Eriri covered her ears, yet the voices of those around her remained piercingly clear.
"Who would have thought Sawamura was actually an adult manga artist?"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk... you'd never guess it. A polite young lady of a great house turns out to be like this behind the scenes."
"Exactly. What on earth is going through her head to make her want to draw things like that?"
Eriri sobbed bitterly. In her heart, she screamed: (Someone, please save me! Anyone, please help me!)
As if hearing the cry of Eriri's soul, Ryunosuke arrived just in time. He gathered all the manuscript drafts from the floor, scratched the back of his head, and apologized to everyone with a smile on his face.
"Sorry, these are my manuscript drafts. I asked Eriri to keep them for a moment; I didn't expect it to cause a misunderstanding like this. Truly, I'm sorry."
Ryunosuke shouldered all the blame alone just to save Eriri.
Eriri opened her mouth, but in the end, no words came out. She could only watch as he was misunderstood by everyone.
Other students turned to Eriri to confirm, "Is that true?"
Consumed by guilt and fear, Eriri spoke words that went against her conscience.
"He really did leave these comics with me; they aren't mine!"
"Oh! So that's how it is. I figured there was no way Sawamura would draw adult manga~"
"That's not what you were saying a second ago..." another student remarked sarcastically.
The student who was called out immediately laughed awkwardly. "Haha, it's all just a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding."
Eriri stared at Ryunosuke's back as he walked away alone, having been shunned by everyone. She wanted to reach out to stop him, but her arm fell limp back to her side. In the end, she gave up. She lacked the courage; if she chased him now, people would surely assume she was friends with a creator of adult manga.
It was from that very moment that the rift between them began.
In truth, Ryunosuke didn't care much about such a trivial matter. Until one day, while the rain was pouring, he saw the figure he least wanted to see through the school window.
Amidst flashes of lightning and the roar of thunder.
His father stood there holding an umbrella, looking like a haunting specter, staring intently at him from outside. His father saw his son attending such a luxurious prestige school—surely the boy had plenty of money, right?
His father grinned cruelly. He wanted Ryunosuke to steal money from the students at this school so he could gamble.
Ryunosuke closed his eyes in despair; he knew it was time to leave.
He walked out of the building and threw all of his allowance into his irresponsible father's face. His father didn't feel insulted; instead, he hurriedly scrambled to pick up the money. This amount was enough for him to play a few rounds of gambling. Coincidentally, tomorrow was a horse racing day; he could place a bet and, if lucky, become an overnight millionaire!
Ryunosuke watched his father leave; at least this bought him a little time. Once he and Eriri arrived in front of the house, he stopped his pace at the entrance. To avoid burdening this family any further, he intended to say his goodbyes.
Eriri stood at the entrance with her back to Ryunosuke. She actually wanted to apologize for her terrible behavior at school earlier that afternoon, but just as she turned around, she heard Ryunosuke say:
"I have to go, Eriri. During the days I spent with you, I was truly happy. Let us say our goodbyes here."
Ryunosuke turned to leave, heedless of how heavy the rain was outside.
"Eh?" Eriri froze for a moment, not realizing what was actually happening. But seeing the small figure in the rain drifting further away, she panicked.
Ignoring the weather, she hurriedly chased after him, screaming apologies! She thought Ryunosuke was angry because of the incident earlier that day. Clear tears streamed from the corners of her eyes, but the rain drenched her face so no one could tell if she was crying or not.
Eriri accidentally slipped and fell in the middle of the rain, then began to cry loudly.
Ryunosuke ignored Eriri behind him, instead quickening his pace and starting to run. He considered Eriri a friend; it was precisely because of that that he had to leave. If not, his father would continue to haunt this family like a vampire. This was all for Eriri's own good.
Eriri lay sprawled on the dirty ground, her hand reaching forward toward Ryunosuke's retreating form, tears flowing down her face.
"I was wrong... come back, I beg you! Don't leave me! I'm begging you!!!"
But Ryunosuke still vanished from her sight. And so, Eriri spent the next ten years in a state of emptiness.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
Time returns to the present.
Inside the narrow alley, Eriri hugged her knees and buried her head there while weeping. This time, she still hadn't managed to catch him. This was the third time. She clearly had the chance to catch him, so why did he always slip away? She felt as if God were playing a joke on her; at this moment, she even had the urge to just die.
Suddenly, a shadow appeared in front of her. Ryunosuke hadn't left like he did ten years ago. He stared at Eriri, who was crouching and crying, with a complicated gaze; his heart felt unsettled.
Ryunosuke had intended to flee, but those damn memories arrived at the most inopportune time. It was as if the memories deliberately told him to stay. Right as he was about to leave, he remembered everything about Eriri.
The good news was that he had never made any marriage promises to this girl—a true relief. The bad news was that Eriri was currently hugging him so tightly, as if afraid he would escape again, while sobbing in Ryunosuke's arms. Her mouth kept rambling, begging him not to leave.
Ryunosuke began to feel a headache coming on. He immediately led Eriri away from that place.
When Megumi stepped out of the publishing office, she realized Ryunosuke was gone. Instantly, her brows furrowed. She felt a bad premonition...
Ryunosuke dragged the hand of the still-sobbing Eriri, then sent a message to Megumi telling her not to worry and to go home first because he had a matter to settle.
Megumi didn't just believe him; she called him immediately and signaled for Ryunosuke to answer.
Ryunosuke stared at the still-sniffling Eriri, then performed a kabedon (pinning her against the wall) and used his free hand to cover her mouth, signaling her to remain silent.
Eriri stopped crying and simply stared at him with a blank gaze...
Ryunosuke answered the call from Megumi.
Megumi narrowed her eyes; she listened intently to the other side of the phone. After hearing no suspicious sounds, she asked softly, "Where did you go?"
Ryunosuke answered that it was a private matter and asked Megumi not to ask too many questions. Megumi's tone grew increasingly unfriendly.
"Not even I am allowed to ask?"
Ryunosuke hesitated for a moment, then only uttered a single word, "Sorry."
Eriri heard everything clearly. On the other end of the phone was the voice of a strange girl. She felt as if her world were collapsing once again.
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