Beyond The Bad End - Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Haru’s POV

It seemed like I had fallen asleep. When I woke up, I saw Kataoka who slumped over from her chair, laying down on the bed.

The school nursed noticed that I was awake.

‘How are you feeling? Your family will come to pick you up soon.’

Thanks to the nap I had, my head felt clearer.

‘I’m fine now, thank you.’

Perhaps because I was talking with the school nurse, Kataoka woke up.

‘Matsuyama-chi, are you okay? I’m really sorry.’

‘Yeah I’m fine now. It’s not your fault at all, Kataoka. I’m sorry for worrying you.’

Neither me nor Kataoka could say anything more. As we stayed silent for a while, the door to the infirmary opened and my mom came in.

After the school nurse told my mom what happened, she bowed her head and thanked Kataoka.

Since my mom came to picked me up with a car, I took my bicycle and put it on the back of the car before heading home.

In the car, my mom apologized to me.

‘It’s all because you have been working so hard at the restaurant during summer break, and whenever you don’t work part-time at the restaurant, you always study very hard every day. I was pushing you too hard Haru, I’m sorry.’

That was not the reason why I got sick, it had nothing to do with my studies or my part-time job at the restaurant. I actually wanted to say so to my mother, but I couldn’t say anything about Maki. So I just stayed silent and didn’t say anything back to my mom.

When I got home, my mom told me to get some rest and sleep. I did as I told and lay down on the bed.

But I just couldn’t get it out of my head.

‘All of the things that Kataoka said…is it all true?’

I didn’t feel better at all.

The more I thought about it, the more I remembered about Maki’s strange behaviour during the summer break. I couldn’t stop regretting, I couldn’t stop blaming myself, why didn’t I realize it sooner. My heart hurts.

Before I knew it, it was already dark outside. I didn’t know how many hours had passed thinking about Maki. When I checked the time, it showed 9PM.

With my phone on my hand, I opened the gallery.

There were many photos of Maki.

I scrolled up to the older ones and tapped on an image I took when I bought my phone, it was a little over a year ago.

A selfie of Maki hugging my left arm and the two of us looking at our smartphones.

In the photo, Maki was smiling and looked really happy.

Perhaps Maki was very happy because she was finally able to buy the smartphone she had been longing for.

Tears ran down my cheeks, I couldn’t stop crying.

As I was crying alone in my room, my phone vibrated. I grabbed my phone and saw a notification message. It was from Kataoka.

The moment I saw her message, I realized that it was not the time to cry.

I haven’t seen it for myself.

Based on Maki’s strange behaviour lately, I was certain that she was doing something behind my back, but still, I should see for myself if she was cheating on me or not.

I opened Kataoka’s message, it seemed like she was worried about me.

Immediately, I called her.

‘Kataoka, I’m sorry for causing you so much trouble.’

‘No, not at all. Rather, it was all my fault for being so insensitive.’

‘That’s not true. I was certainly shocked about it, but I’m grateful that you told me about it. I was going to find out about it sooner or later after all. Thank you, Kataoka.’

‘I see, I guess you’re right.’

‘Then Kataoka, I have something to ask you, only you can help me with this.’

‘Of course, tell me anything. I’ll help you as best as I can.’

‘My girlfriend is cheating on me, and I want to see it for myself. Please tell me where this Sudo-kun lives.’

‘That’s…I can’t tell you that. Not in Matsuyama-chi’s current condition.’

‘I’m fine now. I want to see it for myself tomorrow.’

‘Then, let me come with you. I’m worried if you go there alone.’

‘Thanks, sorry for causing you trouble again. So what time did you actually saw them?’

‘I think it was around 3:30PM. Are you going to skip school tomorrow, Matsuyama-chi?’

‘Yeah. I’m going to take a day off school tomorrow. I need to take some rest.’

‘Then, I’ll take a day off school tomorrow as well. Let’s meet around noon, you can come to my place and wait until it’s time.’

‘Okay. Thank you for everything, Kataoka.’

‘No, it’s totally fine. Besides, I want Matsuyama-chi to get better soon so that you can cook friend rice for me again!’

Perhaps, because I was emotionally fragile, I almost started crying again at Kataoka’s encouraging words.

I desperately tried to hold back my tears.

‘Yeah, I promise to treat you some delicious fried rice as a thank you.’