Chapter 72: Truth
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24
Tetsuo Sakaki felt like agreeing to this meeting had been a mistake in the first place.
As the ace member of the karate club and one of the top-ranked students in Koaki High School, he was bursting with confidence.
Koaki High School was already a gathering ground for the best of the best, so standing at the top even among them was definitely something to be proud of. In his eyes, he only regarded his classmates as well as those equal to or above him in status.
Tetsuo Sakaki couldn’t even be bothered with those who he considered as below him. Of course, that included students from other schools that weren’t of the same quality as Koaki High School.
He failed to grasp the reason behind Haruka Shimizu’s stubbornness regarding this matter. Genhana High School? This normal girl was from a low-rated school which wasn’t even worth paying attention to.
Yes, they previously bore affection for each other, but that was over with now. It was wrong to continue it!
Since Haruka already decided to break up, she should have said goodbye to Chiaki forever and never bothered with her again, but...
He’d already directly told Haruka he didn’t understand why she was doing this, but Haruka remained adamant about continuing, so he could only accompany her.
Haruka was too much of a softie.
Such a girl wasn’t even worth her attention or love!
At this moment, Tetsuo Sakaki was more certain of this than anything else.
"The two of you... don’t even know you’re basically no different from garbage." His eyes were filled with unrestrained condescension as he finally voiced his true thoughts.
"Tetsuo!" Haruka raised her voice.
"Don’t stop me, Haruka! You saw how rude they were being for yourself!" Tetsuo gave Haruka a sidelong glance before glaring at the two in front of him again. "We were nice enough to meet up with them, but they’re being so rude to us... They’re nothing but scum!"
Seiji and Chiaki retracted their fake smiles as they exchanged glances.
"It appeared."
"Yep, it was exposed rather quickly... the true face of the arrogant boy."
They both anticipated this scene, so their attitudes remained calm.
Tetsuo felt another wave of anger sweep through his heart; he was incensed at being seen through by the duo he’d looked upon.
If only he could have remained calm, perhaps he would have realized the mistake he was making, but the current him was blinded by rage and arrogance.
He stood up violently and pounded the table with his fist, causing hot coffee to spill out of the cups.
"Let’s go, Haruka! These scumbags aren’t even worth our time..."
*Slap!*
A clear sound resounded throughout the room.
The blue-haired girl had slapped the brown-haired boy.
Tetsuo was shocked at the sudden slap and was left dazed.
"You... stop acting so shameful!"
Haruka stood up and yelled in a low voice as she struggled to suppress the burning rage which welled up within her.
Although she knew that the boy with her wasn’t very reliable, she didn’t expect him to fall for their taunts so easily.
In actuality, Haruka’s sudden loss of control over her own emotions surprised her even more than her classmate’s poor behavior.
Witnessing how shamefully Tetsuo was acting, she acted on sudden impulse and ended up slapping him.
This shouldn’t be... Her normal self wouldn’t do such a thing!
At this moment Haruka Shimizu finally realized how shaken she truly was deep inside.
A withering silence reigned over the room for several moments.
Chiaki finally sighed wistfully, breaking the silence.
"Haruka... Actually, I really missed you."
A soft, gentle expression appeared on Chiaki’s face for the first time as she looked at the blue-haired girl.
"Chiaki..."
Haruka returned the silver-haired girl’s gaze.
"After separating from you, I thought about you... Every day, every moment, for such a long time," Chiaki began slowly. "Every time I thought about what you said while breaking up with me, my heart would ache. You said so much, and all of it was logical... But none of that was important to me. I didn’t care; I couldn’t comprehend or accept the reasons. I only knew that you wanted to break up with me, and you were resolute about it. It hurt me severely. Nevertheless... I still loved you."
A teardrop formed in the corner of Chiaki’s eye and slowly dripped down her pale white cheek.
Haruka was unable to come up with words as she listened to Chiaki’s heartfelt words.
Tetsuo still hadn’t regained his senses.
If he had dared to say anything to ruin the current mood, Seiji definitely would have smacked him a good one in the mouth.
Wordlessly, a tissue was handed over to Chiaki.
Of course, the only one who would do this was Seiji.
Chiaki wiped her eyes with the tissue and took a deep breath.
"Finally, I was able to overcome it. One reason was the fun club I was in... Although the drama club president is a bit of a weird person, she’s really nice, and everyone else in drama club is nice as well. Another reason was one of my best friends who clumsily approached me and consoled me when I was at my most disconsolate… Even though she herself was unaware of it." Chiaki smiled lightly.
"Finally, I got to know Seigo." She glanced at the boy beside her with a gentle expression.
"When I was hanging out with him… I had lots of fun—even more than before. That’s when I received your phone call."
Chiaki shot Haruka a look filled with deep emotion.
"I was surprised and happy, yet frightened. I didn’t know why you did it, but no matter the reason, I still wished to meet you. You told me that you were bringing your boyfriend, which hurt me deeply, but that wouldn’t stop me from wanting to see you. Even though I was so afraid, even though I knew this might not be a joyous meeting, I wanted to see you. I… miss you… Haruka…"
Glistening tears rolled down from Chiaki’s eyes which currently flashed with various complex emotions.
"Chiaki…"
Haruka Shimizu could no longer maintain her impassive expression; even she could not veil her true feelings which were hidden deep within herself.
Complex sadness, nostalgia, and longing burst out from the confines of her heart…
She walked over to Chiaki, kneeled, and hugged her.
"Sorry… I’m sorry…" Tears also slid down the blue-haired girl’s cheeks. "Everything was my fault… Sorry, Chiaki… Actually… I… missed you too…"
Seiji remained silent, respecting this heart-touching scene.
After a while, he stood up noiselessly and looked at Tetsuo.
Tetsuo Sasaki was still reeling from Haruka’s slap, but he’d almost regained his clarity of mind.
Seiji stared at him until Tetsuo noticed, and gave him a silent signal.
Let’s talk outside!
If Tetsuo couldn’t even understand such a simple gesture, Seiji was about to give him a good lesson on how to behave.
Luckily, the brown-haired boy wasn’t that stupid.
Tetsuo Sasaki gave a parting glance towards the two girls, before following Seiji out of the room.
After leaving the room.
"I deeply apologize for my rude words earlier." Seiji began with a sincere apology right off the bat. His tone of voice suddenly turned cold as he continued, "But that was also because the look in your eyes was quite unpleasant. You shouldn’t believe that you’re good at concealing it."
Tetsuo remained silent.
"I don’t know if you’re really that girl’s boyfriend or not, nor do I care, but taking your attitude into account, they won’t be able to have a good conversation. That’s why I had to expose your true self first." Seiji bluntly told him the truth. "I also don’t know, nor care, why you were looking down on us. At any rate, you’re just an unimportant character; it doesn’t matter what you think. But I’ll never allow you to interfere with Chiaki! She mustered her courage and resolved herself to potentially having her feelings wounded again by coming here. As her companion, my role is to remove all obstacles for her. Now, let us wait here for them until they’re finished talking."
‘If you dare to try anything, I swear that you’ll never be able to do anything again.’
Seiji didn’t say that last sentence out loud, and stood there in silence, ignoring Tetsuo.
Tetsuo Sasaki was currently battling with complex emotions.
He had been slapped by Haruka and saw her true feelings revealed… He finally had an inkling of the mistake he had made.
That girl… Chiaki Wakaba was someone that Haruka had truly been in love with before.
However, he looked down on her… He was condescending towards her, and he’d ignored Haruka’s feelings… He fell for such a simple taunt and exposed his way of thinking.
That was why Haruka got angry at him.
He totally deserved that slap he received!
Tetsuo felt downcast after coming to this realization.
He didn’t intend to hurt Haruka’s feelings but made such a mistake.
Haruka… would she hate him now?
Tetsuo felt like she wouldn’t because she was a softie inside. However, this made his heart ache even more.
‘Aw man!! What have I done!?’ The arrogant boy suddenly fell into a state of self-loathing.
He then noticed the handsome boy who stood beside him wordlessly.
This guy… was actually quite smart.
Thinking about what this person had spoken and done, Tetsuo could only shamefully admit to himself that the other boy had completely outwitted him!
Seigo Harano… from Genhana High School.
Tetsuo etched this name into his mind.