Chapter 4 Betrayed by My Childhood Friend Girlfriend, and Best Friend, I Ran Away From the Town Where You Were

Betrayed by My Childhood Friend Girlfriend, and Best Friend, I Ran Away From the Town Where You Were

After that, I stayed inside the house for the entire summer vacation, not stepping out even once.

Hiyori visited my house repeatedly, worried about me, but I had my mother turn her away each time.

Kazuki… he never came, not even once.

Even after the second term started, I didn’t attend school. Instead, I sat on the swing in that… park.

Naturally, the school contacted my parents and informed them about my absence.

“Why aren’t you going to school? What’s wrong with you?” My parents kept pressing me for answers, but I only gave them a smirk and refused to say anything.

And so, once again today, I pretended to go to school but ended up sitting on the swing in the park. Then—

“Yuu-kun…”

I heard a voice and turned around.

…There she was, Hiyori, looking at me with an expression full of worry.

It truly… made me sick to my stomach.

Without a word, I walked past her, intending to leave.

“W-wait! Yuu-kun!”

Hiyori grabbed my arm, stopping me in my tracks.

“…Let go of me.”

“Hey, what’s wrong!? You’ve been acting strange ever since summer vacation, Yuu-kun!”

She threw herself against my chest, looking up at me with pleading eyes.

That desperation of hers… it was unbearably repulsive to me.

―Thud

“Ah!?”

“O-oeeeeeaaaaaaahhh!!”

Unable to hold it in any longer, I shoved Hiyori away and vomited right there.

Just like that day.

“Y-Yuu-kun!? Are you okay!?”

Seeing me like that, Hiyori tried to rush over to help me.

“Stay back!”

“Huh…?”

“Don’t come any closer… disgusting…”

“It’s not disgusting! What you threw up isn’t disgusting, Yuu-kun!”

Haha… What are you even talking about?

The disgusting thing isn’t what I threw up—it’s you…

“Hey… Why did you even bother talking to me?”

“W-why? Because I’m your childhood friend and your… girlfriend…”

The moment she uttered the word “girlfriend,” Hiyori averted her gaze.

That sight of her stirred up my emotions in the worst possible way…!

“It’s fine… Let’s just break up… Not that I’m even sure we were ever really dating in the first place…”

“Eh!? W-why…?”

“You don’t get it? Are you seriously asking me that?”

I glared at her sharply, but Hiyori just tilted her head, looking genuinely clueless.

She probably didn’t even think that meeting Kazuki was wrong… It must have felt so… natural to her.

I, at such Hiyori…!

“…You were meeting Kazuki behind my back while I was working my part-time job!”

“Ah!?”

Ah… I’ve said it now…

Up until now, even though I’d seen it with my own eyes and heard it with my own ears, I kept covering them, refusing to believe it…

But now… there’s no running away from the truth anymore.

“Ah… Th-that’s…”

“…It’s fine. Just let go of me already.”

I forcefully pushed Hiyori aside and left the park.

―Ping

Even after crawling into bed and closing my eyes, I couldn’t sleep because the endless notifications on my phone kept buzzing.

[I want to meet and talk.]

[I wasn’t serious about Kazuki.]

[The only one I love is you, Yuu-kun! Please, believe me!]

The screen of my phone was filled with Hiyori’s selfish, desperate messages. Gripping the phone tightly in my hand…

―Bang!

I hurled it at the wall with all my strength. And then—

―Bang! Bang! Bang!

I picked it up again and smashed it against the edge of my desk.

Over and over and over and over.

The phone cover was bent, the screen shattered to pieces, and no matter how many buttons I pressed, it didn’t make a sound anymore.

“Finally… It’s quiet now…”

Muttering to myself, I crawled back into bed.

In the end, not attending school for two years meant I had to repeat the year, as expected.

Because of that, at my parents’ suggestion, I transferred to a night high school designed to help shut-ins reintegrate into society.

However, ever since that incident, I’d developed a deep distrust of people, and for the next two years, I didn’t speak to anyone—not even my parents—until I finally graduated.

Then, almost as a joke, I took the university entrance exams, and for some reason, I passed. I never imagined that starting this spring, I’d be attending a university far away in Tokyo.

Well, my relationship with my parents was already at its worst, and more than anything, I just wanted to get away from this town where Hiyori lived, so it worked out perfectly.

“Sigh…”

Finally done with packing, I let out a deep breath and looked out the window. The waning moon shone brightly in the night sky.

For a change of pace, I opened the window to let in some fresh air.

And then—

“…”

There, standing in front of my house and looking up at my room, was Hiyori.

But the moment I glared at her sharply, she lowered her head and quickly walked away.

What happened between Hiyori and Kazuki after that, I have no idea.

No, I didn’t even care to find out.

And yet—

“…Why… Why am I crying again…?”

Staring at the road where Hiyori had just been, tears began streaming down my face.

Will there ever come a day when this pain, this sadness, finally fades away?

In the end, without knowing the answer to that question—

―I ran away from this town.