Chapter 37: A Story That Wasn’t in the Novel (2)

Aya’s expression crumbled.

Normally, Aya would never be shaken, but now she was.

As if she couldn’t believe it,

As if it were hard to accept…

“Accident…?”

Aya’s voice trembled low.

Aya’s blue eyes also shook.

Senior Reina hesitated to speak for a very short time.

Then she quietly closed her eyes.

“After that, I stopped performing within the academy.”

Senior said calmly.

But I felt a chill run down my spine for a moment.

“……”

Aya began to tremble quietly.

I gently grabbed her hand.

If I didn’t do that now…

It was as if Aya would collapse.

“Aya was young at the time, so it’s natural that you don’t remember.”

At Senior’s words, Aya suddenly started to cry.

“…It wasn’t a simple accident.”

Aya’s voice was low.

It was a voice filled with more emotion than any other words I had heard before.

“After that time, you gave up everything.”

I reflexively looked at Aya.

Aya’s shoulders were trembling.

Senior Reina, too, put strength into the fingertips holding the teacup.

“…That’s right.”

Senior quietly acknowledged.

“It was a big accident.”

Senior Reina continued speaking, looking out the window.

Senior’s voice clearly showed signs of trying to hide something.

Aya looked straight at her sister and said in a low voice.

“What are you hiding?”

At that moment, Senior slightly lowered her eyes.

And.

“…That’s right.”

Senior told the truth.

“Aya lost her memory of that day. Because it was too shocking.”

“……”

A story that wasn’t in the novel.

Chills ran down my spine as the reality of it was revealed.

But Senior Reina, the person involved, calmly explained the situation at the time, as if looking at it in the third person.

“That day, I was playing the piano on the outdoor stage. It was the performance that decorated the end of the spring festival. The last stage where the academy and the region enjoyed together.”

Senior brought out a story buried deep in her heart for a long time.

“After finishing the performance, I walked backstage. Then, I accidentally… overheard.”

I swallowed for a moment.

Senior Reina smiled faintly, but that smile didn’t last long.

“Until then, I didn’t know. That our family was involved in breaking the bridge between the academy and the region.”

Senior stopped speaking for a moment and lightly rolled the teacup with her fingertips.

“That day, I overheard the conversation between the academy’s board of directors and the chamber of commerce executives. To maintain the academy’s brand value, and to make it a more ‘prestigious academy’, they were planning to completely exclude Shirasaki from the spring festival.”

I swallowed for a moment.

“And… I learned that the one who brought up that discussion was our family.”

Senior took a sip of black tea and continued.

“I heard that… and I couldn’t say anything.”

Senior closed her eyes.

It was as if she was reliving the memory of that time.

“And… when the discussion between the academy’s board of directors and the chamber of commerce executives was over, I was about to go down the stage… but I was so focused on that sound that I missed my step.”

Senior put down the teacup and lightly swept the table with her fingertips.

“I fell down the stairs.”

“……!”

I felt Aya’s body, whose hand I was holding, stiffen.

“At that time… I hit my head hard.”

“……”

We were at a loss for words.

“And, when I came to, I was in the hospital. I was unconscious for several days because I had severely injured my head, and it took a long time for my body to recover properly.”

Senior said calmly.

As if she were talking about someone else.

“But, I was too badly injured, my body wasn’t the same as before. I realized that I could no longer be the perfect Yukikawa, having to go to the hospital countless times due to my weakened body.”

Senior smiled faintly.

“After that accident, I stopped actively participating in academy events and family affairs. The things the family had to take care of, the role as a successor, I naturally pushed all of those to Aya.”

I swallowed.

Now all the pieces were put together.

Senior Reina wasn’t a ‘soft person’ from the beginning.

She was originally a strong person, and a person who was expected by the family and the academy.

However, after the accident, she realized her limitations in her fallen state, and she herself gave up the ‘perfect position’.

And, Aya forgot about it due to the shock of that day.

Probably, seeing a perfect person become so weak, it must have been a big accident.

I quietly looked at Aya.

“Once again… I’m sorry, Aya.”

Aya didn’t say a single word while listening to Senior’s voice.

Senior looked at such a younger sister and smiled faintly.

After a moment of silence, Aya said in a trembling voice.

“You didn’t tell me that… When I asked why you weren’t becoming perfect like Yukikawa… you could have told me…”

“I didn’t want to tell you because I was worried that Aya would worry, and I was glad that you lost your memory of that day.”

“Then why now…!”

“Because there’s someone you can trust by your side, Aya.”

Aya’s shoulders were trembling.

I felt like I had to hold Aya somehow, so I held her trembling hand tightly.

“Anyway, with that incident as an opportunity, the relationship between Takamori Academy and Shirasaki was completely severed. Since the president of the Shirasaki Street Chamber of Commerce made the stage, the family used that as an excuse to cut ties as they wanted.”

Senior let out a quiet sigh.

“And…”

Senior took a sip of black tea.

Her long eyelashes trembled slightly.

After Senior’s story was over, the room became strangely quiet.

In an atmosphere where the cold air seemed to have settled, I quietly looked at Aya.

Aya’s blue eyes were shaking slightly.

Normally, Aya would never waver… but right now, she was definitely shaking.

“……”

Aya didn’t say anything.

She just quietly got up from her seat and shook off my hand.

“Aya?”

Senior Reina quietly called her name, but Aya didn’t answer.

Aya moved her steps with her lips firmly closed as if she were chewing on something.

“…I’ll be going.”

Aya opened the door and left.

I reflexively got up from my seat and looked at her back.

Aya’s steps were much faster and firmer than usual.

“Ah, I too…!”

I hurriedly followed Aya.

I saw Aya’s back as she walked down the long hallway towards the entrance.

‘Aya… I hope you don’t have any bad thoughts…’

Aya’s steps seemed to be trying to shake something off.

This wasn’t just being angry, it was the appearance of a person in deep confusion.

‘…That’s to be expected.’

She learned the truth about her sister that she didn’t know until now.

The fact that the reason she became the successor was not a simple choice, but because of an accident.

And the fact that it was the direct cause of the night market no longer being held.

I took one step, one step closer to Aya and opened my mouth.

“Aya, are you okay?”

It was that moment.

“Ah…!”

I tripped over something and lost my balance.

Because Aya suddenly stopped, I fell forward without having time to avoid it.

‘Ah, no!’

I reflexively closed my eyes and stretched out my hands forward.

But…

“……”

The expected impact didn’t come.

I was being held by something soft.

I carefully opened my eyes.

And what I met was…

Blue eyes filled with tears.

“…Rina.”

It was too close.

Too… too close!

My mind went blank for a moment.

Aya was catching me, and I was in her arms.

And my hand…

‘Pu, pudding…?!’

The word that automatically popped into my head.

I reflexively pulled my hand away, and my face instantly flushed red.

“Ah, no! It’s not like that at all! This, it’s, it’s just…!”

I waved my hands frantically and made excuses.

But Aya sighed with a tired expression.

“Rina, you have to be careful.”

That tone was, a little… tired yet gentle.

Aya reached out her hand and lightly stroked my head.

The one who should be comforted is Aya, not me…

“Aya… are you okay?”

At my dimly spoken words, Aya smiled faintly.

But that smile, unlike usual, was filled with Aya’s complicated thoughts.

“Yes. I’m fine, Rina. But… I, I need some time to think.”

She said that and took her steps again.

I couldn’t hold her back, and just stood there.

‘Aya…’

And if I know Aya in the novel well.

I judged that it would be better not to follow Aya now.

Because Aya will need time.

After that, even my memory was faint.

I remember greeting Senior Reina and leaving the house and coming home…

But the end was a shock to me too…

“I understand that the protagonist role keeps being given to me…”

But a lucky pervert event in that serious situation.

Even I thought it was too absurd, so I don’t know how many times I wiped my face with my palm after coming home.

Anyway, let’s think about the embarrassing things later.

A Li○e message came from Aya.

Aya: Rina.

Rina: Yes! Tell me.

Aya: Thank you… for today.

Rina: Aya… are you really okay?

Aya: Of course. If it weren’t for Rina, I might have erased today’s memory too.

Rina: Ah… (｡•́︿•̀｡) Aya…

Aya: Rina.

Rina: Yes?

Aya: Today… I might have relied on Rina.

“Waaaaaaah!”

I was lying in bed doing Li○e, and I screamed out loud and turned over and rolled around once.

And… I was scolded by my mom for screaming at night…