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“Regret it?”
Akaishi-san looked down slightly in response to my question.
I could guess what she was thinking from her expression, but I continued to speak.
“Yes. I’m curious if Akaishi-san regrets appearing on TV.”
After all, it was an event that triggered the bullying.
There’s no way she doesn’t.
I just wanted to hear it directly from her.
Akaishi-san’s gaze wandered for a while, but then she seemed to make up her mind and slowly opened her mouth.
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“If I said I don’t, I’d be lying.”
“…You’re not denying it.”
I was a little surprised.
The people who bullied Akaishi-san aren’t here.
I don’t think she needs to be careful, but she was being evasive.
As if she was saying that there was something wrong with her too.
That seemed to be the case, and she took another sip from her cup before continuing her story with a small wry smile.
“My appearance on TV was the deciding factor, but that was just the final push.”
“You mean you were being targeted before that?”
When I asked that, Akaishi-san nodded.
“As you can see, I’m a bookworm. I’m the kind of woman who would prioritize reading a book over meeting someone, even if I’m late. I’ve never been good at socializing, and I’ve hardly had any friends. I guess you could say I’m out of sync with others. I’m also bad at reading the atmosphere, and I’m a bit of a klutz. So, when the right ingredients came together, the fire was lit. That’s all it took.”
“That’s… but Akaishi-san stopped reading halfway through. I thought you felt bad for making me wait. You talked to me normally when I spoke to you at school, and I don’t think you can’t read the atmosphere.”
I tried to follow up quickly, but she didn’t seem convinced.
She shook her head as if to deny it, and the next moment, her expression darkened.
“I used to be much worse. I would shut myself in my book world every break time. I thought that was fine as long as I had books. I hardly ever considered other people’s feelings before. Now I pretend to be okay on the surface , but I’m always scared. I’m that kind of weak person.”
“…That’s surprising. When I first met Akaishi-san, I thought you were a kind person, so I can’t think of you that way.”
“That was after I had learned that I couldn’t go on like that… and I ran away. At that time, I was too scared to go to school, and I could barely even walk outside. I was sent to live with my grandparents, and that gave me just a little bit of breathing room… after a lot of crying. Maybe I saw myself in you.”
She continued, saying that it was selfish of her.
But that wasn’t it. Before I knew it, I was looking straight into Akanishi-san’s eyes.
“That’s not true,”
And I denied her words.
Because I was saved.
I was able to make up my mind after talking to the little girl in front of me.
Even if she didn’t intend to comfort me, but rather wanted to comfort herself, the fact remains that Akanishi-san helped me.
“Akanishi-san, I was helped by you. It wasn’t selfish at all. I’m really grateful for what happened that day. That’s why I was happy to see you again. I’ve always wanted to thank you.”
I don’t want her to say that running away was a mistake.
So what if I ran away? Bullying is just one-sided violence.
Who can blame you for running away instead of standing up to it?
I defended Akanishi-san by saying all of this out loud.
Even though I had just thought that there was no point in saying these things here, I couldn’t help but say them.
This is probably not logical. It’s not a matter of thinking, but rather a matter of emotion, of not wanting her to look at me like that.
“…So, running away wasn’t a mistake. At least, that’s what I think.”
I finished with that, and then I waited for her to respond.
I don’t know if she’ll agree with me. But I thought that I wanted to save her, the one who saved me.
“…Thank you, Tsujimura-san.”
I waited for about a minute.
Akanishi-san finally spoke up and thanked me.
“Akanishi-san, that…”
“Excuse me, I kept you waiting. Here is your order.”
Just as I was about to say something, a waiter came over.
I thought it was bad timing, but I took it and watched the waiter walk away before turning my attention back to Akanishi-san.
She seemed to have had the same thought as me, and she gave a wry smile.
“…That was bad timing.”
“Maybe so. But in a way, it might have been just right.”
“Huh?”
What did she mean by that?
Before I could ask, she continued.
“After you drink that, why don’t we go outside? I suddenly feel like taking a walk.”
Akanishi-san muttered, looking out the window.
There, the harbinger of spring that had come late to the city was dancing gently in the wind.