Ugh, I never expected you to be here.

I was careless and forgot this was her way to school. I blame my lack of sleep. Well, that guy’s sleeping habits are horrible, so it’s his fault, too.

Last night, I was exhausted after cleaning up his room. The fact it was in a miserable state wasn’t a surprise, and as soon as I plopped onto my bed to sleep after finishing up with all the chores—

Bam!

“Guh—!”

A heel dropped straight on my face. The pain made me scream in agony while I held my nose. Fortunately, it wasn’t bleeding, but it still hurt a sh*t ton!

I tried to knife Hikaru, who slept right next to me, with my glare but it didn’t do jack.

Psshh!

This time, he threw a backhanded swish at me. It was fast, really fast to boot. I found myself sprawled out on the bed. Topping it all off, as if to embrace me, Hikaru put his hands around my neck from behind and…

Hnghrrr!

I started to see the stars.

“Ehehe, you can’t move now…” He talked as he slept.

“Guh, Hi–Hikaru, w, wake up… I can’t breathe…”

He choked me with the power of a neutron star, and I had no clue where he pulled that from. I managed to escape before I was out cold, and after that, I continued to survive his constant onslaught. Before I could wink a second of sleep, the sun had already risen.

Ugh, my nose aches just remembering it… I thought while rubbing it.

Sakurai, who walked next to me, noticed it and asked me, “…Something wrong?”

“Nah… It’s nothing.”

She and I followed along the road to school. Despite everything, since our destination’s the same, it wasn’t an issue. Well, even though we walked together, there was still a considerable distance between us. It’s nowhere close to how it was in the old days.

“…”

The two of us kept walking in silence. Such an atmosphere made me feel even more distant than I actually was from her, but then she spoke up.

“…Um, s–so, who was that girl just now?”

So she was curious about that scene, huh? Rather than interest, her expression was stock-full of anxiety. Still, I was a bit uncomfortable. If I recall correctly, the two have already…

“…You didn’t notice?”

“Huh?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

I see, she didn’t notice it at all. Well, their atmosphere was very different, and it was hard to tell from a distance. But how should I answer her? I knew they had their position, so it’d be best to not tell her anything.

After hesitating for a bit, I decided to cover it up with something not-so-obvious.

“…She’s a friend. We met there by chance.”

“Oh? Ah, a–a friend…”

For some reason, she pressed her chest with a relieved expression on her face. With those as our last words, we continued to walk in silence.

As we kept going, we reached a park all-too-familiar to us. It’s where we used to play together. I tried to pass by it as usual, but she stopped me right by the entrance.

“Um, T–Takkun, can I talk to you for a second?”

“Hmm? I don’t mind, but…”

What was it? As I suspiciously walked inside, she straightened up her posture and faced me.

“Sorry for stopping you…”

“We still have time. So, what do you want?”

“Uh, well…” After a slight pause in her speech, she bowed and said, “I, I’m sorry!”

“…”

Here it is…

I thought about it a few days ago, but I never expected it to become a reality. As I silently listened to her words, she continued to speak.

“I, I’ve been wanting to apologize for what I did in middle school. So when I saw this park… I thought we could go back to the way we were then. Well, I don’t expect you to forgive me now, but I just wanted to tell you how I really feel…”

With that, she bowed even deeper. I looked at her and decided this was the end of the story.

“…It’s fine.”

“…What?”

I calmly returned her words, which she didn’t expect, not in a thousand years.

“It’s fine. Don’t worry, we’ve been over this already. There’s no need to rehash it now.”

“U, um…”

“I’m telling you, it’s okay. You don’t have to worry about it anymore.”

After saying that, I turned around and walked toward the park’s exit.

“…I didn’t feel as much as I thought I would,” I muttered quietly. She probably didn’t hear me.

Many times I wondered what I’d feel when she’d bow her head, but my mind was cooler than I thought it’d be. I didn’t feel joy, anger, or anything for that matter. So really, it’s okay.

…And it’s not like I wanted you to apologize in the first place.

Yeah. Didn’t I say this to my sister? That’s that; it’s the end of the story.

So… What do I want from her now?

I stopped to think. My sister had asked me what I wanted to do, and I said nothing then. But she never asked me what I wanted her to do.

…I don’t get it.

I thought and thought about it, but still couldn’t answer that question. I was sure I once knew the answer, but I forgot. That’s truly how I feel right now.

With this hazy discomfort, I walked along with her to school at a slightly quickened pace…

…So much so, that I didn’t even notice the murky gaze directed at us.