Yume’s Turn 2
In the warm air, Yume quietly slipped out and went after the girl who had been watching from outside earlier.
When Yume stepped outside and the girl noticed her, she ran away just like Arisa had.
As if none of it had anything to do with her.
Yume didn’t rush to chase after her but simply followed at a walking pace. She was certain she would catch up eventually.
Yume could completely read the weak and half-hearted heart of that girl.
She reached the same small park as before and caught up to the girl.
“Hey, you. You’re Ayaka, right? Yuuki-kun’s ex-girlfriend?”
Even when Yume asked that, Ayaka, standing right in front of her, stayed silent with her head lowered. She still refused to face reality.
Though Yume had never met Ayaka in person, she had always been aware of her.
It was only natural because Yume loved Yuuki. To Yume, Ayaka was someone she both envied and despised.
Ever since she learned that Ayaka had made a false confession and dated Yuuki, that hatred had only grown. And when she found out Yuuki was being bullied because of Ayaka, it had exploded.
But right now, Yume felt a small sense of gratitude toward Ayaka. If Ayaka hadn’t let go of Yuuki, he would have remained unhappy forever, and Yume would never have had a chance to be with him.
“Ayaka-chan, are you planning to keep running away until the very end?”
“Th-that’s not true.”
When Yume said that, Ayaka finally opened her mouth.
“You are running away, aren’t you? You keep avoiding everything instead of facing it. Are you thinking something like, ‘Those idiots have nothing to do with me’?”
“…”
“Are you trying to come up with some stupid excuse like, ‘They acted on their own, so I’m not at fault’?”
Yume slowly stepped closer and grabbed Ayaka by the collar.
“You should stop being so pathetic already. Right now, I’m so angry with you I could kill you, you know?”
She stared directly into Ayaka’s eyes.
“You keep saying things like ‘I don’t know,’ or ‘It’s not my fault,’ or blaming everyone else. How long are you going to keep living like that? Don’t you have any sense of self at all? You’re even worse than those stupid girls.”
Unable to bear Yume’s eyes, now dark and filled with murderous rage, Ayaka averted her gaze.
Though Yume had said she felt grateful, at her core, she was consumed by hatred so strong she wanted to kill Ayaka.
“I… I…”
“What?”
“I did think about trying to stop them. But…”
“You acted out of self-preservation, didn’t you? You abandoned Yuuki just to protect yourself.”
“That’s…”
Ayaka had no words to fight back.
Yume’s words had pierced deeply into Ayaka’s heart and would not come out.
When Ayaka once again fell silent, Yume grew fed up and released her grip on her collar.
“You know what, forget it. You’ll probably stay that way for the rest of your life. It’s not like I ever planned to give you a chance to change anyway, and I’ve said everything I wanted to.”
Yume turned her back to Ayaka and started walking toward where Yuuki and the others were.
“Ah, there’s one more thing I haven’t said yet.”
Yume spun around and spoke to Ayaka, who was still looking down.
“I’ll never forgive you. I’ll make you regret it.”