The Story of Waking up With My Beautiful Childhood Friend and Realizing We Had Spent the Night Together - Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Yukimura Mizuki’s Perspective

— Since I became aware of things.

I was a child with very few emotions.

Happy, fun, sad, painful.

I was a defective product who could hardly feel such normal emotions.

“Mizuki-chan, you’re so calm,”

Adults often said that, but it wasn’t true.

I just didn’t feel anything.

No matter what happened, I didn’t care.

…It’s not that, though.

“Mizuki. Please take care of the house while I’m gone.”

I didn’t feel anything towards my neglectful mother.

Even if she didn’t come home for a week, I just thought she was busy with work.

I didn’t feel the pain of not being loved or the loneliness of being alone.

But I was aware that this was strange.

I was probably a broken person.

…But even with that, there was one person.

“Mizuki? What are you doing?”

“…Iori.”

There was one exception.

Amano Iori.

A boy my age who lived next door.

We met when I was five after I moved, and we had been together ever since.

This boy was the only one who was “special” to me.

“Iori… What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? I was worried about you, you know?”

“You were worried?”

“Of course, I was.”

I could only truly laugh in front of him.

I could feel joy and fun, truly.

The only time I could feel “normal” was when I was with him.

So…

“…Hey, Iori?”

“…What?”

“Stay with me forever. It’s a promise.”

“…Well, if that’s fine with you.”

A small request when we were still in elementary school.

But Iori brushed it off as if it was impossible.

I didn’t like that and clung to his arm.

“Hey, stop! What are you doing?!”

“It’s your fault, Iori.”

“Why?!”

…He didn’t even know how much I needed him.

Even though he didn’t know that, I hugged him tightly.

Iori turned bright red and panicked.

So cute. Fun. Happy.

Emotions overflowed.

When I was with Iori, the world always seemed to bloom.

To me, Iori was “oxygen.”

A given. I couldn’t breathe without him.

An essential existence for me to live.

So please, don’t leave me.

“Hey, promise.”

“Okay! I got it, okay?”

That was a promise from our childhood.

Even though Iori nodded at the time.

— That promise was broken in just a few years.

“Iori.”

“….”

“Hey… Why are you avoiding me?”

It happened when we entered upper elementary school.

Suddenly, Iori started avoiding me.

Until then, we had always been together, whether at home or at school.

But recently, we went to school separately.

He wouldn’t hold my hand. He didn’t come to pick me up after school.

I didn’t understand.

“…You’re not at that age anymore, right?”

With an expression that seemed forced, he said that.

“…Age? What do you mean by age?”

Is it because he grew up? Is it because we’re not kids anymore?

Is that why Iori is avoiding me?

No. Iori wouldn’t say such a thing.

“…Tell me properly.”

“…!”

So I forced Iori to tell me what was going on.

He said that he was being bullied by the boys in class.

“Stay away from Yukimura.” “You’re not a good match.” “You’re just mistaken.”

When I heard that, I felt…

“…I see.”

An uncontrollable, intense feeling burned inside me.

Later, I realized that it was “anger.”

“Who?”

“Huh?”

“Who said that to Iori?”

I could feel my expression fading.

Iori seemed a bit scared when he saw it.

But I wanted to know quickly.

The person who hurt my precious one.

I didn’t care about random strangers.

People I didn’t know and didn’t care about.

Were they trying to take Iori from me?

“…Ah…”

— I won’t forgive them.

This was the strongest emotion I had ever felt.

The boy who bullied Iori was easy to identify.

A large boy who was a leader of the class.

He was the one who always bothered me.

“Hey, Mizuki! It’s more fun to be with me than with Amano, right?”

(…This guy.)

He was grinning, that disgusting guy.

He was the one who hurt Iori.

He was the one who was making Iori try to distance himself from me.

I moved from anger to cold-headedness.

My one and only. My other half.

This guy was trying to take him from me.

Then I’ll crush him. Erase him.

Make sure he never comes in front of Iori and me again.

That’s when I started to take action.

…Looking back now.

It might have been this moment when the “brake” inside me came off.

“N-No! That’s a lie! It’s not me!!”

I couldn’t win by strength.

So I used a different method.

Pictures of him bullying boys after school.

Pictures of him being violent with girls behind the scenes.

Pictures of him shoplifting at a convenience store.

I took them. Took them. Kept taking them.

Then, I spread them around.

In the classroom, in the hallway, in the staff room, in the bathroom.

That was it.

“Hey! Say something! You guys did it too, didn’t you?!”

No one helped him.

No one was on his side.

The emperor without clothes only realized he was in trouble after the sword was pointed at him.

“—Hey.”

“!? Mizuki…!”

Hearing my name, I felt disgusted.

Only one boy was allowed to call me by my name.

“Hey, Mizuki? You can understand, right? I’d never do something like that!”

“…”

“I never said this before, but… I like you. So…”

He reached out desperately, but I dodged his hand and said one thing.

“What was your name again?”

“Huh?”

I just realized.

I was so uninterested that I didn’t even know this guy’s name.

“Wha… What…?”

“Goodbye.”

The next week, he and his followers disappeared from school.

What happened to them after that, I don’t know. I don’t care.

But with this…

“Iori? It’s okay now, right?”

“It’s okay… Who did all this?”

“Hmm? I wonder if someone else did it.”

Iori seemed a little scared.

I wanted to reassure him, so I hugged him tightly.

The next day, Iori was back to normal.

He stayed with me, both at home and at school.

I felt relieved. And because I felt relieved, I decided.

For me, Iori is all I need.

I don’t need anything else.

Someday, I’ll make a world just for the two of us.

That became my dream.

—

I…?”

— Suddenly, I wake up.

I feel like I had a very nostalgic dream.

When I check the clock, it’s five in the morning.

It’s still too early to get up.

“…Suu…”

When I look down, Iori is sleeping with his face buried in my chest.

When I pat his head, he snuggles closer.

“…Hehe, so cute.”

Ah, I’m so happy.

I think this from the bottom of my heart.

Because of Iori, I can feel “happiness.”

The joy of loving someone and being loved.

I never want to let go of this.

After seeing that dream, I’m even more certain.

(I only need Iori.)

Just the two of us, forever.

That’s my dream.

…But, I won’t rush.

It’s still too early for us to be “alone.”

I don’t just want it; I want Iori to want it too.

So, for now, I’ll wait.

Little by little, slowly, I’ll melt him.

So he can’t live without me.

So no one else will even catch his eye.

I’ll melt him in my heart and body.

Iori doesn’t need to know anything.

He doesn’t need to know my true feelings or that I’m trapped.

Let him drown in it, without knowing anything.

— Because that’s probably the happiest thing.