Volume 1 - CH 2.2

It was summer vacation during her third year of grade school. That day was the day when Aoi’s heart broke for the first time, the worst day of her life.

“I’m glad that you’re safe~ C’mon, everyone is waiting for you, so let’s go home together!”

“No!”

“Eh? You don’t wanna go home?!”

When the boy who later turned this day into the best day of her life, Takayuki, found her, Aoi felt relieved, but at the same time she was disappointed.

After all, back then, Takayuki was someone that she hated.

“Why though?”

“Because… No one understands my suffering…”

“Why are you sulking?”

To her, Takayuki was an outsider. He was someone who’d only come to the town for the summer vacation. The young boy was the only child who’d refuse to treat Aoi like a princess. Every kid in the town would go along with Aoi’s selfishness, except for him, who’d give her a clear refusal every time she tried to impose her selfishness on him.

Naturally, this made her furious. She didn’t bully him, but whenever he was around, her mood would turn sour immediately and that made every kid reluctant to play with Takayuki.

Now the same kid she hated was trying to help her. It hurted her pride and Aoi hated that.

“I won’t tell you! Even if I were to tell you, you won’t understand!”

“I see.”

“…You see, just now, Haru-kun…”

“So you’re going to tell me.”

However, she couldn’t bear the pain anymore, so she decided to compromise. After all, it would be better to confide with someone that she hated than being stuck alone in this dark place.

“He’s too much, isn’t he?! I went out of my way to confess to him!”

“That was your fault, though.”

Even so, Aoi was acting selfishly as always. She kept whining and asked to be spoiled by Takayuki. Despite this, the young boy didn’t ditch her. Instead, he listened patiently to her complaints and stayed by her side.

“Um, so what should I do to get you to go back with me? Should I help you make up with this Haru-kun?”

“No! I don’t like him anymore! I hate him! …I hate him, but…”

Suddenly, Aoi started crying.

“I hate him, but why does my chest hurt so much? I don’t want it to hurt anymore! Help me, please!”

Aoi kept crying as her tears refused to stop, not knowing that in the future she’d come to regret this pathetic action. If she was a bit more mature, she’d be aware that if it wasn’t Takayuki who was beside her, they’d already abandoned her out of annoyance.

“Hmm… Alright, let’s do this!”

“Huh?”

“I’ll be your hero! I won’t let a girl keep crying!”

But it was Takayuki who was beside her. He reached out to her.

“W-What are you talking about? My chest is really hurting right now! You can’t do anything about it!”

“You won’t know unless you try! My grandfather once told me ‘Everything will eventually turn into memory,’ so, I hope that someday this pain will turn into a good memory for you! I’ll try my best to help you to make it happen!”

He extended his hand to the crying Aoi, pulling her out of the darkness where she sat down and spilled her tears.

His action was something that Aoi’d come to admire later. She’d reminisce about this scene over and over again and each time she did, the more her admiration toward him grew.

The fact that this was the moment that led to Takayuki gaining his ability made Aoi feel happy. After all, it was his ability that reunited them both.

*   *   *

“Satou-kun, can you answer me? Are you the hero from that time? Are you the one who found me when I was alone in the dark?”

Aoi approached Takayuki with a barrage of questions. She was so excited to the point that she leaned her body forward unknowingly.

“…If you’re asking me if I was the one who found this little s**t who was causing trouble for everyone because she got her heart broken, the girl who was crying and screaming all the time to the point that I had to use my ability to calm her down, yes.”

Takayuki kept his mouth shut for a while, but eventually, he gave in to Aoi’s passion. With a sigh, he admitted that he was indeed the boy who saved her back then.

Though not without throwing some thornful remarks at her.

“I knew it! You got uglier, your personality became rotten and there’s so many bad rumors about you, but deep down you’re still a good person! Still, Satou-kun, my childhood hero!”

“I thought you’ve grown up to be a decent person, but you’re still a selfish prick.”

Aoi grabbed Takayuki’s hand firmly, completely ignoring Takayuki’s rude behavior. The force she put into her grip made him think that she was trying to break his bones though.

“…I knew it, it’s you.”

She could feel Takayuki’s warmth. It felt like she was being taken to that time. Back when they were walking together, hand in hand.

“My hero…”

“Ugh…”

Aoi held Takayuki’s hands tighter. He could see her eyes starting to tear up. Her passionate gesture was akin to a maiden finally meeting her long-lost lover.

Facing that expression of Aoi’s, Takayuki didn’t seem to be entranced. On the contrary, he had a sour smile, as if he had just swallowed a bitter pill.

“Can you stop?”

“Huh?”

“Stop calling me ‘hero.’ I’m not a hero…”

His words sounded as if he was denying Aoi’s beliefs.

“I’m not a hero now, nor was I one back then. I’m just a loser, nothing less and the old me was no better either. Sorry, for shattering your delusions about me, Miyama.”

After Takayuki finished talking, Aoi slowly released her grips on his hands.

She blinked, her eyelashes trembled and a hiccup came out from the back of her throat. Her previously shining eyes now trembled.

“Eh? B-But… It’s my dream to be a hero together with you… I’ve dedicated my life to that goal…”

“My bad then. Too bad I can’t do that since I’m not a hero to begin with. I’m a monster. I’m someone who used his ability for his own personal gain.”

“B-But…”

“Didn’t you hear the rumors? Not all of them are lies. Some of them are wild, but what I did was atrocious enough to justify them. I’m not the person that you should admire.”

The words that were thrown by him at Aoi were like bullets that ripped through her heart.

To be rejected by the person she longed for was quite a shock for Aoi.

“…But, there are deeper circumstances behind the rumors about you, right?”

“That’s just your assumption. I’ve been doing worse things than you’ve ever imagined. Well, I haven’t done any crimes yet, but I’ve caused enough trouble for other people. Not exactly a hero-like behavior, right?”

“But, you helped Tomoe…”

“Only because you forced me to do it.”

Takayuki’s reaction made her feel perplexed. It was clear that the boy was trying to push her away. She wanted to say something, but in the end, she shut her mouth tightly and lowered her gaze.

“…I don’t understand you anymore, Satou-kun…”

“Of course, we aren’t even friends to begin with, just classmates. We barely interacted with each other, how would you understand me?”

Ignoring the girl’s sadness, Takayuki delivered the hard truth to her.

“Let me tell you this. Don’t try to be a hero just because you’re trying to imitate someone. There will be a time when you’ll come to regret it.”

Aoi still kept her mouth shut. Her gaze was still down, as if she was contemplating something.

“Enough.”

Eventually, she let out those words and stood up.

“I’m an idiot for doing this.”

Before Takayuki could call out to her, she dashed out of the store.

It was as if she was running away from the reality that she refused to accept.

*   *   *

In truth, Aoi had considered this possibility.

After all, seven years had passed, it was long enough for a grade schooler to grow to be a high schooler.

During that time, it was inevitable that people would change. In fact, it would be a miracle if someone were to stay the same for that long. Even Aoi herself had changed, it would be unreasonable if she were to expect that the boy would stay the same as he was back then.

But, Aoi couldn’t accept the fact that he had stopped being a hero.

“…Why?”

Aoi, who was running without minding about her surroundings, let out such words while panting happily.

‘How did it end up like this?’ She pondered.

“…Why?!”

After letting out a shout, Aoi started running with an even greater speed.

She dodged the passersby with minimal movements. Her legs moved quickly, who knows where they would bring her, but she couldn’t care less about it. 

As her legs moved, so were her thoughts.

“Why did I even get my hopes up?…”

She should’ve expected that she would be left disappointed. It was clear from the rumors that Takayuki wasn’t the hero she once knew.

Yet she let her expectations clouded her judgment. The yearning she had for the past seven years distorted her thoughts and gave her unreasonable expectations toward the boy.

Even though she out of all people should know that it was unhealthy to force others to fit the image that she created in her mind.

“…Haah… Haah… Phew…”

In the end, she kept running until she managed to vent all of her pent-up feelings.

Her legs brought her to somewhere far from the coffee shop. It was a bridge in the shopping district. There was a tinge of regret in Aoi’s heart when she realized how far she had run. Her thoughts wander to recount the event that just took place before this.

“Why?”

Then, she spouted out a question while panting.

“Why did you follow me, Satou-kun?!”

“…Haah… *coughs*… Haah…”

The question was directed at Takayuki, who was standing right behind her. Sweat covered his face as he struggled to catch his breath.

“I noticed you halfway through, I tried to shake you off, but why are you still following me?! What do you want?!”

“Haah… Haah…”

“Also, who paid for our drinks? Don’t tell me you were dine and dashing?! I know that I don’t have the right to lecture you because I was the one who jumped out first, but…”

“Haah… W-Wait…”

While trying to calm his breath, Takayuki raised his hand to stop Aoi from asking him another question.

“Haah… Phew… Okay…”

After a minute or so, he finally managed to catch his breath.

“First thing first, I paid for the bills. Because I had no time, I gave the waiter 5,000 yen and told them to keep the change. Thanks to that my wallet is practically empty now.”

“Sorry about that. I’ll pay you in half later…”

“No, you don’t need to, I was the one who brought that to myself. As for what I am doing here…”

“Yeah, why are you following me here? Did you forget to tell me something?”

Aoi didn’t bother to hide her annoyance as she gave him a cold stare.

If it was any other male student, they would be trembling in fear, intimidated by her presence. But this was Takayuki. Instead, he replied to her glare with a fearless grin.

“Yeah, there’s that…”

Suddenly, his expression froze.

“Uh, how do I put this…”

His gaze wandered around.

“…Actually, I followed you just because.”

In the end, he answered her question with a joke, which enraged her even more.

“What? Are you an idiot?! No, that’s a pointless question, you ARE an idiot!”

“I was worried about you, okay?! What if you got into an accident by running around like that?!”

“You followed me because you were worried about me?”

“Yes! I don’t want anything bad to happen to you, so I followed you!”

“Idiot!”

“I can’t refute that…”

Seeing Takayuki acting meek made Aoi realize that he was telling her the truth.

His idiocy astonished her. He was trying to chase Aoi, someone who was really good at running. Even Tomoe, a member of the track club, acknowledged her skill. Not to mention the fact that he was serious about it too. He could just pretend to chase after her and give up along the way, but he didn’t.

Also, she was astonished by her own idiocy.

What was she thinking when she set up such high expectations for this idiot in front of her?

“Satou-kun.”

“Yes?”

“You’re such an idiot.”

“…Yes, I am.”

“Don’t try to lie to me and answer my questions honestly. If you don’t want to answer, just say that you don’t want to answer.”

“I don’t want to answer…”

“By the way, if you get me in a bad mood, I’ll report you about the time when you went into a hotel with an adult.”

“Stop it! I thought you wanted to be a hero?! Why are you blackmailing me?!”

“Above all else, my justice prioritizes my own will.”

“The world doesn’t need such a hero!”

Takayuki desperately tried to look for an escape route, but Aoi gave him an Enma-like smile. He froze in his place. (T/N: Enma is the Japanese name for Yama, the god of Buddhism who ruled over hell.)

“Satou-kun, you told me to stop being a hero, right? Why? Could it be that I misunderstood your words because you’re an idiot who couldn’t explain things properly?”

“…No, I really told you to stop. I’m just speaking from experience. Once upon a time, I tried to be a hero because I admired someone else, but I failed. Instead of helping, I only caused trouble to everyone around me instead. I don’t want to make that kind of mistake, Miyama. Besides…”

“Besides?”

“…Unlike me, you’re a girl. Just mediating a dispute should be fine, but I don’t want you to do dangerous things like shielding a kid from a car or barging into back alleys to beat up delinquents.”

“What? I will never do something like that. Why would I?”

“What?”

“…Did you actually do it?”

“Making mistakes is just part of being a human. What matters is whether one could accept said mistakes and reflect on them.”

“So you did it. Are you an idiot? Wait, you ARE an idiot.”

“Stop it! I’ve heard enough of that already! Everyone around me always reacted the same way whenever I did something stupid! I’ve reflected on it already, so cut me some slack!”

Seeing Takayuki being tormented by his own past made Aoi understand something. The image of a ‘hero’ that they had was different.

“Look here, the ‘heroic’ deeds that I’ve done were just the things that I could do with my own power. I only helped out people close to me, lent an ear to everyone who asked me for advice and did volunteer work. I told you that my justice prioritizes my will over everything else, right? I won’t do stupid things to put myself in danger or do something that I don’t want to do.”

“…Alright, then forget what I previously said to you at the coffee shop.”

“Satou-kun. Those rumors about you… Were they the result of your reckless heroism?”

“No comment.”

Aoi’s question was a bullseye.

Seeing his reaction gave Aoi an idea about the boy in front of her. She could guess that someone must have scolded him really hard back in middle school.

“I see. So that’s why you tried to give me advice with such a smug look.”

Takayuki turned his head away.

A beautiful smile bloomed on Aoi’s face. A sign that she had already regained her composure.

“Satou-kun, could it be that your love counseling gig is originally part of a volunteer work? Because someone scolded you for doing it for free, you started charging people for doing it?”

“No, it was just a hobby of mine. I mean, I have the ability to do it, wouldn’t it be cool if I could gain some pocket change from it?”

“…What?”

Takayuki hurriedly made an excuse to Aoi.

“I wasn’t kidding, okay? I used the money for my allowance!”

“But, if it’s just for money, isn’t it easier to just get a normal part-time job? I don’t know what kind of contract you have with that witch, but there’s no way that it involves you to go through that much of a hassle. I mean, voluntarily looking for people with broken heart, giving them advice, trying to gain their trust and meet them in person. All those work for pocket change? If I were to convert everything into an hourly rate, it wouldn’t even touch the minimum wage.”

“That’s… You know…”

Takayuki flinched.

Amused by the situation, Aoi pushed him even more. 

“You preached to me about not being a hero or whatnot, but why are you doing this to yourself?”

“…”

His answer was silence. He only stared at Aoi firmly without opening his mouth.

“I guess you won’t tell me anything, huh?”

“…Sorry. I’ll try my best answering your next question instead.”

“Hmm…”

Seeing Takayuki bowing his head, Aoi decided that she had enough fun teasing him and moved on.

“Alright, next question then.”

She decided to ask him a question that had been bugging her since a long time ago.

“…Satou-kun, after saving me, why did you disappear? The summer vacation was almost over back then, but there were still a few days left. Even if there was an urgent business that you had to attend to, couldn’t you come back the next year afterwards?”

“I didn’t expect to hear that question from my childhood bully.”

“Why are you talking back to me? Do you want me to report your deeds to the school?”

“Give me a break! Okay, fine! The reason why I disappeared… Well…”

After hesitating for a moment, Takayuki spilled everything.

“I was busy, I had to attend my grandfather’s funeral for the rest of the vacation.”

“Eh?”

“The reason why I was there for summer vacation was because my grandfather was there. After he passed away, well, I had no reason to go there anymore. That’s all, Miyama.”

“That’s… I’m… Sorry…”

“Don’t be. It happened a long time ago anyway.”

Takayuki didn’t seem to be mad about it, but his tone felt empty.

Aoi understood that she had tread upon a sensitive topic. Even if she had the right to ask this question, this wasn’t the right place and circumstances to talk about it. She reflected on her actions.

However, after thinking for a bit, she started to think otherwise.

‘If I were to back off now, wouldn’t it be hard to make him start talking again? Should I make use of the momentum to say everything that I wanted to say?’

Seven years ago, back when she let the boy’s hand go, she ended up saying nothing to him. If only she made use of the momentum and talked to the boy, she wouldn’t be left with regrets.

“Are we done? …If you don’t have any more questions, I’ll go home. Sorry, for hurting you, Miyama. No one should have the right to deny someone’s feelings like that. I was completely in the wrong…”

Seeing Aoi keeping her mouth shut, Takayuki apologized to her and tried to leave the place.

Just before he left, Aoi grabbed his arm. The sight gave her a deja vu. It was the same arm that she once held seven years ago.

“Miyama?”

“…I have one more question.”

“I-I see. C-Can you let go of my arm first? I-I won’t run away, I promise–”

“Back then!”

Aoi raised her voice, cutting off Takayuki’s words.

“Seven years ago! At that time! On the dark night! When I was suffering!”

She didn’t even know what to ask him. Instead, she just let out everything that she wanted to say to him.

“Do you regret saving me back then? Do you regret playing a hero just to console me? Do you regret everything that happened back then?”

Although she asked the question with such a vigor, she turned her gaze downward as she asked for his response. She was afraid that his answer would disappoint her. Aoi tried to suppress her racing heartbeat while waiting for his answer with bated breath.

“I don’t.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t have any regrets, nor do I have the intention to regret everything that happened back then.”

Because she looked elsewhere, she didn’t manage to catch Takayuki’s expression when he said that. She panicked, trying to look at his face, but by then, he had already worn his usual fearless grin.

“Being a hero or not, it’s a man’s duty to save a girl in distress.”

“…Idiot.”

“Yes, I am. But, can you please release my arm? Why are you doing this in public anyway? Also, you’re gripping it too tightly! It hurts! Oi, you’re going to break it for real!”

Hearing his words, she put even more strength in her grip.

“Satou-kun, you once told me…”

“What is it? Can you just let me go first? I told you I won’t run away!”

“You told me that we are just classmates, we aren’t friends or anything, so there’s no way that we could understand each other.”

“Yeah, I said that, so what?”

“You know, I was pissed when I heard those words, but I understand what you were trying to say.”

Aoi looked up at the boy.

She did her best to convey the words that she failed to convey seven years ago.

“That’s why, let’s interact with each other more from now on. Since there’s a lot of things we can’t understand about each other, let’s make it so that we can understand each other. Whether it is my admiration towards you or it’s your frustration about yourself, let’s find out which one is the right one. To do that, we should talk to each other more.”

With a serious tone, she made a proposal to him.

“…Sure, I guess.”

After a moment of hesitation, Takayuki nodded his head.

“I’ll do my best to not disappoint you.”

“Hehe, don’t worry. If we end up unable to understand each other, I’ll give up on my own whether you like it or not. In return, you can give up on me whenever you feel like it. Let’s start our relationship with that rule.”

“…Got it. Let’s keep our relationship that way for now…”

Takayuki held out his right hand. Seeing this, Aoi let go of his other arm and held his right hand.

Strongly, so that she could burn this moment into her memory.

Now one could say that the two of them were finally reunited.

…But there was one thing that they overlooked.

“Huh? Is that Satou and Miyama-san?”

“Really? What are they doing? Is it a shuraba?”

They were talking on a bridge, a public place where a lot of students from their school passed by. They managed to calm themselves down after that tense moment, but they were immediately greeted by the chatters of their schoolmates that were passing by.

“Youth… Their vigor blinded me!”

“Seeing them made me feel old…”

“It’s great to be young~”

“I know, right? They remind me of myself when I was younger.”

Of course, their schoolmates weren’t the only ones who witnessed the scene that they made. People ranging from children to elderly, men and women, students to adults in business suits, all were staring at them.

“…I think we should leave, Miyama.”

“Yeah, I’ll go on ahead, Satou-kun.”

“Are you going to run again?”

“It’s okay if you can’t keep up with me. Just walk slowly.”

The two people who were the center of the attention exchanged glances before dashing away from the bridge. They made their way to the front of the station.

“Haah! …Haah! …Why! …Are you! So tough?!”

“I strived to be a hero, so I naturally trained myself physically. I should be the one asking you. Why are you so weak?”

“What?! …I jogged! …Every morning! …I trained my muscles too!”

The two quarreled with each other as they ran, not minding the stares that their surroundings gave them.