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

Chapter 36

It happened three days ago.

In the end, Soraka kept everything bottled up inside and got weirder and weirder.

She even started to look like she had given up on everything.

I had never seen her like that before. It was clear something was seriously wrong.

The Student Council President was always next to her.

Especially when she was beside Yokomizo, her face looked even more filled with despair.

I knew that guy had to be involved…

But without knowing the details, I couldn’t do anything.

If I stuck my nose in carelessly, it would probably just make things worse.

I even thought about slapping her to make her talk…

But I knew she still wouldn’t say anything. That’s just how Soraka is.

While I was feeling lost…

I suddenly remembered something like a flash of inspiration.

Maybe her sister would know what’s going on.

I hadn’t talked to her much and hadn’t seen her face in four years so I almost forgot, but I remembered how much Soraka looked up to her big sister.

If Soraka was going to open up to anyone, it would be her.

With that small hope, right after school I headed straight to the Shizuno house.

But I ran into a problem there too.

Soraka’s mom told me that her sister, Shizuno Yuri, had shut herself away.

Honestly, I couldn’t believe it at first. I never imagined the mature Yuri would end up like that.

Still, I begged her mom to let me see her and got guided to the door of her room.

In front of the locked door, I called out to her.

“Yuri-san, it’s been a while. It’s me, Reita Kawakami.”

“Reita… kun…?”

“I need to talk to you about something.”

I chose my words carefully like her mom told me and kept going.

“…I’m sorry. I don’t want to see anyone right now.”

“Why not?”

“Because… I don’t want to get involved with anyone.”

Just like I heard, Yuri was rejecting everyone around her.

But the fact she was at least answering me gave me some hope, so I didn’t back down and spoke again.

“It’s about Soraka. I need some advice.”

It felt a bit sneaky, but I used Soraka’s name.

She always changed completely when it came to her little sister, so I figured she wouldn’t ignore that.

“Did something happen to Soraka…?”

“Actually, she’s in big trouble right now.”

“Big trouble…?”

“Didn’t you hear about it?”

“Um… sorry. I barely talk with Soraka anymore…”

Looks like my guess missed the mark.

Even Yuri hadn’t heard about Soraka’s problems.

…But I had a hunch about something.

There might be a connection between Yuri’s current state and Soraka’s worries.

If there was something Soraka put above her own issues, it had to be her sister.

It was all just a guess, but I had nothing else to hold onto, so I decided to push a little more.

“Right now there’s some trouble between Soraka and a guy named Yokomizo.”

“Eh…!?”

The second I said Yokomizo’s name, Yuri raised her voice, and I knew for sure.

“Soraka might be getting threatened by that guy right now.”

It was all just my speculation, but I needed to keep the conversation going with Yuri no matter what.

“N-no way…”

“Yuri-san, please. If you know anything, tell me.”

I begged her.

After a short silence—

“…Come in.”

I heard Yuri’s quiet voice and the lock clicked open.

She really couldn’t ignore anything about her little sister.

“Excuse me.”

I stepped into the room.

Yuri, who I hadn’t seen in a long time, looked bad. I hate to say it, but she was barely recognizable.

The graceful girl she used to be was gone.

She was hugging a pillow on her bed and looking up at me fearfully, like someone with a serious illness.

“Hey…”

“…S-sorry… for looking like this.”

Yuri was in her pajamas. Her hair was messy and her face was dark.

Still, I could faintly see the traces of the girl they called a goddess.

The room was pretty tidy too, so it wasn’t as bad as I feared.

Even so, I couldn’t take mental illness lightly.

I didn’t know what might trigger her trauma, so I chose my words very carefully as we talked.

First I told her about Soraka’s condition.

How she was acting strange, wouldn’t explain anything, and was often with a guy named Yokomizo.

Every time his name came up she got upset, so I could tell there was definitely a connection.

“Maybe Soraka is trying to get revenge for you, Yuri-san.”

I reached one conclusion.

In Soraka’s words — it would be punishment.

“N-no… Soraka… because of me— Ah…”

Yuri fell into light panic, overwhelmed by guilt.

“Please calm down. I’ll definitely do something about it.”

I quickly soothed her.

I had no real basis for it, but right now I had to reassure her even if it was a lie.

“But to do that, I need to know the details. Yuri-san, I won’t force you, but could you tell me what happened in the past?”

I felt bad asking someone in her state for help, but since even Soraka was struggling this much, I could imagine it was pretty complicated.

At this rate, I probably couldn’t save Soraka.

I needed as much information as possible.

“…Okay. I’ll talk.”

I honestly thought it was a long shot, but she’s her big sister after all. She forced herself to move for her little sister’s sake.

And then she slowly began to tell me what happened in the past.

—

Chapter 37

I had a dream.

It was to build a gentle world where everyone could laugh and live happily.

A peaceful world where no one would get hurt.

Of course I knew it was just a dream.

So at the very least, I tried my hardest to make the world around me peaceful.

What I could do was share kindness with others.

Whenever I saw someone in trouble, feeling down, or worried, I would reach out without hesitation.

Even if it was a bad person, I would gently wrap them up instead of getting angry.

Every person, no matter how bad, is still human.

They commit crimes because they can’t handle the pain, suffering, and sadness anymore.

So I thought if I could wrap up those negative feelings too, it would be okay.

That’s how I kept sharing my kindness.

By the way, my little sister Soraka always said bad people should be properly punished.

“You’re too soft, Sis. One day that kindness will come back to bite you.”

I brushed it off lightly at the time, but later I learned she was right.

It was winter in my second year of middle school. I met a guy.

His name was Daiki Yokomizo. He was a student council member and the kindest, most serious guy around.

Whenever a problem came up he handled it calmly and always tried to fix things around him.

I thought he was another person working hard to create a peaceful world.

I got a little interested in him and followed him into the student council.

As I spent more time with him, I gradually became drawn to him.

I thought if I was with him, building a gentle world might not be just a dream.

At the same time, I started to develop feelings for him.

I felt like I could really rely on him because he was good at everything.

Eventually we started dating and decided to chase that dream together.

But… both that dream and our love were crushed so easily.

“Hey Yuri-chan, I have a favor to ask you today.”

Three months after we started dating, he suddenly called me to his room.

I was excited for my first visit, but what waited there was completely unexpected.

“Um… Daiki-kun? Who are these people…?”

For some reason, the delinquents with the worst reputations at school were there.

The same guys he was supposed to always warn. They were grinning at me.

I couldn’t understand what was happening.

He calmly told me,

“Right now, all of us are going to violate you.”

“Huh…?”

I didn’t understand what he meant.

But when I looked at his face, I realized something was very wrong.

He was no longer the person I knew.

“I’m bored of it already. Doing the right thing? What’s fun about that?”

“But… we promised to make a gentle world together!”

“I don’t care about that. Peace and all that stuff is boring.”

“T-then… why were you always helping people…?”

“Of course it was to raise my own status. The world is full of idiots. Just setting up fake problems makes my reputation skyrocket. Oh yeah, you were the same, weren’t you? You fell for me completely after I saved you from delinquents I sent after you. Kukuku…”

The guy who used to be so kind was now smiling like a completely different person.

I honestly couldn’t believe it. If this was his true nature…

My whole world would break.

“You’re… joking, right…?”

“Unfortunately it’s reality. The world is filthy.”

“N-no way…”

“Ah… Nice. That’s exactly the face I wanted to see.”

When I learned the truth, I fell into despair.

He hit me with so much malice that I didn’t even feel like gently persuading him like usual. My inner world twisted and broke.

…I don’t remember much after that. I don’t want to remember.

All that was left for me was a cold world.

There is no kindness in this world. I can’t trust anyone. Everyone is probably plotting horrible things in their hearts.