49
“Miorin? Miorin is…”
Perhaps because of what happened earlier, Mihara was unusually hesitant in his speech.
He glanced at me, probably because he was unsure whether it was okay to say anything.
Or maybe he was just checking.
“…”
But I didn’t answer. I couldn’t answer.
From Noble mtl dot com
I didn’t know what to say.
“Um…”
Akane-san was just curious, so there was probably no deeper meaning to it.
Of course not. After all, we don’t know anything about each other.
Just as I wanted to know about her, Akane-san was just trying to learn about something she didn’t know.
That’s all it was. It was just a rite of passage for getting to know each other.
Even children do it. It’s a normal thing.
“Miorin is, well…”
So I couldn’t stop Mihara as he began to speak as if he had occupied himself to it.
What he was about to say wasn’t something that should be trampled on.
Because it was definitely something that had happened in the past,
“Tsujimura-kun’s ex-girlfriend.”
And most importantly, I, of all people, shouldn’t deny it—it was an undeniable fact.
“…Ex-girlfriend, huh?”
“Yeah. They were always together in middle school… but they seem to have broken up around the third quarter of their third year.”
“Is that so…”
“They’re in different classes, but they go to the same high school, so they’ll probably see each other again eventually. She’s a really cute girl. She’s a friend I’m really proud of.”
After saying that, Mihara turned back around.
It was probably Mihara’s way of indicating that he didn’t want to talk about it anymore.
He seemed to be trying to be considerate, but I wasn’t in a place where I could honestly feel grateful.
(She knows about Mio…)
I felt a heavy weight pressing down on me.
It was probably something called the past.
(This is bad…)
I couldn’t see Akane-san’s face as she walked behind me.
So I couldn’t read her mind.
What was she thinking after hearing this?
「…………」
In the end, Akane-san didn’t say anything.
As we approached the station, we naturally parted ways without speaking.
It was a road filled with nothing but silence, and I secretly hoped that she wouldn’t notice the reason I was crying earlier.
“…Even after becoming a high school student, this is all I amount to.”
My heart was horribly depressed as I trudged home alone.
The reason goes without saying. The start of high school life was anything but peaceful.
“Maybe I really am incapable…”
Starting over. Changing for the better.
Having no such resolve and just going with the flow, I suppose it was my fault for grabbing onto a chance that just happened to come floating by.
Was it wrong of me to think that I could change something?
“Dammit…!”
I was so frustrated with my own weakness that I kicked a pebble at my feet.
Even though I knew it was just taking my anger out on something else, I couldn’t help but feel better.
With a clatter, it drew a beautiful parabola before finally falling and bouncing along the ground.
As I watched it, it eventually hit something and made a small sound before coming to a stop.
“hahahaha.”
Seeing that, I felt a little better. But I soon realized something.
The pebble hadn’t hit anything on the road.
“Huh…”
It was a shoe.
A brand-new pair of loafers, so shiny they reflected the light, obviously just bought.
There was no way something like that would be rolling around on the road.
And if I looked up a little, I could see black knee-high socks.
And a skirt—a girl. And the pattern looked familiar.
Wasn’t that the same uniform as the two girls I was with earlier――――
“Ah……”
My heart skipped a beat.
Who was it? Why were they here? I was almost at my house.
Why would a student be standing here, not at school――――
“You’re late. I’ve been waiting for ages.”
The moment I heard that voice, my heart skipped a beat.