Introduction

// Eight months after graduation //

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"What?! You broke up?!" a blue-haired girl in a ponytail cried out with her hands slamming on Hayami's desk.

Standing on the left was their hazel-browned classmate with a curvy figure. "Yeah. I was the one who initiated it," she said matter-of-factly with her hand on her outthrust hip.

The blue-haired girl looked dumbfoundedly at the school's mature beauty. This was the girl who all the boys have been drooling over and who all the girls have been envying upon in silence. That is all girls except for these two, Hayami and Inoue, who she has been hanging out with in class.

"B-But why? I thought he matched all of your standards?"

After heaving out a sigh, the hazel-brown stated, "I'm getting tired with our relationship. It's a constant cycle of fighting, then, making up. Then fighting and then making up again. Honestly, it's become a hassle."

Hayami flinched at the similarity of those words to her current situation, albeit not the fighting part.

"That's a shame," the blue hair uttered before flicking her gaze to the emerald-eyed girl, who was sitting down in the middle with her orange waves resting on her shoulders, "Right, Hayami?"

Her thoughts interrupted, Hayami blinked at the blue-haired girl's dark green orbs. Then she simply nodded in reply.

"You looked lost in your thoughts. Is something bothering you?" the hazel brown beauty queried.

Hayami rose on her feet, pushing the chair behind her. "I'm sorry. I have to go to my club," she said, dismissing her friend's question.

Thinking that she probably needed some space for now, the two let her be. As she shuffled out of the classroom, worried stares followed her back.

As she practiced her steps for the Jazz Dance Club, Hayami mulled over her relationship with him and what she was going to do about it. It's been bothering her for weeks and she couldn't tell if it was the same for him. Like what her friend had said earlier, she was also getting fed up.

Thankfully, the other members of the club noticed her glum expression and left her alone in peace. They knew better than to try meddling with her affairs.

After practice, Hayami rode the bus to Shibuya Station instead of walking straight to her house. Then she took the train to Meguro Station.

'What if he was still in school?'

She thought about sending him a message first, but- 'No. I've already made up my mind. I need to do this once and for all.'

Walking on the street alone, she remembered the times when they would trek down the mountain after school in silence. It wasn't awkward at all since their close proximity was enough to make the moment precious for both of them.

But that was back then.

When the familiar three-story building had come into view, she halted her footsteps. Looking up, her eyes zeroed in on the third door of the second floor. Her clutch on her bag tightened before she started moving her feet towards the stairs.

Every step was heavy. In each breath, she reminded herself that it would be fine. That everything would work out.

When she arrived in front of the dull-looking brown door, she lifted her finger to the doorbell.

Ding! Dong!

Sounds of languid footsteps resounded as the wooden floor creaked. When the door had swung open, she was greeted by a shocked expression of a tall lean boy with a black fringe covering his eyes.

Her unprecedented arrival brought a lag to his brain. She had done this twice in the past and for completely different reasons – the first one was for her personal reasons and the second one was due to the knavery of her former classmates.

Before he could draw out any conclusion or even say something, she had already beaten him to the punch. With this, her words brought his mind to a full stop.

"Let's break up," she said in a monotone voice.