Episode 42 - Past Arc EP1: Ryoko, Middle School

When Shota came to, he was standing in an unfamiliar alleyway.

The scenery felt oddly nostalgic. The sky was bathed in the glow of sunset, casting long shadows across the pavement. He didn’t know why he was here, but strangely, he felt no fear.

From around the corner of the alley, a girl appeared.

She was wearing a sailor-style school uniform with a red ribbon. She was about the same age as a second-year middle school student, which is about 14 years old.

The beautiful, black-haired girl looked directly at Shota and, without hesitation, reached out her hand.

“…Ryoko?”

She smiled. Taking his hand gently, she began to walk.

That warmth in her hand stirred something familiar in Shota, and without thinking, he followed.

They arrived at a cluster of cold, gray public housing complex. Ryoko ran up the stairs of one and turned to look back at Shota in front of a doorway—the door stood slightly open.

(She wants me to go in…?)

Hesitant but curious, Shota followed her inside.

From the living room, voices could be heard.

“Ryoko, if you’re back, go wash your hands and eat your dinner.”

“Yes, Auntie.”

When Shota entered the living room, he saw a couple in their forties sitting at the table.

But they didn’t seem to see him at all.

“Ryoko, the school called again. Said you got into another fight with your classmates.”

The man—her uncle—spoke in a stern tone.

“I’m sorry, Uncle… It’s just, they were bullying me again…”

“Enough with the excuses. The problem is, the boy you ‘fought’ with was so scared he couldn’t even speak afterward. What exactly did you do to him?”

“I didn’t do anything… I was just trying to get away because they were about to pick on me again…”

“And just running away caused him to end up like that?”

Ryoko bit her lip.

Shota understood—she truly hadn’t done anything.

Rather, it was her emotions that had lashed out, affecting the boy.

And now, those same emotions were spilling into Shota.

Anxiety, fear, sorrow, anger—

Ryoko’s feelings surged like a wave, crushing Shota’s chest.

“...ngh!”

He gasped.

It felt like her emotions were becoming his own.

“You’re strange, just like your mother.”

That one line from her uncle caused her emotions to surge again.

Shota could feel it—grief and anger, tangled and swirling deep within her.

“Her father passed away last year. Her mother disappeared. And since we took her in, it’s been one incident after another. Why can’t she just get along with the others?”

Her aunt’s voice was cold and sharp.

“I’m sure there’s some fault on your part too. You need to open up more and try to fit in.”

Ryoko said nothing.

She simply clenched her fists tightly, her small shoulders trembling.

Shota could see it clearly.

“Why… Why am I the only one who has to go through this…?”

It was as if her voice rang directly inside Shota’s heart.

He looked at her, shocked—her eyes were shimmering with tears.

(That voice… was that… Ryoko’s true feelings?)

His chest ached.

Her loneliness, her pain, that crushing sense of isolation—it all poured into Shota’s heart.

(I… I can feel what Ryoko feels…?)

It was as though their hearts had been fused together.

Shota stared at her in stunned silence.

Then—

“That’s enough. If you cause any more trouble, we won’t be able to keep you in this house.”

The words landed like a final blow.

Ryoko’s heart trembled—like a thread pulled too tight.

—Then, something snapped.

Suddenly, the air in the room shifted.

“Ryoko…?”

Shota called her name, but she didn’t respond.

She stood there, head bowed, trembling.

And then—

All at once, the dishes and ornaments in the room lifted off the shelves—

Crash!

They slammed down onto the table.

“Aahhh!!”

Her aunt and uncle screamed.

Shota’s heart pounded in his chest.

Ryoko, silently crying, still trembling, never lifted her head.

(Ryoko…!)

Shota felt her pain as if it were his own.

All he could do was cry out her name in his heart—