My Ex-Girlfriend Who Dumped Me, the Top Student, Is at Risk of Failing and Repeating a Year—but I’m Too Busy Tutoring a Former Shut-in Beauty To Get Back Together With Her - 31-32

Chapter 31: The Final Stretch of Summer Vacation, Sweet Days

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It was the end of August, and summer vacation had only a few days remaining. Outside, the evening cicadas were buzzing, but the Kisaragi family’s living room, with the air conditioning running, was perfectly comfortable.

“……Alright, correct. This applied problem is perfect as well.”

When I drew a large flower circle on the notebook with a red pen, Kotone Kisaragi, who was sitting next to me, broke into a smile like a blooming flower.

“Yay! Sensei, look, look! No mistakes!”

“Yeah. Your concentration is incredible. Forget about catching up on the first semester, you’ve completely finished the preparation range for the second semester.”

I was honestly impressed. On the night of the fireworks festival, we had become lovers. I had thought she might get carried away and unable to focus on her studies, but Kotone’s motivation for learning had skyrocketed. It seemed her declaration to “aim for the top to stand beside Sensei” hadn’t been for show.

“Ehehe…… I worked hard, you know. Because I wanted you to praise me, Sensei.”

Kotone put down her mechanical pencil and turned toward me, chair and all. Then, looking up at me with meltingly sweet eyes, she pointed to her own lips.

“Hey, Sensei. ……What about my reward?”

Her movement was carried out without any hint of awkwardness. Previously, she would have been satisfied with something like a head pat, but since that night, the required level for her rewards had jumped.

“……Good grief. If I kiss you every time you get a question right, the lesson won’t progress.”

“It is progressing. In fact, if there isn’t a kiss, I lose my motivation and stall.”

“Your fuel efficiency is far too low.”

I sighed while pretending to be exasperated, but I had no intention of refusing. I looked around the area. Her mother was out shopping and wasn’t home. There were only the two of us in the living room.

“……Alright. Just once, okay?”

When I resigned myself and brought my face close, Kotone closed her eyes happily. A gentle kiss, like a bird pecking. When our lips parted, she laughed happily, saying “Nfu-fu,” and dove straight into my chest.

“I love you. ……Sensei, I loooove you.”

“Yes, yes, I get it.”

“Muu, you’re so cold. You could at least say something like ‘I love you too’.”

“……It’s not like me.”

I turned my face away. It was still embarrassing to put it into words. However, with the hand I had wrapped around her back as she hugged me, I returned a silent affirmation.

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Break time. We were sitting side-by-side on the sofa, watching a video on a single smartphone. Kotone’s head was resting on my shoulder. My left hand was intertwined with her right hand as if it was the most natural thing to do in this world (a lover’s hand-hold).

“Hey, Sensei. Once the second semester starts, we’ll be back to school again, right?”

“That’s right. Are you feeling gloomy?”

“No. I’m looking forward to it.”

Kotone said firmly while fiddling with my hand.

“Because, once I go to school, I can show everyone.”

“Show them what?”

“That Sensei belongs to me.”

Her possessiveness had become even more solid throughout the summer vacation. The fear she had back when she was a shut-in was gone. What she had now was absolute confidence, knowing she had the “strongest boyfriend (Sensei)” backing her up.

“Besides, I’m looking forward to the next test. ……I definitely won’t lose to Rina-san.”

Suddenly, my ex-girlfriend’s name came out of her mouth. Rather than hostility, the ring of her voice felt more like a rival… no, she even sounded composed, as if she were looking at a weakling character who was no longer worth her attention.

“Rina, huh……. I wonder how she’s doing.”

I suddenly got a distant look in my eyes. That day, the girl who had collapsed in tears at the riverbank and ran away. There had been no contact since then. I hadn’t even checked if my LIME was still blocked. Having fallen as far as she could, would she rot away like this, or would she…

“……Sensei?”

Kotone puffed out her cheeks and pinched my cheek.

“Ow, that hurts.”

“You aren’t allowed to think about other women. My memory is going to occupy all of the RAM in your brain, Sensei.”

“You’re an unreasonable dictator……”

“Fufu, it’s because you spoil me, Sensei, you know?”

Kotone laughed mischievously, wrapped her arms around my neck, and begged for a second kiss of the day.

A sweet, dense, and happy summer vacation. We wished this warm time would last forever. However, the seasons were bound to change. From tomorrow, it’d be September and the new semester would begin. 

We were simply confirming each other’s body temperature without any way of knowing that in a place I didn’t know, a girl named Rina Aikawa was about to undergo a dramatic transformation.

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Chapter 32: A New Semester and My Ex-Girlfriend

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September 1st. It was the morning of the opening ceremony for the second semester, marking the end of the long summer vacation. The school route was overflowing with students wearing uniforms they hadn’t put on in a while, and a unique atmosphere—a mixture of lethargy and excitement—drifted through the air.

“……Sensei, your tie is crooked.”

Just before the school gate, Kotone Kisaragi, who was walking beside me, came to a stop. Standing in front of me, she began to fix my tie with practiced hands. It was a devoted gesture I had seen many times during summer vacation. However, seeing her do it while in uniform gave me an indescribable sense of immorality, or perhaps a sweet illusion of being a newlywed couple.

“……Thanks. But, we’re in front of the school, you know.”

“It’s fine. I have to show them.”

Kotone tightened the tie with a snap and looked around with an upward glance, as if glaring at our surroundings.

“After summer vacation, some nasty bugs might have swarmed around, aiming for Sensei. ……I have to leave a mark to show that ‘Minato Kashiwagi is Kotone Kisaragi’s property’.”

“Am I a telephone pole?”

“No. My precious husband (tentative).”

Laughing mischievously, she clung tightly to my arm. Gazes from the surrounding male students pierced us—”Ugh, those two are going at it from the morning……” and “They’re still a stupid couple even after summer vacation”—but to us, it was now nothing more than a spring breeze.

We headed toward the entrance while locking arms. I believed without a doubt that this sweet daily life would continue into the second semester.

…Until the moment I opened the classroom door.

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The classroom for Class 2-A was lively with conversations between friends meeting again after a long time. When we entered the classroom, attention gathered for just a moment, but everyone soon returned to their respective conversations with a feeling of, “Yeah, yeah, the usual.”

“Yo, Romeo. How was your summer vacation?”

My troublemaker friend, Todo, approached with a smirk.

“Well, it was alright.”

“Your face says it was more than ‘alright.’ ……It’s obvious just by looking at Kisaragi-chan.”

At the end of Todo’s gaze, Kotone sat in her seat and was smiling and waving at me. An aura of happiness that she couldn’t hide rose from her entire body like steam.

“Well, I’m glad it was peaceful. …By the way, did you hear the rumors about Aikawa?”

“Aikawa? You mean Rina?”

At the mention of my ex-girlfriend’s name, I frowned slightly. I hadn’t contacted her even once since the night of the fireworks festival. My LIME was likely still blocked, and honestly, I hadn’t had the luxury to care about how she was doing.

“I heard she didn’t hang out with anyone during summer vacation. She completely cut ties with Hasegawa and holed herself at home.”

“……Huh.”

“Surely she hasn’t become a shut-in from the shock, right?”

It was just as Todo made that dark joke.

Clack…

The back door of the classroom opened quietly. The air in the room fell into a deathly silence. Looking at the female student who entered, the entire class doubted their own eyes.

“……Who?”

Someone muttered that doubt aloud.

Standing there was a girl I didn’t recognize. No, she looked like a girl I didn’t recognize. There was no trace of her former flashy blonde hair. It had been dyed back to a wet-looking black (more accurately, a dark brown that was extremely close to black). Her hair was trimmed at the shoulders into a clean-looking bob style. Her flashy false eyelashes and thick eyeliner were gone, replaced by natural, light makeup. Her skirt, which she used to roll up short, was back to knee-length, and the buttons of her blouse, which she used to leave messy, were fastened all the way to the top.

It was as if she were a reformed delinquent, or perhaps a high-born lady. Because of the sheer transformation, no one could call out to her. However, those facial features were unmistakably—

“……Aikawa-san?”

When one of the girls fearfully called her name, she gave a small nod.

“Good morning.”

Giving a short greeting, she—Rina Aikawa—began to walk quietly toward her seat. There was no arrogance in her gait like before, as if to flaunt that “I’m at the top of the caste.” It was a serene pace, merely heading toward her own territory with detachment.

A buzz of excitement enveloped the classroom.

“Wait, is that seriously Aikawa? Her vibe has changed too much!”

“Somehow…… isn’t she cuter that way?”

“What happened…? Did she go crazy from the shock of the breakup?”

Amidst the inconsiderate whispering flying around, Rina sat in her seat without making eye contact with anyone. Then, she immediately took a book out of her bag. It wasn’t a fashion magazine or a smartphone. It was an English vocabulary book that had been used so much it was falling apart.

“……!”

I caught my breath. It was a side of her I had never seen. Back when she was dating me, I had never once seen her open a vocabulary book on her own. She used to just toss them to me and say, “Kashiwagi, memorize this for me.”

“Ri-Rina-chan! It’s been a while!”

Her former group of followers, who couldn’t read the room, gathered around Rina’s seat out of curiosity.

“What’s with that hair! A makeover? That’s hilarious!”

“Hey, hey, do you want to go to karaoke after school today? I’ll listen to you complain about Hasegawa-kun!”

To the girls who were smirking as they invited her, Rina looked up and spoke quietly.

“Sorry. I’m not going.”

“Huh? Why? You’re being such a killjoy.”

“Because I have to study. Could you not disturb me?”

A cold rejection. The followers scattered in anger, saying things like “What’s with her?” and “Is she full of herself?”, but Rina didn’t care and looked back down at her vocabulary book.

Seeing that series of exchanges, I realized. She wasn’t doing this for performance. She was serious. That Rina, who only knew how to depend on others, was choosing “solitude” all by herself.

Suddenly, Rina looked up. Our gazes crossed. Mine, and Kotone’s beside me. If it were the old her, she would have glared or shown a face like she was about to cry. However, there was no emotion in her eyes now. As if merely confirming a fact, she smoothly looked away and returned to the vocabulary book in her hands.

(Does this mean we’re no longer even in her sight?)

It wasn’t loneliness. It was a refreshingly clear break up. She was no longer looking at me. She had begun to walk on her own feet in a world where I did not exist.

“……Sensei.”

Beside me, Kotone pulled on my sleeve. Her expression was deadly serious.

“……We can’t let our guard down.”

“Eh?”

“Those eyes of hers……They’re the same eyes I had when I returned from being a shut-in.”

Kotone must have understood the hungry color in the eyes of a person who had seen rock bottom and was trying to crawl back up.

“……You’re right.”

The door slid open with a clack, and Saejima-sensei entered. Sensei looked around the classroom, and when she found the black-haired Rina, her eyes widened for just a moment as if in surprise, and then she gave a smirk.

“Take your seats. …Hmph, it looks like the second semester is going to be interesting.”

Sensei’s pleased voice echoed in the classroom.

The new semester. What appeared before us, the strongest couple, was not an ex-girlfriend crazed with jealousy, but an unknown rival who had thrown everything away and been reborn.

The story of Rina Aikawa’s counterattack—no, her “rebirth”—quietly raises its curtain from here.

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