Vol. 1 Chapter 5: Farewell… right? — Part 2

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Translated and Edited by: luccayn.

Common Honorifics:
-san: A polite suffix, but not excessively formal.
-kun: A common suffix among friends and younger people.
-chan: A common suffix among people you’re close with, mostly used for feminine nicknames and girls, since it’s cutesy and childlike.
-senpai: A common suffix and noun used to address or refer to one’s older or more senior colleagues in a school, workplace, dojo, or sports club.

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A worker’s morning starts early. It was 6 at dawn. The sharp screams of my alarm stabbed my ears. My day only truly begins after I angrily turn it off.

With a huge sigh, I made my way into the bathroom and brushed my teeth, washed my face, and woke up properly. Then I walked to the living room to have some breakfast. I say breakfast, but it’s just a loaf of bread with ham on it. I poured some milk to go along with it, and that’s what I ate.

Next, I had to prepare my lunch. I meticulously packed the side dishes, rice, and miniature jelly that I had leftover from last night into the lunch box. Once the lid was closed, all that remained was to wrap it and store it inside my backpack. As I was about do that, I realized time almost ran out. I rushed back to my room and put on my uniform. With my tie on, I grabbed my backpack and went straight to the door, putting my shoes in the process.

“I’m off~” Although I did not receive a single answer, I still have irreplaceable memories of my parents in this house. I said the usual thing I’d say when I left, walking out the doorway with lighter steps.

It was another beautiful day. It’s almost as if I’m shining like the sun. The morning right after cutting off all the bad in my life felt special, and even after a few days such joy lingered. From now on, I can do whatever I want.

My days will be placid without being abused by my childhood friend, my junior, and even the maid. I’ll wipe off the memories of these girls and never have anything to do with them again.

Well… That’s what I thought.

Right in front of the ticket gates at the station, I saw a familiar face. Her bobbed black hair with golden undersides swung side to side, and she frantically looked for something or someone… Akane Kurosaki, my junior, was there. The fact she uses the same station as me completely slipped my mind.

However, despite noticing her, I didn’t take any particular action. I just proceeded to the ticket gates without any hesitation. With all I told her before, I didn’t think she’d even approach me—

“Ah, s–senpai! Wait!”

—Me and my big mouth.

Since I already said my goodbyes, I had no reason to bother listening to her. I tuned that voice off my head and kept walking forward. As I pass through the gates, I notice my balance was 777 yen. I feel a small sort of happiness upon seeing that sort of luck. Well, I also feel my luck currently depleting—Actually, is there a gauge for luck in the first place?

“Senpai! Yuta-senpai, ah, wait!”

“You’re in the way…”

As I ascended the stairs to the platform contemplating the biggest mystery of the century, I saw my former friend and junior with her arms outstretched in front of me. Despite her actions, I noticed her arms and legs shaking like a baby deer. She was terrified her eyes would meet mine.

I don’t want to have this conversation now, but us being in the stairs like this wasn’t safe. Being her senior, it’s possible that if something happens I’ll be scolded. I have no choice but to use words and talk her out of it.

“H–hey, why didn’t you read the message I sent you…?”

“Oh, I blocked you. I mean, don’t you delete the contacts you don’t want anymore?”

“T–that’s… Hic…”

I don’t feel any guilt seeing her fair face scrunch up and tears roll down her cheeks, ruining her makeup. Obviously, this is all due to her making fun of me at one of my lowest.

During summer vacation, I erased all of my contacts, and threw all my photos and their memories away. It was the first step in the process of getting better. The pictures I took with Asakawa when we were little, the necklace she gave me when we were dating, our polaroids together… I threw them all away.

The only thing I couldn’t delete was the messaging app itself. It still contained the chat logs between my late parents. Instead of nuking everything, I blocked Kurosaki and the others. Thanks to that, my contact list was barren.

“Why are you crying?” I asked her.

“It’s because… My senpai is cruel…”

… I’m cruel?
I just did and said what I thought. It’s the same thing you did! You made fun of me so, so, so, so many times! Why are you calling me cruel for doing the same thing?!

“Cruel? You’ve been doing the same to me for years on end, and you don’t get any of the blame? Have you ever thought about how I felt?”

The moment I expressed my feelings, Kurosaki’s downcast eyes shot up, wide-open, and the wrinkles on her face disappeared. It seems she understood something important.

“I see… I… I’ve been bad…”

“You didn’t even notice it? If you want to think about it, do it alone. Don’t follow me anymore. Next time you get up on me like now, I’ll call the police.”

“Okay…”

I walked up the stairs, passing by Kurosaki. I said I’d call the police so she wouldn’t act on it anymore. Well, even if this works most of the time, some aren’t intimidated by it. Let’s just say that, when in doubt, say you’ll involve the police. It’s a handy life hack, if you will.

After waiting a while on the platform, listening to the hustle and bustle of a lively town, the train finally arrived. It wasn’t awfully crowded this morning, something quite unusual. I stood by the window and unlocked my smartphone, which I no longer used just to watch videos online.

Kurosaki’s heart was already hit by what just happened. She wouldn’t come at me like she did this morning… With that reassurance in mind, I began watching music videos of my favorite bands. After enjoying the music for a while, we seemingly arrived at the nearest station, and a group of people wearing the same uniform as me got off the train. I followed suit.

As I left the ticket gate, I realized I stupidly left my lunch box at home. It was a failure on my part… Ah, I was in a hurry and left it at the table. Well, no matter. I’ll just go to the convenience store today.

I turned away from the outflow of people and got inside a convenience store right in front of the station. After what just happened, I wasn’t in the mood for a gut-busting lunch box, so I bought two rice balls, a salad, and a large cup of tea.

After leaving the restaurant, the number of students diminished substantially, probably because I took my time there. I was able to leisurely walk along the road to school.

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TL: Before you say anything about them both, wait for the next two chapters. It’ll focus more on the two, their misunderstandings, and their reasons.

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