Chapter 9: 8

Chapter 8 - I Got Reunited with My Ex-Boyfriend Thanks to a Dating App

 

 

[Hikari's POV]

This was my second date with a handsome man I met through Connect.

Our first date was supposed to be over dinner, but he canceled.

As an apology, he said he would meet me at a cafe at noon and buy me sushi for dinner.

Of course, I had no reason to refuse if he offered to buy me sushi.

Besides, I thought, I should just forget about it.

Sho already has a new partner. If I had apologized earlier, this probably wouldn't have happened. But I couldn't make the first move, and there was no way Sho could do the same.

"What? Here?"

I was taken to the cafe that Sho and I frequented.

"This place is cool, isn't it? My friend says the omurice here is delicious. Have you been here before, Akari?"

"Yes, I have. A few times."

"I see. I thought it was a nice place, but..."

"Not many of my friends know about it, and I think it's a good place. It doesn't look like a cafe at first glance."

"Ah~ it looks like a forest from the outside."

Maybe her friend is Sho. My head was filled with Sho, to the point that I made such a stupid guess.

Even if I'm like this, Sho probably isn't.

I've been so mean to him that I'm sure he's been close to someone else for a long time ...... someone he said he matched with at the same university.

That's why I'm being silly.

"Akari, you haven't called my name once. Could it be that you forgot my name?"

I didn't forget. I just didn't have the chance to say it.

I'm a person who rarely calls people by name in the first place.

I don't think I would call someone's name unless I had an interest in that person or something to do with that person.

In fact, even now it's the same.

And I think it still is.

I'm not particularly interested in this man as the opposite sex.

It's not that he's a bad person, in fact I think he's a good person. It's just that Sho has monopolized my heart.

"I remember your name. Enji-kun, right?"

Enji-kun ruffled his hair with a cute doggy smile.

"Good. I've been thinking about you a lot, Akari. That's why I'm glad you called me just now."

"Oh yes."

He always says "Cute." and "I'm attracted to you." But beyond that, Enji never said the word "Like."

I've only ever been involved with a salty guy named Sho, so this is the first time I've had a guy like this in my life.

Maybe he's popular with the girls of the world.

He's a doggy-type guy.

But I'm not so good at it. I think Enji-kun might realize that.

But the reason why he continues to be a doggy-type guy is to prevent him from taking me seriously.

It's enough if he can just play around and fuck who he wants to fuck. I think that's what he thinks.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have continued to be unfriendly with me and wouldn't have offered to buy me sushi.

There's no point.

"By the way, what interests you about me? I don't know myself."

"Well ...... you might think I'm impure, but I like your face. And you have a good sense of fashion, I like the way you dress, Akari."

She dressed like a normal college student with no personality. For his face, Enji-kun could have picked a girl prettier than me and gotten something nice.

"You have good style, and your hair is beautiful."

"Oh, stop it, I'm getting embarrassed."

"It looks cute if you're embarrassed like that~"

The same sentence is completely different when said by an uncle and when said by Enji-kun.

I don't like him, but being me is embarrassing. Moreover, he's handsome.

"By the way, how has your ex-boyfriend been doing since then?"

Secrets don't work on Enji-kun. I've learned that before.

Somehow, he seemed to see everything in my mind and took out my worries one by one. And I once told him my current problem.

"On the day when Enji-kun canceled your promise, I had dinner with him because it seemed like the person who promised him also canceled it, but nothing happened."

"Heh, I'm really sorry about that, okay?"

"No, no, I don't really mind."

"But you had dinner with your ex-girlfriend, you guys must be really close, right?"

"It just happened. It's not that we're that close...."

"Hmm?"

I realized that it just became like an excuse.

Enji-kun must have felt that too, because he didn't pursue the matter any further.

I knew that if I tried to hide something from him, he would sense it, so I couldn't be so careless.

"Thank you for waiting."

Enji-kun's face looked thoughtful until a waiter brought our omurice, and when it arrived, his face brightened.

I went to the restroom first before eating, and when I returned, he was happily chatting with someone on the phone.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, let's eat."

"Yes! I just got online to tell my friend who told me about this place that I'm here now!"

The expression on her face, as she gazed happily at the screen, was not the theatrical expression she had worn before, but rather an expression of genuine enjoyment.

She seemed to be enjoying herself more than talking to me who was right in front of her. That's because you like your friend too, right?

I had finished my omurice for the umpteenth time, and Enji-kun was sipping coffee after eating with a satisfied expression.

Come to think of it, Sho likes coffee.

He told me that he works part-time at a cafe. As I recall, Enji-kun also wrote on his profile that he worked part-time at a cafe.

"Enji-kun also works part-time at the cafe, right?"

"Yes, Akari-chan too?"

"Yes."

"My friend also just started working part-time at the same cafe as me."

"I see."

Her friend was ...... the person who had been posing as Kakeru since some time ago.

***

Leaving the cafe, we spent the rest of the night wandering around Sannomiya and Center Street, shopping at clothing stores, and so on.

On the street, where izakaya (Japanese-style pub) catchers pop up at night, we looked for our destination, a sushi restaurant.

"There it is, right here."

Inside the deep restaurant, on the left as you face the entrance, a stubborn-looking owner said in a small voice, "Welcome."

This is a sushi restaurant that doesn't go around. He probably serves spam or something. Or something like that.

The waiter, who is the opposite of the owner, brought me to my seat with friendly service.

I looked at the list of dishes right next to the table, and was relieved to see that the prices were very low for a restaurant that wasn't traveling.

Today, Enji-kun had bought me a drink, but I thought we should split the bill since I didn't expect it to be sushi that wouldn't fill me up in an instant.

"Eat whatever you like, sorry for the cancellation."

"Thanks, just so you know, I'm not mad at you."

"Because you can have dinner with your ex-girlfriend, right?" she said with a smile.

He likes to tease me like that too.

"Well, to be honest, I still can't get over him. So, I'm happy to meet him to settle my feelings."

"In other words, do you mean you don't want to get involved with her anymore?"

"...... Yes."

That's right.

Because we've broken up and we both have partners who are enjoying the present. In my case, the other party was a mysterious handsome man that I couldn't read.

"I see. Akari, are you really okay with that?"

"It's fine. It's no fun having to regret it forever, is it?"

"That's not true. I've never really been in love with anyone. That's why I envy you and think it's wonderful."

"Yes, maybe...."

Her words became unusually strong, and I felt as if I could hear Enji-kun's true feelings for the first time.

If that was the case, then perhaps the reason why Enji-kun was on a dating app wasn't because he wanted to get laid.

Maybe he just wants to like someone.

"Sushi, it's delicious. Thank you for the food."

"It's nice to eat with you."

Leaving the restaurant, we were exposed to the cold outside air which contrasted from the hot inside of the restaurant.

If Enji-kun was a yarimoku, would he intentionally buy me a round of sushi, isn't it too expensive?

I wonder if he's interested in me.

"Hey, why don't you just forget about your ex-girlfriend and try making love with me? I'll make you forget."

He held my hand.

The last person to hold my hand was Sho.

His hands were slightly different from Sho's. He was a cute boy, but his hands were surprisingly stumpy. But they were well cared for, smooth and comfortable to touch.

"By the way, do you want to take a short walk?"

He pulled my hand and we arrived at an uncrowded and atmospheric street far from the city center.

This was not a good idea.

I had Sho in my heart, and I didn't really want to forget him.

But Enji-kun isn't a bad person.

I just couldn't like him, and I felt like I was really trying to fall in love with him.

If that's the case, then I guess I should also end my feelings properly.

I stopped walking, as I was pulled by Enji-kun.

"Sorry, Enji-kun, but I still want to confirm these feelings."

As if he understood everything with that one word, Enji-kun let go of my hand with a small smile and checked his cell phone.

"I think it's time....."

He muttered under his breath, and when I opened my mouth to ask again, I couldn't hear him very well, then an urgent voice called out from behind me.

"───Hikari!"

 

***

[Sho's POV]

Ever since I was little, I liked to be alone and couldn't make friends well, preferring to read books, sleep, and be a vagabond during breaks.

It was Hikari who stepped into my domain.

In the first year of high school, she talked to me a lot just because we were in the same class and sat next to each other.

"Hey, which middle school are you from?"

At first, I ignored him.

But he thought I didn't hear him, so he yelled.

"Hey, which middle school are you from?!"

"......"

"Hey, which middle school are you from...?"

"I can hear you. But I don't care."

I knew if I was this cold, then she would stop talking to me. I knew that would be the end of my relationship with Hikari, just as it was now.

But from then on, I began to learn more and more that Hikari wasn't like that.

"Why are you so bossy!"

"......?!"

In short, she is unusual.

She will do everything in her power to do what she thinks is right.

He will destroy everything he doesn't like.

The girls at school fell in love with him.

"Hey, Fujigaya! You're really fast, aren't you! You should be able to anchor the relay!"

"No way! It's too hard!"

"Then stop running every day when you see me!"

Fighting every day when we see each other? It's no different from now.

But our relationship changed suddenly at our first-year festival.

To begin with, we both had a competitive nature and couldn't be honest with each other.

Actually, we had started to care about each other, even our arguments were fun, and we looked forward to seeing each other every day.

"Romeo and Juliet, who wants~?! It's obvious, right~?!"

I pretended to be angry, as if to stop her, but I was actually looking forward to doing something with Hikari.

For the first time in high school, I have a lot of friends.

Friends I didn't want, but was forced to make because of Hikari. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and I still valued the relationships I had with them.

And, because of that drama, we started dating.

From then on, we were together every day, and it started when I told Hikari that I wanted to try her cooking because she said she was practicing, and she started making me lunch boxes every day.

From the bottom of my heart, I vowed not to say or do anything careless.

We fought a lot, and we dated less and less, though there were times when things were sweet.

That said, if we fought again, it would probably be a major incident.

The first big fight happened when I overslept on a date.

I've always been a person who keeps waiting, so I was wrong to think lightly that she would forgive me.

"I'm late, sorry. Shall we go?"

"What? That's it ......? I was looking forward to it, but you're late!"

"Because Hikari, too, likes to be late."

No, I don't.

Indeed, Hikari was always late.

But that was because she was so obsessed with her makeup and hair and wanted to look as beautiful as possible that she found herself elaborating so much that she couldn't make it on time.

But me, I just overslept.

That even includes oversleeping because I slept twice.

Even though we were both late, there was a temperature difference between our feelings.

He was late because he loved me, while I was late because of temptation.

This difference was huge, and I thought it was hard for Hikari to feel. Now I can see that it was true.

To be honest, I didn't include much feeling in my first apology. Because I had a feeling that Hikari would also be late.

But I understood Hikari's feelings, and I thought I should apologize properly, so I apologized along with the gift.

There are many ways to express love, but I think spending money, time, and effort is the right way.

And that's how I was forgiven by Hikari.

"I overslept, sorry."

It was in the rain in June.

On the way home from Sunday school, Hikari's umbrella had been damaged by a strong wind.

I remembered it.

I handed the umbrella I bought during our date to Hikari, who was in a bad mood.

"Look, you even broke your umbrella this week."

You are reading story Matchinguapuri de Moto Koibito to Saikai Shita at novel35.com

The feeling was palpable.

I'm glad I was able to find an umbrella that suits Hikari in my own way.

As Hikari smiled and accepted the umbrella, it started to rain.

"You're just in time! I'll use it now! Thank you, Sho!"

And when we met again, she was still holding that umbrella.

I was glad to see that he still cared.

Three years had passed, and I thought we'd be together forever.

Hikari was famous and popular among the boys and girls at school.

Even though they knew that I was her boyfriend, many of them expressed their feelings for Hikari, thinking that they had a chance.

At the same time, I also became increasingly involved with the people around me because of Hikari's influence.

I never had anything to do with being popular, but fortunately, I even got recognized by people.

But of course, I already had Hikari.

Although I've rejected them properly, but I still have a lot of time to think about it....

"Hey Sho, what's going on? My friend said he saw you sneaking around with a junior girl!"

That's when I confessed.

"I've been a student, who graduated from here, and a junior called me because she said she had something to say, but I wondered if I should ignore her, since it seemed like an act of betrayal to the person who had the courage to confess to me."

"You've become popular lately, and if you find someone better than me, you'll break up with me, right?!"

The way he said it gave me goosebumps.

I should have explained the situation, but I yelled at her in the same way.

"You're the one who found someone else first, right?!"

We were stubborn and wouldn't budge at that moment.

Then there were no friends around to stop us or make us express our true feelings like in high school.

Things escalated, and we said and said a lot of things we shouldn't have said.

"The point is, you're just a girlfriend that I bonded with because of the magic of the culture festival! I don't care if you cheat on me or not!"

There was no way that mere festival magic could last for three years.

Think about it.

However, I tried to follow her instead.

"I'm the same way! You make me a bad lunch every day! And it tortures me!"

I screwed up, and I blamed myself.

How could Hikari not be hurt by such words?

"Go away. ......."

Sorry, I went too far. If I could say that, we might still be lovers.

Because of the one word that I couldn't say back then...

"Enough... goodbye."

...I became unable to catch up with Hikari who left me, then I thought that I could contact her later, or apologize over the phone, or later, after I went home, before I slept, after I woke up, tomorrow, next week ....... and because I kept putting it off like that, it made it even harder for me to contact her, and before I knew it, a year had passed.

I thought I would never be able to get back to her, but then the opportunity came and I was able to see her again, and I knew I had a chance, this time.

So, I hope I can make it in time.

At the very least, I wanted to apologize for that day, even if someone else had taken it away from me.

 

***

Enji's date was not there.

So, I took the Port Liner back to Sannomiya Station and headed for the sushi restaurant Enji had mentioned.

We promised to go together. She spoke in a nuanced way, but I don't remember ever making such a promise.

I just said that I wanted to go with her because she wanted to go there herself.

But I do remember the location information that Enji showed me back then.

I ran as I remembered and entered the sushi restaurant, where I was greeted with a small "welcome" from the strange-looking owner to my left.

But I didn't come here to eat sushi.

The restaurant was built so that you could see all the seats from the entrance, and I knew right away that there was no Enji and his partner in the restaurant.

"Where did you go?!"

A very cheerful old man, who was the opposite of the owner, asked, "Did you come alone~!" but I just apologized and quickly walked out.

When I checked my cell phone, I received a call from Enji who informed me of his location without being asked, "I just left, we were walking behind the temple."

He seemed to be calling me.

Normally, Enji would never send me a message like this.

Even if I asked him where he was, I thought he was too easy.

Usually I don't know what Enji is thinking, but this is more complicated.

I had a bad feeling when I saw the word "HOTEL" on the roadside of a temple famous for its fulfillment of love desires.

The words Enji said, "Actually, there's a girl I've had a crush on lately." replayed in my brain, and my sense of danger grew.

I knew he was in the position of being my ex-boyfriend, but I still didn't like him.

So when I saw them around the corner, I called out their names with a panicked look on my face, while breathing heavily.

"───Hikari!"

"Why are you here ......?"

That's enough for now. But, Enji, she......

"What's wrong? I'm on a date right now, so don't bother me."

Hikari was confused, and Enji had a cold expression on his face that seemed like a different person than usual.

Even his voice was colder than I had ever heard it before.

Above all, it was a strange sight to see Enji, who was always smiling, have a furrowed brow...

"What? Sho? You know Akari?"

Enji, who sensed from Hikari's reaction that we were acquaintances, asked me with a frown.

The cold wind blowing at the same time made the situation even stranger.

"We've talked about it a few times, she's my ex-girlfriend."

"I understand, but I don't get it." she said, brushing her bangs back and sighing.

"Sho, you said you have no regrets anymore, right? Then, you can't complain about me dating him, right? That's irrelevant now, isn't it?"

Irrelevant.

Sure, I'm just an ex, and now Hikari is dating Enji by her own choice.

There's probably no room for me there.

"That's true, but......"

I had no words to say back, so I knew that I had to retreat.

If I had the guts to tell him how I really felt, maybe this would be different.

After a year of separation, I was even more reluctant to tell him how I felt, and my stupid pride got in the way.

"But I don't want anyone else to take it away from me, so......."

"I see. Then why don't you let me, Sho, or Akari decide for you right now? What do you think, Akari-chan?"

I wonder how Hikari feels right now.

She looked down and just listened to Enji and me.

 

 

"You have to choose who you want, your ex-girlfriend who has regrets, or me."

I thought it was an unusual choice of words, unlike Enji.

It seemed like a deliberate act. Or rather, I tried to think so.

Because this wasn't the Enji I knew.

"Hey, Sho."

The light glows pink, and I don't know what she looks like now. But her voice is calm.

"What do you like about me?"

I was confused by the sudden question.

He never asked me anything like that even when we were dating.

"What's wrong all of a sudden?"

"Just answer it."

When I thought back, all I could think of were pleasant memories rather than a place I liked.

"The way you tried your best to cook for me even though you were so bad at it."

Hikari's cooking, which I ate many times.

It wasn't good, or rather bland, but the lunch she made for me every day made me happy.

I think I was happy because she was willing to get up early in the morning just to make it for me.

"The fact that no matter what I eat, you always make it look delicious."

With Hikari, even the cheapest family restaurant can feel like a fancy restaurant.

Because if she makes it look so delicious in front of you, you'll start enjoying it too.

"The way you cover your mouth with both hands when you smile."

When was the last time I thought of all those little habits? One by one? It's funny, isn't it?

"The way you jump over the last two steps when going down the stairs..."

"Enough!"

After I started saying it, I realized that I was going through each of my days as if I were looking back at a memory, and I immediately felt embarrassed.

Hikari's reaction was unexpected, and her face turned red after hearing it.

"Hey, what about me?"

Enji was dumbfounded.

"That! Enji did give me a lot of compliments, but mostly about my appearance. Sho sees me, knows me, and likes me for it. So if you're talking about either of you two..."

"So you want to get back with Sho......?"

"Well, i-that's......!"

"What about Sho?"

"Ah, I....."

Then, the frightening expression on her face changed which was different from a moment ago.

Enji said with his usual fresh smile.

"Well, whatever it is, I've been rejected, I guess. Okay, I'm going home, but it's late, so you can take Akari, right?"

Enji walked away from Hikari's side towards the station.

As she passed me, she said in a low voice so Hikari couldn't hear her.

"You've made your own chance, now you just need to do your best."

With those words, everything finally made sense.

The discomfort of her telling me where she was in such an easy way, the fact that she was avoiding me in a manner unlike Enji, all created an opportunity for me and Hikari to get back together.

It was all for the sake of creating this situation.

I don't know when or how he realized that my ex-boyfriend was Akari. But I think Enji realized it a long time ago.

He's very perceptive.

"You......"

She left with her back turned and her hands fluttering in the air.

He looked like a hero.

"It's cold."

Enji left, leaving us alone. In front of me, Hikari, her nose and fingertips bright red was rubbing her hands together to keep warm.

I knew instantly that that one word was meant to make up for the awkwardness of suddenly being alone with her.

And that was that....

After he had said so many things he liked about me earlier, it was clear that he was trying to make up for the awkwardness of being alone with me. But it was also the same for me, after I told her so many things I liked about her.

And then he asked me to choose one thing or another... it was like a drama, and it was so embarrassing. Come back, Enji b*stard.

"Don't get me wrong. That was the part I liked. I never said I still liked it."

"What a lame explanation. Be a man and admit it. I'm beautiful, so there's no shame in falling in love with me."

"Shut up, you selfish bitch."

"What a jerk!"

It's getting warmer and warmer. It's almost spring.

But the night is still cold. I can't leave Hikari here like this.

So, not because I like her, but because......

"Come, I'll take you."

"Thank you ......"

We walked together towards the train station slowly.

On the way, we saw all the shop signs, and even though we recognized them, we scrambled to mention them to break the pause of silence, saying things like, "Oh, there's karaoke here?"

"Hey."

"......What?"

"I was so happy when you came."

Hikari's words, spoken with her face turned away from me, fell on deaf ears.

"What did you just say?"

"Oh, can you not make me say the same thing twice? Clean your ears!"

"I can't hear you because your voice is so small! I clean my ears at least once a day!"

"That's too much, you idiot!"

"Noisy! Don't call me stupid!"

"You talk like a schoolgirl, you asshole!"

"You're the one who's like a kid! You're skinny and greedy! You even say you're hungry again!"

"What the hell is that?! I only say hungry when I'm hungry! You're the one who said you were sleepy on our date! Learn more about love!"

"Are you trying to make it sound like you're used to being in love! I'm your first love!"

"What?! Unlike Sho, I'm an experienced and popular girl! You're the one who's not popular at all!

"Huh~?! I'm popular too! I'm very popular! Ever since Hikari and I broke up, I've been going back and forth between all kinds of girls! Am I still inexperienced?!"

"Oh, you've been going back and forth?"

A few moments of silence.

""What the hell!!!""

Even though we had been given a chance, we still couldn't be honest and we were still busy arguing.

But compared to a while ago, when we just met again, I think we've changed a bit.

As proof, we call each other by name.

"Hikari."

"......What?"

"I like the food Hikari makes. It's not delicious, but thank you."

"It's not delicious that doesn't need to be said. Look, someday, I'll improve it so much that Sho will want to eat it even if he has to pay for it."

"Then, you should start with how to cook rice. It's always softness."

"Noisy!"

"But I like it. Hahaha."

Now I can apologize for what I said that day. One more step forward.

"Hey, don't laugh ....... I'm the one who said the miracle of the festival, but you've always liked me, right?"

It was as if we both felt the same way, as if we were picking up where we left off that day.

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I like you? You're the one who still likes me, right? Don't think it's weird."

"I don't think so, so don't be so arrogant. What a woman with a broken satiety center."

"Huh?! Shut up, you immoral man!"

But we didn't make as much progress as I had hoped.

I felt Enji sigh somewhere as he lamented, "You should be a little more honest after all my hard work...."

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