CH 117

How long has it been?

It seemed like a long time, but at the same time it seemed like a short time. Such a blank period of time had passed.

“…………”

Silently, she sat down at a spot behind the school building.

It was the place where the person she loved had confessed his love earlier. That other person, of course, was not herself. Nor, for that matter, any other rival girl. It was a beautiful transfer student girl who had suddenly appeared and interrupted from the side.

(After all, it didn’t mean anything…)

As for the whereabouts of the confession, she didn’t know. No, she didn’t try to know. She didn’t care. She was just shocked.

The person she loved made a decision to love another person – it was still a painful thing.

(I could pretend I didn’t see it at the time of Shiho Shimotsuki, but … I might not be able to anymore.)

She felt like she was being denied everything she had ever done.

She did everything she could to get him to like her, but it was pointless.

Her feelings never reached him and the person she loved was far away.

She doesn’t know anything anymore. She doesn’t want to understand. She doesn’t want to know.

Who is she? She doesn’t know what she should do. She doesn’t know what she should do, what she should look like, what choices she should make, for what purpose.

(Tell me, … someone, tell me about me…)

She wanted someone else to carry everything on their shoulders.

In exchange, she was willing to devote all of herself to it.

She wanted to be acknowledged. She wanted someone to save her. She wanted someone to make all the decisions for her. She wanted someone to support her. She wanted someone to cling to her.

Kirari Asakura wanted to depend upon someone.

It was at that time.

He appeared…

“…Hey, hey, what’s going on?”

She heard a voice.

She looked up with a start, and there he was, … her former “best friend”.

“What’s wrong with you, so depressed?”

He walked up to her with a worried look on his face.

“Are you alright? Cheer up, Kirari… Tell me anything. I’ll do my best for you.”

It’s as if he’s offering me his … hand, as if to say it’s okay to depend on him.

(Ko-kun …!)

In front of her was an unassuming boy.

But now he looked so dazzling.

He is like a prince on a white horse.

Kirari almost cried for the boy who came to her at the most difficult time.

She felt like she had been saved.

There were times when their paths crossed a little bit.

After all, the person who understood Kirari the best was Kotaro Nakayama.

（I see. The person I should have cherished was …Ko-kun.)

She had made a mistake. Ryoma Ryuzaki had tricked her into falling in love with him.

But the character Kirari should have been was Kotaro Nakayama’s “Favorite Person”.

(I see. I was just fine being “me” …!)

She found herself.

She finally found the figure she had lost sight of, and she was relieved.

(From now on, I will live for Ko-kun… I will give my all for this person.)

Once again, she made up her mind.

She loves the boy who saved her more than anything else.

“Kirari. I’ll be right here by your side.”

He smiled kindly and reached out his hand to her.

Kirari also reached out her hand and tried to hold on to it. She tried to get him to support her. She reached out her hand, trying to depend on him.

But … that hand gripped an empty space.

“What did you think I was going to say?”

The hand disappeared.

No, it was dodged just as Kirari was about to grab it.

“…………Eh?”

She was stunned. Confused, not quite sure what happened.

She thought he was going to save her. He was supposed to save her. She thought he would be her guiding light for the rest of her life.

But the boy in front of her trampled on all those thoughts…