The Boy Who Gave Up on Romantic Feelings ~I’m Done Because I Was Betrayed by The Girlfriends I Used to Date~ - Chapter 41-42

Chapter 41

“……”

“……”

“……”

“…ah.”

“…Sayaka?”

“It’s out.”

“—eh?”

I immediately put down my smartphone and glance at hers.

Written there are the results of the university entrance exams.

—Passed.

“……”

“Sayaka?”

“Yesssss!!!!!”

“Whoa!?”

I’m so surprised at her sudden loud voice that I fell on the floor. It’s been since that time when she confronted Shinozaki that she raised her voice like this. Or rather, it’s quite rare for Sayaka to raise her voice at all.

“Well, congratulations.”

“Ah, thank you. So, what about yours, Shintani-kun?”

“Ah? Oh, um, just wait a moment.”

Saying so, I take my smartphone and open the page for the exam results. The loading time feels unusually long. I studied quite a bit myself, so I’m confidence. But even if I’m confident, that doesn’t guarantee anything.

We wait anxiously, anticipating the moment. And as the page loads, we read the words displayed there.

“I-I passed…”

“…!!!”

“Yesssssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“Eek!?”

When I suddenly shouted out of joy, Sayaka reacted the same way as I did earlier.

“Hey! Can you stop shouting out of nowhere”

“Oh, sorry.”

“…well, it’s okay, I guess.”

With that said, we take a moment to breathe. We savour the joy we feel at that moment, as the quiet time passes by. It’s a peaceful, blissful moment.

“Now we can go to the same university.”

“Yeah.”

Sharing the moment when our efforts paid off with Sayaka is an incomparable joy. Having overcome the tragedy at that high school, we take another step forward onto our future.

“I hope we can spend our university days peacefully.”

“Yeah.”

As I’m thinking about what the future might holds, my phone rings. It’s the sound of receiving a message.

When I check the sender of the message, it’s from my little sister, Maho.

‘Did you pass?’

She just simply asked me so.

So, I reply her.

‘Yeah.’

Then, I put down my phone. Right now, my little sister isn’t at home. That’s because she’s out with Dad.

Maho has decided to transfer to a different high school starting this year. The reason, as expected, is probably that she doesn’t want to stay at that high school. So, she’s currently handling the paperwork at her new school. She must have had a free time when she messaged me earlier.

As for the high school we attended, its reputation has plummeted drastically. Therefore, there are quite a few students transferring out like Maho. The graduation ceremony is already over, we no longer have any business with that school, so I don’t really care about what happens in that high school.

“Is it from Maho-chan?”

“Yeah.”

“Where is she transferring to?”

“Somewhere nearby. It seems to be a pretty good school, the atmosphere there feels nice as well.”

I see. That’s good then.”

Our lives are gradually changing. Even Maho is trying her best in her new environment. So, we have to do our best in university too.

“I’m looking forward to college. What about you?”

“I’m feeling pretty anxious, to be honest.”

“But I’m sure nothing like what happened in high school will happen.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“Let’s do our best at our own pace.”

“Yeah, good idea. Hey, where should we go for our next date?”

“Hmm, well…ah, how about there? You know, that cafe that recently opened nearby.”

“…that place, huh? Well, sure.”

“What about you, Shintani-kun? Where do you want to go for our date?”

“Let’s go to the movies.”

“Again? Then how about…”

We talked, laughed, and occasionally argued. Both me and Sayaka spend our days like that, as if it were natural. Surely, this relationship won’t change in the future. And when we graduate from university and become respectable members of society, we’ll take another step forward.

Until then, we’ll continue walking down this path together.

No one will disturb us anymore.

“Oh, by the way…”

“Hm? What is it?”

“Yesterday, I think? Someone who claimed to be an acquaintance of yours approached me.”

“…why didn’t you tell me that?”

…I have a bad feeling about this.

Chapter 42

A few days later, both me and Sayaka visit the university where we will start attending in the spring. We have to complete the necessary procedures.

“Now that we’re done with everything, what should we do next?”

“Wanna stop by somewhere?”

“I don’t have anywhere in mind, so let’s just go home.”

“Yeah, sounds good.”

The university we’ll be attending is located about a 30-minute drive from my house. So, I guess it falls into the category of being relatively easy to commute to.

“…I should exercise when we get back.”

“Shintani-kun, you’re not that fat, you know?”

“Yeah, but…they say it’s good to develop a habit of exercising early, right?”

“…true. Then, I’ll exercise as well.”

“Then let’s do it together. I’ll let you know when it’s time.”

“Got it.”

With that, we head to a nearby café to take a short break. Upon entering the café, we are greeted by a calm atmosphere, with few people around.

We take our seats nearby, and I order a black coffee while Sayaka ordered a café latte.

“We’re already college students…”

“Time flies, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah…”

“What do you want to do once you start college?”

“I want to have fun.”

“You played a lot during spring break.”

“It’s still not enough.”

“But if you play too much, you might end up repeating your course, you know? If you do, we might not be able to take classes together anymore.”

“Ugh…”

That’s right. I can fail and end up repeating my course in college. I completely forgot about that because it didn’t exist in high school.

“That sounds like a hassle…”

“You’re probably going to start nagging about homework and stuff soon.”

That’s what actually happens once I get to college, but we didn’t know that at the time.

“Come on, I absolutely won’t do that.”

“Really? Then, I’ll take your word for it.”

…I’m starting to feel uneasy about it. Scenes of me begging Sayaka for help come to mind. Why is that?

“Hey, hey.”

“Hmm?”

In the relaxed atmosphere, while I’m lost in thought, Sayaka drops a bombshell.

“When are we going to live together?”

“Hmpfttt!?”

I almost spat out the coffee I’m drinking.

Of course, I’ve thought about living together. In fact, I’ve already met Sayaka’s parents, and we’re officially acknowledged as a couple.

Sakaya’s father, Yuta, had a very serious expression at that time, and I remember facing him with determination.

“L-Living together…?”

“My mom keeps pestering about when it’ll happen. So, I thought we should decide sooner rather than later.”

“I see…”

The other day she was talking so enthusiastically about her plans for our engagement. So it kind of makes sense why she wants us to live together soon. However, I mean, isn’t getting engaged too early?

“She keeps ask me about when we’re getting married. Doesn’t she remember that we’re still students?”

“I think she indeed doesn’t remember…”

I’ll bring it up a bit next time we meet. Though I feel it’s pointless.

“Well, even a student marriage has its charm.”

“Some people do it occasionally. It’s really, really rare.”

I think it’s possible for couples to be so lovey-dovey that you might think they’re overly dependent on each other. I’ve never seen it, though.

“Do you want to do it? Student marriage.”

“Let’s do it.”

“Eh!?”

“Just kidding.”

“Hey! Stop teasing me!”

“Wait, don’t kick me!”

“It’s punishment for teasing me!”

“Isn’t that a bit harsh!?”

Suddenly, we both realized that people around us are looking at us with warm eyes, and we both blushed.

“This…this is embarrassing.”

“Well, you’re the one who started it.”

“Ugh…”

Sayaka seems to be aware of it, she has a frustrated expression on her face. Why is she angry? But she looks really cute, though.

“But we really have to decide.”

“We can do it after graduating from university.”

“Yeah, but…”

It seems that Sayaka really wants to live with me no matter what. But I think it’s still too early for that.

Well, I understand that living together is appealing, but we’re still students after all. As long as that’s the case, we have to be careful about our actions.

“But if we don’t think about it now, it’ll be tough later, you know?”

“Ugh…”

This time, it’s me who ended up groaning. Yeah…I know I have to think about it, but…

“…I’ll think about it next time.”

“Running away?”