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

Chapter 7

Afternoon class was PE—basketball.

Mixed-gender PE is pretty rare these days. I don’t know what the school was thinking, but at Shirosaki Academy, gym class always feels more like recreation time.

For me, it’s perfect because I can slack off a bit without anyone caring… but thanks to these memories, skipping out now gives me this weird guilty feeling.

Seriously… if I’d known it would turn out like this, maybe it would’ve been better not to remember anything.

“Ugh… Maya’s got seriously huge tits.”

“Damn, they’re bouncing all over. I wanna squeeze ’em.”

While I was thinking that, Yamada and the guys were getting all hyped up, eyes glued to the girls—mostly Maya.

Maya in her gym clothes. Even though I’ve never felt anything dirty toward my childhood friend before, her figure was so good it made me swallow hard.

Every time she ran, her massive chest bounced like it had its own sound effects, and Yamada’s crew was completely losing it.

Of course, my feelings were complicated.

Knowing I have these memories, the thought of feeling this way every single day made me depressed.

“But lately I’ve started thinking Rin’s pretty cute too.”
“Yeah, I get that. She’s seriously beautiful.”
“She acts all cold normally, but if a girl like her ever went dere, she’d be insanely adorable.”

And now they’ve even locked onto Rin too.

Of all people, both of them are my childhood friends…

Well, they’re two of the three most beautiful girls in class, so I guess it’s only natural.

Still, if Rin—who hates delinquents—heard this conversation, she’d definitely flip out…

While imagining that, I absentmindedly watched the two of them running around the court.

Rin moved quickly with the ball, darting through the court.

She’s slender and not very strong, but her actual athletic ability is decent, and she contributes to the team almost as well as the guys.

Her swaying side-tail gave off that crisp, beautiful vibe that matched her name perfectly.

On the other hand, Maya could barely keep up.

She’s always been bad at sports. She tries hard, but that effort almost never works in the right direction.

Right now, for example, she looked like she was about to trip—

Ah.

She fell. And she didn’t even break her fall properly, so it looked pretty painful.

“Oh, Okabe, are you okay!?” “Oh no! Maya’s down!”

The gym suddenly got noisy.

…It felt like I was watching a really familiar scene.

This kind of thing happened all the time back in elementary school.

And every time, I was the health committee member, so I’d take Maya to the nurse’s office—

Wait, hold on, this pattern…

“Um, the girls’ health committee member is Tanaka… ah, but she’s absent today. Then the boys’…”

…is me.

“I think… it was Kawakami…”

The moment one of the girls said my name, the noisy gym suddenly grew a little quieter.

Soon after, whispers started spreading.

…What an annoying atmosphere.

I haven’t even done anything yet, but it already feels like I messed up.

It’s pissing me off, so maybe I should just skip my duty like usual…

If I don’t go, someone else will probably take her instead, and that way I won’t cause her any extra worry. That’s probably better.

That’s what I was thinking as I tried to pretend I didn’t notice, but…

When I saw Maya crouched down, holding her leg, for some reason I stood up anyway.

Once I was standing, it would’ve been weird not to go, so I reluctantly headed over to her.

“…Let’s go. Nurse’s office.”
“Ah, yeah. Thanks.”

I lent Maya my shoulder, and we left the gym with tons of eyes stabbing into my back from behind.

◇ ◇ ◇

On the way to the nurse’s office—

Just as I expected, an awkward silence hung between us.

This is exactly why I hadn’t wanted to do it, but now that we were already walking, I couldn’t just ditch her halfway.

The silence felt too weird, so I checked on her leg as an excuse to talk.

“Is your injury… okay?”
“Yeah. It’s totally fine. Actually, I might’ve exaggerated it a little earlier—ah, never mind.”

She was about to say something I probably shouldn’t ignore…

Well, I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear it.

“More importantly, thanks for coming with me.”
“It’s nothing. It’s my job…”

I answered in a way that didn’t sound like me at all. What am I even saying? I’m the guy who skips committee work all the time.

“……”
“……”

The conversation died, and the awkward air came back.

It’s not that I’m shy or have bad social skills, but being alone with Maya of all people is just tough.

If I had to put it into words, it’s like we’re right in the middle of a fight.

Even though it was four years ago, I still haven’t apologized. Nothing has been resolved.

“Hey… Reita.”

In the middle of that, Maya spoke up.

Hearing my first name after so long, a sudden wave of nostalgia spread through my chest.

At the same time, it felt like my heart was being squeezed.

She still calls me that…

“Um… I, well… how do I say this…”

Then Maya stopped walking. She looked a little awkward as she turned toward me and said—

“I’m not mad about what happened back then.”

She hit me with a completely unexpected line.

“So… you don’t need to feel bad about it, Reita.”

And then she gave me the gentlest smile she could manage while looking straight at me.

Why…

Why can she make a face like that…?

After I hurt her, how can she still look at me with such kind eyes?

I had no idea how to react to something so sudden.

What kind of face should I even make in return…?

Should I smile back…?

No way. The me right now can’t even manage a proper fake smile.

Then should I apologize…? Right here, for what happened back then.

Maya had just clearly told me how she felt. From her tense expression, I could tell she wasn’t saying it lightly.

I don’t know her real intention or why she’s bringing it up now, but it doesn’t feel like something I can just brush off.

In that case, I should respond to her words with sincerity too, right?

“I—”

The moment I opened my mouth—

“Wait a second!”

A high voice suddenly rang out from behind us, along with the sound of running footsteps.

“Rin…!?”

Maya and I turned around together, and there was Rin, hands on her knees, breathing hard.

“Haa… haa…”
“W-what’s wrong…!?”
“What do you mean what’s wrong… There’s no way… I could let you two… be alone together…”

Rin spoke desperately while trying to catch her breath.

It looked like she had rushed after us in a panic when she saw us leave together.

“Seriously… what are you doing, Maya? If you don’t want him to take you, just say so clearly and ask someone else.”
“I don’t mind at all—”
“Look, Maya, didn’t I tell you? Stay away from dangerous guys.”
“But Reita is…”

The two of them started arguing.

Well, I get what Rin wants to say. It’s obvious that getting close to someone like me only brings trouble.

She’s probably being strict because she really cares about Maya.

“…Hey, can I just head back now?”

My ears were starting to hurt, so I asked if it was okay to leave.

If Rin is going to escort her, I’m not needed anymore.

Honestly, being with the two of them is way past awkward—it feels like it might make me go bald.

“You can go back.”
“W-wait…!”

But while Rin nodded, Maya stopped me.

“My foot started hurting more and I can’t walk anymore, so… I was thinking maybe Reita could give me a piggyback ride~ …Just kidding. Ahaha…”

Then she said something completely ridiculous.

“Hey, what are you suddenly talking about, Maya…”

Rin looked at Maya’s suggestion with an expression of pure disbelief.

I don’t blame her. I felt the same. What the hell is Maya saying all of a sudden…

“The injury from earlier hurts more than I thought, and now I really can’t walk…”
“If you can’t walk, I’ll carry you.”
“You, Rin…? But I’m pretty heavy, you know?”
“No problem. Don’t underestimate me.”

With that, Rin turned her back to Maya and crouched down.

It might be rude to say this about a girl, but Maya has quite a bit of meat on her.

Especially around her chest and butt, there’s a lot of weight.

In contrast, Rin is really slim. She has some thickness in her thighs, but her arms are as thin as bean sprouts.

I wonder if she can actually lift her…

Well, even Rin should be able to manage a piggyback. The height difference isn’t that big.

Then I can finally head back.

Thinking that, I started walking back the way we came, but—

“Ah, wait… actually, I can’t…” “W-whoa!?”

—Thud.

A loud crashing sound came from behind.

Looks like it didn’t work.