Before My Memories With You Melt Away in Tears - Episode 24

Not knowing what they might say or how they might react, Ayaka found herself desperately trying to explain herself.

“Well, I mean, it was always supposed to be a one-month trial, right? It’s fine. I guess… I shouldn’t have started dating someone unless we already liked each other from the beginning.”

She didn’t even know what she was saying anymore, her words tumbling out as excuses. Before she could say more, Fujino interrupted.

“But Ayaka, you liked Ikeda-senpai, didn’t you?”

“…”

Ayaka froze, unsure how to respond.

Yes, she had liked him. She had loved him. But…

“But Kyoya-senpai didn’t like me. He didn’t feel the same way,” she said quietly.

The weight of her words felt heavier with every second.

“I can’t date someone who doesn’t like me…”

“Ayaka… Yeah, I get it…”

The moment of parting with Kyoya flashed through her mind. Her chest tightened, and it felt like all the bl00d had drained from her body. She wished she could escape that feeling, run away from the scene.

Tears started to well up as the memories flooded in, but she quickly forced a smile. However…

“You don’t have to smile right now.”

Fujino’s voice was soft, her concern clearly showing as she watched Ayaka with a pained expression, as if the situation was hurting her too.

“Thank you,” Ayaka whispered, unsure if her smile was genuine or just holding back tears.

“I’m going to the bathroom for a minute,” Ayaka said, standing up and leaving the classroom. If she stayed there any longer, she feared she would start crying in front of everyone.

She rushed to the restroom and stared at herself in the mirror above the sink.

The forced smile she had worn began to melt away, and the face staring back at her slowly turned into a crying one.

As she looked at her reflection, memories from long ago resurfaced.

It was when she was still a little girl, in kindergarten.

“Hey, can I go play by the water over there?”

“Sure, but don’t go too deep.”

“Okay!”

It was during Golden Week when Ayaka went to the river with her parents. After they finished their barbecue and were busy cleaning up, her parents didn’t have time to play with her. Feeling bored, Ayaka wandered closer to the riverbank. There, she found a boy around her age.

“Hey, let’s play together!”

“Yeah!”

The boy, also bored, quickly became her playmate.

They threw rocks into the river, splashed each other with water, and played together. The river was shallow—only about knee-deep—so her parents probably didn’t think anything of it. Ayaka and the boy played in the water without any concern.

“Let’s go to the sandbar in the middle!”

Ayaka didn’t remember who had suggested it, but together, they held hands and carefully walked along the rocky riverbed. They stayed there for a while, playing, until the sound of distant thunder rumbled through the air.

“You two! It’s time to come back!”

“Okay!”

“Ugh, I wanted to play a little longer…”

Even though she was complaining, Ayaka took the boy’s hand again, and together they stepped back into the river to head back.

“Huh…?”

The water, which had only been up to their knees, was now up to their waists. Something felt off. But their parents had told them to come back, and there was no option but to obey. Staying on the sandbar felt too scary.

Carefully, the boy and Ayaka walked back, but the water quickly deepened, soon rising to their chests.

Later, Ayaka learned that while the water was still low near them, it had been rising further upstream, and the storm had already started affecting that area.

The water quickly became turbulent, and halfway between the sandbar and the riverbank, Ayaka and the boy found themselves stuck.

“What should we do…?”

“I don’t know…”

The water was cold and terrifying. They gripped each other’s hands tightly, both of them trembling.

Eventually, the boy’s parents entered the water, seemingly desperate. To an adult, the current wasn’t strong enough to be dangerous. They thought they could simply pick up the two children and carry them back to safety.

“It’s going to be okay now.”

“Mom…!”

“You’ll be okay too. Let’s go back now.”

Just as the boy’s mother picked them up, a surge of water, like a mudslide, rushed toward them from upstream.

In a split second, the boy’s mother, trying to get them to the sandbar, was knocked off balance by a piece of floating debris. She fell into the water, pushing the boy up to safety.

The boy’s father, desperate, reached out to grab his wife’s arm, but…

In that instant, both of them disappeared beneath the water.

Ayaka couldn’t understand what had happened. She looked at the boy beside her, who was staring at the spot where his parents had been just moments before, his face blank with confusion.

There was a commotion at the riverbank, but the sound of the rushing water drowned out everything else. Ayaka could tell that something terrible had happened, even though she couldn’t fully comprehend it.

“Mom… Dad…”

“Waaaah…”

Fear gripped both of them, and they could do nothing but cry loudly, their voices drowned by the roar of the water.

Then, a shout came through the chaos.

“Shut up! Quiet down!!”