So You’re Telling Me I’m in My Popular Phase!? - Chapter 11: An Unexpected Memory!?

Chapter 11: An Unexpected Memory!?

Izumi POV

Ryu-kun went to buy tea.

Ryu-kun got embarrassed for me.

Ryu-kun got troubled for me.

Ryu-kun got angry for me.

Ryu-kun is kind.

I really like Ryu-kun.

There’s no way I can give up. No—I won’t let myself give up.

The reason I like Ryu-kun goes back to something that happened a long time ago, when I got caught up in an incident.

Looking back, it was painful—but it’s also a warm, gentle memory.

A memory that made me fall completely in love with Ryu-kun.

※

A long time ago, Ryu-kun and I were playing, and the moment we split up at a fork in the road on the way home… I got kidnapped.

It’s easy to say it like that, but back then, I was truly panicking.

A stranger suddenly spoke to me, and before I knew it, I was dragged into a car.

I screamed as loud as I could, but there was nobody around. No one except Ryu-kun.

Apparently, when Ryu-kun noticed, he didn’t chase the car—he took a picture of the license plate with his phone.

When I heard that from the police, I wondered why he didn’t save me right away.

I wanted him to come rescue me in a cool, heroic way.

But Ryu-kun was smart.

He understood instantly that anything he did would be pointless.

So instead, so he could get me saved even a little faster… maybe that’s what he was thinking.

And because of that, I really was found quickly.

I wasn’t imprisoned somewhere, and the police rescued me.

Ryu-kun immediately went to a nearby police box and showed them what happened and the photo.

The next day, right after school ended, Ryu-kun came straight to my house.

That day, Ryu-kun was sent home right away, and I got questioned about all sorts of things, so I ended up missing school too.

Honestly, I was scared just to leave the house.

But Ryu-kun came to see me almost every day.

Every day, he apologized to me with his head bowed.

And when I shook my head to tell him not to worry, he smiled and talked to me.

Then, months later, the first time I finally went outside again, he held my hand.

Outside—the place I’d been terrified of while hiding in my house—didn’t feel scary at all.

I think it was because just having Ryu-kun beside me made me feel safe.

And when we stepped out of the house… someone cried.

Not me—Ryu-kun.

I think he’d been hurting the whole time.

When I saw him like that, I started crying too.

For a while, we cried together, leaning our shoulders against each other.

Ryu-kun was so warm then—so comforting.

That was when I realized I loved Ryu-kun.

After that, I started going to school normally again, and I decided I’d confess to Ryu-kun.

That night, I couldn’t sleep at all—because I was worried about the next day.

But I didn’t need to worry.

Because from that day on, Ryu-kun stopped coming to school.

When I asked the teacher, I heard he had a high fever.

At first, I thought maybe the tension from the incident finally snapped and all the exhaustion hit him at once.

Then, after several days, Ryu-kun finally came back to school.

But something about him was… wrong.

It was like he couldn’t see anything—like he’d forgotten the whole incident.

Because normally, he’d come over to me right away and talk about all kinds of things, but that day… he just sat there, staring off into space.

Even when I spoke to him, he only reacted faintly.

It was like he’d forgotten something important—some precious feeling.

But I didn’t know what it was.

And it made me furious at myself that I couldn’t understand.

Still, I didn’t stop.

After school, I confessed to Ryu-kun.

I did it.

And the result was—