Chapter 28 Past ②

“Hey.”

“What is it?”

“Summer break’s almost over, right? Doesn’t it suck that we’ve gotta go back to school again soon?”

Since Reika had learned how to tease Satoru, the two of them started talking more often.

Reika’s way of speaking hadn’t changed from the beginning, but Satoru still spoke with a degree of politeness.

However, as their conversations increased and Reika teased him more, even Satoru’s way of speaking had gradually begun to change.

“…Not really. Personally, I’d rather not spend too much time at home, so if I can spend almost the whole day between school and cram school, I think I prefer that.”

“You’re as serious as ever.”

As they talked more, Satoru began to realize that Reika, too, probably didn’t want to be at home much.

How did he know? Because her reactions were similar to his—someone in the midst of a rebellious phase who found being at home suffocating.

He didn’t know the exact reason, but Satoru consciously decided not to dig deeper unless she brought it up herself.

“More importantly, could you show me how to solve this problem?”

“…!”

“Is something wrong?”

“No, not really… Which question is it?”

Ever since they’d started being able to talk like this, Reika—who once said things like, ‘Do you want to brag about your answers or something? It’s annoying, so stay away’—now had no hesitation in asking him anything.

That alone wasn’t a problem. The real issue lay elsewhere.

Satoru had always known that Reika had a prickly side that kept others at bay, but once you got used to her, the emotional distance could get weirdly close.

She didn’t seem to think anything of it, but being approached so closely by someone as beautiful as Reika made Satoru’s heart skip a beat.

Still, if she noticed that, he was afraid their hard-won rapport might fall apart, so he treaded carefully.

“This part—you do it like this… and then expand it like this to get this equation.”

“I see. That was very easy to understand. Thank you.”

“Glad it helped.”

“Yes, and from now on, when I ask you something, you have to answer properly. Your grades are higher than mine, after all.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

If you only listened to her words, she sounded incredibly selfish. But her happy expression made everything seem perfectly fine.

(Yeah… I’m in trouble.)

He had never been able to talk properly with any girl before, and now here he was, casually chatting with someone everyone admired.

And maybe because of her usual prickliness, her current warmth was all the more disarming.

Even so, in moments like that, he would force himself to think about his own status and regain his composure.

(A gloomy, unpopular guy like me… even if I fall for someone like her, nothing good will come of it. I’d only be a nuisance.)

More than being disliked by Reika, what Satoru truly didn’t want was to make her uncomfortable—especially after she had opened up to him like this.

That’s why he was determined to suppress this troublesome feeling growing inside him.

“Why are you making that difficult face? Your already gloomy expression looks even more depressing now.”

“Well, I guess I just started feeling a little down about myself again.”

“You really do hate yourself, don’t you?”

“Yeah. I don’t think I’ve ever liked myself—not once in my life.”

“That’s such a strange thing. You’re doing so well in your studies; there’s no need to belittle yourself.”

“It’s not about what I can or can’t do. That’s not the reason I hate myself… I dunno, don’t you get it?”

“No, I don’t. Whether you like yourself is one thing, but hating yourself brings no benefit whatsoever.”

“Ugh…!”

While Satoru was overthinking everything, Reika just answered him plainly and matter-of-factly.

“And also. Compared to other people, I actually like you more. You’re easy to talk to, and I can ask you things I don’t understand right away.”

“Well, you do tease the hell out of me, and you nag until I explain things.”

“That just means I need you. Think of it that way, and maybe that gloomy aura of yours will lighten up a bit?”

Indeed, as Reika said, maybe things would change a little if he tried to view them more positively.

But if he let himself do that, he felt like he might actually fall for her—so it wasn’t as simple as she made it sound.

And so, summer vacation ended with things left like that.

Reika had said all sorts of things, but Satoru kept their interactions strictly limited to cram school.

Of course, part of him wanted to talk to her at school whenever he had a free moment.

But it was a critical time with entrance exams coming up, and he didn’t want to add unnecessary stress to her by having others gossip.

“You’re seriously uptight. You’re so overly delicate, I’m starting to wonder which of us is the girl here.”

When they had talked about “sticking to that stance,” Reika had looked exasperated as she said that.

“But after spending time talking with you like this, I’ve come to understand. You really thought through everything for my sake and decided this was the best way.”

Then, with a soft smile, she added:

“You’re kind. Completely straightforward, with no hidden sides. That’s why… you have this gloomy, fragile vibe about you, though.”

“Was that last part really necessary?”

“Sorry. I just can’t help teasing you.”

“You’re the worst…”

“But at least now you can say stuff like that to me. That’s growth, you know?”

“Shut up.”

And so, despite their constant banter, the two of them continued spending their days diligently studying together.

In early October, when the nights had begun to grow noticeably colder—

“Are you heading straight home after this?”

“Hmm? Yeah, that’s the plan.”

“…I see.”

As usual, it was just before 10 p.m., and they were packing up their things as the building approached closing time. That’s when Reika suddenly asked him that.

“What’s with that? That’s not like you. You usually don’t ask vague stuff like that.”

“Don’t worry about it. I just felt like asking, that’s all.”

Even her expression looked off—no energy, nothing like her usual self.

“If you don’t tell me, I might cling to you in an annoyingly staking way, y’know? Since you brought it up, just say it already.”

“…I was just wondering if we could spend a bit more time together somewhere. But your family would probably worry, right? Sorry.”

“It’s fine. Where do you wanna go?”

“…Huh?”

Thinking back, that might’ve been the only time he saw Reika look truly surprised.

He’d agreed so quickly and moved straight into the details with such certainty that even she seemed caught off guard.

“Wanna go to Ma◯Do or something? That place is open 24 hours.”

(TL: Likely referring to McDonald’s.)

“B-But…”

“Come on, let’s go.”

At the time, he’d just thought, She seems a little down—let’s go mess around for a bit together.

He figured maybe something unpleasant had happened at home.

But now that he looked back on it, he knew he had to praise himself for what he’d done that night—from the bottom of his heart.

Because she had been caught up in something incredibly painful.

She was trying to avoid that reality by finding ways to delay going home.

And she’d ended up unconsciously reaching out to Satoru—seeking something to hold onto.

Even though he hadn’t fully understood her true feelings then, he’d taken her hand.

And from that point on, Reika began spending more of her late nights with Satoru.