My Memories Came Back, But I'm Not Telling My Childhood Friends - Chapter 27-28

Chapter 27

After school, I wait for Soraka in a quiet connecting hallway on the way to the student council room where no one really passes by.

We didn’t make any plans to meet, but if she’s always hanging out there every day, she has to walk through here.

I wait a few minutes. Just like I thought, Soraka shows up.

“Oh… Reita. What are you doing in a place like this?”

“Hey. Got something I wanna talk to you about.”

I greet the confused-looking Soraka lightly and jump right into it.

“You’ve been acting kinda weird lately. Did something happen?”

“…Not really. I’m the same as always.”

“Nah, Maya and the others all say you’re off too. Something must’ve happened.”

“Well, I won’t say nothing happened… but it’s a small thing.”

Soraka talks like it’s no big deal, but her words don’t have their usual sharp edge.

I knew she wouldn’t tell me straight, so now I decide to push her a bit.

“Heh… don’t tell me you got a boyfriend or something?”

I grin at her, trying to stir her up.

“Fufu, that’s a pretty lame joke coming from you, isn’t it?”

“Guess not. Yeah, makes sense. I heard you were number one on the ‘least likely to have a boyfriend’ ranking.”

“…What kind of ranking is that? That’s in bad taste.”

Soraka twists her face like she saw something dirty.

She’s definitely the type who hates stuff like that.

By the way, that ranking doesn’t exist. I just made it up right now.

“Even I am a young maiden, so of course I can fall in love.”

Good, she took the bait just like I expected.

“Really?”

“What? You don’t believe me?”

“Of course I don’t. You’re ranked number one, after all.”

She was the one who said she wasn’t interested in love in the first place. I can’t call her out on that because of the memory stuff.

“The people who made that ranking have no eye for things.”

“So are you in love right now?”

“…Not at the moment.”

“So you were in love before?”

“Yes. I was.”

“Huh… what kind of guy was he?”

“It was you.”

“Wha—”

Her sudden confession makes a weird sound slip out of me.

“Just kidding, obviously.”

“W-what the… you scared me.”

My heart nearly stopped from the shock, but it looks like it was a lie.

She got me good on that one…

“Did you actually believe me?”

“No way I would.”

“You’re no fun. You used to get all flustered so easily back then.”

“I told you I don’t remember that stuff.”

“Fufu, that’s right.”

Soraka laughs playfully as she watches me get a little worked up.

She probably already has a pretty good idea that my memories are coming back…

Or maybe she even knows why I’m not saying anything about it.

She’s really hard to read.

“I don’t know if you’re trying to dig into my business… but let me just say romance has nothing to do with this.”

After that, Soraka clearly says it has nothing to do with love stuff.

Looking into her straight eyes, I don’t smell any lies.

“Then why are you acting so weird?”

“That’s—”

And right then.

“…I told you not to bother Soraka-chan, didn’t I?”

A low voice suddenly rings out from behind me.

I turn around, and there’s Yokomizo, the Student Council President, standing there with a stern look on his face.

…It’s this guy again.

He really shows up everywhere.

This time he’s probably heading to the student council room, but whenever I’m talking to Soraka in school, he always appears.

“…Yeah yeah, sorry about that.”

“It’s not something an apology can fix. What if weird rumors start? Can you take responsibility?”

Yokomizo looks genuinely disgusted as I give a half-hearted apology.

He’s right about that part.

I thought I picked a spot where no one would see us, but I guess I was a bit careless.

“You too, Soraka-chan. Don’t forget your position.”

“…Yes, I’m sorry.”

Soraka quietly apologizes after Yokomizo scolds her.

This really isn’t like her…

I don’t know what their relationship is, but it’s rare to see Soraka act this meek.

“So, can you stay away from Soraka-chan from now on?”

“…”

I don’t answer.

I can’t make that promise.

Still, it might be better not to get too close for a while.

Soraka didn’t seem like she wanted me pushing any further, and I need to take care of what I have to do quick so I can shut Yokomizo down.

In the end, I still have no clue why Soraka’s acting weird, but I’m sure she’ll handle it herself.

Thinking that, I watch the two of them walk away.

—

Chapter 28

After I split up with Soraka and left school, I did a bit of shopping before heading home.

I bought a new notebook, some stationery, reference books, and stuff like that. I used to get them one by one, but this time I properly stocked up on everything at once.

I don’t have a ton of money to spare, but right now I can’t afford to hold back if I want to keep this motivation going.

When I got home, I went straight to my room.

I set my bag down and was about to plug my phone into the charger when—

A crazy sight caught my eye.

“Whoa, what the heck is this…”

I had over thirty LINE notifications.

My phone, which usually gets nothing, was full of alerts.

I opened it nervously and…

Every single one was from Maya.

‘Good evening♪ What are you doing right now?’

‘Huh? Are you busy?’

‘You okay? Did something happen?’

‘Reita-kun?’

At first it looks like she’s worried about no reply, but the messages are coming every five minutes.

If it had been half a day with no answer, sure, but five minutes is way too impatient.

And the messages keep going down.

‘Are you ignoring me…?’

‘Hey, you’re actually looking at the notification screen, right?’

‘At least mark it as read.’

‘Don’t be mean.’

And then she starts getting all sulky. Of course, still every five minutes.

Does she not think about just waiting a little longer…?

‘I see. So that’s how it is.’

‘Fine, if you’re gonna be like that.’

After that, for some reason she attached a selfie.

It’s Maya in her uniform, sitting on her bed with her legs tucked under her like a girl, cheeks all red.

It’s not really revealing or anything, but the shot feels strangely real and close.

‘Hehe, I sent a really bold picture. If you wanna see it, you gotta mark it as read♡’

‘Come on, hurry hurry.’

‘Grumble, this doesn’t work either?’

‘Actually… I’m starting to feel embarrassed now…’

‘I can’t delete this!?’

‘Don’t save it okay.’

‘Well, if Reita-kun really insists, you can use it…’

‘Ah, use it like for your lock screen! Not in a weird way!’

‘Going to eat now!’

The chat ended there.

What the heck is Maya doing by herself…

Is this some new kind of joke? Knowing her, she probably did it for real.

Lately Maya has started to scare me a little.

Maybe it’s the backlash from us being out of touch for four years, but I feel like she’s getting kinda obsessed with me.

Well, she was like this as a kid too, so in that sense she hasn’t changed…

Still, giving her my contact info might have been a mistake.

‘Just got home.’

I was worried that ignoring her more would make her spiral again, so I replied right away.

She answered in ten seconds.

‘Welcome back. What were you doing?’

‘Talked with Soraka a bit, then went shopping.’

‘Oh, I see. Sorry… I got the wrong idea all by myself.’

‘Nah, my bad for not checking.’

I don’t usually get LINE messages, so I haven’t gotten in the habit of checking notifications right away.

I don’t want to make Maya worry for nothing, so I gotta be more careful from now on.

‘It’s totally fine. So, how was Soraka-chan doing?’

‘She really didn’t seem like she wanted anyone pushing in. So for now, I decided we’ll just watch over her.’

There’s nothing more we can do about Soraka’s situation. The best we can do is just treat her normally.

‘Got it. I’ll leave it to your judgment, Reita-kun.’

I added that we shouldn’t do anything that would bother her.

‘By the way, Reita-kun. You didn’t save that picture from earlier… right…?’

Then the topic changed to the selfie she sent.

Of course I’m not some creep who saves selfies from my girl friends.

Especially not an embarrassing shot of my childhood friend.

But right here, I decide to go for it—

‘I saved it.’

‘Ehhh!? You did!?’

‘I’m gonna use it tonight.’

‘Use it!? You mean…!?’

‘If you don’t want this to happen again, stop acting so impulsive. See you tomorrow.’

I sent the message and turned my phone off.

—Of course it was a joke. No way I’m using it.

She probably thinks I’m gross now, but this should make Maya reflect a little.

Good thing it was me she sent it to. Stuff like this gets spread online so easily these days, so I wish she’d be more careful.

Even if it’s someone you trust, accidents can happen.

Especially since Maya is cute, it’s not weird for some stalker to get attached.

Anyway…

For some reason I’m bursting with energy I can’t explain, so maybe I’ll study…

Right away, without even taking a break, I sat down at my desk.

◇ ◇ ◇

Meanwhile, Maya—

“Reita-kun is gonna use my selfie…!? ~ ~!! If I do the same thing tonight, that basically means…!!”

She wasn’t reflecting at all.