I Was Reincarnated as a Mob, and After I Kept Listening to the Losing Childhood-Friend Heroine’s Complaints, I Somehow Maxed Out Her Affection Rating - 49

Chapter 49: Shouma’s Loss

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

Shouma’s POV

The next morning. Deep in my chest, yesterday’s anger and impatience were still bubbling, refusing to settle.

…I’m definitely going to ask clearly. I’ll find out what the hell is going on.

When I arrived at the place where I was supposed to meet Mio, she was already there. She wasn’t wearing her usual smile. Her expression was calm and quiet, like someone who had already made a decision.

“…Mio. About yesterday—”

Before I could finish, Mio took a small breath.

“Shouma-kun. I think… We should break up.”

“……Huh?”

It took several seconds for my brain to understand. This wasn’t the question I had planned to ask yesterday. It was a bomb thrown in a completely different direction.

“W-why… So suddenly…?”

My voice trembled. This wasn’t supposed to happen. All of yesterday’s anger and impatience vanished in an instant. Mio tried to smile, but it didn’t work, and she lowered her eyes.

“It’s not sudden. I’ve been thinking about it for a long time. Lately, Shouma-kun… You’ve been acting strange.”

“Strange…? Did I do something?”

“You did. A lot.”

She said it with a sigh mixed into her voice.

“Kaede, Kaede, Kaede… You were always talking about Kaede-chan. More than me. Even when we talked, you always dragged the conversation back to Kaede-chan.”

“Eh…? But… Mio, you were smiling it off…”

“There’s no way I could smile it off.”

That single line stabbed straight into my chest.

“There’s such a thing as limits, Shouma-kun. I thought, ‘He’ll come back to me eventually.’ But… I can’t anymore. I’m fed up.”

The moment Mio turned as if to leave, my hand moved on its own and grabbed hers.

“Wait! Let’s try again! Just once more! I’ll… I’ll do things properly!”

I was desperate. So desperate it was pathetic. But—

“Stop it!”

Mio shook my hand off. Her shoulders were trembling. It was neither from complete anger nor complete sadness. 

“Shouma-kun… You never listened to me, did you? No matter how much I talked, you always switched it to Kaede-chan, and kept saying weird things like some kind of ‘conspiracy theory’…”

“C-conspiracy theory…? That’s not what I meant—”

“None of what I said ever reached you. The only person you were looking at the whole time… It was Kaede-chan.”

She spat the words out, and I couldn’t argue back. Because somewhere deep inside, I already knew.

…I… Have I only been thinking about Kaede the whole time…?

“Thank you for everything until now, Shouma-kun. I really did have fun.”

She smiled. It was the same smile as yesterday, but it wasn’t meant for me anymore. And just like that, Mio walked away. No words came out from me to stop her. My legs wouldn’t move. All I could do was stare blankly at her back as she disappeared into the distance.

“…This has to be a lie…”

Only the lingering sensation of her hand remained in mine. And yet, the thought that I’d never touch her again made a dull pain throb deep in my chest.

What… What am I even doing…?

That day, the world looked one shade darker. Words dissolved into the dry air and vanished. For a few seconds, it felt like the world had stopped. But then… The surrounding murmurs reached my ears.

“Eh, wasn’t that a breakup just now?”

“Whoa, those two are over…?”

“Seriously… Mio-chan looked like she was about to cry, right?”

“Looks like Shouma screwed something up.”

Eyes were on me. Cold arrows of curiosity pierced my skin.

…They saw everything…?

It felt like I was being laughed at. No one was actually laughing, but laughter echoed inside my head anyway.

Stop… Don’t look… Please…

My chest tightened painfully. Before I realized it, I was running, like I was running away from something. I didn’t even know what I was running from. I just ran. When I reached the shadow of the school building, my breathing was ragged, and I bent over with my hands on my knees.

“…What the hell is this…”

With unsteady legs, I headed toward the main gate. My head felt hazy. I wasn’t even sure where I was walking. And then… I saw it.

In the bright morning light, two people walking side by side. Kaede… And Yuuta Fujiwara by her side. Kaede was smiling. Fujiwara walked beside her, looking a little awkward. No matter how you looked at it, they looked like the epitome of a “happy couple.”

“…!”

My breath caught in my heart. It hurt, like my heart had been punched straight on.

…What the hell… Why…?

Until yesterday, I should have been the one beside her. Kaede had always been by my side. That fact had been the norm for me. And Mio too…It was only natural for me to be beside her…

Is everything… Everything… Disappearing…?

My mind reeled. Everything felt unreal to the point I was getting nauseous. It felt like Fujiwara was overwriting my memories with Kaede. Like he was smiling as he stole the place that had once been mine.

“…I’ll just go home today…”

The words slipped out, barely a whisper. I had no energy left to go back to school. My steps were small. My vision swayed. The lingering sensation of gazes on my back made my skin crawl, and all I could do was lower my head and trudge home.

…Why… Where did I go wrong…?

Only the sound of the traffic signal changing felt strangely vivid. Today, the world took yet another thing away from me.

☆☆☆☆

Mio’s POV

The moment I stepped into the classroom, the air rippled. Like waves spreading outward, eyes gathered on me and after a brief pause, my friends rushed over all at once.

“Hey, Mio! Did you really break up!?”

“There were people who saw you this morning!”

They crowded in, leaving me no way out. But… Strangely enough, today I didn’t feel like running away.

“…Yeah. We broke up.”

As I sat down at my desk surrounded by them, the weight deep in my chest dropped away.

…Ah. It’s really over.

I had finally said the words I was too afraid to say. The future I had been too afraid to face felt like it had finally opened up.

“Hey Mio, do you want to eat pancakes together after school today?”

“We’ll listen to all your complaints too!”

“Fufu… Yeah. Let’s go.”

When I answered, my friends smiled brightly. Today, I was different from yesterday. I chose for myself, and I faced forward on my own. As the morning sunlight streamed into the classroom, I quietly took a deep breath.

…I feel refreshed. Ah, really… I’m glad.

While thinking that, I laughed together with my friends.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー