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

Leaving the Ai Cheng Family's doorstep, the two of them walked forward.

Suddenly, Kohinata Motoyo quickened her steps, clasped her hands behind her back, and bounced forward like a middle school student.

"Do you know, Kagura? In this country, summer represents another meaning besides the season. Do you know what it is?"

"Watermelon."

"Not quite."

Kohinata Motoyo clumsily spun around, her skirt fluttering.

This deliberate display of feminine charm was exceedingly cunning.

Especially since such playful actions could never be performed in front of others.

"The other significance of summer is 'a new beginning,'" she said.

Indeed.

The first long break after school starts, that's summer break.

In youth dramas, one often hears phrases like "Our summer has ended..." which deeply imply 'we have grown,' 'the story has concluded,' 'the end of our youth.'

Thinking back, perhaps it really could prove that summer also means a new beginning.

"So, what's the significance then?"

"No significance, I just wanted to talk with you." Kohinata Motoyo slowed down, walking alongside him with her small hands clasped behind her back, a gentle smile in her eyes.

She was slightly shorter than Hina, exactly 160 cm. When she looked at him, she had to tilt her head back, gazing up unconsciously.

That was very cunning of her.

"You have become quite silent now, Kagura. If I don't initiate a conversation, you definitely won't talk to me, right?"

"I'd rather say, I don't even want to see you."

"... That statement is somewhat effective because it's true,"

Kohinata Motoyo pouted her lips, lightly kicking at the air, "Hey, Kagura, why won't you let me get in touch with Senior Ai Cheng?"

"I don't understand."

"Because it's your issue, I understand that, that's what you are thinking."

What does 'because it's your issue, I can understand' mean, making it sound like you're a worm in my stomach,

thought Kagura Hikaru in his heart.

At the same time, he gave up denying it.

"Ai Cheng is my friend, and it's only natural to protect a friend from danger."

"Just friends, huh? It doesn't feel like it~" Kohinata Motoyo chuckled, "And to treat someone as a dangerous element, isn't that too much? Do I look like a bad person to you?"

"So, Motoyo, now it's my turn to ask you a question—do you know what is the hardest relationship to earn, yet easiest to ruin in this world?"

"Um... trust?"

"Exactly," Kagura Hikaru said, stopping at a street corner and looking at her, "Someone who once betrayed us, thinking of regaining trust, don't you think that's quite unreasonable? You shouldn't forget what you did to Hina before."

"... I see, that's why you're so wary of me, not wanting me to contact Senior Ai Cheng. It seems she really means a lot to you."

"Don't say such spiteful things. Haven't I told you before, we are friends."

"What about me, aren't we friends anymore?" Kohinata Motoyo suddenly moved closer, reaching out to grasp Kagura Hikaru's hand.

But naturally, he avoided her.

Grasping at air, Kohinata Motoyo's expression turned somewhat sad.

"So, it is like that, huh."

They were no longer friends.

In fact, they weren't even strangers.

It seemed she was disliked, even hated, by the person she loved the most.

This was something inevitable, she understood.

She has indeed committed evils grave enough to make Kagura Hikaru hate her.

For love, she satisfied her own desires while forsaking two valuable friendships.

She was the person in the fable who chose sesame seeds over watermelons, insatiably greedy.

Kagura Hikaru being willing to talk to her was already considering past affection; if it were someone else, yes, like Sakata Asahi, who despises evil, he might not even give a chance to apologize.

She no longer had the right to appear in front of Kagura and Hina. This was what Kohinata Motoyo had thought a year ago.

That's why she left everything in a mess and fled to study in Europe.

But the guilt hadn't diminished with time, and her longing for Kagura Hikaru only deepened. When she realized she was spending more and more time each day looking at old videos and photos, she understood that if she didn't let go of these feelings, she would eventually drive herself insane.

In the beginning, she had indeed harbored a sliver of hope.

She thought that a year had passed and that Kagura Hikaru's anger might have somewhat subsided, and perhaps, there might really be a chance for them to reconcile.

As for her relationship with Hina, even if the chances were slim, she wanted to mend it as much as possible.

But it seemed she had been too naive.

Far too naive.

What kind of illusion, or rather, wishful thinking, made her believe that her mistakes could be forgiven?

Even so… she still wanted to convey her feelings.

"Kagura, I love you, and my feelings are genuine," Kohinata Motoyo said with a faint smile, her voice gentle, "During this year away, I couldn't help but think about you, about everything we experienced since we met, and even those secretive six months felt blissful to me."

"As for the things that happened during those six months, I have already forgotten them. What's the point in bringing them up again?"

Kagura Hikaru's gaze was downcast, his voice icy: "That's enough, I don't want to hear such sweet nothings. There's nothing left to discuss between us."

"Is that really so?" Kohinata Motoyo stepped closer, "Aren't you a bit glad to know that I still remember you, that I still can't stop thinking about you? I was your first affair, how could you simply forget me?"

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"What I want is to be your girlfriend again. This time, for real."

Kohinata Motoyo's hand gently pressed against Kagura Hikaru's chest as she looked at him expectantly, "There will be no more affairs—an honorable relationship, just between the two of us."

Kagura Hikaru expressionlessly lifted his right hand and slowly grasped hers.

In the face of Kohinata Motoyo's expectant look, he pushed her hand away.

"Only those who have had a normal relationship and then parted can talk about getting back together. You and I don't meet that criteria."

Kagura Hikaru watched her coldly, his gaze piercing as if he could see right through her desire-filled heart, "Suse, no, Miss Kohinata, please go find a boyfriend more suitable for you. I'll wish you the best."

His words pierced through Kohinata Motoyo's heart like a sharp sword.

Her face turned deathly pale, she stepped back, and after a long while, she struggled to speak.

"Can we really never be again?"

"Hm."

"Even though I have begged you like this, sacrificing my dignity as a woman..."

"Hm."

"Why....."

Seeing her dispirited demeanor, Kagura Hikaru also felt somewhat distressed.

But he really didn't want to have any more ties with Kohinata Motoyo, so he just kept his lips tightly sealed, not voicing the comforting words.

For him, it was a rare form of cruelty.

"I have to go now, goodbye."

".....wait." Kohinata Motoyo lifted her head, her face sporting a weak smile, "Kagura, I didn't expect you to be completely unmoved. If this had been back in middle school, you would have treated me more gently, right?"

"As you said, that was the me from middle school. People change."

"Hm, you're right, people change... But some things don't fade with time, do you know what they are?"

"Another riddle?" Kagura Hikaru frowned, "Sorry, but I really have to go now."

"It's fear, the answer is fear, just like the fear I used to threaten you into dating me in the past. You definitely won't forget that, right?"

Kagura Hikaru, already turned to leave, suddenly stopped, his face pale with shock as he turned back to see her determined look.

"You wouldn't...?!"

"I'm sorry, Kagura, I really didn't want to do this, but it's my last resort."

Kohinata Motoyo smiled complexly as she briefly fiddled with her phone, then handed it to Kagura Hikaru to show him something on the screen.

It was a photo.

A photo of Kiryu Hina.

A compromising photo.

"Be with me, Kagura," she said, "just like before."