Chapter 56: Mizuki’s past

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Translator: Soafp

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I declared boldly to Maya that I was going to meet Mizuki, and made my way to Mizuki’s home.

It goes without saying that Maya’s reaction was subtly uneasy.

Well, if it’s just exchanging words, we could do it through smartphones, but somehow I feel like Mizuki won’t tell me the truth unless we talk face to face.

Obviously, I can’t enter her house, so I wait near Mizuki’s place at the park.

After waiting for about ten minutes, Mizuki arrived in a more casual attire than before.

“My apologies for summoning you.”

“…It’s fine.”

Mizuki’s expression seemed more stern than earlier. But I didn’t intend to take that into consideration.

Without even thinking about where to start, I asked Mizuki as if time were running out.

“I’ll ask you straight. Mizuki, perhaps… have you been in a long-term relationship with Naoki?”

Calmly thinking about it, that’s the only conclusion. But I wanted to confirm directly from Mizuki.

Probably, even before Maya and Naoki started dating.

As expected, Mizuki didn’t easily share the details.

However, her demeanor didn’t seem to say ‘I don’t want to talk about it,’ but rather ‘I’m unsure if I should talk about it.’

In other words, the content of my question wasn’t being denied.

If Mizuki wouldn’t tell me, I could only speculate.

So I continued regardless.

“So, um. From here, it’s just speculation, but could it be that you and Naoki were actually… former lovers, and things didn’t work out for some reason, leading Naoki to start dating Maya afterwards?”

“…That’s not it.”

Mizuki finally spoke up.

Even though I pride myself on being good at logically cornering others, it was somewhat unexpected to find myself weak when attacked.

“What do you mean by ‘that’s not it’?”

“When it comes to me being Naoki’s former lover.”

“…So everything else is correct, then?”

At that, Mizuki sighed as if resigned, and nodded.

“…Well, sort of. You could say we were childhood friends, but whether you can call it that, I’m not sure. But…”

I remained silent there, staring at Mizuki intently. It was a more blatant attitude than urging her with words.

“Indeed, I think Naoki was my first love.”

I see. Just as I suspected.

And I somewhat understood that this first love probably didn’t bear fruit.

However, I can’t imagine Mizuki falling for a guy like the current Naoki, who doesn’t even try to hide his scumminess.

It’s probably true that Naoki wasn’t like that in the past.

“Why didn’t you… Mizuki, why didn’t you date Naoki?”

Before I could ask, Mizuki interrupted my words.

“Naoki never cared about me.”

“…”

“You see, I was bullied until middle school. I was a total nerd, you know.”

“…”

“It might be hard to believe, but Naoki used to defend me. That’s how good of a guy he was.”

Unbelievable. Despite her current cool and intellectual appearance, Mizuki…

“So, why did such a good guy…”

“Change? The answer is simple: Naoki was betrayed too.”

“…”

“That’s why Naoki changed. He decided it’s better to betray than to be betrayed. That way, he wouldn’t suffer.”

“…”

“But Naoki ended up not understanding how much suffering he caused to others. I realized I wasn’t capable enough to bring Naoki back to his senses.”

“…”

“That’s why I introduced Maya, whom I trusted as a close friend, to Naoki. I believed Maya could help Naoki become a better person again.”

Mizuki’s lonely confession was heartbreaking.

“Maya liked handsome guys, so Naoki was her type. And I thought Naoki wouldn’t mistreat my friend. But as you know, it didn’t turn out that way. So, I decided to cut ties with Naoki.”

I understood.

That’s why Mizuki was so determined to repair the relationship between me and Maya.

Her best friend, Maya, whom she introduced to Naoki, was betrayed and hurt.

She introduced Maya to me, probably to help ease the pain Maya had suffered because of she had caused, but now Maya has betrayed me.

Mizuki must have felt responsible because all her meddling had backfired.

But wasn’t it because Mizuki couldn’t do anything to Naoki in the first place?

Even so, it’s outrageous how she could say such things to me.

I couldn’t help but blurt out.

“…Let me make it clear. Please don’t interfere in our affairs just to comfort yourself. It’s nothing but trouble.”

Little did I expect to deeply regret these words later on.