A Pretty Girl Has Her First Kiss Stolen By an Equally Handsome Classmate - Episode 4.13

“I said we should talk, Shizuku.”

Kaede Wakamatsu slowly closed the door.

There were no classmates inside who had called Shizuku Mizuhara to the room. And when she saw the neatly arranged bed that had clearly been cleaned up more than necessary, Shizuku understood the situation.

Kaede had prepared this time just for the two of them.

“…I’m glad. I wanted to talk too.”

“Really?”

“Just like you told me, Kaede, I faced my own feelings.”

Shizuku Mizuhara spoke honestly from her heart.

“Can I tell you about them?”

Kaede stepped back a little and looked straight at Shizuku.

“Of course.”

“It’s all a mess, but can I say it just like it is?”

“That’s okay.”

Her eyes looked like they were trying to understand Shizuku’s true feelings.

“You were right, Kaede. I ran away.”

She placed her hand on her chest.

“From this guilt inside me.”

Kaede’s eyes looked at the back of the hand on Shizuku’s chest.

“I tried to erase my feelings for you.”

“…Why?”

“Because someone like me, someone so awful, doesn’t deserve to be with you.”

Kaede slowly looked into her eyes and shook her head.

“I’m the one saying this—I want to be with you, Shizuku.”

“…”

“I’ll always be on your side, and I’ll stay with you no matter what.”

Shizuku was afraid to hear those words.

She thought that if she stayed away from Kaede, her feelings would go away too. But this classmate just wouldn’t leave her heart.

“That’s why… take my hand, Shizuku.”

Kaede, with a pained look on her face, reached out her hand as best as she could.

Her hand was shaking. Shizuku felt her heart tighten so painfully that she couldn’t take it. As if pulled by that trembling hand, she slowly reached out her own.

“I want to take your hand too.”

As soon as Shizuku touched Kaede’s hand, Kaede pulled it in strongly. Their hands were tightly held together.

“But… I can’t do it right now.”

The truth spilled from Shizuku’s lips.

The classmate in front of her slowly let go of her hand and looked up. Kaede’s face looked sad, her eyebrows drawn together.

“If I take your hand… what will happen to my mom?”

Guilt toward Kaede. Guilt toward her older sister. And finally—guilt toward her mother.

She had to stay by her mother’s side, who was mentally unwell.

If her mother’s time had stopped the moment her sister went missing, then Shizuku couldn’t just move on by herself. She had to keep remembering her sister too and live with that memory.

“It’s just me and my mom now, since we’re a single-parent family.”

“I can’t move forward by myself and leave my mom behind.”

“I can’t let go of her…”

Tears she had been holding back for months began to pour out.

She knew there was nothing she could do, but still, there were some things you just couldn’t ignore.

“You wouldn’t understand, Kaede…”

She repeated something she had once said long ago.

“I only have one parent, and for my mom, I’m the only one too.”

“If my sister’s not here, then I’m the only one who can be there for her.”

“If I leave her alone…”

More and more tears fell.

Now that it was just her and her mother, she cared for her even more than before.

“Right now, I have two opposite feelings inside me.”

“I want to take your hand, but I also don’t want to.”

“What should I do…?”

No matter how many times she asked herself, there was no answer.

Even the girl in front of her probably didn’t know the answer.

“Then all the more reason—you should take my hand, Shizuku.”

Shizuku was surprised by her words. Kaede spoke as if that was the clear answer. Her eyes were serious.

“Why…?”

“You said you don’t know the answer, right?”

“…”

“Then let’s find it together.”

With a face full of kindness, Kaede spoke from the heart.

“I told you before—we’ll search for the answer together.”

With a bright smile, Kaede reached her hand out again.

“…………”

Her heart, about to collapse, began to fall apart completely.

Even though her eyes were blurry from tears, Shizuku reached out once more toward her hand.

“Say you love me, Shizuku.”

She slowly brought her palm close to Kaede’s.

“…I’m not like you, Kaede. I’m a coward and such a pain to deal with.”

“I know.”

“I might hurt you again in the future.”

Cold fingers touched Kaede’s warm ones.

“That’s okay. Don’t worry about it.”

Kaede moved her hand sideways and wrapped their fingers together. Held in her warm hand, Shizuku felt like her heart was starting to heal.

“I keep making mistakes, and I’m a mess…”

“…Yeah.”

“But will you still stay with me?”

She pulled back and looked straight into Kaede’s eyes.

“Of course.”

Kaede pulled her hand in and gently kissed her fingers.