So I just began reading this series and it reminds me of how I had to keep my feelings for my straight friend a secret and would constantly tell myself “I’ll stay by her side” and “As long as I’m by her side I should be grateful”. But the problem is that just like in the story it is really painful to know that your love is unrequited. You do not want to ruin anything by telling them that you like them, especially knowing that nothing will come out of it. There’s a thought of “what’s the point“ and “ do I think that they’ll be OK as well and come to like me eventually?” Even though that’s rarely gonna happen. You can’t change or turn someone who is straight to be gay, just like you can’t turn someone into straight. And it’s wishful thinking.
Of course, it’s going to be slow. If you’re hoping for a good ending Mugi isn’t just going to be able to respond to feelings that she didn’t even notice so fast. Someone who is potentially bisexual, is going to take a while to explore feelings for a friend they previously saw only platonically. Even if this friendship is so strong it really is hard to switch from platonic to romantic. Just imagine your best friend; wouldn’t it be weird if you started to like them? You’re a ride or die friends, who you would share relationship troubles with and have opened up to … what if they liked you? Wouldn’t it be shocking?
Even after telling my friend, because I was suffering so much, and in so much pain and guilt and shame and self repulsion my friend, and I tried to get along for years after. But knowing that she would never see me as a potential partner, and that she couldn’t handle being conscious of me and always remembering that I liked her, I had to break the friendship. I knew that she would never break the friendship because she wasn’t in pain she wasn’t suffering, so there was no reason that she was unhappy, hanging out with me while on my side I suffered being around her