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

Chapter 3

It was break time between classes.

About a week had passed since we got our new class, and when I looked around, groups had already started forming.

There was the honor student group full of people who were good at both sports and studies.
The cheerful, outgoing, loud sunny-type group that was noisy every day.

The quiet shady-type group that didn’t stand out much but seemed to be having fun in their own way.

And then there was the delinquent group I belonged to.

Since it hadn’t been long since the new class started, the groups weren’t fully formed yet, but the sorting was slowly happening.

There were four of us on my side, including Ryosuke. We weren’t full-on yankees like you see in manga, but we all had that rough, wild vibe around us.

“Hey guys, you decide yet?”

“Decide what?”

“You know what. Who we’re going after in this class.”

They wasted no time starting up their usual low-down talk that lived up to the delinquent name.

Until recently I used to enjoy this kind of talk too, but now that my memories were back, it felt complicated.

The old me was more the serious type, same as my childhood friends.

Everyone around me back then was a good person, so I naturally became kind to others too. If someone was in trouble I’d help right away, and I always tried to act with consideration every day.

But the me now was the same as these guys. Like I said earlier, I had no resistance to evil. Honestly, I didn’t care what they did. Unless it was something really bad, I had no intention of stopping them.

…Still, deep down there was a part of me screaming, “Is this really okay?”

Shouldn’t I cut ties with these guys who had such rotten tastes?

The me before I lost my memories and the me now.

The difference was so huge it felt gross, like two different personalities were living inside the same body.

So which one… was the real me?

“So, who are you guys aiming for?”

Ryosuke scanned the classroom with the eyes of a beast hunting its prey.

“Who? Obviously it’s Maa-chan from Okabe. That angelic smile and those huge tits that don’t look like they belong on a high school girl. She’s seriously too hot and cute.”

One of the guys in the group, Yamada, looked toward a girl chatting happily in the front seats and said that.

“And I heard she’s still a virgin on top of that.”

“Huh? For real? That’s something the virgin hunter in me can’t ignore.”

“Those tits and still a virgin… that’s way too erotic…”

The extremely vulgar conversation made my chest stir again.
And the fact that they were talking about Maa-chan shook my heart even more.

No need to hide it—she was one of my childhood friends.

I had decided not to tell anyone that my memories came back, so I had no right to act like her childhood friend anymore. But I still didn’t want to imagine her being toyed with by these guys. Maa-chan was the natural, pure and innocent type. The thought of someone like her getting dirtied just didn’t sit right with me.

“Okabe Maa-chan, huh… I tried hitting on her a bit back in middle school, but that girl’s guard is surprisingly tight.”

Ryosuke muttered while staring at her.

…So this guy had been trying to seduce Maa-chan behind my back. Figures.

“But girls like that are more worth the effort to break down. Might be good to try again.”

Ryosuke flashed a wicked grin as he said that.

—For the third time, my chest stirred.

What… am I saying I want to stop this?

I had nothing to do with Maa-chan anymore. Ever since I pushed her away, we hadn’t spoken even once.

Whatever happened to her had nothing to do with me.

After doing the exact same kind of stuff with these guys countless times, I couldn’t joke about “just leave Maa-chan alone.”
Trying to act all righteous now would just make me sick of myself.

But if things kept going like this, Maa-chan would—

No… I didn’t need to worry about her, right?

Like Ryosuke said, there were rumors that Maa-chan had a really strong guard.

Apparently she had almost no interest in other people.

She was basically kind and gentle to everyone without discrimination, so people often misunderstood, but if you tried to get any closer she would give such a cold response that it broke your heart.

Even if you talked to her, she’d quickly end the conversation…
If you leaned in, she’d just give short replies like “Yeah,” “Oh, I see,” “Huh,” “Got it”…
If you worked up the courage to invite her out, she’d lightly brush it off with “Sorry, can’t.”

And the fact that there was no malice behind it apparently hurt the guys’ pride even more.

In my memories she didn’t seem like such a cold girl, but…
Now that she was one of the most popular girls in the grade, she had probably unconsciously learned how to protect herself.

“Alright, let’s invite her right away—Maa-chan.”

Before long Ryosuke moved.
His usual quick action. The way he acted the moment an idea hit him was honestly something to admire.

What should I do…? Is it really okay not to stop this…?

No matter how strong her guard was, that only worked when the other person was within normal common sense. If someone came at her aggressively, she was actually the type who was weak against that.

And of course Ryosuke was way outside common sense. I knew that better than anyone since I’d spent the most time with him.

…Well, either way, Ryosuke wasn’t the type to stop just because I said something, so I guess I had no choice but to watch quietly for now.

“Heyyy, Maa-chaaan! Come here for a sec!”

Ryosuke called out to her in a loud voice right from the middle of the classroom.
Openly picking up a girl in broad daylight like this showed he had guts as well as action power.

Maa-chan, called over, let her pretty chestnut-colored hair sway as she trotted cutely toward us, completely unaware she was about to be hit on.

“Um… did you call me?”

“Maa-chan, wanna go karaoke with us after school today?”

“Karaoke…?”

“Oh sorry. I’m Ryosuke Yamanobe.”

“Ah, yeah. We were in the same middle school so I remember…”

Maa-chan looked a little confused by the sudden invitation.
But she didn’t seem that scared, so she was probably used to guys suddenly talking to her.
As expected from one of the top two most beautiful girls in the grade. Her experience level was on another level.

“So, what do you think? Free after school?”

“Eh, um…”

Maa-chan showed a little hesitation at Ryosuke’s invitation.
I thought she would turn it down cleanly like the rumors said, but she actually looked like she was thinking it over.
No way she’d actually join…

“By the way, who’s coming?”

Huh… she sounded kinda interested. Was that okay…?
Stepping into such an obvious minefield—what happened to her strong guard?

“We haven’t decided the full group yet, but for now it’s me, Yamada, and… Reita, you coming?”

“…Me?”

Suddenly all eyes turned this way.

…To be honest, I wasn’t really in the mood for karaoke right now.

There were still some things I wanted to sort out in my head, and being together with Maa-chan at a time like this would be too awkward to handle.

I’d rather secure some alone time if possible…

But if I turned it down now, Ryosuke and Maa-chan would end up going together.
That bothered me a little.
Just in case… maybe I should join and keep an eye on things.

“…I’ll come if I feel like it.”

“Got it. Anyone else?”

“If Maa-chan’s going then I’m in!” “I’ve got plans today…” “I’ll pass too.”

Everyone gave their answers one by one.

Ryosuke also casually invited other girls to make it easier for Maa-chan to join, focusing on girls she already knew.

That sly little move was so like him.
These days I was thinking it would be really troublesome to have him as an enemy.

Soon after, the replies came in and we ended up with a group of eight, half guys and half girls.

“So that’s the lineup. What do you think, Maa-chan?”

“Yeah. If it’s like that, I’ll go.”

Maa-chan nodded without much hesitation.

Hey hey… seriously? What kind of standard made her decide to come…?

Honestly, I thought she wouldn’t come once I said I was joining. It would obviously be awkward with me there.