Chapter 31

“It’s so good to see all of you again,” said Noriko and clapped her hands together in a cheerful manner. “I hope all of you had fun over winter break” The others were about to tell about their holidays, when Iyori let out a huff of air, gaining everyone’s attention with her depression expression as she rested her chin in her hand.

“What’s with you? School making you depressed already?” asked Keiko.

“Did you have too many plans over your holidays so you didn’t have time to recharge?” asked Mei concerned.

“Did you and Shuya have a fight?” Yusuke’s words were the only ones to get a reaction out of Iyori and everyone stared at her when she lifted her head for the first time.

“N... No...” stuttered Iyori as she looked at Yusuke.

“Then why isn’t he here? Why didn’t you come together?” continued Yusuke, while the other three followed from the background, like the were watching a soap opera.

“We don’t have to come here together, besides, he might have other plans today,” said Iyori and diverted her eyes.

“Sure, but you always know each other’s plans to the core,” said Yusuke. “Something’s up!” In the same second as Yusuke spoke those words, the door opened and Shuya walked in, surprising everyone in the club room.

“And the protagonist appears,” whispered Keiko to the other girls.

“H... Hello...” said Shuya and waved his hand awkwardly. “Everyone’s back from winter break, I see.” Nobody replied as they were too busy looking at Iyori for a reaction, but she didn't speak at all. She simply got up from her chair and walked to the door without making eye contact.

“Iyori,” said Shuya and put his hand on her shoulder, making her stop for a moment. “Can we talk?”

“No,” said Iyori, still looking away, whereafter she broke free and left the club room. 

The silence overshadowed everything, the tension in the air so thick it could be cut with a knife, but Shuya tried his best to break it with an awkward laughter while walking over to the rest of the members.

“I guess it wouldn’t be that easy,” said Shuya and sat down next to Yusuke.

“Dude, what did you do to make her so angry?” asked Yusuke.

“Did you call her fat?” asked Keiko.

“Did you speak ill of her sketches?” asked Noriko.

“Did you flirt with another girl?” asked Mei.

“No, no and NO!” said Shuya firmly. “No... in fact... I think I did something much worse. I yelled at her when I wasn’t feeling like myself and I told her some really hurtful things.”

“That’s not so bad, is it? You can just apologize,” said Yusuke and looked at the girls who all shook their heads simultaneously. 

“No, Shuya is right, this is bad,” said Keiko. 

“Words stay with us for a long time, girls are sensitive, don’t you know that, Shuya?” said Mei and hit him on the shoulder.

“Ouch!” said Shuya as he winced in pain.

“You need to be gentle with girls, especially Iyori,” said Noriko. “She’s not as strong as she look.” Shuya looked at the door that was still half open.

“I know,” said Shuya. “But she won’t talk to me. Look, I tried texting her every day over winter break.” Shuya held out his phone and all four put their heads together to read through the depressing one sided conversation.

Shuya

I’m sorry, can’t we talk?

...

I didn’t mean it, it was the shock talking.

...

I want to understand you too, I’m sorry for hurting you.

...

Please talk to me, I want to make it up to you.

...

The messages kept going in the same manner, and the girls looked up with a pitiful expression and let out a sigh.

“It’s sad, you’re trying so hard,” said Keiko. “But texts rarely work in these cases. A conversation face to face is the only thing that works.”

“Yes, I already figured that out,” said Shuya. “But how do I get her to talk? I tried talking to her several times today, but she keeps pushing me away.”

“Of course she does, you hurt her,” said Mei. “Now you need to show her that you care enough about her to fight for her. So even if she tells you to go, don’t.”

“Don’t?” said Shuya and the three girls nodded.

“Girls are complicated,” said Yusuke and let out a sigh. “But in a way, it makes sense.”

“Ugh, I thought so,” said Shuya. “Fine, I’ll go talk to her, if I can find her.”

***

After walking around the school for half an hour, Shuya nearly gave up, thinking she probably went home already. For a minute he thought about going back to the club room, but he already knew what kind of look they would give him and he wasn’t up for that either. Instead he walked to his classroom and sat down at his desk, looking out of the window. The sky was painted a clear blue with no cloud in sight. 

This time of winter was the most beautiful, the streets were like a white canvas and the wind was silent, making for a nice atmosphere when walking around outside. 

The only problem was the cold, no matter how many layers Shuya put on, he always felt cold when he was walking to and from school. 

He started wondering how Iyori used to approach the winter on her dates. She would be insane to wear high heels in the snow. Hopefully she had some nice warm boots she could wear, a warm jacket and a scarf. 

Shuya took out his phone and went into his contacts. He clicked on Iyori’s number and listened to the phone calling. It went on for a number of seconds, but eventually went to voicemail, leaving Shuya with the same empty feeling as before. 

This is stupid, thought Shuya to himself, I’m going home.

After putting away his phone, Shuya got up from the chair he was sitting on and took a step forward, but he stopped when he saw a person walking inside the classroom.

“Iyori!” exclaimed Shuya when he saw Iyori, who froze on the spot, mouth half open and eyes open wide as she looked at Shuya.

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” said Shuya and walked closer to Iyori. “I thought you went home already.”

“I... I was about to go home...” said Iyori and diverted her eyes. “I just forgot one of my books.”

“You’re studying alone?” asked Shuya and the silent reply was enough answer for him. “Why are you being like this?” Iyori turned her head in a quick motion and looked at Shuya with annoyance.

“Why? Have you forgotten about all the things you said?” Shuya quickly swallowed his words and took in a deep breath. 

“No, of course not. I haven’t stopped thinking about. I feel horrible,” said Shuya, hoping his gentle voice would convey his feelings right. “That’s why I’ve been trying to get in touch with you. So I could apologize.” Iyori lifted her eyes slightly and looked at Shuya for a second without saying anything. Her arms were crossed and she stayed in the doorway as Shuya spoke.

“I wasn’t in my right mind that day. My... pride... had been crushed. And I was scared. Scared because it felt like my grades just kept dropping and I didn’t know how to deal with that. I let myself take it out on you and that’s not okay. I’m really, really sorry about all the things I said.” Shuya took a stance and bowed down in front of Iyori, making her loosen up and look at him.

“Wait–” said Iyori and reached out.

“No, I want you to know how sorry I am,” said Shuya.

“Alright, enough, I get it already, we... we both said some stupid things,” said Iyori and Shuya slowly stood up straight again. 

“Does that mean you forgive me?” asked Shuya, trying hard not to smile too much.

“...I guess,” said Iyori with a sigh. “It’s too hard studying on my own, anyway. I need your help.”

Shuya looked at Iyori while his smile only grew wider and even she couldn’t keep the poker face anymore. Both of them slowly approached each other and when Shuya held out his arms, Iyori let herself be embraced.

“Let’s not fight anymore,” said Shuya and Iyori nodded while in his arms.

***

After parting ways, Iyori walked home while enjoying the crunching sound of snow beneath her shoes. Even small things like that made her smile at this point. 

When she turned a corner, she spotted a certain familiar person in the distance, and Iyori decided to run up to her and pushed her so she jumped up in the air out of surprise.

“Iyori,” said Hanako while still holding her chest where her heart nearly bust a second ago. “Why did you scare me like that?” Iyori just shrugged her shoulders.

“Just felt like it,” said Iyori and started walking next to Hanako. “Did you just finish club activities?”

“What? Yes...” said Hanako a little confused. “You seem to be in a better mood.”

“What do you mean?” asked Iyori with a slight laugh.

“You are asking me about my day and walking home with me,” said Hanako and Iyori rolled her eyes. “You must’ve made up with your boyfriend.” Iyori didn’t reply, but a smile quickly formed on her lips.

The two girls walked a few more steps in silence, looking into the distance as they moved forward.

“Iyori,” said Hanako all of a sudden and Iyori turned to look at her. “You and Shuya... Are you actually dating?”

“What?”

“I’m not asking to tease you, I ask because I want to know the truth.” Iyori looked at Hanako for a few more seconds before she turned her head and looked straight ahead again. She took in a deep breath and then gave a firm nod.

“Y... Yeah...”

“That’s what I feared,” said Hanako and looked ahead too.

“You don’t have to be so scared of my relationship with Shuya. He’s a good guy, really,” said Iyori in defense.

“Oh really?” asked Hanako and looked into Iyori’s eyes again. “What about his past? His temper? I mean, just look at his outburst the day we got the results back from the finals. He’s unstable.”

“That was because you provoked him. I have a bad temper too, you know,” said Iyori.

“Yes, that’s why I worry,” said Hanako. “I worry you too will fight all the time. You will both be too proud or too emotional to come to a peaceful conclusion. You will wear yourself out being in such a relationship.”

“N... No we wont!” said Iyori in a loud, but quivering voice. “We’ll be fine!”

“You don’t even believe that yourself, didn’t you have a fight before winter break that ended up with you not talking to him for an entire week?” Iyori closed her mouth, having no good comeback to that.

“See, I told you,” said Hanako after a while of silence. She stopped walking, as they had reached the house and stood outside the gate to the garden.

“And so what if we had a fight? We’re not perfect, but we like each other and we’re trying our best. So you don’t get to judge us or our relationship! Just... mind your own business!” yelled Iyori and ran inside the house. 

“Welcome back,” said Hina in a cheerful voice, but Iyori was busy throwing her shoes in the corner and aggressively taking her coat off. A second later Hanako walked through the door and Iyori gave her a glare before walking away from her.

“W... Welcome home Hanako,” said Hina and looked at Iyori who seemed to take refugee in the living room. “Did something happen?”

“No, just Iyori being Iyori,” said Hanako with a sigh. “I’ll be in my room until dinner.”

“Alright,” said Hina and smiled, whereafter Hanako walked past the living and went to her room.

***

“Did you two have a fight again?” asked Aiko who was sitting in the other sofa in the living room.

“I don’t want to talk about it, I don’t want to talk to anyone,” said Iyori while looking away. “I would go to my room, but if I do, she’ll be there, so I’ll just sit here in silence, thank you.”

“Alright,” said Aiko and went silent too, turning her attention back to the show running on the TV. It was some kind of family drama about rich people and and heirs and heiresses. Internal fights, great schemes, lies and deceives. Iyori didn’t follow much of the plot, but the dramatic conversations and fights happening all the time, only made her mood much worse.

“At least our family isn’t as complicated as that,” said Aiko and laughed. 

“I guess,” said Iyori. “Still, it would be nice if we could just get along.” Aiko looked at Iyori and saw the saddened expression in her eyes.

“Don’t look like that, I know it might be annoying to fight with your sister, but that’s what sisters do,” said Aiko. “It’s only because Hanako cares so much about you.”

“She has a weird way of showing it,” said Iyori.

“No really, think about it. If she didn’t care about you, she would just ignore you. The fact that she’s willing to spend so much time and effort to fight you, is because she genuinely cares about you.” Iyori looked at Aiko, wondering if she could accept the statement she just made, but even if she couldn't, she didn’t have any kind of comeback.

“She was always the confrontational type of person. She never backs down from a fight and she always speaks her mind. She don’t want a misunderstanding to ruin things,” said Iyori. “I do... respect her for that. I just get scared and run away. I... I ignore the people around me.” Aiko looked at Iyori as she spoke and she suddenly looked up, locking eyes with Aiko.

“But that’s not because I don’t care about those people,” said Iyori.

“No, I know,” said Aiko. “You’re just a little scared of confrontations.”

“A little?” said Iyori sarcastically.

“It’s okay, it’s something you can work on and with time, you can get better at it,” said Aiko. “And that's because people like Hanako who won’t back down, who pushes you to actually talk about things instead of running away. Making you realize you won’t die just because you have a fight.”

“Yeah...” said Iyori. “I know.” Aiko sent Iyori a smile and both of them continued watching the tv show in silence. 

“Oh no!” yelled Hina from the kitchen and Iyori and Aiko quickly turned their heads.

“What?” said Iyori and got up from the sofa.

“I forgot to buy rice the other day. We only have a little bit left, but it won’t be enough for all of us,” said Hina with a troubled look on her face. “I have to hurry to the corner store, can someone watch the food?”

“No, mom, that won't be necessary, I’ll just go,” said Iyori and walked to the hallway.

“Are you sure?” asked Hina and Iyori nodded while putting on her coat. 

“Thank you, dear! Here, money for the rice.” Iyori took the money and put them in her pocket, whereafter she opened the door.

“I’ll be right back.”

The store wasn’t very far away, and just buying rice wasn’t that big of a deal. She was in and out in no time. 

Before she knew it, she was already on her way back home. The silence and the cold air felt nice, it helped clear her head. When she was a few steps away from her house, she felt her phone vibrate.

Mom probably forgot to buy something else, thought Iyori when she took it out, but the message on her screen, made her freeze on the spot.

“WHY ARE YOU NOT WORKING?”

“COME BACK BEFORE I MAKE YOU REGRET IT!”

Hello everyone!

Our dear couple made up, but is Hanako right, will this relationship be nothing but fights? What do you think? Can the two of them manage?

And what will happen with this stalker case? Let me know what you think in the comments down below.

Take good care of yourself and stay safe!

Love, Annalise~