My Girlfriend Who Is Older Than Me Teases Me When I’m Working At A Bar, But Maybe Because Of Alcohol

Nanami’s True feelings and Support and…

“Oh my, what’s up with that crowd of people over there? They seem to be from other classes too. What’s all the fuss about?”

“Hey, did you hear about it, Nanami? Yesterday, Mio-chan went home with a boy, probably her boyfriend!”

This happened just as Nanami, Mio’s best friend, showed up in the classroom. The class was noisy, and a group of students had gathered around someone. That someone was Mio, the angel of the nursing department.

“Oh, I see. That’s why everyone’s making a fuss. I get it now,” Nanami said.

“I just heard about her having a boyfriend a little while ago, so I was surprised. There was a rumor before that Mio-chan went home with a man, and it turns out that was true!”

“I see,” said Nanami, putting her bag down on the nearby desk and continuing the conversation with her friend while observing the scene from afar.

“Do you know what kind of person Mio-chan’s boyfriend is, Nanami? He seems to be a very mature person!”

“Hehehe, do you think I’m not one of the information sources?”

“So, what does that mean?”

“It means I have a photo!”

“Wow!”

Nanami’s friend’s eyes sparkled like she had found a treasure as Nanami opened her bag and took out her smartphone. Nanami was planning to share the photo, not as a harassment or prank, but as an act without any ill will or malice.

Rather, it was because she was supporting the two of them.

***

A few days ago…

“Oh, that’s right. I have some news for Nanami-nee chan,” said Haru while sitting on the sofa after taking a bath and watching a variety show, calling out to Nanami.

“Hmm?”

“Do you remember Toma, my best friend that I talked to you about before? He finally fell in love with Mio-senpai.”

“…”

While wiping her damp hair with a towel, Haru said, 

“So… that’s it.”

If she hadn’t been wiping her head with a towel at that moment, Haru would have seen the moment when Nanami’s face twisted with a painful expression. The cheerful voices from the variety show made Nana-mi look even gloomier.

“So Toma fell in love… Truly… As expected of Mio-chan to make someone fall in love with her,” said Nanami, gazing up at the ceiling with a sigh. By then, she had returned to her usual expression.

“Huh? That’s your only reaction?” Haru asked.

“What do you mean ‘only reaction’…?”

“Well, I expected you to react with something like ‘Oh, congratulations to themmmm!!!’ or something like that, but you don’t seem too happy… on the contrary.”

“I am happy. It’s just a happy news about my friend,” Nanami replied.

“It doesn’t look that way to me. And if you were happy, you would have expressed it out loud.”

It wasn’t 10 years. They had spent a long 20 years together. They knew each other’s personalities so well that they couldn’t hide anything from each other. They were close siblings, and that’s why they could have such a conversation.

“I guess I can’t deceive you after all… Haru…”

“Did something happen?”

“Well, it’s not like nothing happened… I mean, I’m really happy for them, but the sadness outweighs it.”

“That doesn’t quite make sense…”

Mio had no regrets about supporting their relationship. With that feeling, she made plans and tried to shorten the distance between them.

So she objectively thought, “It doesn’t matter to me if those two start dating,” but that was wrong.

As soon as she heard the news, she felt a pain in her chest. She was on the verge of drowning in tears… even though she should have been happy.

“Oh, I see… it’s like they got there first. Those two like each other, so it’s only a matter of time before they start dating…”

“Oh, right.”

There was no way she could say, “I’me also interested in Toma-kun,” to Haru.

So she had to lie.

“Does that mean Mio-senpai liked Toma from the beginning? I had a feeling, but…”

“Yeah. Thanks for letting me know, Haru… I’m going to go back to my room for a bit.”

If it were normal circumstances, Nanami would have suggested something like, “Let’s throw a celebration party,” but right now she couldn’t muster up the feeling to celebrate.

“I was prepared for this… why?”

Nanami whispered quietly, slowly stood up, and turned her back to Haru, consciously avoiding showing her current expression.

“Hey, Haru… don’t come into my room, okay?”

“Uh, sure… you don’t look well, so get some rest, okay?”

“Okay…”

That day, Nanami cried herself to sleep in silence.

It was the pain of unrequited love. And this was the only way she could switch off her emotions.

Time goes back.

“Please! Show us a picture of Mio-chan’s boyfriend!”

“Well, okay. But don’t blame me if you fall for him, okay?”

“Yeah yeah! Thank youuuu!”

As she watched her excited friends, Nanami opened her album on her smartphone and slid her finger to find the desired photo.

Normally, she would have to get Mio’s permission, but in this situation where they were mistaken about Mio having a boyfriend, this was an exception.

Toma likes Mio, and Mio likes Toma. They both know that they like each other, so if one of them had the courage to confess, a real couple would be born. It’s just a matter of time before they start dating.

All Nanami had to do was create a path to confession. She had worked hard to make Touma fall in love with Mio. As a best friend, she wanted to assist in any way she could.

She had already switched her feelings off.

“Here it is! This one.”

And she showed her friends a cropped photo of Toma and Mio together from a previous two-shot at a bar.

“What?! Is her partner the bartender? Mio-chan’s going to high places…!”

“By the way, this is without any editing.”

“What?! This isn’t edited? Then if we actually meet him, he’ll be even cooler! As expected of Mio-chan to be able to get him…”

“I’ve met him too, and he was friendly and kind. It might be just a matter of time before we see Mio-chan melting in front of him~”

Though Nanami spoke with a joking tone, she anticipated that if the two of them were to date, it would reveal a huge gap in Mio’s personality. She was sure that everyone would be surprised by it.

“Hey, hey, can I show this picture to everyone who’s gathered here?”

“Well, if you’re prepared to be scolded by Mio-chan later with us, then sure, why not?”

“Prepared to be scolded… Yeah! I can do it!”

“Alright then, go ahead.”

“Here I go!”

Nanami’s friend, who took her phone, made a sharp salute and headed straight into the group.

“Hey, everyone! This is Mio-chan’s boyfriend!”

She raised her phone and shouted with a single voice. The next moment, the atmosphere in the classroom transformed.

“Huh!?”

“Where is heee!?”

“Let me see first!”

The classroom turned into a festival frenzy. Instead of showing each other the photo, they ended up in a brawl, making it a topic of conversation that spread around.

More and more onlookers gathered in the hallway.

“Sorry, Mio-chan!”

Even though they were speaking from a distance, Nanami raised her voice louder than usual and put her hands together in apology towards Mio.

“Huh? Nanami!? Why are you doing this…?”

Her thoughts were conveyed as if in a sub-audio, “You know that Toma-kun is not my boyfriend, right?”

Without speaking, Nanami slowly moved her mouth and replied, “So now you have no choice but to make Toma-kun your boyfriend, right?” She showed a mischievous smile. This was exactly what Nanami had planned.

By creating this situation, Mio would consider confessing her feelings to Toma-kun.

To clear up such a big misunderstanding, the quickest solution was to change their current relationship. After all, the only thing they had to do was to make Toma-kun her boyfriend. Once they confess, they can start dating.

“I was planning on confessing even without you doing this, you know?”

Mio would only learn the truth of this years later, but it would become a good memory.

…However, for one person, this incident was nothing but an object of intense anger.