False Love (Part 2) (cont.)

"When you see someone being bullied at school, there's no way for you to escape it anymore."

"Because, to the victim, a bystander—the so-called third party—is no different from the bully—"

"They're exactly the same."

This was a conversation Kitagawa Ryo had once had with Ichinose Honami. Dealing with school bullying had always been one of the issues they paid direct attention to as student council presidents. Unlike Ichinose Honami's more conciliatory approach, Kitagawa Ryo, who had a firm grip on his own school, handled things more decisively.

When Hirata Yosuke's friend had been bullied, Kitagawa Ryo had happened to arrive just in time to save the victim from jumping off a building. If the victim had been seriously injured or killed, both Ryo's and Hirata Yosuke's lives would have been ruined. That painful memory, unbearable for the two of them, might one day be recounted by the bystanders and bullies in some casual conversation, at a gathering or over a meal, as if it were just an anecdote.

They might forget the victim's name, but Kitagawa Ryo hoped they would remember what they'd done, just as vividly as the victim remembered them.

Through that incident, Kitagawa Ryo had forcibly curbed bullying at his school. It was also then that he had truly come to understand the nature of school bullying.

Perhaps it was because he'd seen so much of it that he noticed the girl during the halftime break.

Kitagawa Ryo lowered his eyes to look at the girl, who was utterly stunned by his answer. She was exceptionally pretty, in a cute sort of way, with a timid personality and an odd aura that seemed to invite people to pick on her.

"Hey, no way."

"She actually agreed?"

"She just wants a slut to play around with."

The girls behind them began whispering. They could hardly believe their spur-of-the-moment prank had ended like this. Their words, full of confusion, resentment, and even jealousy, reached the girl's ears, making her already pale face turn even paler.

"What's your name?"

Kitagawa Ryo, who had accepted the girl's confession without asking permission, took her somewhat chilly hand. He held it with enough warmth to seem as if he wanted to pass some of his own heat to her. His dark eyes seemed to burn, or perhaps they reflected the last rays of the setting sun, mirrored in the girl's sea-blue eyes.

"K-Karuizawa Kei."

"Okay, then I'll call you Kei. You can call me Ryo."

Kitagawa Ryo slipped an arm around Karuizawa Kei's shoulders and drew her closer. He took two steps forward, placing her behind him, then smiled at the group of girls.

"You're Kei's friends, right? Kei and I go to different schools, so I might have to rely on all of you to look after her from now on."

Before the girl leading the group could say anything, another girl hurried over to Kitagawa Ryo and stammered:

"Y-Yeah, I'm Kei's best friend. I mean, we all take good care of her. Kitagawa-senpai, can I get your Instagram?"

The girls behind her saw someone seize the chance to talk to him first. They paid no attention to their leader's bulging veins or murderous glare, and swarmed around Kitagawa Ryo. One said she'd sat next to Karuizawa for two years; another claimed to be her close friend from the club. Their excited chatter left Karuizawa Kei staring blankly behind them. She could only clutch the hem of her bright yellow skirt, biting her lip as if she wanted to step forward but didn't have the courage.

"Kitagawa-senpai sure is popular."

Standing off to the side, Hirata Yosuke clicked his tongue and sighed. He was a handsome guy himself, rare enough to turn heads, but whenever he was with Kitagawa Ryo, he seemed downright ordinary.

"W-Was his name Kitagawa Ryo?"

Karuizawa Kei asked Hirata Yosuke timidly, though she couldn't help sneaking glances at Kitagawa Ryo as he continued fending off the girls.

"Yeah."

Hirata Yosuke hesitated. He studied Karuizawa Kei for a moment, then moved closer and quietly asked:

"Are you being bullied by them?"

"..."

Hirata Yosuke's question startled Karuizawa Kei. She instinctively shook her head, then gave the faintest nod. Finally, she forced a smile and explained:

"I-It's not really like that."

She knew perfectly well that even though this sunny boy, sweating from exertion, seemed kind and approachable, they barely knew each other and didn't even attend the same school. Even if she told him about her situation, he couldn't change anything. So there was no point in telling him.

Besides, over the past two years, she'd gradually gotten used to being bullied. Maybe she had fought back at first, but resisting hadn't made things better; it had only brought harsher punishment. So she'd grown numb. She didn't care even when fresh, bright-red blood flowed from her body, as if it wasn't hers.

Karuizawa Kei shifted her gaze back to the boy still dealing with the others. Over the course of her life, she'd made herself as small as possible. At first, she'd imagined herself as a dog sniffing after people, thinking that if she wagged her tail, stuck out her tongue, and acted cute, they wouldn't hit her. But they still didn't like her. She'd learned to agree and giggle foolishly, and kept "I'm sorry" and "Sorry" on her lips, yet they still said she bared her teeth and snarled at them.

So now she defined herself as something even smaller and more insignificant, something that couldn't survive on its own—

A parasite.

She saw Kitagawa Ryo beckon to her, and Karuizawa Kei walked straight toward him like a puppet. The gazes fixed on her burned like spotlights. Then a hand brushed the bridge of her nose. A breeze stirred as an index finger passed over her brows. The touch of skin against skin made her close her eyes instinctively. It took her a long moment to realize that it hadn't been a malicious slap.

Physical contact between people didn't always bring a stinging pain. Karuizawa Kei felt her petite hand enclosed in a stronger one. She could no longer hear the commotion around her; all she could see was Kitagawa Ryo's lips moving, as if he were saying something.

Deep down, she told herself that she was only being helped out of a difficult situation by a kind upperclassman from another school, someone she didn't know. She was merely playing a role onstage, and eventually the curtain would fall and she'd take off her makeup. But right now, she couldn't help yearning for the warmth that passed through the gap between their palms. It was like the little match girl in a fairy tale, lighting one match after another in the snow and imagining happiness in the faint glow.

It wasn't until Kitagawa Ryo led her by the hand out of the stadium that Karuizawa Kei finally came to her senses. Blushing, she stammered as she pulled her hand away:

"Um..."

At a loss for words, she tried to thank him. She lifted her head slightly, only to meet his smiling dark eyes.

"Are you hungry? Want to grab something nearby? There's a pretty good ramen shop on the next street."

"What do you think, Karuizawa?"

"Ah... Oh, okay."

His sudden change in how he addressed her left Karuizawa Kei a little disappointed, but she quickly composed herself. With a hint of nervousness and a tiny bit of anticipation, she asked softly:

"Will it just be the two of us?"

Maybe her voice had been too quiet, because Kitagawa Ryo seemed not to hear her. He scanned the area, then called to a girl on his right who appeared to be fiddling with her phone:

"Honami, over here!"

"Two A sets. Firm noodles, mildly spicy, extra vinegar, no cilantro, and a lighter broth."

"For one of them, swap the cold drink for miso soup, and add kelp and tofu."

"Karuizawa, order whatever you like."

Ichinose Honami folded the menu and handed it to Karuizawa Kei with a bright smile. Still somewhat dazed by how effortlessly Ichinose had ordered, Karuizawa Kei picked a recommended set at random without even reading what it included.

"Um, Ichinose-san..."

She hesitated before speaking. In their brief conversation, Karuizawa Kei had learned that the colorful, lively girl sitting beside her was Kitagawa Ryo's childhood friend. Judging by how close they seemed, Karuizawa Kei, who was used to reading people's expressions, could also guess that they might be more than just friends.

"Don't be so formal. You can call me Honami."

Ichinose Honami took a small sip of the cold drink that had arrived first and gave Karuizawa Kei a radiant, harmless smile.

"Hey, hey, I want a cold drink too."

Across the table, Kitagawa Ryo looked at the steaming bowl of miso soup before him and sighed in mild complaint.

"You shouldn't drink something cold right after exercising so hard. What if you get a stomachache?"

Ichinose Honami's eyes sparkled as she reached over and nudged the bowl of soup toward him.

Watching the two interact, Karuizawa Kei suddenly felt like an outsider. To keep Ichinose from noticing anything amiss, she quickly lowered her head and pretended to drink.

The chilled plum juice seemed to have no flavor in her mouth. Without realizing it, Karuizawa Kei drank more than half the glass in one go.

"Do you really like plum juice, Kei? This place's plum juice is pretty good."

Ichinose Honami glanced at the glass, now more than half empty, and asked in surprise.

"It's okay. It really is pretty good."

Karuizawa Kei nodded awkwardly.

"I heard you confessed to Ryo after the match?"

The question from Ichinose made Karuizawa Kei grip the cold glass tightly.

"Y-Yeah, I guess."

She kept her head lowered, watching Ichinose Honami's expression from the corner of her eye. Even though she'd just had a drink, her throat was strangely dry. The few words felt as if she had to force them out.

"Ryo's the type of guy girls like, isn't he? He's handsome, good at school, kind to people, and he can play soccer and all that."

"It sounds weird hearing you say that, Honami."

"Come on, I'm giving you a sincere compliment."

Karuizawa Kei knew the other girl was still carefully avoiding the heart of the matter. As Ichinose Honami had said, it wasn't unusual for girls to confess to Kitagawa Ryo. The problem today was that he had accepted Karuizawa Kei's confession.

"Don't overthink it. I only accepted your confession on the field because, in that situation, it seemed like the best thing to do. You don't need to feel guilty about it, Karuizawa. And you don't have to take on any responsibilities as my girlfriend."

It seemed Kitagawa Ryo had noticed what was troubling Karuizawa Kei. He met her gaze again, speaking with complete sincerity.

"Once things die down in a couple of days, just say you dumped me."

In this sort of middle school relationship, whoever dumped the other first usually had the upper hand in the gossip. Kitagawa Ryo had noticed that, so he added the suggestion.

"W-Won't that hurt your reputation, senpai?"

Karuizawa Kei looked up timidly.

"I don't have much of a reputation to speak of. Besides, I'm going abroad after summer vacation ends. I probably won't be back for about a year."

Kitagawa Ryo dismissed her concern without a care. When he saw Ichinose Honami looking just as surprised, he quickly explained:

"My family wants me to attend a boarding school in the United States for a year. I only found out today."

"...Oh, I see. That's a good thing."

For some reason, when Karuizawa Kei saw the disappointment on Ichinose Honami's face, a strange sense of pleasure welled up inside her.

Just then, the ramen they'd ordered arrived. Kitagawa Ryo had no desire to continue the conversation. He'd played through an entire match that day and was genuinely exhausted, so after a few brief pleasantries, he promptly started eating.

He wolfed down a large bowl of ramen and only stopped when he was satisfied. After checking how far the two across from him had gotten, he took out his phone and began killing time.

"Is senpai with Karuizawa right now?"

"Senpai accepted her confession on the field on purpose, didn't you? I could tell."

"What's so great about Karuizawa? Why not consider me instead, senpai?"

The moment he opened his social media app, a flood of messages made Kitagawa Ryo's head spin. But leaving them unread would have been awkward, too. Rubbing his chin, he came up with an idea.

"Kei, look up for a second."

Karuizawa Kei had been quietly eating her ramen in small bites. She froze for a moment. Since she hadn't looked at the menu, the ramen in her set was much too spicy for her. She'd finished her plum juice earlier, and she was too embarrassed to say anything, so she'd forced herself to keep eating. Her lips were red, and fine beads of sweat had appeared on her forehead.

Hearing Kitagawa Ryo call her, Karuizawa Kei had no idea what was going on. The moment she looked up, she saw him slide an extra-large fruit slush toward her. It was a couples' size, enough for two. The two straws twisted together in the shape of a heart made that clear.

"Ah, thanks."

The next second, just as Karuizawa Kei started sipping the slush to soothe the burning in her throat, her eyes widened.

At the other end, Kitagawa Ryo pressed his lips to the other straw.

With his right hand, he held up his phone. Beneath the bright flash, Karuizawa Kei heard Kitagawa Ryo whisper. His words seemed to follow the heart-shaped curve of the straws straight to her lips, then from her lips to her heart.

"Couples... cheese!"

"Having ramen with my girlfriend."

He took a photo, wrote a caption, and uploaded it to social media in one smooth motion.

Only after finishing did Kitagawa Ryo withdraw his phone with a sigh of relief. He smiled a little sheepishly at Karuizawa Kei and pushed the fruit slush closer to her.

"Sorry about that. Dating and breaking up on the same day would be too abrupt, and your classmates are a pain. This should quiet things down a bit."

Karuizawa Kei stared blankly at her phone as message notifications kept chiming. She swallowed a big mouthful of fruit and choked on it, making a muffled sound. Ichinose Honami hurried over to pat her back and help her breathe. It took a while before she recovered.

"Um, I don't mind."

If anything, she was quite pleased.

Karuizawa Kei timidly looked toward Ichinose Honami, who gently offered her a tissue.

"About you, Ichinose-san..."

"I told you, you can call me Honami."

Ichinose Honami waved her hand freely and complained toward Kitagawa Ryo with an exasperated look.

"Anyway, if Ryo chose to do this, he must have had his reasons. And it's only for show."

She lowered her head and wiped the corner of her mouth with a tissue. When she looked up again, her smile was as bright as ever.

"Besides, I'm not Ryo's girlfriend..."

Ichinose Honami paused, then suddenly looked straight at Kitagawa Ryo. Her tone was half teasing, half serious.

"Right?"