Mika tried. She dyed her hair lighter. She practiced laughing louder. She stopped finishing people’s sentences and started interrupting—because that’s what Saki did.
And when she does, Mika hoped she’d have the strength Mika eventually found: the strength to say, "I am not anyone’s instead. I am someone’s because." If you ever hear "ano ko no kwari ni suki na dake" directed at you—run. Not because you’re unlovable, but because you deserve to be loved as a first choice, not a substitute.
Mika had always been the "second choice." ano ko no kwari ni suki na dake
She simply stopped answering Yuto’s texts.
It’s the verbal equivalent of a bandage on a wound that needs stitches. The speaker isn’t saying, "I’ve moved on." They’re saying, "You’re the next best thing." Mika tried
In Japanese culture—where indirectness is often politeness—this phrase is brutally direct. It’s rarely said aloud because it’s so hurtful. But when it is said, it’s a confession of emotional convenience, not love. Three months in, Mika noticed the cracks.
Not "Does he like me?" but "Why did I accept being someone’s instead?" Not because you’re unlovable, but because you deserve
"I just like you instead of her."