Chapter 1: Infidelity Uncovered and Bullying

──August 30──

A heavy sigh escaped my lips.

I’m Aono Eiji, just your average second-year high school student.

Sipping barley tea, I glanced at the TV, where a special report droned on about a tunnel accident from a few years back. The grim topic soured my mood, so I switched it off. Boredom gnawed at me—might as well head out. Mom and Nii-san (Brother) were tied up with work, so I slipped out of the house without a word.

The cicadas’ relentless chirping filled the air. The scorching heat left me drenched in sweat.

“Today was supposed to be my birthday date,” I muttered.

August 30. Summer break was nearly over. My childhood friend, Amada Miyuki, and I had been dating since last Christmas, when I finally mustered the courage to confess. We’d been inseparable since elementary school. She used to call our bond “rotten” with a shy smile, but to me, she was untouchable—the idol of our grade. Without our shared history, a coward like me wouldn’t have dared speak to her, let alone become her boyfriend. Even after six months, I hadn’t worked up the nerve to kiss her.

I wanted to take our relationship further. That restless urge had me especially eager for today’s birthday date.

But this morning, a Line message from Miyuki blindsided me: “Sorry, Eiji. Something unavoidable came up with club activities.” Just like that, my first birthday date as her boyfriend vanished.

The disappointment stung. Feeling adrift, I boarded the train we were supposed to take together and ended up in the prefectural capital, a fair distance from home. Wandering alone through the movie theater and arcade we’d planned to visit was harder than I’d expected.

“I’m such an idiot,” I mumbled.

Aimless wandering felt pointless, so I decided to head back. Maybe I’d stop by that famous tsukemen shop at the station to mark my birthday alone.

With the melancholic air of a lonely middle-aged bachelor, I started toward the station. In rural prefectural capitals like this, the adult entertainment district is just a short walk away. Pathetic as it was, I’d even researched some “adult” spots, half-hoping today might become a milestone. My feet, almost on their own, drifted in that direction.

I felt utterly worthless. Shaking my head, I glanced at a distant building—and froze. A startled yelp slipped out.

“Huh?!”

Someone who shouldn’t be here. Was I so desperate I was hallucinating? I rubbed my eyes and looked again. No mistake.

The sight shattered me. My mind scrambled to deny it, but the more I resisted, the more reality’s despair crushed me.

Long, familiar black hair. A slender, model-like figure. Her favorite dress. But her makeup was heavier than when she was with me—painfully deliberate, more effort than she ever put in for me.

“Ah!”

Miyuki spotted me and stiffened.

The guy she was arm-in-arm with looked puzzled, but when he followed her gaze, his face twisted into a mocking smirk.

“Why are you here?”

My childhood friend and I spoke in unison, our voices laced with shock. The guy beside her was Kondou-senpai, the soccer team’s ace—a flashy, handsome third-year who had girls swooning.

But why was he so close to my girlfriend—closer than I’d ever been—on my birthday?

“Oi, Miyuki.”

Without thinking, I grabbed her left arm. She yelped, “Ow!” and I released her instantly, realizing I’d gripped too hard.

“Sorr—”

Before I could finish, a sharp blow struck my left cheek. My body flew backward, and it took a moment to register I’d been punched.

“You violent creep! What the hell are you doing to my girl?!”

Kondou-senpai’s menacing words drew every eye in the vicinity.

“What are you talking about… You’re the one cheating…”

Gasping through the pain, I glared at him, resentment burning in my chest.

“Huh? Who the hell are you? Miyuki’s stalker or something?”

What was this playboy even saying?

“Oi, Miyuki. Say something to this guy. Didn’t you tell me all about him while you were sleeping next to me? How you only dated him because he’s your childhood friend and you couldn’t say no, but he’s boring? How his sweaty hands gross you out when he tries to hold yours?”

My dignity shattered, each word a dagger.

Please, deny it. I turned to my childhood friend, my girlfriend, pleading with my eyes. Her face was pale, trembling.

“What’s wrong, Miyuki? If you like this guy so much, go ahead and choose him. We can end this right now. Me or him—who do you pick?”

I felt like a defendant awaiting judgment.

She clung to Kondou-senpai’s arm, desperate.

“No, don’t abandon me! I can’t live without you, Senpai!”

My vision blanked.

“Then who’s this guy? Say it loud and clear.”

Despair had already broken me. Now my heart felt dead.

“Eiji was my childhood friend, but… he was so clingy, like a creepy stalker and a violent boyfriend.”

“Mi… yu… ki?”

My voice was a faint whisper. Ten years together, reduced to this.

“Go on, tell him properly, then. This delusional stalker.”

Urged by Kondou-senpai, she delivered the worst birthday gift imaginable.

“Sorry, Eiji. I can’t be with you anymore. Don’t talk to me at school either.”

And with that, our relationship ended.

──August 31──

The shock from yesterday left me bedridden. I ate nothing, burrowing into my blankets, willing time to pass. A living corpse. My disastrous birthday behind me, I hid in my room to conceal my swollen cheek from Mom. Dad passed away three years ago from an illness, leaving just me, Mom, and Nii-san to run “Kitchen Aono,” the restaurant he left behind. They’re always busy, coming home late, so they didn’t notice my state.

I’d messaged them yesterday: “I’m feeling off, so I’m resting in my room,” and locked my door. Mom, worried, spoke to me through it when she got home. Guilt gnawed at me, but I lied, “Might be a summer cold. Don’t want to spread it, so I’m sleeping it off.”

They left porridge, pudding, and sports drinks outside my door. I forced some down, then slept without thinking, letting the last of my second-year summer break slip away.

An unbearable emptiness consumed me, haunted by relentless nightmares.

※

My nightmares repeated, relentless.

On a monitor, I watched, helpless, as Miyuki and Kondou-senpai, bare and entwined, kissed in a hotel room.

“Eiji’s just so gross,” Miyuki said, her voice cutting. “I was only nice to him because he’s my childhood friend, but he got the wrong idea and confessed.”

“Forget that disgusting guy. Just look at me,” Kondou-senpai urged.

“Yes!” she replied, fervent.

Ten years as childhood friends, and I couldn’t even touch her. Kondou-senpai goaded her into badmouthing me, relishing every word.

It was just a dream, but the nausea clung to me. My dignity felt trampled, my heart fracturing with every imagined scene.

Please, stop. Not this.

I wasn’t naive about what couples did in that entertainment district. She’d ditched our birthday date because Kondou-senpai mattered more.

Did I have no worth as a man?

※

Waking from the nightmare, I was soaked in sweat, heart pounding. Sleep itself had become terrifying.

──September 1──

Sick to my core, I faced the new semester. I dragged myself into my uniform and trudged to school. The world had lost its color, the uphill path a torment.

“Hey, isn’t that…”

“Yeah, it’s him.”

“What a creep.”

At the school gate, unfamiliar second-years stared, their uniforms matching mine. Why were strangers calling me a creep? Ignoring them, I hurried to my classroom.

“Morning,” I said, as usual.

My classmates responded, and relief flickered—things seemed normal here. They chatted about summer break, their voices lively.

“Yo, Eiji. Any progress with Amada-san?” a close classmate asked.

I brushed it off, Miyuki’s name alone piercing my chest. In the front row, she talked with friends, her usual smile dimmed by a faint shadow.

※

Lunch break came, and I hadn’t absorbed a word from the opening ceremony or homeroom. Our homeroom teacher, Takayanagi-sensei, was apparently absent, advising a club tournament. Satoshi had mentioned something similar, but I didn’t want to bother him during club activities, so I held off messaging.

I noticed Miyuki finish her lunch and slip into the hallway alone.

Without thinking, I followed. Ten years together couldn’t end like that. I needed to know why.

“Miyuki!” I called, forcing my voice to sound normal.

She turned, startled, her face tinged with sorrow. “Eiji? Why…”

Though confused, she seemed willing to talk.

“U-Um, well…” I stammered, reaching out.

But my hand was stopped—not by her, but by Murata Ritsu, Miyuki’s best friend, who stepped between us.

“Stop harassing Miyuki, you violent creep!” she snapped.

“Huh?!”

Why was Murata-san saying this?

“Let’s go, Miyuki. I won’t forgive you if you keep bothering her.”

Murata-san pulled her away, and Miyuki vanished down the hall.

“No, Miyuki. You have to completely ignore stalkers like him,” Murata-san said firmly.

“Y-yeah,” Miyuki mumbled.

Watching them flee, I realized I couldn’t even speak to her anymore. Despair settled deep.

※

I stumbled through the school day and fled to my room. Unable to think, I dove into my blankets, trembling. Despair crashed over me in waves. Why was I being called a stalker? I wasn’t violent.

Had I done something wrong? All I wanted was to celebrate my birthday with my girlfriend.

My phone buzzed.

Could it be Miyuki?

With faint hope, I checked. An unknown X account, just random letters—a throwaway. Warily, I opened the DM.

“Die, you creep.”

A prank, probably. Uneasy, I deleted it. Ten minutes later, another DM arrived from a different account.

“You violent creep. Don’t ever come back to school.”

A chill gripped me. The words echoed Miyuki and Murata-san. Terrified, I flung my phone away. But the messages kept coming, every few minutes.

“Beating her up after a breakup? Disgusting.”
“DV creep, get expelled.”
“Stalker, you’re the worst.”

[T/N: DV = Domestic Violence.]

The malice was unmistakable, from multiple sources. My fear deepened, as if my place in the world was being chipped away. Sleep grew even more terrifying.

──September 2──

I hadn’t slept a wink. Dizziness plagued me as I headed to school. The stares from other students felt like daggers. Someone was always watching, and paranoia about unseen enemies weighed on every step.

I stopped before my classroom. The door, inches away, felt impossibly distant. I was terrified to open it. If only I had one ally…

Steeling myself, I pushed it open. My hope shattered instantly.

“So, yesterday… oh,” Aida said, stopping mid-sentence as he saw me.

“Tch,” another classmate clicked their tongue.

“Morning,” I managed, my voice frail.

No one answered. Cold glares met me, as if I were filth.

“Why’s he even at school?”

“I wish he’d just quit already.”

“I don’t want to share a class with a DV stalker.”

“He’ll probably get expelled soon.”

Their whispers, soft but deliberate, cut deep. Miyuki hadn’t arrived yet.

“What’s that supposed to mean… I didn’t do anything,” I muttered.

Murata-san slammed her desk. “Shut up, you stalker! Miyuki wouldn’t lie. The soccer team’s senpai saw it too. Who’d believe a criminal like you over two school celebrities?”

I couldn’t bear more. Why was this happening? Unable to retort, I slumped over my desk, trying to block out the world. But the whispers gnawed at my heart, relentless.

※

Lunch break came, and I fled the classroom, seeking solitude in the courtyard. Mom had packed me a simmered hamburger bento from Kitchen Aono’s leftovers—my favorite—but today, it tasted like ash. Exhaustion weighed on me, yet sleep refused to come.

When I returned to the classroom, it was eerily empty. Why? The afternoon’s first class was supposed to be world history. Had the schedule changed? No one had told me.

Humiliation and alienation stung, threatening tears, but I grabbed my notebook and searched for the new classroom. The home ec room was wrong. So was the biology room. Classes had already started, and panic clawed at me.

Passing the chemistry room, my eyes met Murata-san’s. World history had apparently been moved here. Her face twisted in blatant disgust before she looked away.

“Sorry, I’m late,” I said, stepping into the chemistry room.

Cold stares greeted me. Yahagi-sensei, the veteran chemistry teacher, looked concerned. “Is something wrong, Aono-kun? Were you feeling unwell?”

“Yes, I wasn’t feeling great and rested a bit.”

“I see. Don’t push yourself too hard. Let me know if anything happens during class.”

His kindness offered a fleeting warmth, but I was unprepared for chemistry. My textbook was missing, and no one offered to share. I had no allies here. The small comfort from Yahagi-sensei faded, and darkness swallowed my heart again.

──September 3──

I was utterly isolated in class, unable to rely on anyone. A faint hope flickered—maybe the literature club would accept me. But during lunch, the club president messaged that today’s meeting was abruptly canceled.

Still, I thought someone might be there and headed to the clubroom, clinging to a shred of salvation. What I found pushed me to the brink of despair.

The clubroom was lit. Thinking someone was inside, I reached for the door, desperate for refuge. But voices stopped me—Tachibana, the club president, and others, speaking from the other side.

※

“Hey, President? Did you tell him properly?”

“Yeah, I sent the message during lunch.”

“It’s kinda scary to meet him, right?”

“A little.”

“But what do we do with his manuscript? For the club magazine at the cultural festival…”

“Let’s toss it. It’d damage the club’s reputation.”

“Right? So funny.”

“Can’t be helped.”

“He has no talent but works so hard on his manuscripts. It’s just pathetic.”

※

Their words sliced into my heart. Outside the clubroom, my novel manuscript from last year lay torn to shreds, stuffed in a trash bag.

My mind blanked. Everything I’d poured myself into was rejected. My childhood friend of ten years betrayed me. Classmates who were friendly just days ago, literature club members I’d thought were comrades for two years—they weren’t my allies. I had no one.

Desperate, I messaged Satoshi, my other childhood friend. “I need to talk.” He was away at a club tournament, and the message went unread.

“Right, a teacher,” I thought.

Takayanagi-sensei, our homeroom teacher, was absent for club duties, but Ayase-sensei, the assistant homeroom teacher, was here. A new teacher in her twenties, closer to our age, she seemed approachable.

She’d likely be in the classroom now.

I returned, but before opening the door, I froze. Inside were Ayase-sensei, Miyuki, and Murata-san. I hid and listened.

“Sensei, Miyuki’s been really troubled lately. Could you talk to her sometime?” Murata-san asked.

“Sure, of course. But it’s rare for Amada-san to have troubles. Knowing you, maybe you’re too kind and got caught up in something?” Ayase-sensei replied.

The conversation shifted between them, Miyuki offering only a strained smile.

“Yeah, something like that,” she said softly.

“Haha, alright. I’m on your side, you know. A stellar honor student like you is rare. I’ll definitely support you.”

Those words pierced me. Would a teacher believe me if I confided? Compared to Miyuki, I was painfully average. She was the perfect honor student; teachers would never side with me over her. Ayase-sensei had just confirmed her allegiance. Maybe I was wrong. The accusations were false, but doubt crept in.

My classmates and club members wouldn’t even hear me out.

All I could do was run. But the school wouldn’t let me escape.

My shoes were missing from the shoe locker, which was defaced with red marker: “Die,” “DV creep,” “Disgusting stalker,” “Quit school already.” A flyer for Kitchen Aono was taped there, with a threat scrawled on the back: “If you snitch, we’ll pay your shop a visit.”

The message was clear—there was no place for me here. I found my shoes in a nearby trash bin.

Tears fell as I retrieved them and fled home.

※

I stopped by Kitchen Aono on my way home.

“Oh, welcome back. No club today?” Mom asked.

She and Nii-san, taking a break before evening prep, looked weary.

“Yeah, it got canceled suddenly,” I replied.

“I see. You’ve been under the weather lately, so rest up today.”

Mom’s gentle voice nearly broke me.

“Thanks. Sorry for worrying you guys when you’re so tired.”

They both laughed softly.

“Kids don’t need to worry about their parents,” Mom said.

She hadn’t shed a tear since Dad died, always smiling to shield us from worry.

“Exactly. Your job is to enjoy school. My dream is to see you through university,” Nii-san added, his smile awkward but warm.

Since Dad’s passing, he’d stepped into a fatherly role, sacrificing his twenties for the family and the shop. He never complained, working tirelessly to preserve Dad’s legacy.

I couldn’t burden them further. Maybe the bullying would fade if I endured. If I held on, no one else would suffer.

“Yeah, I’ll do my best,” I said, forcing a smile.

──Miyuki’s Perspective──

Sleep had eluded me since that day. My dear childhood friend, my boyfriend, saw me cheating. How had it come to this? He was supposed to be my most important person.

Days after our breakup, I’d lose consciousness at dawn, only to wake soon after. That was my life now.

Maybe it was a dream—a cruel nightmare I’d wake from, returning to normal. I clung to that hope.

But the rumor Kondou-senpai spread had consumed the school, forcing me to face reality. I didn’t want to break up. If Kondou-senpai weren’t here, I’d be sobbing, clinging to Eiji.

Watching Eiji bullied made me want to cry. But I couldn’t.

It began innocently.

I’d told a friend, “Things with Eiji aren’t moving forward, but I’m happy just being with him.” She must’ve thought I was troubled. One day, she called me out and introduced me to Kondou-senpai, saying he was experienced in relationships.

I tried to explain, “I’m not that worried, I’m fine,” but she insisted, “Come on, Senpai offered to give advice. He’s the soccer team’s ace, practically guaranteed a sports scholarship. You don’t get to talk to someone like him often!” So I agreed to tea.

He was kind, gentlemanly, with a mature perspective unlike our naive first love. I found him captivating.

※

“There’s no way a guy wouldn’t feel a girl’s charm with a cute girlfriend like you, Miyuki-chan.”

“I’d make a move right away. Haha, kidding, kidding.”

“What do you want to drink next? I’ll grab it.”

“You’re a truly captivating woman. Maybe your childhood friend is just intimidated by that?”

※

His princely treatment melted my guard.

We exchanged Line IDs, consulted about love, and shopped for date outfits. His constant praise boosted my confidence.

Love advice and shopping became excuses. It stopped being about Eiji and became about us. It was practically dating.

After our third date, by a riverbank at sunset, he kissed me. Half-surrendered, I didn’t resist much and accepted it. And what followed.

It didn’t take long for Kondou-san to claim everything I’d meant for Eiji.

Guilt toward Eiji gnawed at me.

But…

“If a guy doesn’t make a move on a captivating girl like you, it’s his fault.”

“It’s not your fault, Miyuki. It’s your boyfriend who’s failing as a man.”

His excuses turned my guilt into fuel for our trysts. I despised my shallow dependence on his validation, but I was too addicted to stop. I was an easy mark.

Even knowing that, I was powerless.

※

“Hey, the 30th is a club day off. Wanna hang out?”

“But that’s his birthday…”

“Alright, I’ll ask another girl then.”

“Huh…”

“I mean, it’s obvious you barely care about me. You always prioritize that Eiji guy. I’m tired of chasing you. I shouldn’t say this, but let’s end this messed-up relationship. It’s better for both of us.”

※

I recalled that threatening message—the one from the day I canceled Eiji’s birthday date.

It was a turning point in my fate.

I chose Senpai over Eiji.

Eiji was kind; he’d forgive me if I apologized. But with Senpai, it might be over for good. Fear drove me to the worst choice. I’d taken Eiji for granted.

My childhood friend, my fated partner of over ten years. I was certain we’d marry, live together forever. That happy certainty clashed with the woman in me, whispering.

“If Senpai leaves, Eiji will be the only man I’ve known. Is that okay?”

Desire and feminine pride. That’s what hurt Eiji. My shallow self-preservation pushed him deeper into despair.

Confess, a voice urged. Admit Eiji’s innocent, that I lied and cheated.

I couldn’t. I was the coward. The problem had grown too vast. I’d lose everything I’d built. Fear paralyzed me. All I could do was watch the bullying.

Regret consumed my heart, a lifetime’s worth.