Before My Memories With You Melt Away in Tears - Episode 58

Ayaka had decided to avoid seeing Kyoya as much as possible, but that wasn’t too hard to do. Since they were in different grades, it turned out they didn’t cross paths as much as she had thought. Without the need for class rotations, she spent her whole day on the second floor in her own class. And with the exams coming up, she was barely at school during this time.

Once the exams were over, it would just be a matter of waiting for summer vacation. When summer break came, she wouldn’t see Kyoya anymore. She believed the time apart would ease the pain in her chest and the heaviness she felt.

“Ugh, the tests were annoying, but the swimming competition is even worse!”

On the last day of final exams, during the break between the second and third periods, Fujino laid her head on her desk and groaned, “Ugh, I’m so done with this!”

“Come on, we just have one more subject to go. Let’s power through.”

“But after that, we have the swimming competition. I just want summer break already!”

It seemed Fujino’s mood wasn’t just because of the exams. After the tests, there was a school-wide swimming competition for all the grades. Summer vacation wouldn’t officially start until after that event was over.

The swimming competition was a tournament-style event with students from all grades, meaning there was a real chance that first-year students might end up competing against third-years. This made a lot of students not too excited about participating, especially since they knew they’d be fighting battles they probably couldn’t win.

“Well, before that, we have to get our test results back.”

“Ugh, worst!”

Despite Shuri trying to cheer her up, it only seemed to make Fujino sound more downhearted than before. But once those two things were out of the way, summer vacation would finally begin.

“Once summer break starts, I want the three of us to go somewhere.”

When Ayaka suggested it, Fujino’s face lit up.

“That sounds great! Where should we go? The pool? Or the beach?”

“A theme park would be fun too. Apparently, during the parades, they splash you with water!”

“That sounds so fun!”

The gloomy look Fujino had earlier disappeared, replaced with excitement as she started listing all the things she wanted to do during summer break.

“Hmm, what should we choose? Ayaka, where do you want to go?”

Fujino asked, and Ayaka smiled.

“I want to go to all of them!”

For a moment, Fujino and Shuri seemed surprised by Ayaka’s answer, but then they exchanged a look and laughed.

“True! We don’t have to choose just one!”

“Exactly! Summer break is long, so we can go to all of them!”

Ayaka nodded happily at their agreement. Seeing Ayaka so happy, Fujino spoke up quietly.

“Ayaka, you’ve really changed.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, you feel more like the Ayaka I know, more like you.”

“What’s that, some kind of philosophy?”

Ayaka laughed, not quite understanding what Fujino meant.

But Fujino just kept looking at her, then nodded again.

“Yeah, you’ve definitely changed. You seem more cheerful, and honestly, I like you better this way.”

“I agree. I like the current Ayaka more. I liked the old you too, but it felt like you were holding back a lot. Now, it seems like you can just say what’s on your mind.”

Hearing this from Shuri too, Ayaka instinctively covered her cheeks with her hand.

“What’s on my mind…”

She glanced at the two of them, who nodded enthusiastically, and felt a strange sensation.

Had she really changed? If so, maybe it was because she didn’t want to have any regrets anymore. She couldn’t tell Kyoya her true feelings now, but with Fujino and Shuri, with others, she could speak up.

So now, she thought, she wanted to express her true feelings before it was too late. She was probably able to think that way because of her experience with parting ways with Kyoya.

“I’ve started thinking that when I can say something, I want to say it.”

“I see…”

When they realized that Kyoya was the reason behind Ayaka’s words, Fujino and Shuri smiled faintly, as though they were a little sad.

The results of the tests came back, and for the most part, Ayaka did decently. Except for math, which Kyoya had helped her with.

“Ayaka, you did so well!”

“Yeah, I’m surprised…”

Looking at her returned test papers, Fujino peered over Ayaka’s shoulder and let out an amazed gasp. Her scores had gone up a lot since the midterms and were now among the top in the class.

“Did you study a lot for the tests?”

“Well, something like that!”

Ayaka thought that if Kyoya had seen her results, he would have been happy for her. He might have said something like, “Good job!” and smiled at her.

Imagining that, her heart ached a little. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t forget him. The memories with Kyoya were still so present in her heart.

There were countless nights when she cried herself to sleep. If her memories with Kyoya could flow away like tears, maybe it would have been easier. But she didn’t want to forget. No matter how painful it was, she wanted to remember.

The irreplaceable days spent with Kyoya, days only she would remember now.

Looking up, Ayaka’s eyes landed on the blackboard, where the swimming competition’s tournament bracket was posted.

The swimming competition, which would start the day after tomorrow. Ayaka’s class was going to face off against Kyoya’s class in the first round.