Memories into the Trash
When Yuuki arrived at school and stepped into the classroom, Ayaka noticed him and walked over.
“Good morning, Yuuki. You were absent yesterday, right? Did you have a cold?”
Ayaka spoke to him in her usual cheerful manner, but Yuuki, as if not even acknowledging her existence, spread his materials out on the desk and began studying.
“Yuuki? Did something happen? Or… did I do something?”
Even when she asked, the only reply was silence, leaving Ayaka with a troubled look.
“If you don’t tell me, then there’s nothing I can do.”
Even so, Yuuki ignored her.
Before they realized it, the bell had rung, and morning homeroom had begun.
When lunchtime came, Yuuki stood up and left the classroom.
The reason was simple: every break, Ayaka tried to talk to him, and it was nothing but troublesome and unpleasant.
Wondering where to eat, the only place that came to mind was the bench behind the special building.
He went to the shoe lockers, changed his shoes, and quickly headed there.
Fortunately, no one was around, so he sat on the bench and began eating the rice balls he had bought that morning.
With nothing particular in mind, he absentmindedly gazed at the sky as he finished lunch, when the sound of running footsteps reached his ears.
Wondering who it might be, he turned his head toward the sound, but when he saw Ayaka running over, his face immediately hardened, and he turned back to staring at the sky.
“Geez, Yuuki. We always eat together in the classroom, so you should’ve invited me too.”
To Ayaka’s carefree words, Yuuki responded flatly.
“Why would I ever invite you?”
“So… I really must’ve done something, huh.”
Even as Yuuki spoke without so much as a glance, Ayaka’s words stayed carefree, though tinged with unease. With an exasperated look, Yuuki replied.
“Why should I invite someone who confessed to me as a punishment game? What a waste of my time.”
“Wha…!? Th-that’s…”
Panic spread across Ayaka’s face.
When did he find out? How? Those thoughts raced through her mind, but Yuuki spoke on without concern.
“Good for you, right? Getting to confess to an easy fool like me as part of your punishment game. Must’ve been pretty entertaining.”
“Th-that’s not true!”
Ayaka tried desperately to deny it, but her words never reached him.
“Not true? Do you think anyone would believe that from someone who toys with people’s feelings in a punishment game? Do you even realize how low that is? No, maybe you don’t, which is why you did it. Or maybe you do realize, and that’s exactly why you could go through with it.”
“…”
Yuuki’s words pressed Ayaka further and further into a corner.
“When I told you about my past and tried to trust you, I bet it was all just a show to you, wasn’t it? You must’ve had plenty of fun laughing at me inside. Impressive, really. I should learn to have a mentality like yours.”
His words slowly gnawed away at Ayaka’s heart, tearing it apart.
“Not that it matters what I say. Nothing would affect someone like you anyway. You’re the kind of person who can so easily hurt others.”
She couldn’t say a single word.
No matter how she tried to patch things up, what she had done was a fact. Nothing would reach Yuuki, because she was the one who broke it in the first place.
And yet,
“B-but. Right now, I really…”
“Don’t say something stupid like ‘I love you.’ Don’t make me feel even more disgusted.”
Even the words Ayaka forced out while looking straight into Yuuki’s eyes failed to reach him.
“What, so you confessed as a punishment game, and then halfway through thought you really fell for me, so you decided to actually date me? Are you serious? What is this, a romance drama? Or maybe too many light novels, too many stories? Whatever it is, something like that could never happen in reality. How empty-headed are you? That kind of fantasy belongs… yeah, just throw it into that trash can over there.”
Yuuki pointed at a rusty wire-mesh trash can and spat the words out.
“Since the start was a mistake, confessing as a punishment game, the end could only ever be a breakup. However much you try to keep it going, it’ll collapse.”
Whether Ayaka cried or not, Yuuki continued speaking.
“Someone who confesses as part of a punishment game doesn’t care about the other person. They don’t hesitate to hurt people. So don’t say something like, ‘Dating you changed my heart.’ There’s no way anyone could change in such a short time. And if you did, then you don’t even have a will of your own. You’d be nothing more than seaweed, drifting aimlessly. Doing things just because a friend said so, or because someone told you to, or because everyone else is. Then just drift far away somewhere I won’t have to see you.”
With those words, he flicked his hand at Ayaka as if brushing away a bug, stood from the bench, and walked toward the trash can.
“Ah, but there’s one thing I should make clear.”
Turning back toward her with the very smile she had once wanted to see, he said,
“Let’s break up. The days I spent with you were the worst.”
With that, he tossed the trash from his lunch into the trash can and walked back toward the classroom.