Before My Memories With You Melt Away in Tears - Episode 50

When Ayaka woke up in the morning, the world seemed to shine.

It felt like she was allowed to love Kyoya. That she could cherish her own feelings. Just realizing this made everything she had seen before seem dull in comparison.

As she reviewed her messages with Kyoya, Ayaka got ready for school. She wanted to see him as soon as possible.

After having breakfast, she headed to the front door to leave. Ayaka’s mother, looking slightly exasperated, told her, “Can’t you calm down for once?” But Ayaka didn’t mind it at all.

“Ayaka.”

As she opened the door to leave, her mother called out to her.

“What is it?”

“Well, after school today, could you come straight home?”

“Of course. It’s before exams, so I’ll head straight back.”

“Okay. Have a good day.”

It was just an ordinary day before summer break. There didn’t seem to be anything special about it, so Ayaka wondered what her mother meant. But with the time for her train fast approaching, she didn’t think too much of it and left the house.

She got on a train that was one stop earlier than usual and let out a sigh of relief. When she checked her phone, she saw a message from Kyoya.

“Good morning! I was able to catch the train on time.”

Ayaka smiled and quickly typed a reply.

“Good morning! I made it too!”

This train, which arrived ten minutes earlier than their usual meeting time, meant they would have a little more time together. It also meant she had to leave the house a bit earlier, but she didn’t mind at all. In fact, she’d have been fine with taking an even earlier train, but that might raise suspicions from her mother, so she didn’t. Actually, Kyoya had told her not to do that.

“I took car number 3 today. What about you?”

“I’m in car number 3 too! We’re on the same one!”

Even simple conversations like this made Ayaka smile. To others, it might seem trivial, but to her, it was a blissful moment.

As she continued to fiddle with her phone, the time to her transfer station passed by quickly. Since she started high school, she had spent her time checking messages from friends, browsing trends she didn’t care about, and looking for topics to talk about at school. Before she knew it, she was at the station.

But today was different. She gazed out the train window, watching the scenery pass by. The world outside moved so quickly, yet time itself felt like it was dragging on.

She had heard the announcement that there were two more stops to go a while ago, but it still felt like the train was taking forever to reach her destination.

After a few more minutes, the train finally arrived at her stop. As she stepped off the train, she was swept along by the crowd of people getting off, making her way to the platform.

“Good morning.”

“K-Kyoya-kun?”

Standing right in front of her, waving his hand, was Kyoya. Their usual meeting spot was the transfer tunnel, so why was he here?

“I wanted to see you as soon as possible, so I came here.”

“You came here… But how did you know which train I was on?”

“Well, that’s how.”

The casual conversation about which train car they were in suddenly made sense—Kyoya had been checking which car Ayaka was on to meet her.

Ayaka didn’t need to ask for confirmation because it was clear from Kyoya’s expression.

“Well, let’s move over here.”

People were starting to get annoyed as they had to walk around Ayaka and Kyoya, who were blocking the path. As they passed, some even clicked their tongues in frustration, prompting them to quickly move to a nearby bench.

“Sorry for surprising you.”

“N-No, it’s okay. I was surprised, but I’m happy.”

“Really? I’m glad.”

Kyoya sat next to Ayaka and gently took her hand. The warmth of his hand sent a rush of excitement through her chest.

“Ayaka, your heart is really racing.”

“W-Well, what do you expect?!”

“I can feel your heartbeat through your hand.”

“D-Don’t tease me…”

Ayaka was flustered, but she couldn’t deny that her heart was pounding. Kyoya, however, looked mischievously at her.

“I’m serious. Look.”

Still holding her hand, Kyoya placed her hand against his cheek.

“W-What are you doing?”

“Yeah, I can feel your heartbeat. It’s really fast.”

“W-Wait…”

Ayaka panicked more about the fact that her hand was against Kyoya’s cheek than the fact they were still holding hands. Realizing this, Kyoya chuckled softly, then let go of her hand.

“Huh…?”

“Do you want to feel it properly?”

Before Ayaka could even process his words, Kyoya took her hand and gently pressed her palm against his cheek.

Ayaka instinctively tried to pull her hand away, but Kyoya wouldn’t let her.

His gaze, focused directly on her, was intense, like he was about to kiss her.

“Ayaka?”

“Wh-What…?”

“What are you thinking right now?”

“N-Nothing…”

Had Kyoya always been this mischievous? Or was this the side of him he had never shown before?

“Kiss me.”

“B-But… everyone’s watching…”

“Don’t worry. No one’s looking.”

Ayaka couldn’t think about anything else in that moment. She placed her other hand on Kyoya’s cheek and, heart pounding, leaned in to kiss him. Her palm and lips trembled as she closed the distance.

From the kiss, there was a faint hint of mint.