24
“D-don’t say that, Kou-kun. I don’t want to go home yet.”
Despite urging her to go home, Mio refused to badge.
Just like that time, she looked up at me with her eyes lowered, begging me to continue our date.
Whether it was intentional or not, I couldn’t tell.
The only thing I knew for sure was that I didn’t want to look at Mio like this anymore.
“Even so, I think our parents are starting to worry…”
“I’ll contact them! So please, is it okay!?”
Mentioning my parents, I tried to steer the conversation back towards going home, but Mio immediately interrupted me.
Her tone was rough, unbecoming of her usual gentle nature.
Normally, Mio would have tried to persuade me more rationally.
But I couldn’t sense an ounce of composure in her now.
“C’mon, c’mon! It’s fine! I’m going to buy new glasses! Then I’ll wear them to school tomorrow! Contacts don’t suit me after all! You thought so too, didn’t you, Kou!?”
Her voice was trembling with excitement, but her face seemed pale. Was it because of the cold?
She had always had fair skin, but now, illuminated by the flickering streetlights, she looked almost sickly pale.
It was beautiful in a way, but Mio now seemed like a delicate, fragile doll that would shatter if touched.
“This appearance was supposed to be a surprise for you, Kou! I just wanted you to think I was pretty, that’s all!? Things happened and it got weird, but that’s really all it was!”
Mio grabbed my arm as I stopped, her hand trembling.
Yet, her slender fingers held onto me with a strength that was almost painful.
Tightly, tightly.
As if to say she would never let go.
“Winter break is almost here, and we won’t have to go to school anymore. Then we can study for the entrance exams together! We promised to go to the same high school, remember? C’mon, c’mon! The third term will fly by after winter break, and then we’ll graduate! And once we’re high schoolers, I’ll go back to being my old self! I’ll wear glasses and pigtails, and I’ll be the same gloomy, plain Mio Misaka! So please…”
As Mio spoke of the future, large tears welled up in her eyes.
It was a sight I had never seen from either the Mio I knew or the idol Mio.
“Let’s be together, Kou… Just a little while longer, please bear with me…”
Her voice was filled with such anguish, as if she believed that if our date ended here, everything would be over.
“…………”
For a moment, I almost nodded in agreement.
I wanted to grant Mio’s wish.
“Mio…”
In truth, it would have been easy to nod.
Like Mio said, graduation was only a few months away.
Once we were in high school, perhaps the Mio I knew before would return.
It was an undeniably appealing proposal.
But――――
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“…………Let’s go home, Mio.”
In the end, my answer never wavered.
“Ah…”
“It’s getting dark. Even if you don’t go home, I’ll go back alone.”
The strength drained from Mio’s hand.
Without missing a beat, I untangled our fingers and put some distance between us.
“…See you tomorrow. At school.”
“You can’t believe it, can you?” I quickly walk past Mio, who is staring at me with wide eyes.
As we pass each other, I see Mio’s hand hovering in the air.
“I’m sorry…”
That’s all I can say.
“I’m so sorry…!”
I don’t know if Mio realizes it, but it’s impossible.
It’s impossible for us to be together. To endure this.
My heart is already in pieces after a month.
There’s no way I can endure this for a few more months.
And above all—
“There’s no way we can go back to the way we were…!”
Even if Cinderella returned to her old life, the prince would eventually come to fetch her.
That’s because her radiance was genuine.
Mio’s name is already well-known throughout the school, regardless of grade.
I don’t know how many students from our school will enter the high school we’re going to, but the probability of there being a student who doesn’t know Mio is almost zero.
So what if that student talks about Mio?
What if, even if that plain Mio returned, she was once again drawn back into being an idol?
I don’t even want to think about it.
I definitely wouldn’t be able to bear it.
“I’m sorry for being weak…”
Our relationship was doomed to fail from the start, Mio.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for you…!”
Even this voice won’t reach Mio, who I left behind.
Who am I apologizing to? It’s not like it makes a difference.
“I understand…”
So, at the very least, let me do this.
Just this once, let me do it properly.
I just need a little time to prepare myself.
Once I’m ready, I’ll face you properly, just this once, and say goodbye.
“Guh, uuu…”
I have no right to cry anymore.
But for some reason, tears welled up and wouldn’t stop.