The Gal Sitting Next to Me Hated Me Very Much

A few days had passed, and Hinata and I seemed to have lost contact with each other. I had sent her a few messages, but she ignored them. When I tried visiting her place, she wasn't there.

Now, I found myself sitting on a bench in the park I used to play in as a child. The air was crisp, the sound of leaves rustling blending with distant laughter from kids playing nearby.

Step, step.

The sound of footsteps approached, followed by a gentle tap on my shoulder. I turned my face forward, and to my surprise, I saw Asumi's father standing there.

"Himeya-san?"

"Good to see you, Yukito-kun," he said with a warm smile.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, confused by his unexpected appearance.

"Well, I was just wandering around. Actually, I came to visit an old friend of mine and my wife," he explained.

"Takamine-san?" I asked, recalling a name from his past.

"Oh, you still remember him?"

"His face is hard to forget, haha," I said, chuckling.

He laughed along with me and then sat down beside me.

"So, how's life treating you?" he asked.

For a moment, my mind drifted to Hinata. Her silence had been eating away at me.

"It's… not good, and not bad either," I admitted.

"You're in that phase, huh?" Himeya-san said, glancing at me with a knowing smile.

"What do you mean by that phase?" I asked, intrigued.

He stood up, gazing at the sky as if searching for answers hidden in the clouds.

"Back then, before I graduated from high school, I went through the same thing. It's about someone you love, right?"

His words caught me off guard. How did he know?

"How did you know, Himeya-san?"

"Like I said, it's that phase. It's when you're struggling to fix things with someone you care about. Am I wrong?"

I remained silent, unable to refute his insight. He was right. I was struggling to patch things up with Hinata, but she didn't seem to want to open up to me.

"You know… Asumi's mother, she was a wild one back in the day," he said, chuckling to himself.

"Touka-san?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah, Touka," he said, his tone laced with nostalgia. "I remember this one time, when we were celebrating our senpai's birthday. We sneaked up to the transmission tower in Enoshima to send her a happy birthday message in Morse code."

"You guys actually did that?"

I couldn't imagine Touka-san, who always seemed so composed, doing something so reckless. It made me realize where Asumi got her spirited personality.

"Yeah, we did all kinds of crazy stuff. But then, life happened. We were separated by time and place," he said, his voice tinged with a hint of melancholy.

"Separated?" I asked, curious about what he meant.

"Something like that," he replied. "But by some miracle, we found our way back to each other. And now, Touka and I are married with two beautiful daughters."

"A miracle, huh," I murmured, the word lingering in my thoughts. Could I hope for a miracle like that? Did miracles even exist for people like me?

"You and Hinata need to be honest with yourselves. Don't let anything stop you from telling the truth," he said, his tone firm yet gentle. "Even if you're apart, the connection you share will always exist."

I looked at him, his words sinking in.

"What if… she doesn't want to hear it?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

"Then make her listen," he said, a small smile playing on his lips. "Sometimes, the hardest battles are the ones worth fighting for."

His words stirred something in me—a glimmer of hope.

Just then, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I took it out and saw a message from Hinata,

[Can we meet? I want to talk.]

My heart skipped a beat as I read her words. Maybe miracles weren't just stories after all.

"Hinata is calling for me, Himeya-san," I said as I stood up from the bench.

"It's okay. Go on," he replied with a gentle smile.

I nodded to him and started running toward the place where Hinata wanted us to meet.

Shinjuku Gyoen National Park

The air was crisp and biting as I arrived at the park. A thin layer of frost dusted the bushes and the pathways, glinting under the pale winter sunlight. My breath came out in soft white puffs as I looked around, searching for her.

Then I saw her. She was sitting alone on a wooden bench under the bare branches of a cherry blossom tree. A scarf was wrapped snugly around her neck, and her jacket looked thick enough to fend off the winter chill. Despite her efforts to keep warm, her cheeks were flushed pink from the cold.

I approached her, hesitating slightly. "Hey…" I greeted her softly.

She looked up at me, her face carrying an unusual mix of uncertainty and sadness. "Hi…" she replied, her voice barely audible.

I sat beside her, the bench creaking slightly under the added weight. The silence between us stretched, filled only by the faint rustling of dry leaves stirred by the wind.

Then, she broke the silence.

"Yukito…" she called my name.

I turned to her, meeting her gaze. "Yeah…?"

Her eyes held a seriousness that sent a chill down my spine, colder than the winter air.

"What do you think about our relationship?" she asked.

Her question caught me off guard. Why is she asking this now?

"Hinata…" I said her name gently, searching her expression for a clue. She held my gaze unwaveringly, her eyes glistening as if they were holding back tears.

"You know that I love you," I continued. "Even if there's a big wave coming right at us, I'll always love you."

For a moment, there was silence, but then she spoke, her words trembling yet firm.

"Can you handle me?"

"Of course I can," I answered without hesitation. "You're my girlfriend, after all."

She averted her gaze for a moment, her hands gripping the edge of the bench tightly. Then she said something that shattered my world.

"Then… let's break up."

…

Wait. What?

"Stop it. That's not funny," I said, trying to force a smile, but her expression didn't change.

"Yukito," she said, her voice steady now, "let's end our relationship."

"STOP THAT!" I shot up from my seat, my voice louder than I intended. "What are you saying, Hinata?!"

"I'm serious," she said, standing up as well. "I want us to go back to just knowing each other… nothing more."

Her words hit me like a freezing gust of wind, leaving me speechless. I knew she wasn't joking. There was no lightness in her tone, no playfulness in her eyes.

"We weren't made for each other," she said softly, lowering her gaze. "I'm sorry."

With that, she turned and ran, her footsteps crunching on the frost-covered ground.

I stood there, frozen in place, my mind struggling to process what had just happened. Before I could call out to her, a thought crept into my mind:

Is this really the right thing?

The cold seemed to seep into my very bones, far deeper than I had ever felt before. The world around me blurred, the bare trees and frost-covered paths fading into the background.

Ah… It's cold. I've never felt this cold before.

I think I'm going to cry… but I can't.