Self-Centered
Yuuki still couldn’t understand what Arisa was trying to say.
She said she wouldn’t run away anymore?
What on earth was she talking about now?
“What are you doing, Yuuki-kun?”
Once again, someone called out to him from behind.
This time, since it wasn’t someone Yuuki disliked, he turned to look, and there stood Yume.
It wasn’t strange for Yume to be there, since they both worked at the same café nearby.
“It’s nothing. I just got tangled up with someone troublesome.”
“Troublesome person? You mean this girl?”
Yume shifted her gaze from Yuuki to Arisa.
She felt like she had seen Arisa somewhere before, but couldn’t quite remember where.
“Yuuki-kun, who is this girl?”
“…Someone from when I was in elementary school.”
Even without hearing the rest, Yume understood. So she hadn’t been mistaken about recognizing her from somewhere.
“I see,” she thought, realizing that was why Yuuki had called her troublesome. Then she turned her gaze back to Arisa.
“So, what do you want with Yuuki-kun?”
Even as Yume said that, Arisa didn’t look at her and kept her eyes fixed on Yuuki.
“Yuuki, I want to continue our conversation from earlier.”
Yume wondered what kind of conversation they’d been having, but when she saw the lifeless look in Yuuki’s eyes, she got a general sense of the situation.
Yuuki and Arisa.
If the two of them continued talking alone, there was no way things would get better. And if Yume left Arisa to say whatever she wanted, the outcome would surely be terrible.
Yuuki’s mental state was already at its lowest, weighed down by the bullying and everything that had happened until now.
If Arisa pushed him any further, it could lead to something irreparable, so Yume made a suggestion.
“All right then. Let’s not talk here. Let’s go to the café where we work and talk there. I’ll explain things to my dad myself, okay?”
She made that suggestion to Arisa, but Arisa kept her gaze fixed on Yuuki, showing no sign of listening to Yume.
Shifting her eyes toward Yuuki, Yume saw a complicated expression on his face.
With a sigh at Arisa’s attitude, Yume stepped closer to Yuuki and spoke softly so Arisa couldn’t hear.
“Yuuki-kun, even if you shake her off here, she’ll just come find you again later. Staying here won’t solve anything. I’m sure you already know that, but you don’t want to trouble my dad, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
When Yuuki nodded, Yume continued.
“I’ll talk to my dad about everything. He’s definitely on your side, so he doesn’t see you as a bother. Besides, if you and that girl talk alone, he’ll just get more worried, and that would trouble him more.”
“…I understand.”
Yuuki knew she was right, but something still weighed on his mind.
“I’ll step in as a third party in your conversation with her and make sure we cause as little trouble for my dad as possible. So, can you agree to that?”
After thinking it over, Yuuki nodded.
Yume nodded back, then turned to face Arisa.
“You there. If you want to talk with Yuuki-kun, it has to be with me present. And the discussion will take place at the café where we work. Is that acceptable? Yuuki-kun already agreed.”
Arisa frowned for a moment, clearly displeased.
“If Yuuki’s fine with it, then okay.”
And so, it was decided that the discussion would take place under Yume’s supervision.