I Was Unreasonably Dumped By My Girlfriend And Had My Heart Broken. When I Rescued A Beautiful Girl Who Was My Former Classmate And Idol In My Class From A Group Of Yarisa, My Gray College Life Started To Shine - Chapter 42
Episode 42: Encounter With Ex-girlfriend
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—And so, a few days later. Saturday afternoon.
About thirty minutes before the agreed time of eleven o’clock, I was standing in front of the statue inside JR Ueno Station where we had arranged to meet.
Last time I waited here, I got lost and ended up being late for our meet-up.
To be extra cautious, I left home early this time, but it seems I ended up giving myself too much time.
Deciding to wait patiently, I took out my smartphone and casually scrolled through social media.
There, an article titled “Perfect Outfit and Hairstyle for a Date!” caught my eye.
I clicked on it without much thought.
Even though I didn’t really think of it as a date.
The content wasn’t anything special.
“Just be clean” and “Choose your outfit depending on the location” were all common sense advice.
There were some outfit suggestions too, but they were all for girls.
Still, it made me conscious of my appearance again, so I switched my phone to the front camera and tidied up my hair.
Come to think of it, when I went on a date with Asuka back in high school, I was overly concerned about these things too.
As I recalled unnecessary memories, I walked towards the ticket gate, and our eyes met abruptly.
“…Ah.”
“Huh.”
Both of us let out a sound, and our gazes lingered for a while.
Standing there was the person whose face I had just been thinking about.
It was Asuka Umeno.
Her long black hair was dyed blonde and curled. And she was wearing a hat.
But even so, what made me realize she was my ex-girlfriend was the black skirt she was wearing and her sharp gaze.
We exchanged silent stares for a while.
Ideally, I would have looked away immediately and pretended not to notice, but even that seemed difficult now.
“What’s with that outfit? It’s lame. It’s like something a high schooler would wear. Actually, it’s the same outfit you wore when we went on dates.”
“…That doesn’t matter.”
“Where are you going? I’m going to Ikebukuro.”
“I’m not telling you.”
“Is that so, but I told you.”
We parted in such a way.
It was an unbearable coincidence.
It seemed our meeting place was the same.
The atmosphere was uncomfortable.
I tried to contact Aoba to change the meeting place, but she didn’t read the message, so I ended up staying there.
“Why did you ignore my message?”
Then, the next words were like knives being thrown.
“…We broke up already. Isn’t that enough?”
“But that doesn’t mean you should ignore me.”
“Besides, you’re the one who told me to stop bothering you. You even deleted all my messages.”
I started to feel a bit annoyed, and I turned to look at Asuka.
She was also looking at me.
There were deep wrinkles on her forehead, and upon closer inspection, even though they were covered with makeup, you could see dark circles under her eyes.
I remembered the content she often posted on social media.
Probably just a guess, but it seemed she had also experienced some tough times. It wouldn’t do any good to blame her further for it.
Certainly, it was a terrible way to break up.
But she was someone I once liked.
While I don’t think there’s anything I can do about it, I don’t wish unhappiness upon her.
“…Well, whatever. Don’t dwell on it too much.”
So, this is the maximum consideration I can offer in my current state.
After giving her a quick glance as she widened her eyes, I tried to leave the meeting place.
I still hadn’t made contact with Aoba yet, but I thought it wouldn’t be a problem if I’m still nearby later.
But, I couldn’t move.
“…Hey, Keito. Wait.”
For some reason, she grabbed my wrist and stopped me.
Instead of her usual sharp gaze, Asuka had a furrowed brow and a pleading expression.
I’m weak against this face.
Even when we were dating, if she made this face, I would always end up giving in to her whims.
“What is this?”
“…You know, when we broke up, I said I used you to enjoy high school life, right? That was true. There were a lot of times when I felt bored.”
What is shebringing up now? Despite my skepticism, she continues in a weak voice.
“But now I realize how important that time was. Back then, I was thrilled to be entering university. It was so much more glamorous than high school, and everyone was so impressive. I wanted to be part of that world. That’s why I wanted to be free.”
“So, what?”
“Just listen. Anyway, you still don’t have a girlfriend, right? So, let’s just start over from now on—”
As Asuka starts to say something, her words are interrupted midway by a familiar voice.
“Oh, there you are! It’s Nogami-kun~”
…It seems like Hikari Aoba has just arrived.