Chapter 22 Fading Memories of Her

Fading Memories of Her

My college life had become busy but fulfilling, with off-campus internships starting in October.

One day, during a break at my part-time job, I had a conversation with my senior, Okazaki-san.

“She comes here a lot, doesn’t she? Is the girl who comes to see Sakamoto-san your girlfriend?”

“Eh? Is there a girl who comes to see me?”

“You know, the little girl with glasses and pigtails. Come to think of it, that reaction means she’s not your girlfriend. I thought you two would make a good couple.”

“Ah, is that Iroha-san? I think she just comes to buy books because her house is nearby. It’s not like she comes to see me.”

“But I’ve never seen her when you’re not working.”

“That’s because when I’m not on shift, we often do assignments together or she treats me to meals.”

“Treats you to meals? Home-cooked meals? And you don’t go out?”

“Yes, Iroha-san’s cooking is really delicious. She’s a friend I respect, but we don’t go out.”

“Is there a reason for not dating?”

“A reason for not dating?”

“Yes. For example, do you like someone else?”

“I don’t understand why this conversation is going in this direction. I don’t like anyone in particular.”

“Iroha-san obviously likes you, doesn’t she? But there must be a reason why you don’t go out with her.”

“Iroha-san likes me? No way.”

“Sakamoto-kun, are you inexperienced in romance? Did you only go to high school and not have that kind of experience? Normally, you’d understand if someone was that obvious. The way she looks at you, it’s obvious, isn’t it?”

“From a woman’s point of view, does Iroha-san seem to like me?”

“If she doesn’t like you even though she’s like that, then she’s a terrible, manipulative woman despite her simple appearance. Even someone who only sees her occasionally can tell.”

“Un…”

To be honest, I was a little aware of romantic feelings for Iroha-san.

But I always thought it would be disrespectful to her.

Iroha-san is just being friendly with me as a friend, and bringing romantic feelings into it would be like betraying our friendship.

Nevertheless, Okazaki-san says that Iroha-san likes me.

I wonder if that’s true….

With Chika, it was much more direct and obvious.

When she confessed, and even after we started dating, she always said, “Taichi, I love you!”.

So I had no doubt that Chika liked me, and when she stopped saying it, I got worried, and sure enough, she had found another guy.

“Come to think of it, why are you telling me this now, Okazaki-san?”

“Well, I was curious about this Iroha-san, and I love this kind of talk. Aren’t all girls like that? You know, hearing about other people’s love stories, being in love, and all that.”

“I see. That’s informative.”

“Why don’t you try asking her about her love life next time? Like, ‘Do you like anyone?’ That might give you a clue.”

“I see….”

It’s unrelated, but I realized something.

I hadn’t thought much about Chika lately.

Talking to Okazaki-san made me think about Chika for the first time in a while.

When I first started living alone in college, I thought about Chika all the time, but I hadn’t thought about her much lately.

Even now, when I think back, I only remember the good times in middle school and my first year of high school.

I don’t want to remember much about our third year because so many bad things happened.

I wonder when was the last time I saw Chika.

Un, I can’t remember unless I think about it.

I wonder what she looked like and how she was now.

Oh, I remember.

The last time I saw Chika was at our high school graduation.

We parted ways without seeing each other after that.

On graduation day, Chika invited me to walk home with her.

I had already finished all my exams and was waiting for the results.

Of course, I kept it a secret from Chika and let her think that I was going to the same private university as her, so I accepted her invitation and decided to walk home with her.

I think I remembered that after the last homeroom, I felt guilty about secretly taking the entrance exam for a national university, so I quickly ran away from the class and went to pick her up.

And as we walked down the hall together….

Oh, I remember now.

Niiyama (新山) came over, and I suppressed my boiling anger and put up with her. (Tl: I think this is the name of the NTR guy, “Niiyama Satoshi”)

“Chika! You’re free during spring break, right? Let’s hang out.”

“Huh? You, you’re going to be a repeater, right? You shouldn’t play around.”

“Relax, relax; I still have a year.”

“Are you stupid?”

The two of them began to talk intimately, ignoring me as if I wasn’t there.

They didn’t know that I knew about their relationship.

“That’s why you didn’t even get into the university of your choice, right? Satoshi, you need to study harder.”

Chika looked at me when she said that.

Seeing that, I was disappointed and thought, “She’s really changed,” and just said, “I’m ahead,” and started walking, but Chika ran after me, saying, “Wait, Taichi,” leaving Niiyama behind.

While we were walking alone, Chika talked a lot.

“I’m looking forward to going to college together in April.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“Come to think of it, we couldn’t go on a date on Valentine’s Day or Christmas, so how about we go somewhere during spring break?”

“Sorry, I’ve been really busy with things at home lately, so I don’t think I’ll be able to meet up for a while.”

“I see, you must be really busy. But we’ll have more time to spend together when we start college, right? That’s why Taichi studied so hard for the entrance exams.”

“Yes.”

Even though we were alone for the first time in a long time, Chika seemed impatient and suddenly brought up the subject of a date. She hadn’t done that for a long time.

It seemed like she didn’t want me to bring up what had happened with Niiyama earlier.

I didn’t want to pursue the matter with Niiyama either.

The most important thing for me now was to pass the entrance exam for my desired university and to leave this place without Chika knowing about it.

I didn’t care what happened between Chika and Niiyama, but I couldn’t let my feelings ruin my plan.

If she wanted to hang out with Niiyama during spring break, she could.

“Hey, why don’t you come over to my place today?”

“Sorry, I’m still feeling a little under the weather, and my family is having a graduation party for me at home.”

“I see….”

“Well, I’ll go home then.”

“Okay, see you later.”

I said goodbye in front of Chika’s house.

That was the last time I saw Chika.

When I went home alone, I didn’t feel sentimental, so I thought I had gotten over her, but when I started living alone, I realized that wasn’t quite true.

Maybe it’s because my life is full now and I’m busy with university and my part-time job, or maybe it’s just natural for feelings to fade.

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