33
I didn’t answer Misaki’s question.
“You’ve changed, Misaki.”
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Instead, I turned my gaze to the childhood friend standing before me.
“Huh…?”
“Yes. You’ve changed a lot. You’ve become very beautiful.”
Misaki blinked slightly, as if taken aback.
Even with her expression all messed up, there’s no doubt that she’s an undeniable beauty.
“You’ve grown so much prettier… It’s like you’re a completely different person.”
Bathed in the glow of the sunset, Mio, who was now a golden color, was truly beautiful.
Her ethereal beauty was combined with a sense of fragility, as if she might break if you touched her, making her seem like a doll.
An idol.
Isn’t that the perfect word to describe Mio right now?
“W, what are you saying, Kou-kun…? I’m me. I’m the Misaka Mio that Kou-kun knows!!”
When I stared at her in silence, Mio suddenly raised her voice.
As if to deny what I had said, she insisted that it wasn’t true.
Her reaction seemed a little excessive, but I didn’t pay much attention to it.
“That’s right. The one in front of me is Mio, that’s for sure.”
It’s too late for that now, anyway.
There’s no point in dwelling on it.
From here on out, it’s a one-way street. There’s no turning back.
“See!? Then!!”
“But you’re not the Mio I know.”
I shook my head slowly.
“The Mio I know was a quiet girl. She wasn’t good at socializing, and she wasn’t the type of person who could be the center of attention.”
“That’s…”
“She wasn’t the type of person who would raise her voice like this… Now that I think about it, we’ve never even fought before.”
I suddenly realized that.
Was it because we were both quiet by nature?
Up until now, we had never had a fight.
From before we started dating, from the very first time we met until today, I don’t think we’ve ever had an argument.
“…Yeah.”
“Maybe…”
If we had been able to be honest with each other sooner, maybe things wouldn’t have turned out this way.
I thought about it, but it was probably impossible.
“Kou-kun…?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
Something had to happen for that to happen.
In our stagnant relationship, where we didn’t seek change, there was almost no chance of an argument developing.
(That means…)
Our compatibility was, in a sense, the worst.
Once the gears are out of alignment, we don’t know how to put them back.
Even though we seemed to care about each other, we may have been afraid of the fact that we wouldn’t be able to fix things.
“I’m beat.”
If that’s the case, then maybe we were destined to end up like this sooner or later.
Unable to take the first step, unable to fully commit.
At least I was always afraid of getting hurt.
“Seriously, I’m done with this.”
We were never really lovers, in the true sense of the word.
In that case, there’s nothing left but to break up.
That’s the only thing I can do for Mio.
Even if it means hurting her deeply.