After class, I stood for a few more minutes by the school gates.
Today…
Hayato went to the boxing club again.
Before, I would probably have just gone home.
But now…
I involuntarily remembered Kurisaki-kun’s words.
“If you want to achieve something, stop standing still.”
I smiled quietly to myself.
“Okay…
Then let’s start small.”
I took out my phone.
My fingers hovered over the screen for a few seconds.
“Should I write?”
“No…”
“What if I bother him…”
I was already about to put the phone away.
But suddenly I shook my head at myself.
“No.
Yesterday it worked…”
I quickly opened the group chat.
My fingers were still trembling slightly.
Yuki: Sakurai-san, good luck with training! Try not to overdo it.
A few seconds…
No response.
“Well…”
“Probably for nothing…”
The phone vibrated.
Hayato: Thank you, Amano-san! I definitely will!
I smiled without even noticing it myself.
Just one message.
But for some reason my mood immediately improved.
After gathering my courage…
Today…
I’ll try it myself.
I finally reached the mall.
There were no fewer people than yesterday.
I took a deep breath.
Straightened my shoulders.
“Yesterday’s Yuki.”
“Don’t slouch.”
I smiled to myself and approached a young girl.
“Excuse me…
Could you tell me where the bookstore is?”
The girl quickly pointed in the right direction.
“Thank you very much!”
It worked.
I even felt a little happy.
The next person was an elderly man.
He also answered calmly.
But further…
It became much more difficult.
When Kurisaki-kun wasn’t around…
Some people looked completely differently.
Some answered reluctantly.
Some waved me off.
A few people pretended they didn’t hear me at all.
Each such case slightly undermined my confidence.
“Probably…”
“I still speak poorly…”
But I didn’t stop.
I approached again.
And again.
Even if it was worse than yesterday.
I continued anyway.
An hour later I was noticeably tired.
But I decided to make one more attempt.
Not far away stood a young man.
He looked friendly.
I approached him.
“Excuse me…
Could you tell me…”
He looked at me attentively.
Too attentively.
His smile for some reason seemed unpleasant.
“Of course.
But first, shall we get to know each other?”
I was confused.
“Eh…”
“I just need…”
He took a step closer.
“Such a cute girl walking alone?
Maybe coffee?”
I stepped back.
“Thank you…
But I have to go.”
He didn’t leave.
On the contrary.
He closed the distance again.
“Come on.
Don’t be shy.”
I felt everything inside me tighten.
Another step back.
“What should I do?..
“Kurisaki-kun isn’t here…”
The man continued saying something, trying to keep me with conversation.
I quickly looked around.
Not far away stood a security guard.
Gathering my courage, I said loudly:
“Excuse me!
Can I speak with you?”
The security guard immediately turned and headed toward us.
The man instantly changed his expression.
“I just wanted to talk…
I’m leaving.”
Without waiting for questions, he quickly disappeared into the crowd.
The security guard stopped next to me.
“Is everything okay?”
I nodded several times.
“Y-Yes…
Thank you very much.”
He made sure the stranger had really left, wished me a good evening, and returned to his post.
I slowly sat down on the nearest bench.
My heart was pounding so hard it felt like I had run several laps around the stadium again.
“So that’s how it is…”
“Why did everything seem so simple when Kurisaki-kun was around…”
He wasn’t just teaching me to talk to people.
He was there.
And when he was there, for some reason I felt safe.
I took a deep breath.
Then slowly smiled.
“But…”
“Today I still didn’t run away.”
“I didn’t cry.”
“I didn’t hide.”
“I asked for help myself.”
For me, that was already a small victory.
My feet themselves led me to the familiar alley.
I stopped.
And involuntarily looked into its depths.
It was right here…
A few days ago…
My life could have changed in a completely different direction.
I still remembered that horror.
The cold.
Helplessness.
And the feeling that no one would come.
I gripped the strap of my bag tighter.
And then…
Another image appeared before my eyes by itself.
A huge back.
Broad shoulders.
A calm voice.
Kurisaki-kun.
Back then he didn’t even hesitate.
He just walked into the alley.
As if he wasn’t afraid of those people at all.
“What a guy…”
I lowered my gaze.
“So strong…”
Not just physically.
Even today.
When some man started bothering me…
My first thought wasn’t to call mom.
Not to call the police.
But…
“If Kurisaki-kun was here…”
I smiled quietly.
“When he’s around, for some reason it seems…
That nothing bad can happen.”
He always spoke calmly.
He never fussed.
Even when several people stood against him.
“Reliable…”
This word appeared in my head by itself.
I blushed.
“What am I even thinking about…”
I quietly muttered to myself.
And hurried past the alley.
When I returned home, I quickly changed, had dinner for now, and immediately went up to my room.
I closed the door.
Tiredly flopped onto the bed.
And almost automatically reached for the phone.
There were already several dozen new messages in the group chat.
“So many already?..”
I opened the chat.
The first thing I saw was photos from the boxing club.
Satomi had posted several shots from the evening training.
In one, Hayato was diligently hitting the focus mitts.
In another, he was practicing stance while Satomi calmly explained something to him, adjusting the position of his hands.
Comments poured in under the photos almost immediately.
Rin: You’re already doing much better!
Mio: At this rate you’ll beat me soon!
Ayaka: Just don’t get cocky.
I involuntarily smiled.
Hayato really looked happy.
A few minutes later the chat was filled with a new photo.
This time sent by Rin.
She and Hayato were standing near a sports nutrition store.
Rin was holding several cans of supplements and explaining something animatedly, while Hayato listened attentively.
“Probably…”
“She was helping him choose…”
A little later, a photo came from Mio.
An evening run.
She and Hayato were smiling at the camera, both sweaty.
Under the photo was the caption:
Mio: The slacker didn’t almost die today! That’s already progress!
I felt a slight pang somewhere inside.
“Today…”
“I fell a little behind again…”
Almost every girl…
Took another half-step forward.
I slowly scrolled through the list of participants.
Today only Ayaka…
And Kurisaki-kun hadn’t written almost anything.
But at that moment the chat came alive again.
A new photo.
Sent by Ayaka.
In the picture she was sitting at the family table with Hayato.
An ordinary family dinner.
A warm family atmosphere.
I involuntarily smiled.
“They’re lucky…”
“They can spend time together like this every day…”
But then I suddenly remembered Mio.
I left the chat and opened her page.
A new post had appeared quite recently.
Mio was standing near a shop window.
No longer in sportswear.
In beautiful everyday clothes that I had never seen her wear before.
She was smiling widely.
And at the very edge of the photo…
A large male hand accidentally got into the frame.
A broad forearm.
A tattoo.
I immediately recognized it.
Kurisaki-kun…
I enlarged the photo.
There was no doubt.
“They went shopping together…”
Something unpleasant twisted in my chest.
“They…”
“Are they meeting?”
No.
I quickly shook my head.
“Mio likes Hayato.”
Then…
Why did they go to the mall together?
I remembered how Kurisaki-kun helped me.
How patiently he explained.
How he supported me.
“Maybe…”
“He’s helping Mio now the same way he helped me?”
I bit my nail without noticing it.
“Traitor…”
The word flashed in my head by itself.
But almost immediately I felt ashamed.
“No…”
“He didn’t promise me anything.”
He helped me too.
As a friend.
Just like he might be helping Mio now.
I gripped the phone tighter.
“But…”
“What if…”
“He stops training with me?”
“Without him…”
“I don’t feel as confident anymore.”
This thought scared me much more than I wanted to admit.
At that moment, mom’s familiar voice came from downstairs:
“Yuki!
Come eat!”
I flinched.
I quickly locked the phone.
“Coming!”
I replied, trying to make my voice sound normal.
During dinner, I myself didn’t notice how I started chattering nonstop.
I told mom how the day went.
How I answered in class today.
How Hayato joined the boxing club.
How Mio lost to Kurisaki-kun in the run again.
Mom listened to me with a warm smile the whole time.
At some point she suddenly laughed quietly.
“Yuki…
In the last few days you remind me so much of yourself from middle school.”
I blinked in surprise.
Mom smiled warmly.
“Cheerful.
Lively.
Constantly talking about something.”
She paused for a moment.
“I’m so glad…”
I looked at her and suddenly remembered.
How she came home after parent-teacher meetings.
How she pretended everything was fine.
And then…
She cried in the kitchen, thinking I was already asleep.
When I was being bullied.
I smiled quietly.
“Mom…”
She looked at me questioningly.
“You’re our class teacher, right…”
She immediately understood what I was getting at.
And smirked.
“If you want to know something about Hayato again…
I’ve already told you everything I could.
Nothing new so far.”
I shook my head.
“No…”
Mom raised her eyebrows in surprise.
I hesitated a little.
“Um…
Can you tell me something about Kurisaki-kun?”
The spoon in her hand froze for a second.
She looked at me attentively.
“I didn’t expect such a question from you.”
I got embarrassed.
“Just…
I’m curious.”
Mom thought for a moment.
Then calmly shook her head.
“I can’t tell you the details.
After all, I’m a teacher.”
I nodded understandingly.
“But…”
She paused briefly.
“As far as I know, he doesn’t come from a well-off family.”
I listened attentively.
“At his previous schools, he had serious problems.
Both with school.
And with the police.”
I involuntarily widened my eyes.
“With the police?..”
Mom noticed my surprise and immediately added:
“That’s exactly why, when he was transferred to us…
I was prepared for there to be a lot of problems.”
She smiled.
“But…
It seems Kurisaki-kun has really decided to start everything from a clean slate.
In all this time, he hasn’t caused the school any trouble once.
On the contrary.
The teachers say more and more often that he’s trying to study.
He attends classes regularly.
And his classmates seem to have already started getting used to him.”
I silently lowered my gaze to my plate.
For some reason, that alley appeared before my eyes again.
Then the mall.
Then the morning runs.
“A person…”
“Who had problems with the police…”
“Every time he helps others…”
Mom was silent for a few more seconds, looking at me.
Then she carefully put her cup on the table.
“Yuki…
Just don’t misunderstand me.”
I tensed.
“What is it?”
She sighed slightly.
“I’m glad that Kurisaki-kun helped you come out of your shell.
I’m really glad.
But…”
She paused for a moment.
“You shouldn’t get too attached to him.”
I looked at her incomprehensibly.
“Why?”
“Because…”
Mom chose her words very carefully.
“He’s a good guy.
At least now.
But he had a difficult past.
And I don’t know what difficulties may still await him ahead.”
She smiled warmly.
“But Sakurai-kun…”
As soon as Hayato’s name was mentioned…
Mom’s cheeks turned slightly pink.
Her smile became somehow especially soft.
So…
Very familiar.
I had already seen this look.
Quite recently.
On Rin.
On Mio.
On Satomi.
On myself…
When I looked at Hayato.
“This look…”
“No…”
“It can’t be…”
Mom continued as if nothing had happened.
“He’s kind.
Responsible.
Always thinks about others.
And, as it seems to me, he’s very suitable for you.”
She laughed quietly.
“If you’re going to choose, then you’d better put more effort into your relationship with him.”
I smiled as calmly as usual.
“Okay, mom.
I understand.”
But inside…
Something unpleasant twisted.
“No…”
“I’m just overthinking…”
“Mom is a teacher.”
“She interacts with students every day.”
“That’s probably why she speaks so warmly about him.”
I mentally repeated this several times, trying to calm myself.
“This can’t be.
No…
This simply can’t be…”
I lowered my gaze to my plate and continued eating, pretending I hadn’t noticed anything unusual.
But the strange feeling of anxiety somehow didn’t go away.