Chapter Text
"What color do you think she would like?"
"Do you think she'll like this one?"
"Would this sweet be to her liking?"
"Is this book interesting enough for her?"
"What if she thinks I'm weird because I keep giving her gifts?"
At that, you laughed, a beautiful sound, a wonderful sound (a sound never good enough for him). "Obanai-kun, if someone gave me a little gift every week, I think I'd love it."
Obanai bit his lip (not that you can see it), pondering your input. "Oh well," he says at last, "I guess so."
"Of course so!" you replied indigently, pouting childishly. "How about me, hm, Obanai-kun? What do I get?"
The Serpent Hashira looked at you in surprise. "I thought we were shopping for Kanroji-san."
You rolled your eyes good-naturedly, elbowing him teasingly. "It's always Kanroji-san this, Kanroji-san that, isn't it, Obanai-kun?"
He blushed and you latched onto his arm, pulling him around the streets, giggling infectiously, eyes bright.
It was no mistake - you were a wonderful girl. A beautiful one at that. You had a cheery personality, adorable and lovable, and with your luxurious (h/c) locks of hair, dazzling eyes, you were beautiful. Everybody loved you, young and old, male and female. Every boy in town had asked you out and unfortunately for them, you always turned them down as gently as you could. When asked why, you always said sympathetically, "I'm waiting for someone else!"
Yes, you were in love with your best friend, Obanai.
He, in turn, was in love with Kanroji Mitsuri and you knew you stood no chance against her.
Your brother, Sanemi, had told you repeatedly to drop it, to stop chasing after Obanai and let him go - throw him away. He didn't deserve you, he instead. You, however, in your friendly nature (or was it naïveté?) refused to "kick him away like the trash he is" as Sanemi had told you to do. Much to your brother's dismay, you continued to follow him around, smiling sweetly at him and never dropping a hint that you were madly in love with him. To you, after all, as long as he was happy, you were happy.
Even if it meant getting thrown aside like nothing.
You didn't know why Obanai suddenly decided to stop talking about Mitsuri day in and out. You didn't know why he stopped coming to you for love advice. You certainly didn't know why he suddenly showed up at your apartment, and mumbled quietly, "Do you want to go get dinner together?"
You ignored his downcast eyes and his broken figure, and said "Of course!"
You ignored all that and continued to loved him blindly.
You and Obanai were officially a thing.
As always, you ignored all doubts, questions, and inquiries other people had. "How about Kanroji?" people would ask. You'd never answer. "Don't let yourself be the extra," Shinobu warned you every single day. You assured her you weren't. "You're a stupid replacement," your brother spit out. You ignored his warning. Obanai loved you and only you... right?
However, as the days passed on, you found it increasingly hard to ignore how much he ignored you. You already barely spent any time together because of his work, but even during the date nights you had, you began to notice that his eyes seemed to wander elsewhere. They looked longingly at something else, someone else - anybody and anything but you (Weren't you good enough?). Any attempt at conversation was shut down with a "yes", "no", or "I don't know".
And yet, even through all that, you comforted yourself, murmuring that he was just tired from his work. When you made him his lunch and gave it to him before he set off every morning, he would say "thanks" politely and leave promptly. "Thanks" was enough to keep yourself motivated.
"Damn it, can't you see that you're just a replacement?!" Sanemi burst out one day.
You glanced over from your seat across the dinning table. Sanemi yelling wasn't abnormal, though you had hoped that he would at least have a decent conversation with more talking and less screaming since you two barely met up after you both started working for different companies. "What are you talking about?"
"That damn Iguro. He's using you as a freaking replacement because Kanroji rejected him," he spit out venomously.
Blinking twice, you tilt your head. "Really now?"
"Damn it, Y/N, don't you care?! He's hurting you."
"I don't think that-"
"You don't think so?! Then why, Y/N, does he never swing by more often and ask how you're doing like the good boyfriend he should be?! Why does he ignore you as much as he can?! Why isn't he paying attention to your feelings?!" he all but screamed. "He's still in love with Kanroji and you're stupid if you can't see that."
Just then, Obanai unlocked the door to the apartment you two had bought together.
"See?" Sanemi seethed, clenching his fists, "look at his face. He doesn't love you."
You looked at your "boyfriend", eyes blank. "Obanai-kun?"
"Tell her," your brother snapped. "Tell her the truth, damn it. Tell her and get your sorry self out of here."
"Obanai-kun?" you repeated, voice trembling.
Obanai understood. He knew what he was being asked. "Y/N, I-"
"Don't you dare try to lie to her," Sanemi warned dangerously.
Looking up slowly, he struggled to find words. "Y/N... I..."
He didn't have to finish his sentence for you to know. Obanai didn't love you after all. Obanai never did. To him, you were just a friend. Someone to go to after Mitsuri rejected him. Someone replaceable. And that's when the dam broke and the tears started overflowing.
You knew.
(You would never be good enough for Obanai.)