Wednesday, Morning.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzWVDMENmdn
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Umbrella in hand, bag strapped to my shoulder, I watched the wet road ahead gleam from the soft rain falling from the heavy sky. Hina beside me held her umbrella, walking cautiously as we headed to school. The other one was embracing me from the side, reasoning that it was “so that we could fit together” inside my umbrella.
It was Yui, of course. Apparently, she had forgotten to bring her own umbrella, so she begged me and knelt in front of other commuters when we met at the train station. She knew I would agree immediately, but I didn’t know why she had to act so theatrical when other people were around.
“I hate this!” Yui yelled as she rubbed her face into my uniform. Then she stopped and sighed. “Why is it raining this early in the morning…”
“It's the rainy season, so you should expect this to happen,” I explained.
“I know!” Yui pouted, pulling her lip to the side. “But it makes me think more about Mika.”
I didn’t answer. I only looked away.
“It’s definitely my fault, isn’t it?” Yui continued, digging her face into my side.
“Careful!” I warned her. I didn’t want her to mess up my uniform when it was still early in the day.
“Don’t want to!”
I didn’t know how to respond to her stubbornness, so I just exhaled in defeat.
“Didn’t you hear what she said?” I asked. I was hesitant to continue, yet my mouth did it for me. “It was… my fault…”
“I ate her pudding secretly when I visited her house last time! I sneaked out of her room, and when I found out her brother was gone from the living room, I went straight to their kitchen and found a single cup of pudding on the table. She was definitely in the middle of eating when Hina arrived, though I arrived later!” Yui continued in a rapid burst of breath, quite muffled while still hiding her face, but loud enough to be coherent.
“Why did you do that? Stop eating food that isn’t yours,” I replied, a little bit concerned about her unusual habit.
“It’s not my fault! I just saw it! And it just tempted me. You know, as soon as I opened the door toward their living room, the pudding spoke to me: ‘Yui, Shirogane Yui… I am free… eat me…!’ How can you not be tempted by that?”
I frowned at her.
“It’s true!” she yelled and lifted her head in response. “And then, the week before that…” she paused.
I turned my eyes toward her—she looked like she was about to confess something huge.
“I took a large piece from your strawberry shortcake during lunch while you weren’t looking…”
My eyes opened wide. “Wait! Huh? What? When?”
“Err, maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned that, but it’s relevant!”
“Yui! When?”
“...Umm, the lunch break before we met Lord Voldemort that afternoon…”
“...You’re calling Rei-kun Voldemort now? You called him Darth Vader last time…”
“Shhh, you’re not supposed to say his name!” Yui whispered loudly. “But that’s not what I wanted to say.”
“So, what do you want to say?” I looked at her. I wasn’t upset because she ate my dessert; besides, there was no point in being upset when it happened a long time ago. But…
“Well, when I tried to take another piece, Mika saw me. She frowned and tried to stop me. We struggled for a moment, but then her chopsticks ended up digging into your cake. And that’s when you noticed.” Yui looked away. “And so you ended up blaming her.”
I sighed…
“But she never actually told you it was me. She just gritted her teeth and never talked back, and even then she apologized to you,” Yui continued.
“You should’ve just asked, you know,” I said.
“It was on impulse! It wasn’t my fault! Your strawberry shortcake was just displayed before me and I couldn’t help but stare… then it started talking to me, it said—”
“Food can’t talk.”
“It can if you look at it long enough!” Yui defended herself, but then she went quiet. She lowered her head and stared at the road below for a moment. “I really messed with her a lot, huh?” she said, her voice cracking a little bit.
“We didn’t actually argue about it though; it’s not really your fault, Yui,” I replied, trying to cheer her up.
“But you know, I always teased her, pranked her, and joked around with her. She would always frown and get mad, but in the end, she’d always end up smiling and laughing.” Yui raised her head to look at me. “I miss her, Runa.”
I choked for a moment. “I do too,” I replied. “But, like I said earlier, if you heard Mika yesterday—”
“If you can blame yourself for what happened, I have the right to do that as well,” Yui objected before I could finish what I was about to say. “We’re all friends, right? Why can’t we just take the burden together and think about how to fix the problem together?”
…
Yui was right, and thinking about it now, I was starting to realize that maybe the reason why Mika asked for Hina and Yui to be there was because of this. What she told us was mostly about me. And I guess she knew—of course she would know—that if I was the only one there, I wouldn’t end up sharing it with anyone. I would just end up bottling all of it inside me, like a dam not releasing the water it held while it rained heavily. And as the heavy rainfall continued, the dam would certainly break. Just like last time. Just like any other time.
“But, Runa…” Yui said, tightening her arms around me slightly. “There’s this one thing that really intrigues me. And I haven’t really stopped thinking about it since Mika revealed it.”
“Hmm?” I tilted my head a little, confused by what she might mean.
“You didn’t tell me…” Yui pouted, “...that you started liking Kuroiwa-kun.”
My jaw froze as my mouth opened in surprise.
“Hah!? I don’t know what you mean!” I yelled in desperation, starting to feel the heat forming in my cheeks.
“I told you! I already told you it would happen,” Yui replied. “You didn’t listen.”
“I—” I paused for a moment to really think about the words I wanted to say. “I don’t even know, I don’t really…”
Yui just frowned more. “Don’t lie to me. It’s not that you don’t know… it’s because—” Before Yui got carried away by her own thoughts, she stopped. Then both of us stared at Hina.
And at that moment, we realized something was strange. Because Hina was just looking at the road—not ahead, but below. Usually we would find her smiling at us when we looked at her suddenly, like now. But this time… she was too quiet…
“Walk ahead!” Yui commanded. “But also, tell me more about your love triangle situation with Mika later… with thorough and precise details!”
“I can’t!” I simply said, not fully sure which statement I was responding to.
“Just walk ahead for now… Go!”
Before I could do anything, Yui started dragging me forward.
When we were already steps ahead of Hina, Yui yelled, "Stop right here!" Directly in front of Hina.
Hina was occupied with her thoughts, and when her umbrella bumped into mine, only then did she notice.
“Oh, I thought you were beside me,” Hina said calmly. Her troubled look quickly vanished when she saw us, and she just smiled.
“What is wrong with you, Hina!?” Yui firmly asked. “You’ve been quiet ever since yesterday, you’re not even sending a single message in our group chat!” she continued, letting go of me. She walked forward under Hina’s umbrella and met her eyes directly. “Runa was the one Mika talked about more, but you’re acting like you’re the one that got hurt more. At least Runa was talking to me. You just went quiet all of a sudden.”
Hina's smile faded for a moment and then reappeared just as quickly. “What do you mean?” she asked.
“I mean, if you have something on your mind, just tell us!” Yui continued. I could tell she was trying to convince her, but it ended up sounding like she was scolding Hina. “If you stay quiet, then how can we know? I don’t want to lose you too!” Yui’s voice transformed from assertion to worry. She started looking down. “Please, don’t be like—”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about…” Hina replied, her smile never fading. “Anyway, we’re going to be late for school; we have to hurry,” she continued.
Then for some reason, as if she forgot, Hina walked away, carrying her umbrella with her. Thank goodness I noticed and stepped forward to pull Yui under my umbrella before she got wet.
The rain wasn’t falling heavily, but it was still wearing the sorrowful weight of the sky.
And I was also worried that Yui would get sick if she got rained on.
“Hmmph.” Yui pursed her lips. “One day I’ll get her.”
“I’ve known her longer than you, and when she gets like that, she’s definitely going to be quieter for a while,” I replied.
“I know, and I also know that she wouldn’t isolate herself like Mika did. There have been a lot of times where she became like this, but it just worries me that she's being too quiet about it...”
“Yeah…” I said. I looked at Yui to see if she was properly covered by my umbrella, but I was only met with her scowl.
“You’re one to talk. All of you are the same,” she admonished. “And Hina is the worst among you.”
“Ah… haha…” All I could do was laugh and smile awkwardly. After all, she was right. But she did not smile back at me. Instead, she looked ahead, watching Hina walk away.
“Why couldn’t you all just… be honest…”
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Morning. Wednesday. Classroom62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbqgymhmzcj
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The second period had just ended. We had a ten-minute break before the next class started, so I decided to keep working on my notes. I took out another piece of paper to add to the notebook I already had on my desk—I’d use it to write down the questions I needed to ask Rei later tonight.
“Don’t you think it’s strange?” Yui whispered, leaning close to me from her seat.
“About what?” I replied as I kept writing.
“I mean, the first thing we saw when we arrived in the classroom this morning,” Yui leaned closer, “was Mika and those gals talking with Kuroiwa-kun.”
I paused. I took a breath, then continued writing. “We shouldn’t pry too much about things that don’t matter to us,” I tried to reply casually.
“What are you talking about!?” Yui crossed her arms and leaned in even further. “This matters a lot!”
I didn’t answer this time. I didn’t really want to think about it.
“Come on, Runa! Are you really going to let Mika get ahead of you?” Yui pressuringly continued. “Sure, you have those internet dates every night with Kuroiwa-kun, but you have to be proactive as well!”
“Those aren’t dates, Yui.”
“Don't lie to me, I know you're treating them like one.”
I looked away.
“See?” Yui said. “You saw what Mika was doing, right? She made him lean down and fixed his uniform in front of everyone!” Yui stood up and demonstrated in the air what she had seen. “And everyone present was surprised. Especially the boys—they all looked jealous.”
“That…” I hesitated. “I… I don’t really care…”
I felt Yui’s stare linger on me for a few seconds. Then she sighed heavily and sat back down in her chair.
“You’re so stubborn,” she said.
“What is with you? Earlier you were just being sentimental about Mika. Now you’re treating her like she’s the enemy.”
“You don’t understand! We’re talking about your love life here. That’s L-O-V-E, love!” Yui emphasized. I slowly peeked in her direction and saw her crossing her arms, staring at me seriously. “The matter about Mika is different when it comes to love.”
I exhaled—a long, heavy breath.
I put down my pen, having completely lost the mood to keep organizing my notes. My mind started wandering toward the thoughts I kept refusing to entertain. It felt like there was only one door ahead of me, the only door I could open to move forward. I didn’t like thinking of it like that. I wanted options.
I tried to look around to cloud my thoughts with other things, but my eyes immediately took me toward Mika’s seat. She was holding a pen, her notes and textbooks open before her, with a similar scene unfolding—dressed in a slight sense of familiarity. Someone was standing in front of her desk, talking with her. Except this time, it wasn’t with Yui—it was with Ayane and Kanoko…
Except this time, she was more bubbly and less serious compared to how it was with Yui.
I looked away and caught sight of what was behind her. Katou… He had his arms crossed on his desk while he pretended to sleep. Unlike before, no one was around him. Ever since Ayane and Kanoko started talking to everyone about what he did, no one was talking with him and everyone else seemed to avoid looking at him. This, too, was familiar. Except for this one, it wasn’t through misunderstanding—it was a consequence of what he did.
Except for this one, I definitely think it was deserved.
I didn’t want to think about him. I didn’t care about him; I despised him. So I turned around and looked at Hina instead. I was still concerned about what had happened earlier this morning. She hadn't ignored Yui and me afterward—we still walked together after catching up with her—but she remained quiet, even when Yui apologized.
Hina was doing what she always did during breaks, gazing out the window. But what wasn’t familiar was the look in her eyes. Usually, she would gaze out the window with a gentle smile—especially when we looked at her suddenly, like now. Yet today was different. Her expression was filled with longing and worry. What was she always thinking about whenever she stared out the window?
Then I noticed. Her head was tilted a little bit. The direction it was facing was by the window. But maybe…
My eyes shifted toward Rei… I stared at him… My mind went completely blank… I just stared…
…
…
“Runa!”
I flinched as Yui yelled right in front of me. She had suddenly appeared beside my desk. “Like I was telling you, you have to be proactive!”
Yui grabbed my hand and started pulling me.
“Stop, Yui!” I complained, but in vain.
“Don’t just stare at him! We’re going over to his seat whether you like it or not!” Yui commanded, her voice strained as she pulled me. I made it difficult for her, but she eventually managed to drag me to my feet.
What was she doing in front of the whole class!? All eyes in the room were turning toward us, and the embarrassment was starting to set in.
“Just stop being stubborn already and come!” Yui ordered.
To keep the embarrassment from escalating any further, I gave up and let her pull me along. “Fine…” I sighed in defeat.
“Good,” Yui replied when she felt no more resistance. And so she dragged me.
Then suddenly, someone stepped into our path, and Yui bumped her nose right against him.
“Ow!” she yelped. “Watch where you’re standing!” But when she finally got a closer look at who she had bumped into, her head tilted up, and up, and up. “Woah, what? So tall,” she commented in awe.
It was Takeda-kun, looking a little unsure as he faced us. His eyes kept darting away before shifting back to me. I had no idea what he was thinking. Even though I knew he had been there to help save Mika back then, I still saw him talking with Katou from time to time after the incident… So I didn’t really know what to think of him. I was wary…
“Uhh, I’m sorry, but can I have a little bit of your time?” he asked. His sharp eyes softened, looking shy as they locked onto mine.
I felt uncomfortable for some reason, so I looked away slightly.
“What do you want!?” Yui interjected fiercely. “We’re busy here, talk to us next time!” She started pulling me again.
“W-Wait!” I blurted, caught unprepared.
Takeda-kun showed persistence, stepping forward to block Yui’s path.
“I just wanted to talk… to Miyase-san,” he said, hesitating a bit.
I frowned. I wasn’t sure what he wanted to talk about with me… But this felt familiar, too…
“No!” Yui answered before I could. “If you want to talk to her, then you talk to us too,” she said firmly.
Takeda-kun went quiet, pondering for a moment.
“I guess that's fine,” he replied. “Asakura-san and Shirogane-san might need to hear what I say… but… it might still be embarrassing, after all.”
“Which is it!?” Yui demanded.
I didn’t know why Yui was so courageous facing Takeda-kun. He was a known delinquent. It was true that he had reformed himself and joined sports, but his features should have been much scarier to her than Rei’s. Takeda-kun had several small scars on his face—one on his chin and one over his eyebrow. His eyes were sharp and naturally fierce, and his voice was always loud.
“...I guess having you guys there is fine,” Takeda-kun replied. “So how about during lunch? I know somewhere we can talk without anyone around to listen.”
“You were planning to isolate Runa?” Yui’s question cut like a razor, making Takeda-kun flinch back with concern.
“I—” He paused to think about his next words. “That’s not what I was planning to do! I just wanted to talk… really!”
Yui only glared at him. “After what your friend did to my friend?”
Takeda bowed deeply in front of her and apologized sincerely. “I’m really sorry, I wasn’t thinking properly. Asakura-san and you can come. I just really wanted to talk.”
“Hmm…” Yui closed her eyes and placed a hand under her chin. “You still haven’t convinced me yet…”
“H-How about if I offer to give you money…” Takeda-kun offered.
“Are you trying to buy my integrity!?” Yui frowned.
“Uh—no… that wasn’t—” Takeda-kun paused, frantically looking back and forth. Then his eyes widened suddenly. “H-How about my lunch!? I can give you half of my dish!”
“Hmm…” Yui stared into his eyes. “What do you have for lunch?” she asked menacingly.
“Umm… Curr—”
“Deal!”
Huh? Deal? What? Over a curry!? Yui!?
I opened my mouth, but before I could say anything, the bell started ringing…
“Oh, then see you at lunch!” Takeda-kun said, walking back to his seat excitedly.
I stared at Yui. Glared at her.
"What?" she answered with a bright smile. "I love curry!"
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Lunch break. Wednesday. Former Literature club room.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR653qi1j3S
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We ended up deciding against eating on the rooftop. Even though it wasn’t raining anymore, dark clouds still filled the sky, and we didn’t want to risk getting caught in a sudden downpour.
Yui ate the curry she had traded with Takeda-kun—though I couldn’t really call it a trade. It was more like Yui taking the dish for herself, leaving Takeda-kun with mostly plain rice after giving him half of her own lunch box. Feeling bad for him, I went over to where he and his friends were gathered in the classroom and gave him half of what I had. He was grateful, bowing multiple times, but I excused myself immediately to rejoin Hina and Yui.
I didn’t see Mika with them, though. Kanoko, Ayane, and Sakamoto-kun were all there, but no one seemed worried that Mika wasn't with them. I wanted to ask, but I was scared to find out where she was. Because… I knew Rei-kun always leaves the classroom for lunch… I didn’t know where he goes… but I had a feeling… Mika might have figured it out…
“What do you think?” Takeda-kun asked as I caught myself staring out the window. “This place ain’t shabby, right?”
Takeda-kun had taken us all the way to the old school building. There were faculty offices around us, along with club rooms where students who belonged to those clubs sometimes went to eat. The room we ended up in had rows of bookshelves filled with books on all sides. It almost looked like a library.
“This was supposed to be the literature club room,” Takeda-kun continued. “But they disbanded this year because they didn’t meet the required number of members.”
“This place isn’t as isolated as I thought,” Yui said, wandering around the room. “I thought you were in the basketball club. Why are we in the literature club room?”
“Yuuta still uses this place. He was the only member left since last year. Even though the club is currently disbanded, he wants to bring it back again. Ayane-chi and Kanoko wanted to help. Maybe Mika-san, too,” Takeda-kun answered. “I thought this place was perfect for a talk. People are around, and the door and windows are always open, but still, no one comes into this room.”
“So?” Hina said firmly, her tone guarded. “What do you want to talk about?” She crossed her arms and legs while sitting in the only available chair in the corner of the room. I sat at the table in front of her.
“Umm…” Takeda-kun took a deep breath. “Akihiko… Katou… he did something unforgivable to Mika-san, and I know she’s your friend. So I wanted to apologize.” He bowed deeply. “I’m really sorry.”
“If you’re expecting us to forgive him, then—”
“I’m not. I just wanted to apologize—not on his behalf, but because I was there and I wasn’t able to prevent it,” Takeda-kun interrupted, cutting Hina off.
“But you’re still hanging out with him,” Yui pointed out.
“Yes… well, we grew up together. And whether you believe me or not, he wasn’t always like this,” Takeda-kun explained.
“That’s weird… I thought you bullied him last year,” I said, genuinely curious.
“I—” Takeda-kun paused. “I didn’t. I was a delinquent, yes, but I wasn’t the type to bully someone or go around town looking for a fight.”
“What about your scars?”
“I got them when I was young—just a little accident.” Takeda-kun looked at us carefully. “I just can’t leave the guy alone, you know? He’s still my friend, and he helped me a lot when I was in trouble. So I really am indebted to him.”
Takeda-kun looked down.
“Akihiko… Katou… he was a decent person. He always knew he was good-looking and all, but he never used that to take advantage of girls before. He was respectful. When we were in middle school, he tried to charm girls, but that was because he genuinely liked them. He was in two relationships before, and even after they broke up, they stayed friends—because he treated them with respect.”
He looked at me.
“The thing is… he fell in love with Mika-san last year and confessed to her at the beginning of the term. But he got rejected. At first, I didn’t know about any of this. But when I talked to him after the incident, he told me everything. He said he tried everything to get her attention, but he failed every single time. His pride got hurt, so he started chasing girls after that just to regain his confidence.” Takeda-kun exhaled. “I noticed that behavior, so I always confronted him last year. He gradually started to become openly disrespectful toward girls who confessed to him, but then it got worse—he’d accept their confessions, break up with them a week later for no reason, and stand there smiling while they cried. Until one day I had had enough, so I took him behind the school and punched him. Yuuta… Sakamoto… happened to be there and stopped me. I apologized to Katou afterward, but in return, he spread rumors that I was bullying him.”
“If that’s the case… then why did you let him go alone with Mika!?” I stood up from where I was sitting and yelled. “Because of that—”
“I’m sorry,” Takeda-kun apologized again. “I genuinely thought he had changed when Yuuta… Sakamoto became our friend. He stopped chasing girls and started rejecting them properly. But the truth is… he just started doing it in secret… I should have known…”
I clenched both my hands into fists. I still remembered the slap I gave Katou that afternoon, but I knew it wasn’t enough. I bit my lip.
“Is that all?” Hina asked.
Yui walked over to me and stood by my side, holding my hand to help calm me down.
“No,” Takeda-kun answered. “That’s actually not the main reason I asked you here, Miyase-san.” He readied himself with a deep breath, closed his eyes, and bowed before me once more.
“If I lead our basketball club to the inter-high tournament and win the preliminary district matches… will you give me another chance to confess to you, Miyase-san!?” Takeda-kun shouted.
“Huh!?” I gasped in surprise. I could feel Yui’s eyes widen beside me as her gaze darted back and forth between us.
“I know I was still a delinquent last year when you rejected me. I know that my friend had deeply hurt yours. But I've tried to change and work hard to become worthy of you,” Takeda-kun continued. “Even if you still can't forgive Katou, it isn't a problem. Let me deal with him.” Takeda-kun stood up properly and looked me into my eyes with great determination. “If possible… will you give me another chance?”
I was stunned… and my hands slowly unclenched…
…
…
I—
…
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