Chapter 16: Encounter

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Translator: Soafp

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[Shiho PoV]

[I’ll do my best… so you should try your best in your own way.]

Haruki’s words stayed close to my heart, and I decided to break free from my self-indulgent lifestyle and start giving my all each day.

Even though it was already the second half of my first year in high school, I joined the basketball club and worked hard at practice. I also kept up with my studies, always doing my homework and review diligently.

As a result, I was consistently at the top of my class, and in the summer of my third year, I even got to participate in the national inter-high school tournament once.

It was all thanks to Haruki’s words that had inspired and driven me.

But sometimes, I can't help but feel… lonely.

If the foolish version of myself from junior high hadn't existed… maybe Haruki would still be by my side, watching over me…

No matter how much I regret it, there's nothing I can do to change that.

That ugly, foolish past version of me existed—and the current me is just an extension of that.

Even while carrying that inner conflict, I moved on and became a university student.

---

“Hey, Shiho. I didn't really get what that lecture was about. Can you help me?”

“Sure, of course.”

Her name is Azusa Ishii.

We're in the same department at university, and we've grown close—spending a lot of time together.

“Azusa, aren't you busy with your club? Are you okay with studying for tests?”

“It's fine. If there's something I don't understand, I just ask you, Shiho.”

Azusa is in the swimming club, so her days are packed with practice.

I also belong to a basketball circle that meets a few times a week to play casually in a friendly atmosphere, so we often talk about sports and get along well.

“Shiho, didn't you get scouted by a bunch of universities for basketball? Seems like a waste. Our school doesn't even have a real basketball team.”

“I gave it my all in high school. Now, I'm happy just playing for fun in a circle once in a while.”

After starting university, I began devoting the time I used to spend on basketball to studying.

At Mizubayashi University, there's a department where I can study psychology. I'm even considering pursuing a national certification in the future.

“More importantly, Shiho—don't you think it's about time you started interacting with guys?”

“Eh!? N-no… I'm okay. Being around boys is… a little…”

Azusa and I have been close since we entered university—she's like a best friend to me.

So she quickly figured out that I tend to avoid interacting with men.

When she pressed me about it, I finally told her the inner conflict I had been keeping to myself… the shameful incident from my past.

How I hurt someone very dear to me—my childhood friend—out of possessiveness.

How that led to him distancing himself and us becoming estranged.

And how that shock gave me a kind of fear toward men.

I cried as I confessed everything about my disgraceful past, and Azusa listened to the end with a serious expression.

“I see… That must've been hard. But it's okay now.”

She held me gently and quietly said those words.

(Why… why would she say that to me…? Anyone would agree that what I did was inexcusable…)

“Middle schoolers are still incomplete people. But you've reflected on your actions and are doing your best now. I think if your childhood friend saw the person you are today, he'd forgive you.”

I had never told anyone about my past before… and Azusa accepted the current me.

I know I was 100% in the wrong, but it felt like a small part of that burden was forgiven—and I felt so much lighter.

“Azusa, thank you… for everything.”

“Huh? No, I should be thanking you. You always help me study.”

“Well, I should get going now. I've got my part-time job.”

“Good luck with your tutoring! I'll be working hard at club too.”

When I got home from university, I picked up my things and headed to my part-time job.

Since entering university, I've been working as a tutor for junior high students.

“Sensei, my grades went up again! Do you think I can aim for Sendou or Kaisei now?”

“Yeah, at this rate, I think you can definitely pass.”

The kids I teach are so honest and bright… they almost shine too brightly for me.

Sometimes I see my younger self in them—how I was consumed by possessiveness—and I can't help but think, if only I had been this sincere back then…

“Um, Sensei… about what we talked about before…”

“Oh, you mean the person you like?”

“…Yeah. I think we're going to different high schools, so we might drift apart…”

As a tutor, I sometimes get consulted about personal matters like this too.

Maybe to a middle schooler, a college student like me seems like a real adult—someone easy to talk to.

“Yeah… expressing your feelings isn't easy. But if you can make a choice you won't regret, I think that's best.”

“A choice I won't regret… I really don't want to just say goodbye like this!”

“Then I'll be rooting for you.”

With my limited life experience, I know I'm in no place to give advice like this… but still.

Between studying, my casual sports circle, and my part-time job, my university life passed quickly—and before I knew it, I was in my final year.

---

“Hey, Shiho. Are you free on the last day of Golden Week?”

It was lunchtime at university.

As I was eating in the cafeteria, Azusa asked me with a slightly excited tone.

“Eh? Yeah. I actually just quit my part-time job recently, so I don't have any plans.”

I had just quit tutoring to focus more on my studies as a fourth-year student.

Most people around me were busy job hunting, but I was planning to go to graduate school.

“You know how there's that Koo University nearby? I went there recently for club practice, and a guy from their baseball team hit on me.”

“He—he hit on you!?”

Getting hit on on campus… some people are really bold.

“Yeah, and we exchanged contact info and kind of hit it off.”

“Are you sure he's okay? That guy?”

“It's fine! He seemed a bit flashy, but he didn't strike me as a bad person.”

“Wait… so you’re going out with him during Golden Week?”

“That's the plan, but… just the two of us right away feels kind of awkward. So…”

Azusa put down her chopsticks and looked me in the eye.

“We're having a group date!”

“A g-group date…?”

A group date…

Honestly, it's something you hear a lot when you attend a women's university.

Since there are no male students, group dates are a common way for girls to meet guys their age.

“Shiho! Come with me!”

“Eh… EHH!? W-why!? You know I'm not good with guys!”

The thought of sitting around a table, chatting happily with unfamiliar guys… it's absolutely impossible for me.

“Shiho, you're cute! It's such a waste to stay single forever. Don't you want a boyfriend?”

“N-no way… Someone like me, with a boyfriend…”

“See? There you go again, saying ‘someone like me.' That's your bad habit, Shiho.”

Even if you say that… someone like me, with a boyfriend…

Besides, in my heart, there's still…

“Don't tell me… are you still thinking about that childhood friend you hurt?”

“W-well… that's part of it, but… I still… about him…”

Yes… I still have lingering feelings… for Haruki.

“I-I'm not going! Why don't you invite one of your swimming club friends?”

“They all have plans—with their boyfriends.”

“Ah… I see.”

Azusa answered with a hint of exasperation, then quickly switched back and smilingly renewed her invitation.

“Shiho, I'm not forcing you to get a boyfriend, but you really ought to work on that whole “I hate guys” thing of yours.”

“Well… that might be true…”

“Just to get used to being around men, you could give it a try, right?”

“B-but…”

Growing impatient with my resistance, Azusa raised her voice a little.

“Shiho! If you stay like this, you'll be alone forever! You'll remain a virgin! Is that what you want!?”

“V-virgin…!? Azusa, please! You don't have to shout!”

“Well, why not? Isn't it the truth? If you keep this up…”

“F-fine! I'll go! Just please stop yelling!”

In the crowded cafeteria, I'd become the center of a very embarrassing scene… yet her point was undeniably fair. At my age, being afraid of boys was… well, ridiculous.

I'd chosen this women's university partly because it offered the programs I wanted, but also so I could avoid most male interaction. Even as a tutor, I'd refused requests to teach boys.

“Why don't you take a step forward, Shiho?”

“Yeah… you're right.”

I didn't actually want a boyfriend. I'd never seen any guy but Haruki as a romantic prospect.

This was simply… to overcome my own weakness.

(Why am I telling myself that I'm “going” to this mixer for practice…?)

And so, at Azusa's urging, I found myself signed up for my very first group date.

---

“It looks like the guys are already in the restaurant. Shiho, you okay?”

“Um… yeah. This is my first time at an izakaya… I'm getting nervous.”

The day of the mixer arrived. Five of us gathered and stepped into a casual izakaya near campus.

“The guys are all from the baseball team, right? And they know about other sports—you'll have plenty to talk about.”

While I trembled with nerves, Azusa and the others offered me kind smiles. Besides Azusa and me, the other three were from a tennis circle, the volleyball club, and the table-tennis club—sports friends all.

“Excuse me!” Azusa knocked on the door to our private room, then led the way inside.

“Good evening!” One of the men—Azusa's contact—stood and greeted her at once.

“G-good evening… Ishii-san.”

(Is this the guy she met at that practice…? He looks familiar…)

My heart jolted. Five strangers crammed into a little room…

My whole body tensed.

(I can't… I can't move. My legs have gone numb. This is impossible… talking and eating with unknown men…)

“Hey… what are you doing? Hurry and sit down!”

Azusa's voice snapped me out of my trance.

“You okay? Really?”

They were all seated already. I needed to sit—but in front of me…

“A little quieter, please. You'll sit, right?”

The man directly across from me lifted his gaze from the table.

“Haru-ki…”

Haruki… even though he had grown into an adult, I recognized him instantly.

From childhood, even after we'd grown distant, he remained the one I held in my heart.

“Shiho…”

I heard him say my name.

My eyes welled with tears.

The pounding in my chest shifted into a different rhythm—no longer panic, but something warmer, faster.

I slowly lowered myself into the seat across from him.

As we sat facing each other, our eyes naturally met.

The anxiety that had gripped my body just moments ago had quietly vanished.