Chapter 28

Iyori woke up to the sound of her sister’s alarm ringing, and before Hanako had the time to roll over and turn it off, Iyori jumped out of bed and nearly scared the living soul out of Hanako.

“’Morning,” said Iyori while she went to her closet.

“...Good morning,” said Hanako while she turned off her alarm and sat up on her bed. Iyori still had her back against Hanako who continued staring at her sister in utter confusion.

“Who are you and what did you do to my sister?” said Hanako, and Iyori finally turned around.

“What do you mean?” said Iyori.

“You’ve never gotten out of bed so fast, I thought the world was about to end with the speed you were going at,” said Hanako.

“You’re overreacting,” said Iyori. “You’re alarm is just so noisy I wouldn’t be able to sleep for even a second longer.” Iyori grabbed her uniform and headed to the door.

“My alarm isn't any louder than it usually is, and you’ve never had a problem sleeping through it,” said Hanako.

“Well, it felt louder today,” said Iyori in return. “I’m gonna use the bathroom first today.” Iyori quickly dashed out of the room, while Hanako was still trying to wrap her head around the situation.

“Wait,” managed Hanako to yell, but the door had already been shut and Iyori was long gone. For a few seconds, Hanako kept staring at the closed door, until she shook her head and let out a sigh, whereafter she started getting up as well.

Aiko, who had just woken up, heard the water running in the bathroom and decided to go make herself and the others some breakfast. That way, it would be ready when Hanako was out of the shower, and Iyori might want something too, when she finally woke up as well.

After putting on her apron, she checked on little Natsumi who was still sound asleep. Until now she had been the easiest baby, rarely crying, and always sleeping when Aiko was sleeping, but others had already told her that this period of peace wouldn’t last forever. So Aiko decided to make the best of it while she could.

She gently opened the door so she wouldn't make any noise, but when she stepped out into the halllway, she nearly clashed with Hanako.

“Hanako,” said Aiko and widened her eyes. “Aren’t you in the shower?”

“No, that’s Iyori,” said Hanako and saw the confusion in Aiko’s eyes grow bigger. “Yes, I know, she’s gone crazy.” Hanako shook her head again and walked to the kitchen where she met with her mother who had already begun the daily chores. Aiko quickly joined and all of them started preparing breakfast.

While Hanako set the table, Aiko heard Natsumi making some noise, probably about to wake up, and she quickly went to her room and brought her back to the kitchen where she fed her. Just a minute later, Iyori came running out of the bathroom and while everyone in the kitchen waited in anticipation, she ran right past them and went to the entrance.

“Iyori, you need breakfast,” yelled Hina when she saw her daughter putting on her shoes. Iyori stopped mid action and hopped on one leg to the kitchen where she made a quick scan and then grabbed a piece of toast.

“I’ll just have this,” said Iyori and smiled at her mother, a brighter smile than anyone had seen her wear in that house for a long time. 

“I’ll see you later.”

“Y...Yes... bye!” yelled Hina, still taken aback by the smile, and a second later, they heard the door closing, followed by an overshadowing silence.

“Told you, she’s gone crazy,” said Hanako and started eating her breakfast.

“No... she’s just... really enthusiastic to go to school,” said Aiko, but the words tasted wrong when she spoke them.

“Should I be worried?” asked Hina after sitting down at the table with the others. “I mean... she’s not acting like herself.”

“You’re right, she’s acting... happy,” said Aiko and smiled. “But that’s a good thing. Let’s just be happy that she’s happy.”

“You’re right,” said Hina and let out a sigh of relief. “I hope she stays that way.”

***

On her way to school, Iyori kept her hand on her chest, wondering why her heart was beating so fast and why she felt out of breath, even though she was walking in a slow pace. But as she wondered, her thoughts went back to the cultural festival and she immediately felt her cheeks heating up. She shook her head and tried to think of something else, hoping the people around her just assumed it was the cold morning breeze painting her cheeks in a bright red.

As she neared the school ground, she took out her phone and looked at the time. It really was early. He probably wasn’t even there yet. Should she text him and ask? No, that seemed a little drastic. He would be there eventually. 

Iyori almost turned off her phone and put it away, when she felt it vibrating in her hand and her screen lit up. It only took a split second for her face, one that had looked so bright and happy, to turn dark.

She stopped walking. 

All sounds disappeared and all she heard was her beating heart. But it wasn’t beating the same way as before. It hurt, like it was about to jump out of her chest. Her airways felt blocked, her throat closed in and her vision blurred, but she forced herself to focus and read the text message one more time.

“WHY ARE YOU SPENDING TIME WITH HIM INSTEAD OF WORKING?” 

With her heart still pounding, Iyori took in a deep breath.

“Who are you?”

“Why are you doing this?”

For the first time since the messages began, Iyori replied. 

She stayed in the same spot, staring mindlessly at the chat on her phone, waiting and waiting, not knowing whether to hope for a reply or not.

But then it came and Iyori felt her mind going blank when it ticked in. It took her moment before she realized that it wasn’t a message this time. It was a picture.

“S...Shuya...” Iyori whispered to herself as she looked at the picture of her and Shuya standing in the art club room. It was dark, he was standing close to her, while her back was against the wall. This was right before their kiss. 

Another picture ticked in and Iyori widened her eyes even more. A continuation from the picture before that. This time Shuya’s face was close to hers, their lips were touching.

“He was looking,” said Iyori while thinking back on the other night and she suddenly felt the toast from earlier in the morning starting to come up. 

She quickly ran to the side of the road, leaning forward in preparation to throat up. Her stomach did a few twists and turns, but nothing happened. Nothing came out, expect a few tears she suddenly saw falling to the ground as she stood bend over. 

She took out her phone again and looked at the pictures.

Why?

***

When Shuya walked through the school gate, and changed from his outdoor shoes to his indoor shoes, he couldn’t stop looking around. He ccanning every student, every face he saw, but he was filled with regret every time. 

Maybe she wasn’t there yet, it was still early and she never came until last minute. But even still. Today. 

Of all days he felt like today might be the day where she would come in early.

In a fast pace, Shuya walked to their classroom, still on the lookout, and when he entered it, he finally found what he was looking for. Sitting at her desk, looking down at her phone.

“Good morning,” said Shuya and Iyori’s eyes shot up, looking at him with nothing but horror. She immediately turned off her phone and hid it behind her back.

“Wow, what’s going on, why are you looking at me like that?” said Shuya with a nervous laughter, but the fear in Iyori’s eyes didn’t falter.

“Iyori?” said Shuya and looked at her in worry, but in the same second, Iyori got up from her chair.

“I...” stuttered Iyori without making eye contact. “I need to use the bathroom before class begins.” Iyori dashed out of the classroom, without Shuya being able to say or do anything. 

Trying to stop himself from worrying, Shuya sat down at his own desk, waiting for her to return. 

It’s fine, it’s fine, Shuya told himself in his head over and over again. You knew it might be awkward, you can handle this. All you need to do is talk to her. 

Time passed by and there was only a few minutes left before class would begin, but Iyori still hadn’t returned. Her sister, on the other hand, had walked into the classroom a few minutes ago, looking very confused when she didn’t see Iyori anywhere. Of course she came to Shuya for answers, and he did his best to play it cool, simply telling her that she had gone to the bathroom and would probably be back soon. The same words he had told himself since she left.

“Good morning students.” The voice of Fuyoko made Shuya's heart stop for a second. 

Class had begun and Iyori wasn’t back. What was going on? Where did she go?

Fuyoko had already begun teaching, when suddenly, the door opened and Iyori walked in, bowing apologetically to Fuyoko before she went back to her seat.

“What took you so long?” Shuya heard Hanako ask as Iyori walked past her.

“S... Stomachache,” answered Iyori and Hanako let out a sigh.

“That’s what happens when you only eat toasts for breakfast every morning.”

***

The first half of the day felt longer than usual. Shuya barely paid attention to what Fuyoko was saying, his mind was filled only with Iyori, who looked even more absentminded than usual. 

She looked... scared.

When the bell rang for lunch break, Shuya was fast, but not as fast as Iyori. She left the classroom before he even had time to blink and he wasn’t able to find her before the bell rang again.

The day was about to end and Shuya had a hunch she would pull the same stunt again, so he took out his phone and hid it under the table while he sent her a quick text message.

“After school, on the roof. Let’s meet.” It didn’t take more than a second before the text was marked with “read”, but there was no reply. 

Now, all he could do was hope.

***

Just as he imagined, Iyori was gone the second school had finished and Fuyoko started packing up for the day. Even though he was worried she probably left school grounds already, Shuya decided to use the little faith he had left and went to the rooftop. He opened the door and was blinded by the sun, but when he got his vision back, all he did was sigh. Iyori was nowhere to be found, the only people there were two students who looked like the were about to kiss.

Shuya slowly backed out again, hoping he hadn’t disturbed them too much. 

He was just about to walk down the stairs when he felt his phone vibrating and he quickly took it out.

“There were people there,” read the message from Iyori. “Let’s meet behind the school.”

Shuya didn’t even take a moment to hesitate and just went into a spurt, flying down the stairs, down the hallway, past the teacher who didn’t have enough time to stop him, and outside, to the back of the school building.

Out of breath Shuya looked around and finally spotted Iyori standing in a dark corner, looking like she was on the watch.

“There you are,” said Shuya and walked over to her, still a little out of breath.

“Did you run here?” asked Iyori and Shuya nodded.

“Yeah, I was at the rooftop, so I wanted to hurry back before you disappeared again,” said Shuya.

“S... Sorry...” said Iyori in a low voice while looking away. 

When Shuya felt like he could breathe normally again, he took in a deep breath.

“So, are you gonna tell me what’s going on now?” Iyori continued diverting her eyes, and no matter which way Shuya tilted his head, she wouldn’t look at him. He suddenly felt his hands getting sweaty and he looked away too.

“It’s about the kiss, isn’t it?” Iyori suddenly looked up and saw the nervous look on Shuya’s face. “It’s... making you uncomfortable, isn’t it?” 

“No!” said Iyori with all the strength she had, even though it wasn’t a lot. “That’s not–”

“No, it’s okay, you can tell me, I can take it,” said Shuya and looked at her with a sad smile. “You reacted in the heat of the moment. If you regret it now, just tell me.”

“Shuya...” Iyori felt her eyes getting teary and her chest hurt when she looked at him.

“You’ve been avoiding me all day, you won’t even look at me, I know that should send a pretty clear message, but I still need to hear it from you.”

“Stop!” yelled Iyori and Shuya looked at her again, seeing the tears flowing from her eyes and her body shivering while she held onto her phone for dear life.

“I don’t... I don’t regret anything...” said Iyori while the tears ran down her cheeks. “That’s not...”

“Iyori, what’s wrong?” said Shuya and put his hands on her shoulders. “You’re shivering.” 

Iyori looked up, looking directly into Shuya’s eyes.

“Something’s... something's happened.”

Shuya wrapped his arms around Iyori as she broke down and he held her close, keeping her warm as she continued crying. For a long time, she unable to explain anything or even try to put it into words.

“It’s okay, I’m here,” said Shuya in a gentle voice as he stroke her back. “It’s okay.”

When she finally calmed down a little and the cries had stopped, Shuya slowly drew away from her and looked into her eyes.

“Do you feel a little better now?” asked Shuya and Iyori nodded.

“Iyori, please tell me what’s going on,” said Shuya and Iyori looked at him while holding her breath. She looked at him for a few seconds in silence, whereafter lifted her face to the sky and took in a deep breath.

“Okay... but you have to promise me something.”

“Anything.”

“You have to promise me you won’t freak out and do something reckless.”

“O... Okay...” said Shuya, even though he felt like that statement of hers made it clear this was worse than he thought. “Look, I’ll stay calm, so just tell me.” 

Iyori took another moment to prepare herself and then held out his phone to him. After unlocking it, she went into her messages and showed them to him. While he read through them all, she saw his eyes grow wider and wider, until he looked back at her, holding up the phone with the picture of them kissing.

“What’s this?” said Shuya, anger the only emotions present on his face. “Is something harassing you? When did this start?” Shuya went back in the messages and found the timestamp on the first message.

“So long ago, why didn’t you tell me?” yelled Shuya and Iyori took a step back.

“Because, I knew you would react this way,” said Iyori. Shuya looked into her eyes and saw the fear, mostly turned towards the messages on the phone, but also slightly turned towards Shuya himself, and he forced himself to take a deep breath.

“Sorry... I’m sorry...” said Shuya while taking in another deep breath. “I’m calm now. So just... please tell me everything from the beginning.” 

Iyori slowly started explaining about the first message she received after their school trip, how she convinced herself that it was just a spam message, how scared she was when she received the first picture of her and Mao, and how she didn’t dare tell Shuya about it because he was already losing his mind because of what Mao did.

“I just thought it would stop on its own...” said Iyori. “I didn’t want to tell you... I didn’t want you to worry. But now... I’m scared.” Iyori looked up and into Shuya’s eyes, her own on the brink of tears again.

“I know, it’s okay now,” said Shuya and embraced her again. “I’m glad you told me about it. I don’t want you to go around being scared on your own. You’re not allowed to do that.”

“...Why not?” said Iyori, a little hesitant.

“Because, from now on, you have me to take care of you. If something happens, you tell me. You tell me and we’ll find a way to deal with the problem. You never have to be alone again. I promise you that.”

Hello everyone!

Sharing a problem with someone who cares about you really is the best feeling and best help in a tough situation. Let's hope they can help each other face this together.

But what did you think of the chapter? Please let me know in the comments down below!

And I hope you're all staying happy and healthy, wherever you are in the world. Take good care of yourself.

Love, Annalise~