Chapter 13: The two who broke up

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Translator: Soafp

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“That so! Make sure you have a great time out there.”

“Yeah, I'll probably end up drinking quite a bit though… If I call for a ride, will you come pick me up?”

“Of course.”

What's this?

Just as I was about to head into the living room for a post-bath drink, I overheard that conversation.

“Mom, are you going somewhere?”

“There's a class reunion this weekend. It's been ages… I think we haven't had one in at least ten years.”

“Huh, really…”

“It's been so long since I've seen my old classmates. You should definitely go and have fun! But don't drink too much, okay?”

“I knooow. You really worry too much, you know that?”

A class reunion, huh?

Now that I think about it, it really has been a while since Mom went to one of those. I don't even remember when the last time was, but meeting old classmates is something rare — she should enjoy it.

(…Mom might be a bit laid-back and airheaded sometimes, but she's the kindest person I know, and I'm proud to call her my mother. She truly loves Dad, and Dad loves her just as deeply.)

I don't know the full story, but apparently Mom came from a pretty well-off family.

When Dad went to greet her parents after they started dating, he was apparently told some pretty harsh things, but he didn't give up.

Thanks to that, they ended up happily married and have been living a wonderful life together ever since.

“…I want to have a happy marriage like that someday too.”

That little mutter was my mistake.

“You'll be able to, Masato~♪”

“Yeah, I know you can do it, Masato.”

“…!?”

When I looked up, both Mom and Dad were grinning at me.

I thought I'd said that quietly, but apparently it was loud enough for them to hear every word.

“…………”

“Ara, your face is all red~”

Unable to bear the embarrassment, I quickly retreated to my room.

“Marriage… that's still way too far ahead. I don't even have anyone I'm dating…”

Tomorrow morning… what kind of face am I supposed to make when I see Mom?

Thinking that, I picked up my phone and opened SNS. The first post I saw was from Tojo Rira.

Even after everything that happened, her posts were bright and positive — like the incident where she was almost attacked had never happened at all.

Her cheerfulness was enough to lift my spirits just by looking at it.

“She's really strong… But I'm glad to see she's doing well.”

That whole event had already become a sort of legend in my memory.

Helping a famous idol at the peak of her popularity — someday I'll tell that story to my friends and have a good laugh about it.

“Aizawa too… and Tojo Rira. Guess I've got the NetoraSensor to thank for both of them.”

I closed SNS and opened the NetoraSensor — but then, I noticed something strange.

“…What's this?”

Huh?

Has this always been here…?

“…………”

I tapped on a red mark that had appeared, and the screen that popped up made me freeze.

There were the names Aizawa and Tokunaga, and next to them… something that looked like an error message.

“What the hell is this?”

Just seeing their names show up was weird enough, but the heart icon in the middle only had one arrow — coming from Tokunaga toward Aizawa.

“…Hmm?”

As I stared at it, the screen suddenly changed.

The arrow pointing from Tokunaga to Aizawa started flickering up and down like it had lost its direction, and then another arrow tried to form — toward somewhere else — but it stopped halfway.

“What the hell is this supposed to mean?”

No matter how long I stared, I couldn't figure it out.

After a while, the screen vanished, and I couldn't bring it up again.

The NetoraSensor itself was already mysterious enough, so maybe this was just another weird glitch I couldn't explain.

“…Huh?”

At that moment, a notification appeared at the top of my screen.

It looked like messages from Aizawa and Nakazato — the two people I'd just exchanged contacts with earlier that day.

Runa Aizawa : “Good evening. Are you free right now?”

Rira Nakazato : “Heeey♪ I sent a message right away! Is that okay?”

“…………”

Come to think of it, the only woman who ever messaged me before was my mom.

Even though I talked casually with girls at school, I'd never actually exchanged contacts before — so the sudden rush of emotion made tears spill down my cheeks before I even realized it.

“Texting my female classmates… this is way too exciting!”

I must've looked absolutely pathetic — probably grinning like an idiot.

Aizawa had a boyfriend, sure, but still… for now, I just wanted to enjoy chatting with them both.

Of course, I ended up mixing messages — sending one meant for Aizawa to Nakazato, and vice versa — so it was a mess, but still, it turned into one of the best nights I'd had in a while.

“…Fwaaah.”

After about an hour of chatting, I was completely drained.

I wasn't used to talking to girls like that, so I kept overthinking — worrying how every word I sent might sound, whether they'd think it was weird or annoying.

Handling two at once only doubled the exhaustion.

Runa Aizawa : “Good night.”

Rira Nakazato : “Night~♪”

“Heh heh…”

Before going to bed, I read their last messages again, grinning like a fool.

---

For the next few days, the NetoraSensor didn't react at all.

Not at school, not at home — it was completely quiet.

Even that strange screen showing Aizawa and Tokunaga's names never appeared again.

“Still… kinda hard to believe, huh?”

No reaction meant peace — and that was supposed to be a good thing.

But something else happened that completely pushed the NetoraSensor out of my mind.

“I can't believe it… Aizawa and Tokunaga broke up.”

I'd heard about it during lunch today, though apparently they'd already split up a few days ago.

The whole class was shocked.

Aizawa and Tokunaga had stopped talking to each other entirely.

Tokunaga kept glancing at her, but Aizawa didn't return his gaze even once.

“They were such a good couple, though.”

Everyone admired them — they were the ideal pair.

So it wasn't surprising that people were in shock.

But already, there were rumors of others trying to take their place.

“Kamiki-kun?”

“…………”

“Kamiki-kun.”

“…………”

“Kamiki-kun!”

“Whoa!?”

A tap on the shoulder and a voice right beside me snapped me out of my thoughts.

“Ah… Reina-san?”

“Did I surprise you? I called your name a few times, but you didn't respond.”

“Sorry, I was lost in thought.”

“I see. But this area gets a lot of foot traffic — you should be careful, okay?”

“Y-yes.”

Reina-san smiled, just like Aizawa often did.

Just like before, her beauty caught me completely off guard.

Her gestures, her tone — even small details reminded me of Aizawa, which made me even more nervous.

(Aizawa and Nakazato are both gorgeous… but this woman is on another level.)

Beautiful, kind, and… well, her chest was even bigger than Nakazato's — not that I'd ever dare say that aloud.

Even just talking to her for one day was enough to feel how genuine she was.

And hearing Aizawa speak so fondly of her only made me think, yeah, she really must be a good person.

(I wonder if Reina-san knows… about Aizawa and Tokunaga breaking up.)

Though really, it wasn't something I should be bringing up.

“Kya!?”

“Eh?”

A small cry rang out right in front of me.

Apparently, someone who wasn't paying attention had bumped into Reina-san from behind, pushing her toward me.

“Whoa—! Are you okay?”

“Yes… I'm fine. Thank you, Kamiki-kun.”

I caught her by the shoulders before she could fall.

The person who bumped into her — another woman — didn't even glance our way, let alone apologize.

“I really don't want to be one of those people glued to their phone like that.”

“Fufu, don't worry. I doubt you ever will, Kamiki-kun.”

Yeah… hopefully not.

“…………”

“…………”

For some reason, even after steadying her, we just stood there — staring into each other's eyes.
And then—

“Reina…san?”

“Hibari-kun…?”

It was Tokunaga.

Standing there, frozen, staring right at us.

(…Oh no. This looks bad!)

From his expression and the timing, I could already feel it — this was going to get messy.