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

Chapter 45

After Yamashiro leaves, the phone in my house rings.

I have an idea who the caller might be.

“Hello?”

“I’m really sorry, as always…”

“No, no, I understand your feelings.”

The one who’s calling is Yamashiro’s mother. This is not something new.

Every time Yamashiro comes to my place, his mother calls like this and apologizes.

“I tried to stop her by force, but…she broke free and hit me…”

“…seriously?”

“I’m really sorry…I always tell her not to cause trouble, but she just won’t listen… No, that’s just an excuse. It doesn’t change the fact that my daughter is causing trouble for you.”

“……”

“I’ll take care of her so she won’t bother you anymore.”

“…if you don’t mind, may I ask what you’re planning to do?”

“I’m going to send her to the psychiatric hospital again.”

“……”

Unlike before, it seems that this time, even Yamashiro’s mother is taking it seriously.

I can feel her determination in her words.

I once asked Yamashiro why she’s so fixated on me. She said,

‘—because you accepted my confession.’

When I heard she said so, I truly thought that she is dangerous.

Certainly, Yamashiro confessed her feelings to me during middle school. However, at that time, I rejected her confession.

She couldn’t believe the reality that I rejected her and fall into her own delusions. She’s twisting facts to fit her own narrative. It is simply frightening.

Her mind is too fragile. I’m not saying that’s the only thing that make her that way, but that’s probably one of the reasons why.

‘—we’re dating, so we should be together!’

It turned into a trauma that I can’t forget no matter how hard I try to erase it from my memory.

It’s a different kind of trauma, different from what Otsuki and Shinozaki did to me. Just how many traumas will this world give me?

My trauma from high school has already been resolved, so there’s no issue with that, but it seems like this one is impossible to overcome after all.

It sometimes even appears in my dreams.

Every time I dream of that night, the scar on my stomach hurts.

For me, Haruka Yamashiro is fear itself.

“…even if she goes to the psychiatric hospital again, I don’t think she’ll be cured.”

“…but I can’t let her cause you any more trouble.”

“……”

“When Haruka was in high school, she didn’t have any outbursts or tantrums, so I thought she had calmed down…she even got the police involved once, so I thought she finally understood. But the moment she graduated, this happened. I let my guard down.”

It might sound like an excuse, but it’s true. No matter how hard her mother tried, it’s impossible.

When Haruka got sent to the psychiatric hospital, she apparently went berserk there, injuring her mother and the doctor who examined her. Despite admitting her to the ward by force, she managed to escape using a rope from the seventh-floor ward. We still don’t know how she managed to escape from such a confined space, which makes her even scarier.

“I’ll send her to the psychiatric hospital again, even if I have to use force. I’ve contacted the hospital to get their cooperation.”

“…do you think you will be able to do it?”

“I have to.”

…perhaps she believes that failure is no longer an option. I can sense her determination in those words.

“Okay then…”

“I’m not saying that we will fail, but if she manages to escape again, there’s a possibility that she might come your way. At that time, please don’t hesitate to call the police. I’ll explain it to them from my end as well.”

“…understood. That’s all then.”

With those words, I hang up the phone.

I feel worried and anxious. There’s a sense of unease in my chest. I can’t get this ominous feeling out of my head.

To escape from this anxiety, I immerse myself in games.

Chapter 46

The next day, I invited Sayaka to my house.

It’s just a little while longer until I become a college student. I’m sure that I’ll be able to have this kind of free time even after I enter university, but it will probably be less than now. Until then, I want to spend time with my beloved girlfriend like this.

Above all, I thought that being with Sayaka, I might be able to get rid of this anxiety in my chest, even if it’s just a little. The truth is, I just want her comfort.

“…are you okay?”

“Eh?”

My girlfriend, who is sitting on my lap while watching TV, turned to me and asked so.

Why did she suddenly ask me so?

“You look like you’re in pain.”

“…do I really look like that?”

“I guess anyone else won’t notice it. It’s such a subtle change, but I can tell. You know why? Because I’m Shintani’s girlfriend~♪”

“…yeah.”

Hearing that, I can’t help but to feel that I’m really lucky to have her as my girlfriend.

I now can expose my weakness to her without hesitation.

“…yesterday, my childhood friend came to my house.”

“Childhood friend?”

“Yeah, from middle school.”

“Oh, I see. Your childhood friend…I’ve never heard anything about her before.”

“I don’t want to call something like that a childhood friend myself.”

“Something like that?”

“…yeah.”

While I do think referring her as ‘something like that’ is rude, I can’t recognize or rather, don’t want to recognize her as my childhood friend.

“I was scared.”

“Scared?”

“Yeah. For me, childhood friends are just terrifying.”

To me, she is fear itself.

“By the way, do you have any photos of her?”

Sayaka suddenly asked me so.

“Hmm? No, I got rid of all of them because I don’t want to see her.”

“It’s that bad?”

Then, I hesitated whether I should talk about what happened in the past or not. It can make the conversation longer, but more than that, I’m afraid of scaring and making Sayaka worry.

“…ah.”

I stop myself. My expression must be terrible right now.

“Is it something you can’t talk about?”

“I can talk about it, but it might take a while—”

“Then tell me.”

Sayaka looks straight into my eyes. When I meet her gaze, I curse my own weakness of heart, and I curse myself for not fully trusting her.

Yes, the woman in front of me is not that fragile. She’s someone with a stronger spirit than me, someone admirable, someone I love dearly.

Then I’ll make up my mind too. That’s right. It’s not as bad as what happened in high school, isn’t it?

If that’s the case, then there’s nothing to be afraid of.

The anxiety I have inside me fades away as I look into Sayaka’s eyes.

“It’s going to be quite long, so let’s talk about it tomorrow. It’s already dark.”

“Well, that works out perfectly then.”