After breaking up, my ex asked me to win her back

The bell signaling the end of class rang.

Kagura Hikaru, who had been sitting as if on pins and needles, sprang up from his desk and hurriedly left the classroom without even looking back.

He didn't exit through the closer back door but through the front one.

The purpose, naturally, was to avoid a certain person.

If there was anyone Kagura Hikaru had ever been afraid of in his life, it could only be Kohinata Motoyo.

Not a dangerous ex-girlfriend who once carried a switchblade, nor the icy and violent former Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee.

But the seemingly perfect Kohinata Motoyo.

Her perfection was indeed genuine, not a fake like Hina's.

But, from a certain moment, she had changed…

Why, why did she have to come back after she had already caused him to become like this? Did she still not want to leave him alone?!

And she even specifically transferred to the class he and Hina were in.

If this wasn't intentional, what was?

After what she did to them both, how could she dare to show her face in front of them again!

Kagura Hikaru thought throughout the entire class period until his stomach began to hurt.

He quickly left the classroom and went to the school restroom, stood in front of the sink, turned on the tap, and cooled his face with the icy tap water while supporting himself on the sink and silently pondering.

Kagura Hikaru looked up at himself in the mirror.

There was no anger, only anxiety and unease.

Incredibly, he found that he harbored no hatred towards Motoyo.

Even though she had done something quite excessive, it was still so.

He only wanted to escape from her presence, yet he couldn't truly resent her, not even harboring the thought to scold her.

This was perhaps because the impact Motoyo had made on him still lingered in his body.

Kohinata Motoyo had not forgotten Kagura Hikaru.

Kagura Hikaru also could not forget Kohinata Motoyo.

In that unethical half-year, he was not completely void of feelings.

But there was always a thread of rationality pulling at him, connecting him to a sober and normal world.

If the first person he had met was not Hina, but Motoyo.

Then maybe everything would have been different…

"You have a tendency to run to the restroom when troubled," she said.

"… I think I said something similar during the sports festival."

Kagura Hikaru turned his head and saw Ayakoji Chiyoko, who, unbeknownst to him, had been standing there with her arms crossed, "This is the men's restroom, please leave."

"I refuse." Your journey continues with empire

Ayakoji Chiyoko said nonchalantly, "Unless you tell me what the truth was back then."

"… The truth? I don't understand."

"Of course, the truth about you and Kohinata Motoyo. Your relationship was definitely not that simple."

As an observer, Ayakoji Chiyoko naturally noticed that Kagura Hikaru's attitude was off.

The aversion and refusal to communicate he showed towards Kohinata Motoyo seemed different from the kind towards Kiryu Hina, and also, it didn't seem like the attitude one would have towards a past lover.

If he was afraid that Motoyo might expose his past in the class, that also didn't make sense, because she clearly still had lingering feelings; during class, her eyes were practically glued to him. How could she possibly do something that would harm Kagura Hikaru?

The most crucial point was…

"I don't believe you're that kind of person," Ayakoji Chiyoko said.

"What kind."

"The kind who would cheat."

A moment of stunned silence passed before Kagura Hikaru laughed sarcastically.

He hadn't expected that the second person in the school to say such a thing to him would be that Ayakoji Chiyoko.

The bloodless and tearless Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee, who would actually believe in someone else.

"Whatever you have mistakenly understood, it's wrong," Kagura Hikaru stood straight up and looked at her, "I cheated on Motoyo, betrayed Kiryu Hina, that's the truth."

To avoid disturbing other students, the two left the restroom and walked down the school corridor.

The closer they got to Classroom 2A, the slower Kagura Hikaru's steps became.

Finally, he stopped completely at the back door.

From there, he could see Kohinata Motoyo's seat, now surrounded by classmates who all bore smiles and chattered noisily with the transfer student.

That scene uncomfortably reminded Kagura Hikaru of Komori Ai.

The little girl who, at the campsite in Sendai, captured the affection of all the students in her grade with her large-scale hypnosis-like Supernatural Power.

Kohinata Motoyo's charm is somewhat similar to hers.

However, she achieved the same effect not through any supernatural abilities but with her own personal charm.

...Don't you think that the latter is somehow even more terrifying?

"You are afraid of her," Ayakoji Chiyoko said abruptly.

It was not a question, but a statement.

That showed that Kagura Hikaru could no longer hide his emotions in her eyes.

He sighed, "I don't want to use that word, I just don't want to see her."

"That means you're afraid."

"Alright, alright, call it what you want."

Seeing him give in, Ayakoji Chiyoko smiled slightly, "So, are you still going in, or do you want to leave early? If you want to escape, I can go in and get your backpack for you."

Cheap provocation.

"I can get my own backpack, I don't need your help!"

"Oh, so you're not denying you want to leave early."

"..."

You know, no matter how negative a word is, if you add the words 'courage' at the end, it starts to seem positive.

For example — the courage to stab a companion in the back!

It's just betraying a companion, and even stabbing them in the back, a despicable act, but if you add the word courage, it seems justified, as if he is sacrificing his own reputation for some higher justice.

It's just betraying a companion in the end.

Or say — the courage to lay off employees!

It's just a company layoff, the worst news for the employees, and it might even make people resentful, but if you add the word courage, it seems like he had to lay off employees for the sake of the company's survival, making it thought-provoking.

It's just a company layoff in the end.

Indeed, leaving at this point would be embarrassing.

Ayakoji Chiyoko might look down on him, thinking he's a cowardly man.

But as Kagura Hikaru would say — this is 'the courage to run away'!

Moreover, he needed a moment to think and to calm his emotions.

Once he made up his mind to escape, everything else seemed easier.

That's right, he just needed to walk into the classroom, grab his backpack and guitar case, and then go ask the teacher for sick leave.

It was that simple.

Kagura Hikaru stepped into the classroom.

Through the front door.

He skirted the crowd gathered around Kohinata Motoyo's desk, approached his own desk with the stealth of an assassin, unheard and unbreathed, and picked up his backpack and guitar case.

At that moment, some words inevitably slipped into his ears.

"Eh? Motoyo, have you had a boyfriend??"

"Is that so surprising?" Kohinata Motoyo said with a smile.

The other students chimed in:

"No no no, it's not that..."

"It's just that you don't seem like you'd date, Motoyo."

"Exactly."

"So, that boyfriend, are you still dating him?"

Kohinata Motoyo smiled calmly, "Unfortunately, we broke up when I graduated from middle school."

Ah~

Everyone made a sound that was either regret or relief.

"However," Kohinata Motoyo suddenly looked forward, to the figure who was about to leave but froze upon feeling her gaze, "I transferred here to find him."

"Eh? Eh??"

"Who is it? Who?!"

"Could it be that Motoyo's ex-boyfriend is here at Uka?!"

"Has Motoyo found him already?"

"Of course," Kohinata Motoyo said softly, "Isn't that right, Kagura?"