In a Life I Restarted After a Bad Ending, I’m Somehow Being Hit With Extremely Heavy Feelings From a Classmate I’ve Just Met for the First Time - Chapter 28

After relaxing at the hot springs, we were now on our way back home and taking a break at a service area. The destination of this trip was almost the same as last time, but with Amane with us, it felt like this trip was more fun.

“By the way, what is this thing on the ground? I kind of get what it is, but I’m not sure…”

“This is a sundial. It shows time by using the position of the shadow made by sunlight.”

“Thank you, that was on the tip of my tongue. I feel better now. But why is something like this in a service area?”

“It seems it was placed here as a symbol because this area has the standard time meridian passing through it.”

I answered Amane’s question. I actually had the same question last time, and I remember asking my father about it. That’s why I already knew the answer this time.

“You really know a lot, Eito.”

“I just happened to know this one this time.”

While talking like that, Amane and I walked up a small hill. From there, we could see far away, all the way to a large bridge over the sea. We can only see it clearly on days with good weather because of the distance. So seeing the bridge colored by the sunset was lucky.

“This trip was really fun, thank you.”

“You should say that to my parents. They’ll be happier.”

My mother was especially the real MVP as she was the one who invited Amane on this trip. I never even thought of inviting Amane on a family trip myself.

“I’m not just thankful to your parents. I’m thankful to you too, Eito.”

“I don’t think I did anything special to deserve that.”

“Just being with you is enough to be thankful for me.”

“I didn’t really understand what you meant, but I’ll take it as a compliment.”

At the very least, I could tell she was truly grateful, so I answered like that. My second life in high school was completely different from my first. My first life was gray, with almost no youth or fun at all. But now, everything was so colorful. This change was clearly because of Amane.

Yesterday, when she was close to me, I found myself thinking I didn’t want her to do the same things with other boys. That could only mean one thing. I had fallen for her. Just being with her made me feel this happy, so there was no doubt about it.

But if someone asked me whether I could confess right here and now, the answer would be no. In my past life, I confessed to Himari with these same feelings, and I was rejected. That painful memory was still there.

I could tell Amane might have feelings for me, too, but I wasn’t confident that I was reading it right. I had no experience with love, so I couldn’t trust my own judgment.

Even if she will cook for me forever, the comment from last night… Her way of getting close was a bit strange, so I couldn’t be sure if it meant anything romantic. And if I confessed and got rejected again, the emotional pain would be huge. Probably even worse than when Himari rejected me.

“Why did you suddenly go quiet just now…?”

“…Ah, I’m sorry. I was just thinking about the Golden Week homework.”

“Don’t suddenly bring up something annoying when I’m in a good mood!”

“But it’s something I can’t ignore.”

“That’s true, but still…”

I made her look a bit gloomy, but at least I managed to change the topic. I had spent a very close and intense time with Amane, but our relationship was still only about one month old. I didn’t think I needed to rush and decide anything because of that.

“We’ve enjoyed the nice view, so let’s head back to the car.”

“Amane, are you okay? Do you need to use the restroom? The highway ride is still going to take a while.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. What about you, Eito?”

“I already went earlier.”

“Then let’s go.”

Amane and I walked down from the hill and started heading back to the car. Maybe because I had clearly realized my feelings, I felt a little shy looking at Amane’s face.

I became quieter in the car afterward because of that. But Amane didn’t say anything about it, so maybe she thought I was just tired. And like that, our one-night and two-day family trip came to an end.

◇◇◇

Afterword

Even Eito has noticed that Amane has strong and unusual feelings toward him. However, he still doesn’t realize that the true nature of those feelings is something very heavy and intense. He won’t understand that part just yet.

That concludes Volume II, which continued from Chapter 18. Thank you very much for reading this far!

In Volume III, which begins from Chapter 29, the story will return to school life. This chapter will have many important developments, so please look forward to it!

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