The Boy Who Gave Up on Romantic Feelings ~I’m Done Because I Was Betrayed by The Girlfriends I Used to Date~ - Chapter 11-12

Chapter 11

“It has been a while, Momogaya-sensei. So, why did you call me?”

When I was going through my computer, my old homeroom teacher, Momogaya-sensei, suddenly called me on the phone.

“Ah, there is something I would like to ask your permission for.”

“My permission?”

“There is a picture I want to put on the internet, and your face is in it. Of course, I’ll blur your face. Do you mind if I use it?”

“I don’t really mind. As long as you blur my face.”

“I understand. Thank you.”

I’m sure she just wants to use it for the school website or something.

But why does she need to blur my face?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sayaka Hanamoto’s POV

“How did it go, Sensei?”

“I got his permission. Have you edited the video?”

“Yes, I did it just as what you told me, sensei.”

What I did was blurring his face and changing the background scenery from the school to something else.

I never thought I would be doing something like this at school…

Even though what we are about to do may end up deceiving him, I believe this will make his future better.

At worst, we might get caught for defamation. However, I can’t stand the idea of doing nothing and letting things end like this.

I tried to file a police report with the video evidence, but as what Momogaya-sensei predicted, it didn’t work.

So, this is the only option left for us.

“Yeah, yeah, you’ve done a good job. Now…”

Momogaya-sensei adds some more editing to the video.

While editing the video, Momogaya-sensei asks me,

“Are you sure about this?”

“Yes. Even though I have evidence, the police didn’t take any actions. Besides, I’m really angry with him myself, especially for what he did to Maeshima-kun. He needs to face the consequences for what he did.”

“I see. Alright, let’s see. I’ll just need to add this…yeah, it’s done. Well then, let’s get started.”

“Yes.”

The crucial thing in this plan is whether it will spread or not.

Momogaya-sensei presses the enter key on the keyboard. At the same time, I open SNS on my smartphone.

With this, I send out the video of me being raped that we just edited.

Momogaya-sensei says it is fine because it is edited and sent through several computers, so it’s not easy to trace it.

However, why would Momogaya-sensei do all this?

“Hmm? It seems like there are some responses already. At this rate, it might spread like wildfire, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, you’re right. It’s quite amazing.”

Within just a few minute, there are already quite a few people who seen it.

“If I’m not mistaken, Maeshima-kun rarely checks SNS, right?”

“Yeah, he has absolutely no interest in SNS, so it should be fine.”

Then, on the next day, things between me and him changed dramatically.

But at that time, I still didn’t know…

Chapter 12

The next day, I head to school early in the morning and meet up with Kotaro on the way.

As I’m sitting at my desk, chatting with Kotaro, someone suddenly comes up to me.

“Maeshima, can I talk to you for a moment?”

“Hmm? Yeah, sure.”

“Come with me for a moment.”

“Is it something we can’t talk here?”

“Yeah.”

“…okay then.”

“Be careful.”

Kotaro whispered me so.

I nod to him quietly.

The reason he warned me so is because the person who called me is a former classmate from our first year of high school.

Then, I follow him out of my classroom.

Along the way, I notice a few people looking at us with surprised looks on their faces.

They might be our former classmates, I don’t really remember.

Because, I didn’t really care about anything back then.

I just happen to remember him more than other because something happened between us.

I continue to follow him, feeling indescribably anxious.

When we enter the boys’ restroom, he immediately makes sure that no one is around.

“I’m truly sorry!”

“…eh?”

Then, the turned towards me, bent his body at a 90-degree angle, and apologized.

“What’s going on? Why all of the sudden…”

“I bullied you when we were in our first-year, right? When I think about it now, I wonder what the hell I was doing. I know what I did is unforgivable, it is a fact that I hurt you. That’s why, I wanted to apologize to you like this.”

Yes, the person standing in front of me now is Yuji Motomura, who, along with Otsuki, started bullying me when rumours about me began to spread.

Then, after both Motomura and Otsuki started bullying me, the others started to bully me as well.

In short, they are the main cause why I was bullied by everyone in my class.

“But…why now…?”

“…yeah, that’s right. it might be too late to ask for apology. I mean, we, or rather, I did something unforgivable to you. We made your first year a nightmare. I understand, you probably don’t want to see our faces anymore. But…it would be way worse to keep pretending I don’t know anything and not apologizing to you. In fact, I don’t want your forgiveness…rather, I want you to punch me as hard as you can. That’s how I really feel. I was deluded into thinking I was doing the right thing back then. I turned away from the fact that you were hurting and continued to bully you. I’m truly sorry.”

Saying so, he once again bows deeply.

Certainly, he gives off the impression of having a strong sense of justice.

It is true that I don’t want to see my former classmates anymore. Even though there are some people who I ended up being in the same class again, I decided to avoid any interaction with them.

I just don’t want to get involved with them.

Even so, knowing this, he still bowed his head to me.

He must have been conflicted in his own way. Nevertheless, it doesn’t change the fact that he bullied me.

I still can’t bring myself to forgive him, but he apologized.

That’s enough for me now.

“Raise your head.”

“But…”

“Just do it.”

Following my instructions, he lifts his head.

Then, I punch him on the face as hard as I can.

“Gah…!?”

“To be honest, I still can’t bring myself to forgive you…but you apologized to me. Perhaps, that might be your way of atonement. So, can we finally consider ourselves equal? I must admit, what you did just now is remarkable. Swallowing your pride and bowing your head to me. No matter how wrong you were, I’ve rarely seen anyone do something like that. In that case, I must respond accordingly.”

After taking a deep breath, I continue.

“Let’s be friends. I can’t forgive you, but I can trust you. I’m sure we can build a friendship between us.”

“Is it really okay…for someone like me to become your friend?”

“If you feel remorse, then it’s okay, right? Just make sure not to make the same mistake again. If you made a mistake once, you should be able to support someone else in a similar situation.”

“B-But…I’m the one who hurt you…”

“Then I say it’s fine…so the rest is up to you, right?”

“—y-yeah, you’re right. I’ll make sure to not make the same mistake again. From now on, I promise to not do something so despicable again. Thank you for believing in someone like me. From today on…we’re friends. I’ll have to apologize to Kotaro Miyazaki later.”

“Please do.”

“Well, see you after school. I’m really sorry! And thank you!”

“Yeah.”

Thank you…huh.

It’s been a while since I heard that word.

Certainly, I can’t forgive him. I’m sure I won’t ever forgive him in the future either. But if he truly changes after this, maybe it’s worth trusting him.

With a sense of happiness that I haven’t felt in a while, I return to my own class.