Yume and Kyousuke’s Conversation
“Dad.”
“What is it?”
After the café’s business hours ended and Yuuki had gone home.
Yume and Kyousuke were talking inside the café.
“I walked home with Yuuki-kun today, and as expected, she came up to him again.”
“That girl, right?”
“Yes.”
The café had been filled with a calm atmosphere since Yuuki had been there until a moment ago, but when Yume said that, Kyousuke’s expression turned serious.
“Did it feel like she might try to harm him?”
“Hmm, it is hard to say. For now, I don’t think she will do anything. But we need to stay alert.”
“Right. I will do what I can on my end too.”
It was not that he did not trust Yume. He had to keep thinking about whether there was anything he could do.
Yume, for her part, was also thinking about keeping troublesome people like Hinata Arisa and Satsuki Ayaka away from Yuuki, so the usually calm café had a tense stillness hanging in the air.
“She is the girl from when Yuuki-kun was in middle school, right?”
“Yes. I only know what Yuuki-kun told me, so I do not know the details, but while it was not as bad as the bullying from elementary school, there is no doubt she hurt him deeply.”
Back when Yuuki was in middle school, nothing happened within the class like what had happened in elementary school, and it was not a case of major bullying.
What happened was the result of Saya being unable to fully trust Yuuki.
“Yuuki-kun finally started living calmly without stress, and then this happened right away. It really wears you down.”
“True. But he is probably the one hurting the most.”
“I know. But you know, today Yuuki-kun smiled at me. And now it is all ruined.”
As she remembered their walk home, Yume said that.
She said he smiled at her, but it had actually been a smile meant for Kyousuke, not for Yume, so it was hard to say. Even so, it was still proof that he trusted her more than before.
“Oh, Dad. There was some good news too.”
“What is it?”
“Remember how we talked about going somewhere? I talked with Yuuki-kun about it too, and how about this place?”
Just as she had shown Yuuki, she showed her phone to Kyousuke while making the suggestion.
“…Yeah, that is nice. Should we go there? Did Yuuki-kun say he liked it too?”
“Yes. He said it seemed like a relaxing place.”
“I see. Alright. We will go when both you and Yuuki-kun are free. I will look up inns and such nearby, so you check Yuuki-kun’s schedule.”
“Okay.”
As Yume happily said she was looking forward to it and started researching the area on her phone, Kyousuke watched her with a gentle expression.
I don’t want to open the door.
Yuuki, who had been with Kyousuke and the others until just a short while ago, thought that as he stood in front of his home’s door. He hated coming back to this house. Every day, it felt agonizing to open the front door.
Before something inside him broke, opening the door had been easy, but now it felt heavy.
Still, there was no point in staying there, so he opened the heavy door and ignored everything as he escaped to his room.