Our Dating Story: The Experienced You and The Inexperienced Me - Volume 2 - Chapter 4.2

“What a scumbag...”

After shooting me another glare, Yamana-san ran after Shirakawa-san.

“Are you okay, Kashima-kun?” came a voice from behind me.

Turning around, I saw Kurose-san looking at me with worry.

“Yeah...”

“I should be going now,” she said. “You don’t want people to get any more wrong ideas, right?”

And with that, Kurose-san walked past me and outside the classroom.

Left alone, I came to my senses and stepped into the hallway. I had no way of running after Shirakawa-san since she was nowhere to be seen. Instead, I went back to my classroom, but neither Shirakawa-san nor Yamana-san were there.

As I touched my smarting cheek, there were traces of blood on my finger. Yamana-san’s long nails must’ve scratched me.

How did this happen...? What should I have done differently...?

My head was occupied with those thoughts for the duration of the end-of-term ceremony.

According to what I overheard my classmates talking about, the image displayed on Shirakawa-san’s phone had been taken by someone in a different class in our cohort. Apparently, that person had gone to a different middle school in City K, and yesterday, they had been visiting their local park with a friend from that same middle school. That had been when they’d seen me and Kurose-san from a distance and had taken a picture. They’d sent it to their friends, thinking of it as a scoop since they knew I was dating Shirakawa-san, and the news had instantly spread through our whole grade.

Photos leave an impact. I could imagine that even if people didn’t know what kind of relationship Kurose-san and I had and how we’d ended up like that, the sight of that photo made people think we were probably in that sort of relationship.

Shirakawa-san must’ve been hurt. I felt terrible about it. I needed to quickly explain things and fix this misunderstanding.

That said, it was true that I’d never told her that Kurose-san had been the girl who’d rejected me in my first year of middle school. I’d never meant to keep it a secret, but there was no changing the fact that I’d never actually told Shirakawa-san about it.

Yeah... I should’ve said that the day Kurose-san transferred here.

But Kurose-san ended up sitting next to me by coincidence, and we happened to be on class duty together and otherwise had plenty of opportunities to talk... I’d unconsciously thought I should avoid causing Shirakawa-san any needless worry, and that had been why I didn’t say anything. To think it would cause things to turn out like this...

Had it only been that photo, perhaps Shirakawa-san would still have heard me out. But due to the fact I’d also hid my past with Kurose-san, she must’ve thought I might be keeping something else from her.

I’d been trying to act with consideration for Shirakawa-san in my own way, which was why I’d done that and why I’d met with Kurose-san in a public place. But everything had backfired.

I wanted to talk to her soon. I hadn’t cheated on her, but I wanted to apologize for never telling her about Kurose-san.

However, Shirakawa-san wasn’t coming back.

At last, the end-of-term ceremony came to an end, and even after school, Shirakawa-san hadn’t returned.

***

Thus began my gray summer break.

The next day, I was attending summer courses at a cram school. I wanted to go to that cram school once I became a senior, so I’d asked my parents, in part as a test, to let me take two weeks of courses here on all the main subjects.

I’d applied for it back in May, so I’d never expected things to end up like that with Shirakawa-san... Back when I’d decided to come here, I couldn’t even imagine I’d be dating a girl at all during this time. It was too late to do anything about it now.

Unfortunately, over half of what I heard in my summer classes went in one ear and out the other. I figured I’d at least copy down what was written on the blackboard into my notebooks as I thought about Shirakawa-san.

She had disappeared along with Yamana-san the day prior and had even left her bag in the classroom. I’d been sure they were together. I had wanted to talk to her and had waited in the classroom for a while even after everyone had left, but there’d been no sign of her coming back. I’d ended up leaving school while keeping an eye out for her.

After that, I’d waited near her house for her to go home. If I’d stayed in one place, the neighbors might’ve gotten suspicious, so I’d walked back and forth on the road as well as around her house as I waited until it got dark. Around 8 p.m., I’d spotted a man in his forties with a shapely face enter her house—he must’ve been her father. It felt like he had similar eyes to those of Kurose-san too. But by 9 p.m., Shirakawa-san hadn’t shown up yet, so I’d given up and went home. I’d considered the possibility that I’d missed her, but the window of her room on the second floor had remained dark until the end.

No matter how much I’d messaged her in LINE, no “Read” markers had ever appeared. When I’d tried calling her, the ringing had never stopped.

I’d sent a message to Yamana-san too, just in case, but similarly, I didn’t see a “Read” marker there either.

It was the first time in our relationship that I hadn’t heard from Shirakawa-san for so long. I was even starting to worry about her well-being, but I had to believe she was safe as long as Yamana-san was with her.

At the cram school, I had three classes in the mornings and three in the afternoons. Those would continue nonstop for two weeks.

When my classes had ended for the day, I’d do my homework in the study room, and by the time I left the cram school, it would already be somewhat dark outside. I would take the train home, get off at Station A, and walk to Shirakawa-san’s house. Then, upon seeing that her room was dark, I would droop my shoulders and return to the station.

That was how my life went for more than ten days that followed.

Then came the afternoon of the last day of my summer courses.

My fatigue had finally built up and I had a can of coffee on my desk, sipping it little by little to keep the post-lunch sleepiness at bay. I was practically a machine, copying things from the blackboard to my notebook, when...

The phone in my pocket vibrated, giving me a start. I had been acting like that every time it went off over these past two weeks, though it had typically been just app notifications...

Wondering if there were still any apps whose notifications I hadn’t disabled, I pulled out my phone and opened my eyes wide.

Displayed on it was a LINE message from Icchi.

Ijichi Yusuke: Hey, your girlfriend’s cheating on you!

Image sent.

His words startled me.

What was this about? He seemed to have sent me a picture, so I unlocked the phone and opened LINE. What I saw in that image—

—was, without a doubt, Shirakawa-san.

She was in a bikini, smiling happily and holding the arm of the person beside her. As for who it was...

He was a tall, good-looking guy with invigoratingly tanned skin. This grown-up, who would look good in an aloha shirt, was gazing at Shirakawa-san with a loving smile.

“No way...” I said involuntarily.

A student beside me shot me a glance.

Ryuto: When was this taken?

Ijichi Yusuke: Just now!

Ryuto: Where is this?

Ijichi Yusuke: Chiba! A beach in Sotobo!

“Chiba...?”

Why would she be there? And what is Shirakawa-san doing with that man?

I had a lot of questions, but my head was such a mess that I didn’t know where to start.

And as I remained like that, the class continued. It was half past one in the afternoon, and I still had more than two hours’ worth of classes left. But sitting through them was out of the question now.

Downing the remainder of my canned coffee, I shoved my textbook and notebook into my bag and got up.

The lecturer at the teacher’s podium glanced at me as I headed for the exit but didn’t say anything, probably because it was a lecture hall with over a hundred people.

On my way out of the cram school, I called Icchi.

“Hello. Icchi?”

“Kasshi? Don’t you have classes?”

“Did you talk to Shirakawa-san?” I asked.

“N-No. We just saw her from a distance. She didn’t notice us.”

“We? Us?”

As I asked my question, an “I’m here too!” came from the other side of the phone nearby. It was Nisshi’s voice.

“What are you two doing out there?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Swimming in the ocean.”

“Places like Shonan are kinda scary, so we went to Boso!”

“Chiba might welcome even us!”

“So where’s Shirakawa-san?” I asked. I couldn’t take my mind off her.

“She’s still here. Flirting with that handsome guy at the beach hut.”

I went silent at that.

“Hey, did you guys break up already?”

“Huh...?” I felt a pang at Icchi’s slightly reserved tone. “We haven’t.”

At the very least, I didn’t consider us to have done so. However...

After what happened, and the fact I haven’t heard from her for two weeks... Perhaps Shirakawa-san has already...

The thought of it left me unable to sit still.

“I’m heading there now, so tell me the name of the place.”

“Huh?! Are you for real, Kasshi?! Don’t you have cram school?!”

Icchi’s words didn’t stop my legs from heading to the station.

***

Well, here I am.

About two hours later, I arrived at the station Icchi had told me about. I’d never been to Chiba except for the bay area, and it had a surprisingly rustic feel.

As I headed to the beach, I saw new messages in our LINE group chat.

KEN Kids Team (3)

Ijichi Yusuke: Sorry, my sunburn hurts too much, so I’m pulling out...

Ijichi Yusuke: Even my skin was gloomy smh

Your Nishina Ren: Same...

Your Nishina Ren: You’ll find Shirakawa-san at the beach hut named “Luna Marine”

“Luna...Marine...?”

Something about that name seemed fateful. I had a bad feeling about this.

After a short walk away from the station, the beach they’d told me about came into view. It was already nearing four in the afternoon, and I noticed how many people were leaving the beach. Perhaps that was why it didn’t feel congested compared to Enoshima.

The beach here was spacious, spreading far and wide. I felt out of place in my full-length pants and sneakers—I was totally dressed for a town environment. My backpack with my cram school textbooks was heavy too.

I calmly walked along the beach, trying not to get sand in my sneakers and looking at the beach huts lining the road in the meantime.

Luna Marine was the very last beach hut, located at the end of the beach.

I didn’t have the courage to approach it right away, so I stopped for a while in between it and the beach hut closest to it, but...

When I saw a certain silhouette leaving its rear entrance, I opened my eyes wide.

“Hey, can I go play in the water for a bit?”

Slender arms and legs, tied-up dirty-blonde hair, a familiar bikini adorning a glamorous cleavage... That cheerful voice too...

There was no doubt whatsoever: it was Shirakawa-san.

For the past two weeks, I’d constantly wanted to see her and to talk to her. I’d been worried about her since I couldn’t get in touch with her.

And now she was right in front of my eyes.

“Shirakawa-sa—” I began, starting to approach on impulse, but the back door opened again.

“Sure. Go ahead, Runa.”

That good-looking guy I’d seen in Icchi’s photo stepped out of it.

He seemed young, but I didn’t sense anything childlike about him at all, so perhaps he was in his thirties. His permed hairstyle, dyed brown and with long bangs, felt gaudy. He was tall, and I could tell he was slim and muscular even through his clothes. His sinewy long arms and legs made me jealous.

This man was different from me in every way.

And when Shirakawa-san looked at him, her eyes sparkled.

“Hey, why don’t you come too, Mao-kun?” she asked, taking the man’s arm. “Come on, let’s go!”

“You know I can’t. We’re still open,” he replied.

“Oh, come on! There’s nobody around.”

Seeing Shirakawa-san fawn over him as she held the man’s arm, I felt a weight as heavy as a stone press down on my heart.

“It’s fine, it’s fine!” she continued.

“Nope. Go play with Nicole-chan.”

What?

Then, someone else approached them from the beach.

“Come on, let’s go, Runa! Don’t bother Mao-kun too much.”

Saying that with a smile was, surprisingly, Yamana-san. Her black tube top bikini suited her slender body and tanned skin well.

“I’ve noticed it before, but you really like Mao-kun, don’t you?” she asked, as though she were amazed.

Shirakawa-san smiled happily at that. “Well, I rarely get to see him. He always goes off again somewhere right away,” she said, pouting.

Looking at her now, anyone would see a lovely maiden in love.

“What do you mean ‘somewhere’? I have work,” said the man whom the two called “Mao-kun” with a faint, troubled smile on his face.