Shimaura Hitomi's First Love Was Buried Before It Even Began

The girls' restroom at the end of the hallway.

The school building was quiet and peaceful during lunch break. Every now and then, groups of two or three girls came to use the restroom, whispering about gossip and occasionally bursting into crisp laughter.

Amid this youthful atmosphere, the innermost stall was steeped in a stifling mood.

At last, the line between fantasy and reality came to an end. The restlessness in her heart had been fully satisfied, followed by a lingering emptiness and melancholy.

"Haah, haah..."

Shimaura Hitomi sat weakly on the closed toilet lid and pulled out a tissue to wipe her hands clean.

Her waist, back, and buttocks felt slightly sweaty, but the dampness quickly turned clammy and cold, making Hitomi shiver. At moments like this, she always felt especially pathetic.

When had she developed such a dark habit?

Originally, Hitomi had been a pure and innocent girl.

Parents in the island nation did not interfere much with their children's romances. Many girls began trying relationships in middle school, when love first bloomed, and some bolder girls even went to their boyfriends' homes to do more intimate things... None of that had anything to do with Hitomi. Her interests lay entirely in scientific knowledge that most students found dry and boring: mathematics, physics, nature...

Other than that, there was her strong, deep friendship with her best friend, Chihaya Airi.

Hitomi's world was very small. On one end were formulas and symbols; on the other was the Young Lady.

She knew nothing about romance between men and women.

Yet on the night she met Kiyoharu, Hitomi dreamed of him and experienced such an indecent dream for the first time in her life... No, it had not been purely indecent. It had been pleasure filled with guilt.

She woke up in the middle of the night and secretly went to wash her underwear.

With a scientific mindset, Hitomi looked up information and realized that she harbored affection for Kiyoharu as a member of the opposite sex. That fact shocked her for a long time. After all, they had only met once and barely exchanged a few words, yet she already liked him. Did that mean she was such a shallow girl?

To be honest, Hitomi had never really considered what kind of boy she wanted to date. Such a matter felt far too distant to her, but true love at first sight had come so suddenly.

At the time, Hitomi was a first-year student at Chihaya Academy, while Kiyoharu was a second-year upperclassman. She hardly needed to ask around about him; the girls in her class often talked about him.

In the end, reason could not defeat emotion. During that period, Hitomi felt as though she were floating. Whenever she happened to catch sight of Kiyoharu on campus, she would stare at him for ages, wishing she could imprint the beautiful boy directly into her eyes.

She did not know what to do, so she decided to discuss it with Airi and seek help from her best friend.

Wasn't that what best friends were for? Talking about embarrassing girly things like this.

One afternoon after classes ended, neither Hitomi nor Chihaya Airi had club activities. They headed together to the shopping street near the school, walking over old stone paving as the scent of milk tea drifted through the air. Couples carrying shopping bags occasionally passed by, chatting and laughing.

Perhaps encouraged by the sight, Hitomi cleared her throat and prepared to ask Airi for advice. She had originally feared that her best friend would laugh at her, but somehow she found the courage.

"Hey, Hitomi, what do you think of that Ito Kiyoharu?"

Airi spoke first. By how much? One second, perhaps two. It did not matter.

The words that had risen to Hitomi's lips were swallowed back down. Playing dumb, she said, "Huh? Which Ito Kiyoharu?"

"The one from the sports festival. Tch, that guy is ridiculously arrogant. He said that in the next exams, he'd drag me down from my first-place throne. Look at that. How laughable!"

"Oh, so that one... Huh... Did he say something like that that day?"

"No. I added him on LINE, and he said it while we were chatting online." Chihaya Airi waved her phone around, opening Ito Kiyoharu's profile picture for Hitomi to see. "Look at his avatar. It's so old-fashioned. Even my dad has better taste."

When had Airi added Kiyoharu-kun's contact information?

Hitomi had not even added him yet.

Her throat moved, and an odd feeling rose within her.

Airi had yet to notice anything strange about her best friend and continued talking to herself. "It isn't just his avatar. That guy is mature in every way. I even suspect he's some middle-aged old man who turned young again..."

"Airi, you don't dislike him?" Hitomi suddenly interrupted.

"Hm?"

"Airi has always disliked boys, so you should probably feel the same way about him too... right?"

"That is the puzzling part. When he touched me, I didn't feel disgusted at all!" Chihaya Airi licked her lips. "He feels like he could become a very high-quality toy..."

Airi regarded other men as little better than maggots. Clearly, being called a "toy" was several levels above being called a "maggot."

If any other boy tried to chat with Airi on LINE, he would probably be coldly ignored or even blocked. Yet Airi had been chatting enthusiastically with Kiyoharu.

Hitomi felt that something was very wrong.

People might always mock her as a bookworm, but Hitomi was actually very sensitive to changes in other people's feelings. She could clearly tell that Chihaya Airi was very interested in Ito Kiyoharu.

Of course, that interest had nothing to do with romance for the time being, but it had completely extinguished Hitomi's hopes.

No one else was allowed to touch the Young Lady's toy.

"By the way, Hitomi, didn't you seem to have something you wanted to tell me?"

"N-No, it's nothing. Airi, let's go buy some cake."

"Mhm, okay! What flavor of cake do you want, Hitomi? My treat!"

Their seemingly peaceful daily lives continued, but Hitomi had already silently buried her first love.

Her first love was buried before it even began.

And as Kiyoharu and Airi's relationship developed, it was dug up and whipped again and again.

The restroom.

Hitomi straightened her clothes and prepared to leave.

But the conversation of several students outside made the hand about to turn the stall door handle freeze.

"Did you hear? That girl who once fought Airi over Teacher Kiyoharu is transferring back to Chihaya Academy."

"Seriously? Wasn't she driven out of Tokyo by the Young Lady?"

"That's what they say, but the Takagi Family made a fortune in South America and has become a force the Chihaya Conglomerate cannot ignore... The four great conglomerates are competing fiercely now. Gen'ichiro intends to win Takagi over as an ally, so he agreed to their request and allowed his daughter to return to Japan for school... And she'll even be in Teacher Kiyoharu's class!"

"Takagi Akane, the samba fairy, against Chihaya Airi, the Tokyo devil. This is going to be fun!"

Upon hearing that name, Hitomi could not help recalling the girl from three years ago, whose face had been filled with humiliation and unwillingness.

She had actually... returned to Tokyo?

And she was even going to become Kiyoharu's student. Without a doubt, she was preparing to declare war on Airi once again.

Thinking of how the Chihaya couple's loving life might be shaken by a third party, Hitomi actually felt a strange sense of anticipation... Waaah, no, this is awful. As Airi's best friend, I should be worried about her!

At that thought, Hitomi hurriedly shook her head and grabbed her phone to message Airi with the information.

She wondered whether Airi had already heard the news from her father.