Before My Memories With You Melt Away in Tears - Episode 33

At Shuri’s words, Ayaka’s heart made an unpleasant sound, and a cold sweat trickled down her back.

There’s no way that could be true. It had to be a coincidence that someone she met after entering high school turned out to be the same person she had been involved in an accident with when they were kids. That kind of thing only happens in manga or dramas.

“It’s just a rumor, right?”

The words she squeezed out trembled slightly.

“Well, yeah. Just a rumor. I haven’t heard anyone confirm it with Ikeda-senpai.”

“Right, yeah. I’m glad.”

Ayaka let out a relieved smile, but then Fujino added something.

“But, you know, Ikeda-senpai lives with his grandmother.”

“Huh?”

Fujino, tapping the empty glass with her straw, continued casually.

“Back in middle school, during a parent-teacher conference, his grandmother came to school. Ikeda-senpai went to the entrance to greet her, and I overheard them talking. His grandmother seemed to have a bad back.”

“I didn’t know that…”

The shock of not knowing something like this about Kyoya hit Ayaka harder than the realization that there were still things she didn’t know about the person she liked. She felt like she was just a small part of his world.

But Fujino, speaking as if it was no big deal, said with ease:

“Yeah, it happens sometimes. I thought about it when we gave gifts too, but I don’t think you need to know everything just because you’re dating. You don’t have to know every single thing about each other.”

“That’s true.”

“It’s okay to learn things over time, or it’s fine if you don’t know some things. If Ikeda-senpai feels like it, he’ll tell you when the time comes.”

Ayaka liked Fujino’s straightforwardness. Her easygoing personality, completely different from Ayaka’s tendency to overthink, was something Ayaka always admired.

“But I understand why you’re curious. If you really want to know, maybe you could ask about his grandmother.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Thanks.”

Ayaka felt that asking about “his grandmother” was fine, but there was something else bothering her even more.

After parting ways with Fujino and Shuri, who were heading to their club activities, Ayaka didn’t go straight home. Instead, she headed to a large library in the city. She thought she might find some information there.

It had been twelve years since the accident, when Ayaka was five. If the boy from that time was Kyoya, he would have been six.

She went to the section of the library where old newspaper articles were stored and started searching through articles from around the summer of twelve years ago.

Soon enough, she found a small article in the local news section.

“It really happened…”

The article detailed the accident, mentioning the names of the two children involved—Ayaka and Kyoya. The article also listed the names and photos of Kyoya’s parents, who had passed away.

“The boy from that time… was Kyoya-senpai…”

Ayaka felt like she had been struck in the head with a hammer.

The article included things Ayaka remembered and things she had completely forgotten, and it described the accident from an objective perspective.

“I… I…”

Perhaps it was the article, but the images from that day suddenly came rushing back to Ayaka’s mind. The smell of muddy water, the sound of rushing water, the shouting voices of the adults, and the image of the small Kyoya, just as anxious as Ayaka, telling her to “smile.”

“You should just forget everything.”

Suddenly, Ayaka heard a faint voice in her mind—her own voice from back then.

“If it’s too painful, you can just forget it all. That way, all the painful and sad feelings will be gone.”

It was from that time, right after they had been rescued. While waiting for the ambulance, Kyoya and Ayaka were wrapped in blankets.

Ayaka had taken Kyoya’s trembling hand and desperately tried to comfort him.

“Don’t cry. It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay. It’s my fault that Mom and Dad…”

Tears streamed down Kyoya’s large eyes as he sobbed. The boy who had told Ayaka not to cry was now crying himself, his body shaking violently.

Ayaka stood in front of him and hugged him tightly.

“It’s not your fault.”

“It’s my fault… it’s my fault that…”

No matter how many times Ayaka tried to tell him otherwise, Kyoya kept shaking his head in her arms.

Ayaka felt like the boy would break if this continued. She didn’t understand why she felt that way at the time, but all she could do was try to protect his heart.

“Then let’s forget everything.”

“Forget…?”

Kyoya, still sitting, stopped shaking his head and looked up at Ayaka, his eyes glistening with tears.

Ayaka nodded and gently wiped away the tears at the corner of his eyes.

“Yeah, if you forget all the painful things, it’ll be okay. You can run away from the painful feelings.”

Those were the same thoughts Ayaka had when she watched her parents constantly fight. She wanted to forget all the painful things. If she could make the sad things disappear, then she could protect her own heart.

“So, it’s okay now. You cried a lot, right? With all those tears, all the painful feelings are flowing away. There’s nothing left inside you to be sad about.”

“With the tears, they’re flowing away…”

Kyoya repeated those words two or three times, and then he suddenly collapsed, falling to the ground.