Chapter 1 | A Cold Summer Day

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It was early June, the time of year when the early summer breeze made you sweat.

“No way… is this real…?”

I, Shinse Asahioka, a second-year high school student, had witnessed my girlfriend, Ria Shiina, cheating on me while returning home from club activities on a day off.

I was overcome with the urge to shout her name, which was a few meters in front of me. I wanted to angrily demand who that flashy-looking guy holding her hand was.

But—

“Why do you look so happy…”

Seeing Ria’s cheerful profile, my body became paralyzed, as if I were bound.

Ria was the first girlfriend I ever had in my life.

She was so cute that I didn’t deserve her.

She was a boast-worthy girlfriend who was kind to everyone.

She was a devoted girlfriend who cooked well and made my lunch every day.

And that Ria was cheating…

Come to think of it, Ria had clearly been acting strange lately.

She had dyed her beautiful black hair blonde, pierced her ears, and her skirt had become ridiculously short.

She used to be prim and proper, but now she had completely turned into a gal.

Ria had said she wanted to try a makeover, so I hadn’t said anything, but in short, she had been influenced by a man other than me—that flashy guy—and that’s what I realized now.

My heart ached. Memories of Ria flashed through my mind, ending with the scene in front of my eyes.

My relationship with Ria ended here, I was convinced in my heart. I wouldn’t be able to make any more memories with her. It wasn’t just the happy memories, there were also the memories of fights. Even so, I was happy one way or another.

But if I were to make more memories with Ria from now on, they would surely only be painful ones.

“Even so, what should I do…”

Breaking up with Ria was an unwavering decision. She had no room for excuses, or rather, I didn’t want her to make any flimsy excuses. Rather, there was a possibility that Ria would become defiant and break up with me. If that were the case, I wanted to strike first to avoid feeling more miserable than I already did.

I took my phone out of my pants pocket and opened LIONE.

My profile picture was a two-shot photo with Ria. A fresh photo taken with Ria before she became a gal, a week after we started dating.

“Oh man… the tears…”

While holding back the tears that flowed endlessly, I manipulated the screen.

Where did I go wrong? Where did we drift apart?

What was wrong with me? What is Ria thinking now?

I don’t know anything. But this is where it ends.

For Ria, it might have ended a long time ago.

I’m ending it at this very moment.

I sent a message to Ria.

A message that said “Let’s break up” and a photo of the backs of the two of them holding hands in front of me.

A few seconds later, Ria’s phone rang.

Ria quickly let go of the flashy guy’s hand, pulled out her phone from her bag, and began swiping her finger across the screen.

“…!?”

I could tell that Ria had gasped. Ria stopped walking and looked back, fearfully.

“Ah…”

Ria and I made eye contact. Ria looked at me with unfocused eyes, her mouth trembling.

Should I say something? No… it would just make me feel more miserable.

Thinking that, I turned on my heel and ran.

“Wait! Shinse!”

I could hear Ria calling my name from behind, but I ran without looking back. My relationship with Ria ended so easily.

⭐︎

After running away from Ria, I was sitting on a bench in a deserted park.

I didn’t want to think about anything anymore, but the scene I had just seen was haunting me. How much time had passed since I witnessed Ria cheating on me on my way back from morning club practice?

I checked the time on my phone, and it was past 4:00 PM. It had only been about an hour, so was that why I couldn’t stop thinking about it? Or would that scene keep popping into my head from now on? The thought made me feel sick.

“Ugh… 96 messages…”

There were a mountain of messages from Ria, so I blocked her without reading them. I don’t know if she had come up with some excuse, but I wasn’t going to listen to her.

Anyway, I wanted to distance myself from Ria right now. Both mentally and physically.

“Haah… I want to go home and take a shower…”

The sweaty shirt was clinging to my skin, which was unpleasant.

“But it’s hard to go home…”

Ria’s house was very close to the apartment I lived in. Even if I went home, there was a chance she would be waiting for me or come to visit me.

That made it hard to go home.

“Ah, I guess I’ll ask someone to let me stay over today…”

Just as I muttered to myself, unheard by anyone—

“Oh, it’s Asahioka-senpai.”

A familiar girl’s voice reached my ears. When I looked to my side, there was a girl wearing the same high school uniform standing there. Her long, twin-tailed pink hair swayed, and her voluptuous curves pushed against her clothes.

“…Oh, it’s Sora.”

“What do you mean, ‘Oh, it’s Sora!’ What do you mean by that?”

So saying, the girl, whose name was Sora Takanashi, puffed out her cheeks and approached me. She was my junior from middle school and the manager of the soccer club I belonged to, and I had seen her face at morning practice today.

“Sorry, sorry.”

“Honestly… By the way, Asahioka-senpai, you should go home and wash off the sweat with a shower, or you’ll catch a cold.”

“…It’s hard to go home.”

Sora tilted her head, seeing me looking apologetic.

“It’s hard to go home? Did something happen with your family?”

“No, it’s not that…”

“Hmm… I don’t understand why it would be hard to go home?”

“Well, it’s something other than family, a lot of things happened…”

“Something other than family, a lot of things…”

Sora paused and then smirked, “Ahaaa.”

“Something happened with Shiina-senpai, didn’t it~?”

Hearing Ria’s name, my lips twitched for a moment. Sora looked at my face and chuckled, “Am I right~”

She had no idea what I was going through…

“Don’t pry any further.”

“I won’t. They say a lover’s quarrel is like a cat’s meal.”

“Dog’s, you mean.”

“I’m a cat person.”

“Come to think of it, you said your hobby was going to cat cafes.”

I internally retorted that just because you like cats, doesn’t give you the right to change a proverb to your liking.

“How about Asahioka-senpai join me right now? Cat cafes are healing~”

Sora made a beckoning cat pose while saying “Meow meow” seductively.

“I’ll pass.”

“Ehhh~”

I did want some healing, but I wasn’t in the mood right now. After all, this was my first heartbreak, and I didn’t know how to distract myself at times like this.

I wonder what Ria is doing now.

Is she still with that flashy guy next to her while trying to contact me?

If that’s the case, it makes me feel awful.

“Oh well, I guess we’ll have to go on a cat cafe date another time.”

“Please do.”

I’ll probably never go, I muttered to myself.

Sora is a girl who is extremely popular with the first-year male students. Attracted by the manager, Sora, the number of applicants for the soccer club increased this year. Going on a cat cafe date with a girl like that would definitely make everyone jealous.

“Speaking of which, let’s get back to the topic. Why would fighting with Shiina-senpai make it hard to go home? Are you perhaps living together~?”

Sora asked with a sly grin again.

“Our houses are close. It would be the worst if we ran into each other on the way home.”

“I see…”

Sora nodded in understanding and then had a thoughtful look on her face.

“…Asahioka-senpai, would you like to come to my house? I can let you take a shower.”

“…No, that would be too much…”

No matter what, I was hesitant to go to my junior’s house just to borrow their shower.

“My brother is home too. There’s nothing wrong with it.”

Sora’s brother, Shō Takanashi, was my best friend and teammate in the soccer club. If he was there, then nothing would go wrong… not that I intended to do anything.

Come to think of it, Shō is the perfect person to hear my complaints. I couldn’t possibly tell my junior, Sora, such a pathetic story about my girlfriend cheating on me. I’ll play around with Shō to cheer myself up while I borrow their shower.

“…Well, I guess I’ll take you up on that offer.”

“If that’s decided, let’s go to my house~ Let’s go!”

Looking at Sora with her carefree smile, my heart felt a little lighter.

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