Chapter 38

"Sorry, s-sorry..."

A small shadow loses its balance and stumbles.

With her face hidden by the brim of her deeply pulled-down hat, she mumbled something softly and tried to pass by as if fleeing.

"Rena!"

As soon as he called out, the small back carrying a red backpack shrank and stopped.

Turning around, she looked up at Yuki with a face full of fear.

"Oh, i-it's just you, Yuki-kun..."

Rena finally seemed to realize that the person she had bumped into was Yuki.

She hurriedly took off her hat, scratched her head, and stuck out her tongue with a smile.

"I was playing with friends and got late."

"Why didn't you answer the phone?"

"Um, I was having so much fun that I didn't notice."

While saying this, Rena avoided Yuki's eyes entirely.

Instead, Yui, who stood beside her, glanced at Yuki as if she wanted to say something.

Yuki silenced her with a look, then slowly placed his hand on Rena's head and gently patted it.

"I see. If you had fun, that's good. But try not to be too late next time."

He spoke in his usual gentle, admonishing tone.

However, Rena remained bowed her head, saying nothing.

"Are you hungry? I bought you some beef bowl, so hurry and eat it."

When he tried to pull Rena's arm, she suddenly lifted her face and looked straight at Yuki.

Her eyes were brimming with tears, ready to spill over.

"Sorry, I lied. I lied..."

Rena's lips began to tremble and her mouth curved into a frown.

"I don't have any friends."

Large tears rolled down her cheeks and fell one after another.

Rena wiped her tears with her sleeve, sniffled, and began to sob.

"Hic, ugh, I tried... I tried to talk to people at school. But..."

"I see."

Nodding, Yuki bent down, wrapped his arms around Rena's body, and patted her back.

Her warm body and slight trembling were transmitted through his hands. As her hat fell to the floor, Rena buried her face and clung to his upper arm.

She continued to sob, her shoulders shaking, trying to stifle her sobs as much as possible.

"Where were you all this time?"

"At the park, in the... bathroom and... the supermarket... bathroom."

"I didn't check the bathrooms."

Maybe I was a bit too anxious.

I had completely relaxed, thinking Rena was fine.

---

"Look, Yuki, at the shine of this stone. It has incredible power, and I even took a day off to go all the way to Okinawa for it."

"How much did it cost?" "Don't talk about money all the time. Even Mom understood when I told her."

---

"No! I don't want to eat anything that's not made by Mom!"

"I don't want to go to school! I want to stay with Mom!"

She suddenly collapsed and was rushed to the hospital. It all happened so quickly.

There was no time to prepare mentally.

A gear that had shifted due to the loss of a single part.

It was important, very important... something that could never be the same again, something irreplaceable...

Maybe, no matter what I did, it was something I couldn't fix on my own.

"It's okay... it's okay."

He suppressed the rising black emotions by repeating these words to himself.

It will be okay. It has to be okay. I've come this far by doing just that.

It might be just a delusion, a belief only I held. Maybe it was just a coincidence that things went well. Maybe I just didn't break.

But I couldn't afford to sound weak or pitiful right now.

Yuki took a deep breath.

Then, he slowly exhaled, leaned close to Rena's ear, and whispered gently.

"Sorry, Rena."

"Why are you apologizing, Yuki-kun...?"

"I won't force you to make friends anymore."

"But you managed to get a girlfriend..."

"It's different. I was the one who lied first."

Letting go of Rena, Yuki glanced at Yui and then looked back at Rena.

"Yui isn't really my girlfriend."

"Eh...?"

Rena, who had not doubted it at all, looked up in surprise and asked Yui.

"Yui-chan... is that true?"

Feeling bad for revealing it without permission, but thinking it was about time, Yuki tried to apologize with a look. Yui looked at Rena, then at Yuki, and burst out laughing.

"Hehe, what's that? ...No way, suddenly making a weird joke. Yuki-kun, are you teasing me?"

Her usual playful tone made Yuki's eyes widen.

Yui bent down to pick up the hat, met Rena's eyes, placed the hat on her head, and smiled.

"Even with such a strange older brother, you can still get a cute five-star girlfriend. Rena-chan, don't rush. Take your time and try your best."

Don't rush. Take your time and try your best.

Yui's words to Rena seemed to be directed at Yuki as well.

With those words, the tension in his body eased, and he felt a weight lift from his chest.

What was I so anxious about?

I was supposed to be doing this all along.

While stroking Rena's head, Yui glanced at Yuki and secretly put her index finger to her lips, winking.

Feeling a lump in his throat and unable to speak, Yuki listened as Yui said in a bright voice,

"Yuki-kun, don't look so scary. Be serious! Yui-chan doesn't like this kind of atmosphere... I hate silence..."

Yui rummaged through her bag and pulled out a notebook.

It looked familiar, and upon closer inspection, it was the same joke notebook from before.

Yui flipped through the pages and said,

"In times like this, I should deliver a funny joke... Ah, here's a good one. The topic: Kerokun successfully made his high school debut. But as time goes by, his friends keep leaving. Why?"

Yuki and Rena stared at each other in confusion as Yui, ignoring their bewilderment, read aloud from the notebook.

"His quack is clearly a duck. Or he quacks."

"He ends his sentences with 'gyo gyo?'"

"He suddenly flies really well."

"When he's in trouble, he says 'ryou sei chuu neen!'"

"2D. Can't come out of the T-shirt."

Yuki and Rena watched Yui's solo joke session without even a chuckle.

Yui, perhaps getting a bit anxious, said,

"Frog, but athlete's foot! Hemorrhoids!"

It was getting a bit random.

Just then, a young couple passing by glanced at Yui and walked past.

"Hehe, hemorrhoids, hehe..."

"No, no, it's not hemorrhoids!"

Yui, blushing and desperately trying to explain, was met with a forced laugh and the couple hurried away.

Seeing this, Rena burst out laughing, wiping her red eyes and giggling.

Yuki's lips curved into a smile, and before he knew it, he was laughing out loud.

Yui, you're really hemorrhoids. No, you're an angel.

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