Before My Memories With You Melt Away in Tears - Episode 48

The sound of a sharp pencil scratching on paper could be heard. Ayaka paused and looked over at Kyoya. He was focused, his eyes serious as he worked through the problems in his textbook and copied the solutions into his notebook.

“Um…” Ayaka started.

Kyoya looked up at her with kind eyes.

“What’s wrong? What don’t you understand?”

“This part… Even when I apply the formula, I can’t seem to solve it properly,” Ayaka explained.

Kyoya leaned over to look at her workbook, a small smile forming on his face.

“For this one, you should use this formula,” he said, flipping through his textbook and pointing to a different formula than the one Ayaka had been using.

“Ah, you’re right. If I apply this one…” Ayaka murmured, realizing the solution.

“Yeah, the answer should come out now. Once you get the hang of which formulas to use in these kinds of problems, it’s easier to score well. So keep going!”

“Thank you so much!”

As Kyoya had said, there wasn’t a subject he didn’t seem to understand. He didn’t just give her the answers; he showed her how to approach the problems and find the solutions. Thanks to him, Ayaka’s struggles with math started to disappear, one by one.

“You’re amazing, Kyoya-kun,” Ayaka said, putting her pencil down as if taking a short break. Kyoya paused as well and turned his attention to her.

“Why’s that?”

“You just seem to know everything. It’s incredible.”

“Well, these are first-year problems, so you’ll be able to solve them easily next year too,” Kyoya said with a slight laugh.

“I’m not so sure about that…” Ayaka replied, a bit uncertain.

A year from now, she didn’t feel confident that she would be solving problems as smoothly as Kyoya did.

“But there are problems I can’t solve too,” Kyoya added.

“Really? Even you have problems you can’t solve?” Ayaka asked, surprised.

“Yeah… I was thinking, not long ago, that something was bothering you,” Kyoya said, his voice quieter now.

“Eh…?” Ayaka’s heart skipped a beat, a sense of unease spreading through her.

Kyoya had somehow picked up on what was troubling her, and now she knew exactly what he meant. Her fist clenched under the table, her back damp with cold sweat.

“I figured it was something related to me,” Kyoya continued. “At first, I thought maybe you couldn’t say what you really wanted because of my memory loss. But that didn’t feel quite right either.”

How could Kyoya understand her inner conflict so well? It was almost uncanny how he could see through her.

“I’ve been thinking about it a lot, but I just can’t figure it out,” he said.

“Kyoya-kun…” Ayaka whispered, feeling her chest tighten.

“I don’t even know if it’s okay for me to ask, but what exactly is bothering you?”

“I…” Ayaka started, unable to find the right words. She couldn’t tell him the truth. But she didn’t want to lie either.

“I’m afraid that something from my past might hurt you, Kyoya-kun,” she finally admitted, her voice shaky.

“My past…?” Kyoya echoed.

“Yes… And even though I want to be with you, I worry that maybe, if I truly love you, it would be better for you if I stayed away,” Ayaka confessed.

Could he understand? She was pouring out complicated feelings, unsure if her words were coming across clearly. She knew she was being roundabout, but what else could she do? Her mind was spinning, and she could feel sweat gathering in her clenched fist.

“I don’t know what happened in your past, but the Ayaka I fell for is the one right here in front of me now,” Kyoya said slowly, choosing his words carefully.

“So, no matter what happened in the past, I won’t hate the Ayaka I know now, and I want to be by your side,” he added, his voice warm but firm.

“Ayaka…” His words were comforting, but deep down, Ayaka knew that Kyoya couldn’t say those things if he knew the truth about her past. If he did, he might think differently.

“But the person you are now exists because of your past. I don’t know what happened, but if you’re here, smiling in front of me now, then that’s all that matters to me,” Kyoya continued, his eyes softening as he looked at her.

Ayaka’s chest tightened, and she fought the overwhelming urge to cry. She couldn’t let him see her tears. She couldn’t let him know how much his words were affecting her.

The harder she tried to hold back, the more the tears threatened to spill. Just as she was about to turn away, desperate to hide her feelings, Kyoya spoke gently.

“It’s okay,” he said.

Ayaka’s eyes brimmed with tears as she wiped at them furiously, trying to keep herself together. Kyoya reached over and touched her cheek with his fingers, wiping away the tears.

“You told me before that you’re not crying because you’re sad. You’re not sad right now, are you?” Kyoya said softly.

“Y-yeah…” Ayaka stuttered, struggling to hold back her emotions.

“I’m sorry I’ve made you hold back for so long. But thank you for doing it for me,” he continued, his voice full of sincerity.

As Kyoya gently wiped the last of the tears from her eyes, Ayaka felt her heart swell with warmth.

“It’s warm,” she whispered.

Kyoya’s simple, kind words caused the dam to break, and the tears fell freely, leaving marks on the notebook she had placed on the table. Kyoya watched her with gentle eyes, offering nothing but understanding and care.