After breaking up, my ex asked me to win her back

It was just past six in the morning when Kagura Hikaru, sporting dark circles, emerged from his tent to wash up.

At the wash basin, he ran into Ayakoji Chiyoko, who had woken up even earlier than he had.

She was brushing her teeth, a towel draped around her neck, her mouth full of foam.

Maybe because she had just gotten up, her school uniform looked a bit disheveled, loose and giving off a lived-in feel.

Hearing the footsteps, she turned around, glanced at Kagura Hikaru askance, and lowered her head to spit out the toothpaste foam and rinse her mouth.

"Didn't you sleep well last night?" she asked.

"How did you know?"

"The dark circles, pretty obvious."

Kagura Hikaru, holding a plastic cup, turned on the tap, squeezed toothpaste onto his toothbrush, and said, "Something happened last night...never mind, I'd rather not talk about it."

"What, you think I'm unreliable, can't keep a secret?" Ayakoji Chiyoko frowned, visibly displeased.

"It's not for that reason."

Even if he told her, it would be pointless, only increasing panic, plus there was the risk of being thought to have delusions.

Actually, Kagura Hikaru wasn't sure that the figure he had seen was Komori Ai.

Because that shadow, clearly shorter than Komori Ai, looked like a grade schooler.

But Ayakoji Chiyoko was persistent, insisting he tell her, and Kagura Hikaru, unable to withstand her continuous questioning, had to tell her.

The response was flat.

Find your next adventure on empire

"So, you met a ghost last night, what's so hard to say about that?"

"Wow."

If I were a video store owner, I definitely wouldn't sell you horror movies.

"Of course, I don't believe it. That must have been some other shadow that you mistook."

Ayakoji Chiyoko rolled her eyes contemptuously, "Also, why do you start your story assuming I know who Komori Ai is? Who is she, your friend?"

"..."

In that moment, Kagura Hikaru froze for three seconds, standing still.

He didn't even notice when his toothpaste fell from his brush, just kept staring at her.

"....What did you say?"

"Is she a girl by that name? I don't recall. Is she from our school?" Ayakoji Chiyoko asked while wiping her face with a towel.

Kagura Hikaru didn't take in a word.

This was no joke; he could tell.

Ayakoji Chiyoko, forgotten Komori Ai?

"You don't know Komori Ai?"

"Should I know her?"

"I just mentioned her to you yesterday."

"Did that happen?" Ayakoji Chiyoko appeared puzzled.

Even if Ayakoji Chiyoko was usually scatterbrained, she shouldn't have forgotten that distinctive name in just a day.

Kagura Hikaru pressed further: "Do you still remember when I and President Kiriyu got lost on the mountain yesterday?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Ayakoji Chiyoko looked at him oddly, "You both disappeared for four hours on the mountain, then walked out on your own, and I even ridiculed him harshly."

"How many people came down the mountain?"

"Only you and Kiryu Hina, who else?"

Kagura Hikaru slowly stuffed his toothbrush, devoid of toothpaste, into his mouth, his cold, wet hand against his cheek.

Her memory was indeed faulty.

Had Komori Ai done it?

But why was his memory not erased, why was he special?

After washing up, Kagura Hikaru encountered other students, asked about the name Komori Ai, and indeed, not one of them remembered.

The few girls who had slept in the same tent as Komori Ai the previous night were no exception.

Upon seeing Kiryu Hina, her attitude became somewhat distant.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Without Komori Ai's presence, it meant that after returning to the camp, there would no longer be any reason for her to continue interacting with Kagura Hikaru.

It was only because of the eerie presence of Komori Ai following them back to the camp that Kiryu Hina had temporarily acted together with Kagura Hikaru and Ayakoji Chiyoko.

Their issues hadn't been resolved yet, so don't expect her to become friends again just because Kagura Hikaru had saved her the day before.

The legend of a hero saving a damsel, implying she must marry him, is just a legend.

However, Kagura Hikaru could indeed feel that after this getting lost incident, Kiryu Hina's attitude toward him had changed.

There was no longer that constant, targeted discomfort.

Although still not friendly, it at least returned to the realm of normal communication.

This probably could also be considered a blessing in disguise in some sense.

Komori Ai had silently left, as if she had never appeared, literally.

The people at the campsite were still the same, without much change.

In the end, Komori Ai, who they had thought would bring danger, didn't harm anyone.

Moreover, she had even helped Kagura Hikaru and Kiryu Hina by guiding them to find the way down the mountain.

She might really have been a Mountain God.

It's just that her attitude was a bit creepy.

Because Kagura Hikaru and Kiryu Hina had gotten lost on the mountain the day before, Teacher Yamazaki's original plan for a picnic had to be abandoned.

Even he wouldn't dare take the risk of dragging students up the mountain at such a time.

So, the morning activities were changed to flying kites, playing Frisbee, and dodgeball.

Those who wanted to play did, while others formed small groups on their own to play video games and cards.

Honestly, it was quite boring.

At noon, after eating a meal of chestnut fried rice, their allotted time at the campsite ended.

The students from Uka quickly packed up their belongings under the teachers' prodding.

After handing over to the campsite manager, the teachers led over a hundred students back to the bus station in town.

Just like when they departed, everyone boarded the buses in three groups.

Kagura Hikaru sat by the window, resting his cheek on his hand and boredly watching outside.

He was still preoccupied with the matter of Komori Ai.

Yet until now, he hadn't figured out her real identity or purpose, and could not even confirm whether she was dead or alive, human or ghost.

So much so that he began to doubt whether what he had experienced was real or just his imagination.

A person whom everyone else forgot, but only he remembered.

Telling anyone would only lead to the conclusion that he was wrong, suffering from delusions.

But if that were true, why did it feel so real?

That bone-deep chill seemed to still cling to his back as if it had never left.

The bus started, gradually moving away from the station and the town amid the sound of the engine.

As the vehicle turned a corner, Kagura Hikaru, through the window, saw a familiar face waving a red shadow far away.

It was Komori Ai.

She truly did exist.

Kagura Hikaru watched her waving arms disappear from sight, somehow feeling that they would meet again in the future.

This was an odd experience that he couldn't share with others.

Whoever it was would probably not believe it.

After returning to Tokyo, this encounter would gradually be sealed in a corner of Kagura Hikaru's memory, becoming a unique remembrance of this spring.

Occasionally recalling it could even be described as pleasant, novel, and interesting.

For the ordinary living plain lives, a ghost story experienced firsthand without harm would be considered a memory worth recollecting; it wasn't strange.

The fear, thrill, and uncertainty he felt at that time had vanished over time.

At least, until it was dug up again.