Vol. 1 Chapter 4 – A Ring That Can’t Be Thrown Away

Apparently, in romance, there’s something called the 『three-month rule』.

It’s a rule that says no matter how much two people like each other and even if they officially start dating, many couples end up breaking up around the three-month mark.

Apparently, this also has something to do with a substance called the『heart-fluttering hormone』that becomes active in the early stages of romance but I don’t know the detailed mechanism.

Anyway, all those couples who suddenly multiplied around the end of summer vacation, only to vanish somewhere like mosquitoes by the time autumn came around, had apparently disappeared because of this rule.

So when I learned about it, I was worried that my life as Ena-chan’s boyfriend might end after a measly three months too.

“Here you go, Souta-kun. This is a『three-month anniversary』present from me.”

But apparently, at least when it came to us, that rule didn’t apply.

After winter vacation in our third year of middle school ended, and we were finally promoted to the high school division, right around that time, we reached the three-month anniversary of when we had started dating.

Even then, our relationship was perfectly good, at least, that was what I thought.

“Oh, a bracelet?”

When I opened the small box I had received, inside it was a leather bracelet.

It had an extremely simple design, based around a violet color. Even so, the way it still carried a definite sense of luxury somehow felt similar to Ena-chan.

“Y-yes. Um, since this is my first time giving a gift to a boy my age, there might have been something more suitable, but……”

“That’s not true at all! I’m super happy! Honestly, it’s almost wasted on someone like me, but I really like it. I’ll treasure it for the rest of my life. I’ll carefully store it as a family heirloom and keep worshipping it forever.”

“Nononono! It’s nothing like that! I’m glad you like it, but it’s not that amazing of an item……!”

That was how Ena-chan modestly downplayed it but in reality, for something an ordinary male high school student would wear, it was probably a pretty expensive item. Looking up the brand name later and being shocked by it is a nice memory.

On top of that, when I asked, it turned out Ena-chan had apparently gone around dozens of stores before choosing this bracelet for me. Well, with that, it was only natural that I’d want to make it a family heirloom.

But Ena-chan hurriedly waved both hands, then bashfully poked her index fingers together.

“I-if possible, um……rather than storing it away, I’d like Souta-kun to wear it.”

“Ah…… haha, you’re right. Since you went through the trouble of giving it to me, I’ll do that.”

After taking the bracelet out of the box and putting it on my wrist, I pulled out the small paper bag I had hidden in my schoolbag.

“Then, now it’s my turn. Here, a『three-month anniversary』present.”

“Eh…… Souta-kun, you prepared something too?”

“Of course. Well, compared to the gift from Ena-chan, this really isn’t anything special though.”

What I had chosen was a red and black checkered collar.

Ena-chan’s family had a small dog, and before, she had mentioned that its walking collar had gotten pretty worn out and that she was looking for a new one, so I thought it would be just right and chose it.

“Well, I did wonder if it was really okay as a present for my girlfriend. But I don’t really have much sense for this kind of thing. So I thought that rather than giving you something awkwardly stylish, I should go with something practical…… Sorry, was it weird after all?”

I asked timidly, but Ena-chan gently shook her head.

“Not at all. Thank you, Souta-kun. I’m very happy.”

“R-really! Yeah, then I’m glad!”

“Yes. It has a very lovely design, and I like it. I’ll try putting it on right away.”

“Yeah, yeah, put it on right away…… eh?”

The moment I stared blankly, Ena-chan actually put the dog collar she was holding around her own neck.

“E-Ena-chan? That collar is for a dog……”

“Wah, it fits perfectly! What do you think, Souta-kun? Does it suit me?”

I hurriedly tried to stop her, but Ena-chan asked me with such an incredibly happy smile that……

“I-it suits you really well!”

I ended up blurting that out without thinking.

I don’t know if that was the trigger but she seemed to have taken quite a liking to the collar I gave her.

From then on, whenever Ena-chan went on dates with me, she would wear that collar every time.

And not only that.

“Good morning, Souta-kun.”

“Yeah, good morning, Ena-cha…… Ena-chan!?”

“Y-yes. I’m your Ena, you know? What’s wrong, Souta-kun? You’re so flustered.”

“No, um…… that collar……”

In the end, Ena-chan even came to school wearing the collar.

“Ah, this? Yes. I’ve completely taken a liking to this collar.”

Ignoring my confusion, Ena-chan lovingly traced the collar with her finger from the bottom of her heart.

“When I wear this collar, somehow, my heart feels very at ease. While I’m wearing it, even if we’re apart, I feel like I’m connected to Souta-kun……like I properly belong to Souta-kun. That’s the kind of feeling it gives me.”

“Uuuh…… um……”

I felt like she had casually said something pretty incredible, but in any case, I had a feeling that wearing a collar even to school was bad in all sorts of ways, so I had no choice but to clear up Ena-chan’s misunderstanding.

“……So yeah, that’s why, actually, I bought that thinking it would be for the dog at your house, Ena-chan.”

“I…… I see…… I-I completely misunderstood……”

After learning the truth, Ena-chan must have been embarrassed after all, because from then on, she stopped wearing the collar to school.

Even so, since『it’s something I received from Souta-kun』she apparently ended up making it her own after all.

She would still wear the collar whenever we went on dates, and even at school, she always kept it in her bag. It seemed she continued to treasure it dearly after that.

Of course, I also wore the bracelet I received from Ena-chan at all times, never letting it leave my skin.

That was only natural. After all, it was the first present I had ever received from my first girlfriend.

──And then, soon after that, Ena-chan and I ended up proving the『rule』one month late.

But the bracelet I received back then……

I still haven’t been able to throw it away.

※

On Monday morning, the day after Mizushima’s attack on my house.

Feeling more depressed than usual, I somehow endured my morning classes.

“Hmm, finally lunchtime. Souta, today, let’s eat at the cafeteria…… uwaah!?”

Higuchi, who was sitting in the seat in front of me, turned around to face me and immediately screamed.

“What is it, Higuchi? That’s a rude reaction to have after looking at someone’s face.”

“No, I mean, Souta, your face looks super gloomy. Of course I’d be surprised.”

“Do I really look like that?”

“Yeah, you do. Your eyes look about fifty percent more dead than usual too. What happened?”

Higuchi asked, pulling back slightly. He was treating me like some suspicious person.

Now that he mentioned it, I did feel like the students passing by had been avoiding me even more than usual today.

I see…… so I really look that depressed, huh.

Well, if that was the case, the cause was obvious.

“Sorry, but I’ll pass today. I’ve got committee work.”

“Aah～…… I see.”

Apparently, that was enough for him to understand everything. Higuchi’s expression changed completely, and he looked at me with pity. Then, after silently patting my shoulder a few times, he left the classroom without saying anything more.

Following after him, I also left the classroom and headed toward the second floor of the special building. The place I arrived at was the library.

However, it was not like I was some bookworm who shut himself away in the library even during lunch break.

The reason I had come here was, as it happened, because I was a library committee member.

Of course, I had not volunteered for it myself. It was the result of the class drawing lots.

“Haaaaah…… I wanna go home.”

In front of the library door, I let out a grand sigh.

It was not because being on the library committee was a troublesome role. As for the work itself, it was only things like recording book loans and returns at the reception desk, or putting returned books back on their designated shelves.

Then, what exactly was making me so depressed?

‘Ugh…… well, of course she’d be here.’

Opening the library door just a little, I peeked inside through the gap.

Maybe because all the students were still having lunch, there was almost no sign of anyone inside.

However, at the reception counter, another library committee member from a different class, who was paired with me, was already sitting there.

She was a girl reading a paperback book with graceful movements, occasionally tucking her long black hair behind her ear.

The sight of her quietly facing a book alone amid the silence made me think of a princess living in a room at the top of a tall tower, or perhaps a beautiful witch spending her days absorbed in research in a mansion deep within the forest.

That beautiful girl, so lovely that I almost wanted to keep gazing at her forever, was the very source of my depression.

‘……Ena-chan.’

That was right. The library committee member paired with me was Ena-chan.

Apparently, after learning that I had become the library committee member for Class Four, Ena-chan had volunteered herself to be the library committee member for the special advancement class. On top of that, she had even coordinated her shifts to match mine.

At the time, I had been floating on cloud nine, thinking that I had more time to spend with Ena-chan even at school.

But now that she had dumped me, it was nothing but painfully awkward.

On top of that, even if it was only a『trial』I was now supposed to be dating Mizushima.

It was only for the sake of the『match』and I was not serious at all……but looking only at the facts, I was basically being unfaithful behind Ena-chan’s back, so I did feel a little guilty about it.

To be honest, I wanted to turn around right now and go home. I really wanted to go home, but.

‘I’ve got no choice but to brace myself, huh……’

After slowly taking one deep breath, I steeled myself and opened the library door.

Ena-chan, who had been absorbed in reading her paperback book, noticed my arrival and looked up.

Maybe it was just my imagination, but for an instant, it looked like her shoulders gave a small twitch.

“G-good work.”

Though it was stiff, I somehow managed to give her a greeting and Ena-chan also seemed about to return some words.

“…………Good work.”

A voice as clear as water, matching her neat and refined appearance.

Just hearing that voice somehow calmed me down, and it felt like it had been a very long time since I had last heard it.

However, in the end, she only gave that businesslike greeting, then returned her eyes to her paperback book.

Ugh……I knew this would happen, but this cold treatment really does hit hard.

No, I mean, she and I were no longer lovers or anything, so it was only natural, if you called it natural.

Holding back the urge to cry, I hurriedly entered the reception counter.

“…………”

“…………”

And then came a period of silence. My heart was already about to break.

If reception work came flooding in nonstop, then at least it would distract me a little.

But fortunately or unfortunately, being a library committee member was not that busy of a role.

In other words, for more than thirty minutes from now, I would have to sit here, almost completely alone with the ex-girlfriend who had dumped me, without so much as a conversation.

Huh, what is this? A new kind of torture?

‘N-no good! This is way beyond just awkward! I-I have to say something, anything……!’

Unable to endure the silence any longer, I tried to at least make some harmless small talk.

“N-now that I think about it, Ena-ch…… Satomori-san, have you already eaten your lunshbweaak?”

I bit my tongue. And I bit it magnificently.

What the hell is『lunshbweaak』supposed to be!? Is it some kind of relative of Nurarihyon!?

[Nurarihyon is a legendary figure in Japanese folklore, traditionally described as an elusive, slippery yōkai that sneaks into people’s homes at dusk]

“……?”

Aah, see, now Ena-chan is making a face like,『What are you even saying?』

Of course she would make that face! After all, it was 『lunshbweaak』!

“Sorry, it was nothing……”

“……I see.”

Ena-chan had been making a suspicious expression, but even so, she soon lowered her eyes back to the book in her hands.

‘Haaah……Until just a little while ago, we were able to talk normally, too.’

With nothing left to do, I slowly stuck my hand into my pants pocket.

What I pulled out was a bracelet with a simple design, based around a violet color.

It was the one Ena-chan had given me once as a 『three-month anniversary』present.

‘Even though having only this thing won’t change anything…… haha, makes me wanna cry.’

I gave a small self-deprecating laugh where Ena-chan couldn’t see it, but then I suddenly noticed something.

Come to think of it, I hadn’t heard the sound of Ena-chan turning the pages of her book for a while now……

Finding that strange, I raised my face again.

“Hmm……?”

There was Ena-chan, still absorbed in reading her paperback book as usual.

That was weird. I felt like someone was looking at me, but…… was it just my imagination?

Still wondering about it, I dropped my gaze back to the bracelet again.

Then, watching for the right timing, I raised my face once more.

‘Hmm?’

Ena-chan was reading her book after all but this time, I clearly saw her hair sway softly for just an instant.

So it wasn’t my imagination after all. Has Ena-chan been glancing at me this whole time?

After thinking for a bit, this time I kept my face turned toward Ena-chan and,

“…………Maybe it’s just my imagination.”

I deliberately murmured that quietly enough for her to hear.

Then.

“Ah.”

This time for sure, Ena-chan turned her face toward me, and our eyes met perfectly.

Ena-chan hurriedly tried to hide her face behind her paperback book.

But she probably realized that was pushing it. Like a hermit crab timidly crawling out from its shell, Ena-chan eventually seemed to give up and peeked out from behind the paperback book.

“U-um…… is there something on my face?”

When I started with that, Ena-chan hesitated for a while, then said,

“…………You still had it.”

“Eh?”

“That bracelet…… you still had it.”

“Ah…… no, um, this is, well……”

Since I had never expected her to be the one to bring it up, I was visibly shaken.

“S-sorry.”

“……? Why are you apologizing?”

“Well, I mean…… I thought it might be annoying. For an ex-boyfriend to cling to something like this so pathetically.”

Ena-chan said nothing. Did her silence mean yes?

“……I just couldn’t throw it away.”

Maybe because I was happy that, crooked as it might be, I was able to talk to Ena-chan again, before I realized it, words were spilling out of my mouth.

“I really loved you, Ena-chan. No, even now, that feeling hasn’t changed.”

At this point, no matter what I said, it was too late.

I understood that painfully well.

Even so, I wanted to at least put into words just how happy the time I spent with Ena-chan had been to me.

“The four months I spent with you, Ena-chan, really felt like a dream. No joke, the whole world looked like it was shining. No matter what worries I had, just having you by my side made them blow away. I was happy. This bracelet feels like a symbol of those happy memories……and that’s why I can’t throw it away.”

After pouring out all the feelings in my heart as if a dam had burst, I finally came back to my senses.

“Wait, what the heck am I even saying!? You’re probably thinking,『Why are you telling me this now?』right? Sorry, Ena-chan. Pretend you didn’t hear what I just……”

Pechin!

Before I could finish speaking, a crisp, pleasant sound echoed through the quiet library.

Startled, I looked up, and for some reason, Ena-chan had both hands pressed against both her cheeks. Apparently, the sound just now had been Ena-chan slapping her own cheeks.

W-what? What happened all of a sudden?

“Ena…… chan?”

“……There was a mosquito on me.”

“A mosquito? No, but it’s not really the season for mosquitoes yet……”

“No, there was one. It had landed on my cheek.”

Saying that with a composed face, Ena-chan straightened her posture as if nothing had happened.

Somehow, I felt a pressure from her that brooked no argument, so I could only stare at her profile without saying anything more.

Still, maybe because she had hit herself harder than expected, Ena-chan’s cheeks had turned faintly red. That looked like it hurt a little.

But looking closely, why were even her ears red?

“Sa…… Sakuhara-kun.”

As I blinked in surprise, Ena-chan eventually turned toward me with a face that looked like she had resolved herself to say something.

She tightly clenched her small hands in front of her chest, her brows faintly drawn together.

Her well-shaped lips were also pressed tightly shut, giving her expression a somewhat painful look.

“Um…… what is it?”

When I asked, Ena-chan finally seemed to gather her courage and opened her mouth.

“Sakuhara-kun, I──”

However, I was unable to hear Ena-chan’s words to the end.

Because, as if cutting off Ena-chan’s voice, the sound of the library’s sliding door being opened forcefully rang out.

“Hey, so this is where you were.”

At that familiar husky voice, I snapped back to myself and turned around.

Sure enough, the one standing at the entrance was Mizushima.

‘M-Mizushima!?’

At the unexpected visitor, my eyes widened without thinking.

She didn’t want to waste even a single day in order to conquer me within one month. That was what Mizushima had said.

However, even Mizushima apparently did not intend to cling to me inside the school too.

Even if it was only a『trial』she probably wanted to avoid, at all costs, letting Ena-chan or anyone at school find out that she and I were lovers. Unlike yesterday and the day before, today Mizushima had completely changed her behavior and had been moving in a way that avoided contact with me as much as possible.

Because of that, I had completely relaxed, thinking that I could get through school without having to see her face.

‘And yet, of all times, she had to run into me while I was alone with Ena-chan!’

If Ena-chan found out about my relationship with Mizushima, it would be terrible.

Regardless of the circumstances, if she learned that the new lover she had chosen was secretly involved with the ex-boyfriend she had supposedly thrown away, just how much would Ena-chan be hurt?

That would be bad. Absolutely not.

Making Ena-chan sad was the one thing that must never happen.

‘Please, just don’t say anything unnecessary……!’

However, it seemed my worries were unfounded.

Mizushima entered the library without even giving me a single glance and headed toward Ena-chan.

“Shizuno……”

“No, I completely forgot. Come to think of it, Ena-chan, you’re the library committee member for our class, aren’t you? I was going to have lunch with you, but I couldn’t find you, so I came looking.”

“S-sorry. I forgot to tell you that today was my shift.”

“No, don’t worry about it. I should have properly asked too.”

Mizushima gently stroked Ena-chan’s head as she dutifully lowered it.

Though she did not brush her hand away, Ena-chan shifted uncomfortably, looking somewhat awkward.

“U-um, when you pat me that much……”

“Ahaha. Sorry, sorry. Ena-chan, you’re cute like a small animal, so I couldn’t help it.”

Acting as if I was not even in her line of sight, Mizushima flirted with Ena-chan.

There was no way we could let Ena-chan find out about our『match』and in that sense, Mizushima’s response of completely ignoring me was probably correct.

That said, being forced to silently watch her getting along so affectionately with Ena-chan was, well, not very good for my mental health.

To be honest, my heart was full of the feeling,『Hey, Mizushima, switch places with me.』

“More importantly, come on. Let’s hurry and go eat lunch, Ena-chan.”

After playing around with Ena-chan for a while, Mizushima next took her hand and tried to leave the library.

“Eh? B-but I still have library committee work……”

Naturally, there was no way an honor student like Ena-chan would think it was fine to leave committee work early.

“It’ll be fine if you step out for a little while. Nobody would think Ena-chan skipped out. Besides, I’m sure the other committee members will handle the rest of the work. ……Right? Isn’t that so?”

At that point, Mizushima finally turned her gaze toward me.

As I stood there doing nothing but watching how things unfolded, Mizushima showed me a provocative smile.

“If you’re on the same committee, then I guess it can’t be helped to some extent. But could you stop getting too close to Ena-chan already? Ex-boyfriend-kun?”

Deliberately emphasizing the『ex』part, Mizushima left those words behind and this time truly took Ena-chan with her out of the library.

I see……a very easy-to-understand, nasty『current boyfriend』act.

With this, Ena-chan probably would not notice the hidden connection between Mizushima and me.

“……She’s even good at acting. That girl really is a lump of talent through and through.”

Left behind all alone, I felt as though a huge weight had suddenly been lifted from my shoulders.

For a moment, I wondered how things would turn out, but somehow, I had managed to avoid a battlefield. Thank goodness, thank goodness.

Gugyurururu.

Once I relaxed, I suddenly got hungry.

Thinking I would eat the bread I had bought beforehand at the school store, I reached for my bag.

“……Ngh?”

However, for some reason, Mizushima had come back as far as the library door and our eyes met through the glass window.

Maybe she had forgotten to say something, I thought, tilting my head slightly.

But only for a moment.

Mizushima, who was puffing out her cheeks in dissatisfaction and glaring at me, eventually turned away with a『pui』and left just like that.

……What in the world was that about?