Before My Memories With You Melt Away in Tears - Episode 56

When Ayaka headed back to class, she was met with curious stares, whispers, and—worried expressions from Fujino and Shuri.

“Ayaka…!”
“Ah…”
“You’re not okay, are you?”
“Yeah…”

She tried to force a smile, but as soon as she saw their faces, tears started falling down her cheeks.

“…!”
In a panic, she wiped her tears with her palm and forced her face to lift up. She told herself that she couldn’t run away anymore.

“Thanks for worrying about me.”
“That’s… don’t worry about it.”
“Yeah, and more importantly, Ayaka…”
“I’m not okay, but… I’ll manage.”

This was a choice Ayaka made, so she had to face it on her own. No matter what anyone said, this was the only way to protect Kyoya. And she wouldn’t turn her back on what would happen because of the choice she made.

She told the two of them, “I’ll talk to you later,” and made her way to her seat. Once she sat down, she grew tired of the rude stares that kept coming her way.

“What’s the matter?”
“Eh…?”
She asked the classmates sitting next to her, who had been whispering and staring at her.

They were startled, not expecting her to confront them.

“You’ve been staring and whispering. What’s going on?”
“It’s not like we were talking about you, Ayaka-chan…”
“Really?”

Even though they had been so obvious, they kept making excuses. Ayaka couldn’t help but shrug her shoulders.

“I just thought you had something to say. If not, then it’s fine.”
“U-uh, yeah…”

The classmates awkwardly looked away from her. It wasn’t just the ones sitting beside her; even the others around them avoided her gaze.

They didn’t have the courage to ask her directly. But she understood. Because before, she was on their side. Before she started dating Kyoya…

The classroom grew quiet as Ayaka reached for her bag to prepare for the first period. But someone stood by her desk.

“Hey, hey, Okamachi…”

It was Osaki, a classmate who had been against her dating Kyoya when it first started.

“I heard you broke up with Ikeda-senpai. Is that true?”

From his smug smile, it was clear he already knew they had broken up, and he was just trying to provoke her.

“…Yeah, it’s true.”

Ayaka responded plainly.

She almost thought about smiling. Maybe that would make him back off—showing a “so what?” attitude might make Osaki back off.

But she knew it wouldn’t help. The fact was, she broke up with Kyoya. And there was no need to pretend she wasn’t hurt.

“Really? Huh, I see.”
Osaki grinned, clearly pleased with the situation.
“You look happy about it.”
“Of course. If you were with someone like you, Ikeda-senpai’s value would go down.”

He laughed smugly, but Ayaka just shook her head.

“Kyoya-kun’s value doesn’t change because of something like that.”

“Huh?”

Osaki’s voice raised in irritation, and Ayaka couldn’t help but smile at how easily he got upset. Why did everyone think she wouldn’t say anything back? Probably because of how she had acted before.

But she wasn’t the same Ayaka anymore. Not after she started dating Kyoya.

“Why are you suddenly acting all tough? Know your place.”
“I’m not acting tough. I’m just saying what I think.”

Unlike Ayaka’s calm response, Osaki couldn’t hide his anger.

“You shouldn’t have been with Ikeda-senpai in the first place!”
“That’s for Kyoya-kun to decide. And it’s not something you get to decide.”

“What?! Are you trying to start something?!”

Osaki slammed his fist down on Ayaka’s desk, making a loud sound. She could feel all the classmates looking at them.

“I’m not starting anything. And like you said, I did break up with Kyoya-kun. But that’s between me and him. It has nothing to do with you.”

“What…?”

“Instead of bothering me like this—”

Ah, she didn’t want to say what she was thinking.

“I… don’t want to say it.”

She couldn’t say it, even if it was just a joke or out of frustration. She couldn’t say it. Even if it wasn’t the truth, even if she didn’t mean it.

“Maybe you should just try your best to make Kyoya-kun like you.”

“Shut up! Stay out of it!!”

Osaki shoved Ayaka’s shoulder, his face turning red as he stormed out of the classroom. She was lucky she was sitting down; if she had been standing, she might have fallen.

Sighing, Ayaka noticed her hands were trembling slightly.

She realized just how much courage it took to speak her mind. If she had been able to express her feelings more when she was with Kyoya, maybe things would have been different.

She wished she could have told him, “I love you,” “I want to be with you,” “Please, just look at me, always.” But she never did.

“Even if I regret it, it’s too late now.”

Her words faded into the buzz of the classroom as it finally settled down again.