After My Girlfriend Dumped Me, I Got Reincarnated As A High School Student. That Part’s Fine—But Why Are All My Ex-Girlfriends Here Too? - Chapter 34 – A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with a Single Step

The next morning.

As I walked toward the classroom like always, I spotted Mie’s back a few steps ahead.

Before, I would have run up to her just to say hi, but now… it’s too awkward.

I slowed down my pace a little and watched her. Then, the strap on her bag got caught on the wall, snapped off, and fell.

But she didn’t seem to notice.

Hmm… I should probably tell her, right?

Just as I thought that and started to approach—

“Hey, you dropped this.”

“Eh…? Ah…”

A boy who happened to be nearby picked it up and called out to her.

“Here.”

“…!”

When he held it out, Mie’s shoulders trembled with a jolt.

“Wh-what the…?”

The boy looked confused, obviously unaware of the situation.

But I knew what was going on.

There’s no way I could just stand by and watch this.

“Ah… sorry. She’s not feeling well right now. I’ll take her to the nurse’s office and hold onto that for her.”

“Uh, yeah… sure.”

Looking doubtful, the boy handed the strap to me and left.

I could tell.

She must still be traumatized by that day—by what happened to her.

Of course she is.

When you’re overpowered by someone stronger and can’t resist at all, the only thing left is fear.

That kind of fear doesn’t fade easily.

So, it makes sense if she’s developed a fear of men.

Wait… hold on.

If that’s the case, me taking it doesn’t help either, does it…?

“S-sorry… There’s no point in me keeping it then. I’ll just leave it here.”

I placed the strap on the nearby shelf.

“W-well then…”

Just as I turned to leave, I felt a tug on my backpack strap.

“W-wait!”

“Whoa!?”

It was so sudden that I almost fell over, but somehow managed to stay on my feet.

“S-sorry…”

She apologized in a small, hesitant voice.

“P-please… don’t leave me alone right now.”

Mie looked up at me with anxious eyes.

“Uh… okay. Then I’ll go get Hii-chan.”

But that worried expression of hers made me more concerned than awkward.

“N-no!”

“Huh…?”

“I-I mean… if it’s you, Yuu-kun… it’s okay.”

“O-oh… I see.”

“Yeah…”

Wait… she doesn’t mean she doesn’t see me as a guy anymore, right?

No, come on. We used to date. That can’t be it… right?

“Anyway, how about we go to the nurse’s office?”

“N-no… that’s fine…”

“But we can’t just stay here either…”

The rooftop’s a no-go.

She’s already like this—taking her to the place where it all happened would only make things worse.

“C-can you come with me?”

“Uh, yeah.”

Looks like she has somewhere in mind.

As soon as I nodded, Mie quietly…

“Huh?”

Clung to my arm.

Wait—what is happening right now?

“H-hurry…”

“Ah, okay…”

With no choice, I started walking.

Seriously… what is this situation?

An ex-girlfriend holding onto her ex-boyfriend’s arm.

I could feel the warmth of her hands through my sleeve, and the faint tremble that came with it.

Should I say something?

This is way too awkward.

Right… she used to cling to me like this before too.

That day I introduced her to my mom, who wouldn’t stop insisting on meeting her.

She was so nervous, being shy by nature, that she clung to me the whole time, shaking just like this.

Yeah… but this is completely different.

Now, it’s just awkward.

“S-so… nice weather today, huh?”

“It’s raining today, though.”

Oh…

Wow. My vocabulary sucks.

As I thought that, Mie let out a small laugh.

It had been so long since I’d seen her smile like that—soft, gentle, and beautiful.

“Talking about the weather and tripping over your words… that’s so you, Yuu-kun.”

“Shut up…”

Before I realized it, her trembling had already eased a bit.

Maybe she’s okay now… but still.

She led me into an empty classroom.

It used to belong to the second-years, but with fewer students now, it’s no longer used.

These days, people come here to hang out during breaks or eat lunch.

Since it’s right before the bell, there’s no one around.

“You, okay?”

“Yeah… um, sorry.”

“It’s fine. It can’t be helped.”

“Yeah…”

I’d followed her here, but honestly, the only thing I could really say was to check if she was alright.

And now that I’d asked that…

“Well, I’ll be going then—”

Grab.

She clutched my backpack strap again.

Still not okay…?

“You can rest here a bit before heading back.”

“Do you really… hate being around me that much…?”

“Wha—!? N-no, that’s not it!

If anything, aren’t you the one uncomfortable around me?”

When I apologized before, she said she wouldn’t forgive me.

So, I figured she’d want nothing to do with me.

“Right now… not really…”

But her tone was uncertain—soft and unclear.

“At that time… I really didn’t plan on forgiving you. I thought I’d never see you again, never talk to you again. I told myself we’d never have anything to do with each other anymore…”

She must be talking about when we broke up.

Back then, we’d only argued through messages. We couldn’t see each other’s faces, so we said whatever we wanted, venting everything built up inside.

“But seeing you again now… and when you held me earlier… everyone else still scares me, but… you don’t, Yuta.”

“Ah… yeah. I kind of get that.”

“Huh?”

“When we broke up, it was all through messages, right?

So the last image I have of you… isn’t you angry—it’s you smiling.”

“Yeah…”

“I really liked that smile.

I know I was the one who ruined it, though.”

Because it was long-distance, most of our conversations were through text.

But after a while, the Mie I talked to through messages started to feel like a different person from the Mie I met in person.

So maybe, deep down, I kept hoping—

that the girl I fought with over text was someone else, and that someday the real her would show up smiling again.

“Yeah…”

But now, those feelings—and my feelings for her—are both in the past.

“I’m sorry for that time.

And… thank you.”

When I said that, she looked at me with a complicated expression.

“So… don’t apologize anymore, okay?”

It’s true.

No matter how many times I apologize, nothing will change.

No matter how much I regret it, the past won’t rewrite itself.

“But… thank you too.

I really did have fun.”

This time, her voice carried a gentle warmth, not bitterness.

“Me too.”

As I said that, it felt like a small thorn in my chest finally came loose.

Maybe this is what it means—to finally make peace with the past and truly let go.

We can’t go back.

But maybe now… now that we’ve met again, we can start something new.

“Hey… this time, how about we start over—as friends?”

The words I couldn’t say before finally came out.

“Eh…?”

Mie looked a little surprised, then thought for a moment.

And then—

“I’ll think about it…”

She smiled.

It was a gentle, happy smile—nothing like the look of resentment she once had.

And just like that, the distance that had once felt impossible to close… shrank, even if just a little.