My Memories Came Back, But I'm Not Telling My Childhood Friends

Chapter 24

After hitting four different shops, our date finally came to an end.

We headed back to the spot where we’d met up this morning to say our goodbyes.

“Thanks for going on a date with me today, Reita.”

“Did you actually have a good time?”

“Yeah. It was the best day of my life.”

“Okay, now you’re definitely exaggerating…”

I appreciated her saying that, but I wanted to believe it was just her being polite. If she was being dead serious, I’d actually start worrying about how her life has been up until now.

“I’m not exaggerating. I really… had so much fun.”

“I see…”

But looking at her, she seemed to be speaking from the heart.

Well, I guess I enjoyed myself enough to lose track of time for once, so maybe she wasn’t lying. It felt like she cherished our past even more than I’d realized…

…Alright.

Before we head our separate ways, there’s still one thing I haven’t done.

I have to apologize to Maya. I ended up letting the words slip away until we got to this point. If I miss this chance, I’ll probably lose the timing forever, so I can’t afford to hesitate.

“Maya.”

I steeled my resolve and faced her directly.

“Hmm? What is it?”

“About back then… I’m sorry. For saying that I hated you.”

“……!”

At my words, Maya’s eyes went wide with surprise. But a moment later, a small, happy smile pulled at the corners of her mouth.

Instead of being mad, she’s actually happy about it… she’s seriously too kind for her own good. That only makes me feel like I need to apologize properly even more.

“I know saying sorry might not be enough to make up for it, but… I’m truly sorry.”

I apologized with every bit of sincerity I had.

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d bowed my head to someone. My body felt restless, almost like it was having an allergic reaction to being humble. But I couldn’t back down now.

“…It’s okay, Reita. I understand everything.”

I was a little scared to look up, but Maya’s voice was gentle, as if she were wrapping me in a hug.

“You only said it because you didn’t want to get me dragged into your mess, right?”

“No… I didn’t need to go that far. It was my fault.”

“It couldn’t be helped. I mean, I was being annoying. I was acting all familiar without thinking about how you’d lost your memories…”

“But… even so, I didn’t have to say I hated you.”

No matter what the reason was, the fact remained that I’d made Maya cry. That wouldn’t change.

“Yeah. Well then… let’s make up, okay?”

Maya said, holding her hand out to me.

Honestly, I wondered if it was really okay for me to be forgiven this easily. But there was no point in being stubborn about it now. This was the moment to just take her hand.

“…Thanks, Maya.”

I shook her hand, feeling grateful for her kindness.

In that moment, I felt like the massive wall that had been standing between us for so long finally crumbled away.

At last… the regret that had been tangled up deep in my chest loosened, just a little bit.

After soaking in the moment for a while—.

“Well… I’m gonna head home first.”

I told her it was time to go.

I had to remember that everything wasn’t exactly back to the way it was yet. We were going home separately. This was just the first step in making up. In fact, you could say the real work starts now. In the end, if I don’t change myself, none of this means anything. It’s too early to get carried away.

“Wait, Reita.”

But Maya stopped me, just like she always does.

“What is it? I really can’t walk you home.”

“No, I’ll be patient about that. But you have to keep your promise.”

“Huh? Promise…?”

What is she talking about…?

For a second, I thought it might be a promise we made as kids, but I hadn’t told her my memories were back yet, so that couldn’t be it.

But I didn’t remember making any big promises recently.

Which means… what?

Oh crap. I have no idea. After finally making up, forgetting a promise and making things awkward again would be the absolute worst.

I started to panic, but—

The next thing out of Maya’s mouth blew everything else away.

“The, the promise… to let you feel my boobs.”

“……”

I couldn’t believe my ears. I doubted my own sanity. But that doubt was crushed immediately.

“You promised that if I went on a date with you, you’d touch them… right?”

“…Wait, hold on. That wasn’t exactly the deciding factor for the date…”

There was a massive misunderstanding happening here. I definitely didn’t agree to the date just so I could touch her chest. Sure, my heart had a change of plans at a timing that made it look suspicious, but…

“It’s okay, you don’t have to be shy! It’s not like they’re gonna wear out or anything!”

“No, that’s not the issue here.”

“Actually, I want you to squeeze them!”

“Just calm down for a second…”

Her voice was jumping an octave as she started to lose control, and I tried my best to soothe her, but…

“Enough talk, here… hup!”

Maya grabbed my hand on her own and forced it—

“Wait, hang on—”

—Squish.

“Ah…///”

She’d made me do it.

As my fingers sank into her large chest, Maya let out a voice that was both cute and seductive. Seeing that expression and hearing that sound for the first time made me feel… strange. It was a feeling I’d never felt toward my childhood friends—something I couldn’t put into words.

And a sensation I’d never known before spread through my hand.

Wh-What is this…?

It didn’t feel like a substance from this world; it was so soft and bouncy that it felt like my fingers were going to melt right into her. But the most shocking part was the size. I knew they were big even through her clothes, but actually touching them, I was overwhelmed. They were oversized—way too big to fit in one hand.

Maya, are you seriously a high schooler…?

Faced with such a concentrated mass of desire, I couldn’t resist. Almost unconsciously, I gave them a light squeeze.

“Ah, auh…///”

Maya let out another groan, her face turning bright red.

Seeing her like that, I suddenly snapped back to my senses.

I realized how bad this situation was and tried to pull my hand away in a hurry.

That’s when it happened—.

“THAT’S QUITE ENOUGH, YOU PERVEEEEEERT!!!”

A girl charged at us from behind with terrifying intensity.

“Whoa, Rin…?! Where did you come from…!?”

“Take this!”

“Gofh—”

I turned to see it was Rin. Before I could even process it, her momentum carried her right into a kick that sent me flying. Since she’s not that strong, it didn’t really hurt, but I still ended up tumbling to the ground.

“…I knew following you guys was the right call… Reita, you are unbelievable…!!”

Rin was shaking with so much rage it looked like she was about to kick me again.

…I couldn’t blame her. She was already on guard, and then she saw me squeezing Maya’s boobs. While I was racking my brain on how to handle being caught in the worst possible moment, another girl appeared with an exhausted look on her face.

“Reita, so you’ve finally turned to a life of crime… How disappointing…”

It looked like Shizuno was with her too.

Wait, have they been watching us all day…?

The thought crossed my mind. They couldn’t have shown up at such a perfect—or rather, imperfect—time otherwise. For a second, I glanced at Maya to see if this was some kind of penalty game, but she looked just as shocked as I was, so they must have done this on their own.

“Reita. How do you plan on making up for this?”

“No, look, there’s a deep reason for this…”

“I don’t want to hear it. Just turn yourself in to the police right now.”

I tried to defend myself, but the words of a guy who actually just touched a girl’s chest didn’t have much weight.

“Awa… awa…”

Maya was just flustered, caught between the shock of the two appearing and the embarrassment of having her chest squeezed.

This is… checkmate, I guess.

The fact was that I did give her that extra squeeze, so I decided to sit there and take my punishment from Shizuno and Rin.