some random delinquent with a big mouth."
Takumi groaned.
"Hey."
"What? You were."
I ignored him.
"So you knew him before the diss?"
"Before I even knew who he was."
Kurumi's grin widened.
"I only found out he was Forsaken later."
I looked between them.
"So you approached him because you were interested in him?"
Kurumi paused.
Then she smiled.
"Maybe~"
Takumi immediately sighed.
"Don't."
"What?" she asked innocently. "I'm just answering her question."
I narrowed my eyes.
This was somehow even more confusing than I expected.
"And then the second time, he invited me to his apartment. It was so romantic. I was drunk as fuck, and things got… pretty intimate."
She smirked.
I stared at her.
Okay.
Too much information.
Way too much information.
I slowly looked toward Shiba-kun.
He looked like he wanted the floor to swallow him whole.
"Do you seriously have to tell me all of that?"
Kurumi shrugged.
"You asked how we ended up dating~"
"I asked how you met, not for your entire damn relationship history."
"My bad."
Kurumi yawned lazily before turning her attention back to Takumi.
"So… classmates, huh?"
She tilted her head, a mischievous smile creeping across her face.
"You told me a very different story, Takumi~"
The last word came out with a playful little hiss, her eyes narrowing at him.
"Were you hiding something from me?"
He stared directly at her.
"Yeah. Everyone knows you two don't get along. I didn't wanna get caught in the middle of that."
…So that's why he didn't tell me anything?
I don't know.
Part of me still felt like he was keeping it secret so he could gather information about both of us.
Yeah. Shiba-kun could be an asshole.
But… if we ignore that, his excuse was actually pretty reasonable.
Kurumi and I don't exactly get along.
If he'd told her we were classmates, he would've gotten caught in the middle of our bullshit sooner or later.
So, yeah.
I could understand why he kept his mouth shut.
Kurumi puffed out her cheeks, clearly not satisfied.
"But I'm your girlfriend, Takumi~"
She leaned closer, narrowing her eyes at him.
"You're supposed to take my side."
Takumi stared at her.
"I'm supposed to take the side of whoever's right."
Kurumi's expression immediately soured.
"Whose side are you on, then?"
"Neither."
"Ugh. You're so annoying."
"I'm annoying? You don't even reply to my texts."
"Excuse me? I'm the one who called you FIFTY TIMES without getting an answer."
"After you ghosted me."
"I was busy! You deleted our messages just to get my attention."
"Because you ghosted me."
"See?! It was to get my attention!" she shot back. "Did you ever think maybe I was just busy? Come on, you know I would've reached out eventually."
"Eventually?"
"Yes, eventually!"
"You could've just answered."
"I was busy!"
"You're always busy."
"And you're always trying to get back at me."
"What?"
"You do this every time you're upset with me." Her voice became more irritated. "You ignore me, delete messages, act like I don't exist…"
"You did it first!"
…Yeah. They were fighting now… about ghosting.
Seriously?
This is so stupid.
How the hell did these two even end up dating?
"SHUT UP!"
I yelled before I could stop myself.
"I'm not here to watch you two have your stupid couple fight! I was actually trying to figure out what the hell is going on so you can both leave me out of it!"
Kurumi shrugged, completely unfazed.
"Yeah, that's our Princess~ Always spoiling someone's fun."
I stared at her.
"…You actually think this is fun?"
She smiled.
"A little~"
"You're unbelievable."
Kurumi giggled.
"And you're cute when you're annoyed, Center-chan~"
"Don't call me that!"
She laughed again.
Shiba-kun turned to Kurumi.
"You're the one who dragged her here."
"And you were in her apartment."
I rolled my eyes.
"I just asked him to help me change the light at my place. He's my neighbor. Like I said, don't drag me into this."
Shiba-kun glanced at me and gave me a quick wink.
"See? Nothing happened."
He turned back to Kurumi.
"If anything, why are you so obsessed with cheating? Anything I should know?"
…
Wow.
I stared at him.
He really had no idea what he'd just walked into.
Kurumi's smile froze for half a second.
"Why are you so obsessed with cheating?"
She blinked.
"Me? Obsessed?"
"Yeah."
She tilted her head, then smiled again.
"Aww~ Are you worried about me, Takumi?"
"That's not what I asked."
"Then why are you asking?"
"Because you keep bringing it up."
Kurumi shrugged.
"Maybe I just don't trust you~"
Shiba-kun raised an eyebrow.
"You don't trust me?"
"Of course I do."
She smiled sweetly.
"…Most of the time."
"That's not reassuring."
She giggled.
"See? You're getting defensive already~"
"I'm not defensive."
"You totally are."
She leaned closer, smiling at the idiot like she had just successfully changed the subject.
"Besides, if you weren't doing anything wrong, why are you so worried about what I think?"
He stared at her.
"…You just flipped that back on me."
"Did I?~"
"You absolutely did."
Kurumi smiled innocently.
"Then I guess we're even, rapper boy~"
Then she pouted dramatically, trying to play the pissy girlfriend.
"Maybe I'm just worried about my boyfriend, that's all…"
Shiba-kun raised an eyebrow.
"That's a pretty weird way of showing it."
Kurumi puffed out her cheeks.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You're the one who immediately assumed I was cheating."
"Because you were alone with a girl!"
"She's my neighbor."
"Still~"
I sighed.
They were going in circles again.
Kurumi suddenly turned toward me.
"Right, Center-chan?"
I blinked.
"What?"
"You think I'm being unreasonable, don't you?"
I stared at her.
"…I think you're both being idiots."
"See? Even she agrees with me."
"I absolutely did not say that."
Kurumi giggled.
"Close enough~"
Shiba-kun groaned.
"This is exactly why I didn't want to get caught in the middle."
I rubbed my temples.
"You know what? I'm the one who's currently caught in the middle here, so I'm removing myself from this conversation."
I stood up.
"I'm going back to my place."
Shiba-kun looked at me.
"Yeah. Sorry you got dragged into this."
"It's fine. Just… try not to kill each other."
Kurumi crossed her arms.
"We're not going to kill each other~"
She glanced at Shiba-kun.
"Probably."
"That's reassuring," I muttered.
I grabbed my jacket and looked at both of them.
"Anyway, see you around, Shiba-kun. Kurumi."
I hesitated for a second.
"I hope you two figure this out and stay together."
I shrugged.
"…I guess."
Shiba-kun blinked.
"Thanks?"
Kurumi smiled.
"Aww~ Center-chan wants us to stay together."
"Don't make it weird."
"I wasn't."
"You were."
She giggled.
I sighed.
"Whatever. Just… good luck with all this."
"Thanks," Shiba-kun said.
Kurumi waved.
"Bye-bye, Center-chan~"
I gave her one last annoyed look before stepping out.
I didn't know if I actually meant what I said.
It didn't matter.
I was irritated the entire time.
I just didn't know why.
The only thing I knew was that I wanted absolutely nothing to do with their stupid lovers' quarrel.
So why the hell did walking away from them bother me so much?