I, Who Acquired the Ability to Read Memories, Am Being Swallowed by Darkness - While I Should Be Protecting Beautiful Girls, I Am Being Drawn into Darkness Each Time I Use My Power, Yet for Some Reason, My Harem of Beautiful Girls Keeps Growing - Chapter 28: A Call From Hayami-san

Chapter 28: A Call From Hayami-san

A Few Weeks Later

During lunch break, I received a message asking me to come to the rooftop.

The sender was Hayami-san.

“Sato-kun…”

Her brown hair swayed in the wind.

The sparkle she once had hadn’t fully returned yet.

“About Akita…”

Her voice trembled.

“He’s started dating Jougasaki-senpai…”

She gripped her uniform skirt tightly with both hands, her fingers turning white.

“After what happened, I didn’t know how to distance myself from Takamichi…”

The untold secret.

The unexplainable reason.

It had created a deep rift between them.

“At first, I was the one avoiding him…”

“But now, it’s Takamichi who’s…”

And yesterday, I heard the rumor.

Akita, the basketball team’s ace, had started dating Jougasaki-senpai from the dance club.

“I… what should I do…”

The wind on the rooftop dried her tears, but the pain in her heart remained.

She couldn’t tell Akita the truth.

Yet, she couldn’t give up on her feelings.

I could only watch as Hayami-san was torn between the two.

“I’m sorry… I keep burdening you with this, Sato-kun…”

“It’s okay. I’m on your side, Hayami-san.”

“And… there’s something else troubling me.”

Hayami-san clutched her smartphone, looking down.

“Recently, the vibrator…”

“Vibrator?”

“I can’t stop using it… I know it’s strange, but…”

“You’re trying to fill the loneliness.”

“Yeah… maybe it’s also a reaction to what Sagara and the others did to me.”

“How many times a day?”

“I can’t count… all the time I’m awake.”

Tears welled up in Hayami-san’s eyes.

“Before I know it, I’m using it… trying to keep myself together. But it doesn’t fill the void at all.”

“Have you told Akita?”

“I can’t… not like this, not me…”

The wind on the rooftop felt cold.

“I can’t talk to anyone. Not even Reiko or Misaki…”

Emptiness and loneliness consumed her.

The deep void that the vibrator couldn’t fill.

Who would have thought Sagara’s actions would cast such a shadow?

“It’s so hard…”

Her voice was strained.

“…I think I’ve changed.”

Hayami-san’s voice grew softer.

“Since what happened with Sagara…”

I held my breath at her words.

“I can only talk to you, Sato-kun… because you’re the only one who knows.”

Her hand gripping the smartphone trembled.

“The old me wouldn’t have relied on a vibrator like this…”

“Hayami-san…”

“I know I’m running away. Turning my back on reality.”

Tears streamed down her cheeks.

“But I can’t stop. Because I’m lonely. Because it hurts.”

“I can’t tell anyone… but the heat in my body won’t subside…”

I understood her mindset.

Her wounded heart was seeking validation in another form.

“Am I going crazy…?”

“No. I think… it’s part of the healing process.”

“Eh…?”

“Your wounded heart is desperately trying to heal in its own way.”

Hayami-san’s eyes met mine directly.

“So, don’t carry it alone. I’m here. Let’s get through this together.”

The wind blew between us.

Perhaps this was just the beginning of a long journey to recovery.

“Thank you, Sato-kun…”

“No. If you need to talk, I’m always here.”

“Just being able to talk to you makes me feel a little better. The guilt was overwhelming…”

Hayami-san forced a lonely smile, and my chest tightened.

A few days later, at dusk behind the gymnasium.

Hayami-san, returning from club activities, called out to me.

“Sato-kun…”

Her voice trembled, still lacking her usual composure.

“Takamichi… officially…”

Her words trailed off, but I knew what she meant.

“He’s started dating Jougasaki-senpai… so he said… we’re over…”

Her voice caught, and tears overflowed.

“I couldn’t explain anything… I kept avoiding him…”

Her volleyball uniform shook with her sobs.

“But… I couldn’t tell him… about that…”

What Sagara and the others did.

The secret she couldn’t tell anyone.

It had torn their relationship apart.

“Takamichi was… kind. He said he was sorry.”

“Hayami-san…”

“Because I avoided him… he grew closer to senpai…”

She bit her lip, her emotions spilling over into tears.

“Senpai… she was honest about her feelings…”

I could only watch.

In Hayami-san’s heart, fear of Sagara and her feelings for Akada were intricately entangled.

The sound of volleyball practice still echoed from the gym.

But today, the ace, Hayami-san, couldn’t return to practice.

“Sato-kun… I’m sorry. Again, it’s about me…”

“It’s okay. I’m always on your side.”

“And…”

Hayami-san began to speak with trembling hands.

“I can’t stop… my insides ache, and I keep masturbating. Even when I should be sleeping.”

It felt surreal that the always lively and bright Hayami-san was confiding in me like this.

But it showed just how cornered she was.

The scars left by Sagara and the others wouldn’t heal easily, even if they were on the path to rehabilitation.

The number of times she masturbated in a day was abnormal.

Late into the night, until dawn.

As if fleeing from reality.

“Yesterday, I only slept for two hours.”

“That’s…”

“I know it’s strange. But…”

The volleyball team’s ace.

The academy’s idol.

Hayami Ryoko, whom everyone admired.

Beneath that mask, she was desperately seeking help.

“Sato-kun… I’m at my limit… I’m hot and aching, I might be broken… please help me…”

Her voice carried a deep darkness.

The wound inflicted by Sagara and the others, deepened by her breakup with Akada, was now consuming her.

“Hayami-san, can I help you?”

“I… can only rely on you now. Can you accept me, knowing everything?”

“The problem is too heavy to bear alone. I’ll do whatever I can to help.”

After a moment’s hesitation, I embraced Hayami-san.

She rested her head on my chest, her breathing ragged.

She was truly at her limit.

I wanted to help her as soon as possible.

Her hands wrapped around my waist.

“Sato-kun… please…”

Something inside me snapped.

I was at my limit too.

“Hayami-san…”

I pulled her tight waist closer.

“Ahh…”

Hayami-san let out a sweet sigh.

The sun was setting, and darkness was falling.

But there was still light.

Toward that light, I took a step forward.