Chapter 24 | A Girl Who Regretted It, Then

Reading Settings

~Yuka’s Point of View~.

The day after witnessing the exchange between her brother and the strange girl, Yuka took immediate action.

She wanted to deal with her mother’s case first, but she had a long weekend ahead of her. So, to ask the girl about the situation first, she visited her class during her lunch break.

“Well… this is the place.”

I’m in the first-grade class right now… that girl is Nakagawa Youka-chan, right? What class is she in?

“Ah, ano…?”

“Hm? What’s up?”

A flirtatious blonde girl nearby speaks to me with a kind of happy smile. I’m sure she knows who I am…she’s not a criminal, is she?

“Is it Yuka-sama by any chance? The one who had the chain death match with Sameshu of Ikushiro High School?”

“Hey, stop it!”

“I’m sorry! I was out of line!”

Yuka glared at the other party, who apologized and then fell silent.

The students who were watching this were horrified to see Yuka silencing a delinquent who usually gets into trouble with just one word.

(…Damn, they strangely remembered my face again…)

Yuka is a quiet girl at school, but there is no end to bad rumors because of this kind of force majeure.

“Well, that’s all right. Actually, I wanted to ask you… do you know which class Nakagawa Youka-chan is in? I wanted to talk to her about something.”

“Oh! If it’s that big-breasted girl, she was in the courtyard!”

Oh, I didn’t think it was a good idea to ask her, but she knows…. Big-breasted girl huh… well that’s fine.

“I’ll see you later… And don’t spread any weird rumors, okay?”

“Oussssssss! Yuka-sama!

“Shut up… that’s what I’m talking about.”

“?????”

Why are you looking at me so strangely?  Well, I guess there’s no point in saying it. Now that I know the location, I'll just head there.

─ ─ Yuka hurriedly headed for the courtyard.

On her way, she passed a group of girls.

The group was laughing and talking loudly, and Yuka naturally heard what they were saying.

“Nakagawa’s eating alone again.”

“She probably doesn’t have any friends…well, that’s because we’re spreading bad rumors about her!”

“That’s right! I’m so angry that I’m she’s popular with guys even though she’s short! The guy I was after even confessed his feelings to her!”

“I’m sure she’ll be a lot more isolated then, so let’s start bullying her in earnest! It looks like she broke up with Machida, so no one can help her!”

“That’s true! But we have to be careful with the Kinjo young lady.”

“That's right, they always talk behind our backs. “If you have something to say, say it directly.” That’s what a good girl looks like, isn’t it?”

“That young lady looks like she’s dangerous, so I can’t touch her, but…haah!”

“Anyway, do you want to splash some water on Nakagawa?”

“Hahaha! That’s a good idea!”

“Boring people…”

I was going to ask Nakagawa Youka what happened that day… but I guess that’s a change of plans, huh?

~ Youka's Point of View ~

“…”

I’m eating lunch alone in the courtyard today.

I’m eating dinner alone in the courtyard today.

No, not “today”, but I’m always alone.

Because I don’t have any friends… I have the entire bench for two all to myself. It’s really lonely.

“I did a terrible thing to Machida-san…”

I can’t make excuses for not seeing what was going on around me. I’ve done and said some really terrible things, but when I went to apologize to him earlier…

“It’s okay. I was shocked at the time, but Youka-san's face has a much worse expression… so you don’t have to worry about me.”

He said to me like that.

“He was a really good person… and I made a fool of him… I deserve to go to hell.”

I don’t want to go to school anymore. I know what the girls in my class think of me…but I can forget that while I’m chasing after Senpai.

I know that the boys who approach me have ulterior motives…

“But not Senpai…Ah, no, no!”

Youka was reminded of the person she loved and almost burst into tears, but she held it in and began to eat her bento. Her mother had lovingly prepared the lunch box… it contained many of her favorite dishes, but she had no appetite today, so she ate it as if she were forcing it down into her stomach.

“…You’re…Nakagawa Youka…is that right?”

“Eh… Ano…”

When Youka looked up when she heard her name called, she saw a familiar woman standing there.

Youka only knows her one-sidedly, and this is the first time they are talking like this, but when she sees her, Youka shut her eyes and her face turns blue.

(It’s Senpai’s sister…I bet she’s here to get angry…ugh~ what will she say? She’s rumored to be very scary…will she get angry a lot…? But he has every right to be angry with me. I have to endure whatever he says to me…)

“I’m Nakagawa Youka… I’m really sorry for the terrible things I’ve done to Senpai…”

“Huh? Oh, I didn’t come here to make you apologize. Did you know about me? Well, let’s talk about it. Can I sit next to you for a minute?”

“Uh…what? Ah, yes.”

Yuka told me so, and I opened a space on the bench where I had been sitting alone. I did so without knowing why, but Yuka sat down on the vacant spot and began to eat her lunch as well.

“Huh?”

“I was lonely by myself… since you know my brother, will you accompany me for a while?”

“Uh…ah, yes!”

Youka nodded, bewildered.

Sakamoto Yuka is a brazen tyrant who has made a name for herself as a Yankee. She is not well known among first-year students, but Youka knew her because she is Yuuji’s older sister.

Since she is such an older sister, she would surely not forgive him if she knew about the incident with Yuuji.

So, Youka prepared herself for the certainty that she would be scolded.

“Did your mother make that for you?”

“Oh, yes! Yes, she did!”

“Hmmm… it looks delicious.”

“Thank you…”

But that was not the case at all.

Her manner of speaking was languid and peculiar, but she did not speak in a high-pressure manner, even if the person she was talking to was a junior.

Her appearance was far removed from the rumors, and Youka truly felt that she was a kind woman.

(Her appearance, too…she’s out of uniform, but she doesn’t dye her hair or wear strange makeup or piercings…she’s very beautiful with long eyelashes…)

Ring-ring-ring-ring…

“Ah, the doorbell rang… shall we go back to class?”/

“Ha-ha-ha, I still have lunch left…”

“What, you can’t even smile properly…”

“Uh… ah… yes.”

I was laughing unconsciously.

But why did he eat with me? There was no need to be nice to me after hurting Senpai…! I’m going back! I have to say thank you!

“Umm! Thank you for eating with me today!”

“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yes…what? Oh, tomorrow!

“Oh, you’re coming tomorrow too.”

But why did you want to be with me?

Could it be…

Are you trying to cheer me up?

---

It’s not mandatory but if you like my TLs and want to support me you can do it on Ko-fi and Patreon.