Chapter 47: Liquidation

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Translator: Soafp

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Miko, whose hand I had grabbed, tried to pull her arm away.

But I tightened my grip so she couldn't get away.

“W-what's gotten into you all of a sudden?”

“I don't want our relationship to end with a ridiculous fake confession like that.”

We had spent all those years together.

I couldn't accept having those days end with something as stupid as a fake confession.

So I was going to tell her.

I was going to tell her everything I had been keeping bottled up inside my chest…

“Miko, you might have been right. I think I was looking for a reason to forgive you. And when I couldn't find one, I took my frustration out on my other classmates and drove them into a corner. The truth is, I just wanted to stay by your side, Miko… But because it was you, and no one else, I couldn't forgive being betrayed by you.”

I continued as I watched her bewildered expression.

“You were everything to me, Miko. I genuinely believed that supporting you because you were always so clumsy was my role in life. So when you told me in middle school that you didn't need me to pick you up anymore, I was honestly furious. I thought, ‘There's no way that's true.' I was so in love with you that I even threw a childish tantrum, insisting that you needed me…”

As I lined up these words one after another, I felt embarrassed by how pathetic I sounded.

But if I was going to tell her everything, then this was the right way to do it.

If I only said pretty things, I probably wouldn't be able to make my feelings reach her.

“I seriously dreamed about childish things like getting married someday and building a happy family together. I even dreamed that someday I could get you to like dogs and that we could raise one together.”

I stared at Miko as she bit her lip and twisted her face in anguish.

“Now, tell me how you really felt too, Miko. Not the words someone made you say as part of that fake confession. I want to hear in your own words what you really thought about me back then.”

“I-I…”

Miko stumbled over her words and fell silent.

I placed both of my hands over her left hand.

“How long are you going to keep sulking over this? I told you everything. Please, tell me. There's no way our last memory together can end like that.”

If Miko was still trapped in that moment just like I was, then I wanted to save her.

And to do that, I had no choice but to bare everything.

Please, just tell me…

“I loved you too, Subaru… I thought we would be together until we died. I never even imagined that we would ever be separated!”

Unable to hold it back any longer, tears streamed down her cheeks.

A sob escaped her voice.

“Just having you beside me made me happy. But I ended up hurting someone so important to me…”

Miko's loud sobs echoed through the park.

I gently pulled the back of her head against my chest.

“It's about time you forgave yourself.”

“I can't. B-because even after we split up, I must have kept hurting you, over and over again…”

“…That might be true. After that, I started distancing myself from other people even more, and I swore I would never get involved in a childish romance again… But you see…”

Just like I used to, I gently stroked her soft hair.

“I've changed my mind now.”

“…Eh?”

“Actually, I met a girl I'm interested in. She's not someone I can take lightly. She's a girl I care about, just like I cared about you, Miko.”

She slowly lifted her face from my chest, and our eyes met.

“As I got to know her better, I started thinking that maybe romance and things like that weren't so bad after all. And then, strangely enough, I found that my regrets and resentment toward you naturally began to fade away.”

“…Are you getting along with her?”

“Yeah. And I can say this with my head held high. Even without you, Miko, I'm living a happy life.”

The moment I said that, large tears began spilling from Miko's eyes.

“Ugh… ugh… That's good.”

She cried even harder than before, her voice trembling.

“I-I kept worrying that maybe I was still hurting you even now. I was so worried about what happened to you after that… If you were suffering because of me, I thought I had no right to be forgiven.”

“You don't have to feel responsible anymore for what you did to me. I want you to be happy too, Miko.”

“…Ugh… ugh…”

“Let's put what happened that day behind us and start over from here, together. Let's look forward. You're going to be a big sister soon, aren't you?”

Miko buried her face against my chest and sobbed.

“I'm sorry for everything, Subaru.”

“Yeah.”

“I'm sorry for making that fake confession. I'm sorry for betraying you.”

“It's okay.”

“I really wanted to apologize to you all this time. But I was afraid that if I took advantage of your kindness just so I could feel better about myself, then I wouldn't be able to say it…”

“I forgive you for everything. Let's make up. We're childhood friends, after all, aren't we?”

“Waaaaah!”

Miko continued to cry.

I silently held her and supported her until she finally stopped crying.