Aogiri High IF Route: The Love Ryo Was Meant to Find, and the Other Heroine is You! - A more extravagant lunch than usual, and words left unsaid.

The next morning. Ryou paced back and forth in front of Yuu's house. The Aobadai residential area was quiet from the early hours, with a dog barking somewhere in the distance. The October air had fully turned to autumn, carrying a slight chill. (What do I do? What kind of face am I supposed to make?) He couldn't get last night out of his head. Yuu's declaration about studying abroad. Mika's confession. Both of them in tears. And himself, unable to say a single thing. The more he thought about it, the more his feet refused to move. Normally, he'd press the intercom without a second thought, say "Morning," and they'd walk to school together. That was Ryou's everyday life. (But today...) His heart was pounding. Sweat beaded on his palms. He took a deep breath and stood in front of the gate. But then he immediately started walking again. He'd go three houses down, then come back. He repeated this over and over. If anyone saw him, they'd definitely give him weird looks. "Whoa!" Suddenly, the front door swung open. Out came Yuu. Her waist-length black hair was down as usual, and she clutched a clear file stuffed with study abroad materials. "Ah, Ryou. Good morning." Yuu gave him her usual warm, gentle smile. It was as if yesterday's tears had been a lie. "O-Oh, morning..." Ryou's voice cracked. "What's wrong? We'll be late if we don't hurry." Yuu tilted her head curiously. Flustered, Ryou fell into step beside her. Yuu's demeanor was so completely normal that it threw him off even more. (What... she's acting like always.) He felt a little let down. But looking closely, he could see faint dark circles under Yuu's eyes. She probably hadn't slept much last night. Even so, she was trying to act normal in front of him. Realizing that, Ryou couldn't say anything. The two of them walked a little briskly toward Aogiri High School, perched on top of the hill. The same familiar route to school. Past Harbor Mart, across the north exit of Naruse Station. Students biking to school overtook them one after another. But something was different. Yuu was walking half a step ahead of Ryou. Just a tiny distance. Yet to Ryou, it felt painfully far. When they reached the classroom, a few of their classmates were already there. As Ryou set his bag down at his desk, an energetic voice flew at him from next door. "Ryou, good morning!" He turned to see Mika waving with a smile. Her bright brown semi-long hair swayed around her shoulder blades. Her usual style, with the side strands braided and tied back. "O-Oh, morning." "About yesterday... um, sorry for surprising you?" Mika lowered her voice a little. Her large, round brown eyes gazed intently at Ryou. "No... it's fine..." The words wouldn't come. "Geez, don't make that face! I'm totally fine!" Mika laughed brightly and poked Ryou in the side with her finger. "Hey, cut it out!" Ryou jumped back, and Mika cackled. But her eyes were a little red. Looking closely, her eyelids were slightly swollen. (Mika didn't sleep much either...) Just as Ryou thought that, Mika's face suddenly turned serious. "Hey, Ryou. I don't regret what happened yesterday, okay?" "Huh?" "What I said, I meant it from the heart. So you don't need to worry about me or anything." Saying that, Mika gave Ryou a pat on the shoulder. Ryou noticed that her hand was trembling slightly. But Mika immediately switched back to a smile and dashed off toward their other classmates. Ryou sat down at his desk and let out a sigh. Both Yuu and Mika were in the same classroom. All three of them, in the same room, breathing the same air. And yet, he felt like the normalcy they'd had up until yesterday would never return. He glanced over at Yuu's seat. Yuu had spread out a study abroad pamphlet on her desk. She was reading it intently, her expression serious. Her profile seemed so much farther away than usual. (Studying abroad... huh.) Again, Ryou felt a tight clenching deep in his chest. But he couldn't put it into words. He had absolutely no idea what he was supposed to say. Morning classes ended, and lunch break arrived. As the classroom began to buzz with noise, Ryou stared absently out the window. "Ryou." He looked up at the voice to find Yuu standing there. In her hands, she held a three-tiered stacked lunch box. "I made a lunch today. Want to eat together in the courtyard?" "Eh... ah, yeah." Ryou scrambled to his feet. The two of them left the school building and headed for the courtyard. The school's symbolic aogiri tree swayed its leaves, glittering in the autumn sunlight. The bench beneath the big tree was their usual spot for the three of them. But today, Mika wasn't there. "Mika-chan said she has a volleyball club meeting today." Yuu spoke as if she'd seen right through Ryou's thoughts. "Oh, I see." They sat down on the bench together. Yuu opened the lid of the stacked box. "Whoa..." Ryou let out an involuntary gasp. Normally it was two tiers, but today it was three. The first tier held colorful rice balls. The second had fried chicken and fried shrimp. And the third tier— "Tamagoyaki..." Ryou's eyes went wide. In the center of the third tier, yellow tamagoyaki were arranged neatly. And their shape—they were hearts. Looking closely, every single piece was shaped like a heart. "Uh, um... this is..." Ryou's face instantly turned bright red. "N-No, you've got it wrong! I just had leftover ingredients... it just, um, happened to end up this shape..." Yuu turned bright red too, waving both hands frantically. Just then— "Oh, is it Valentine's Day or something?" A voice came from behind. They turned to find Hayato standing there with a smirk. His close-cropped black hair and narrow, sharp eyes were laughing. "H-Hayato!?" "Man, I just happened to be passing by. But wow, I couldn't help but see that incredible lunch." Hayato walked right up without any hesitation and stood beside the bench. "Since when did you become such a ladies' man, huh? Confessed to by two childhood friends, and on top of that, heart-shaped tamagoyaki? That's way too extravagant." "N-No, you've got it wrong! The ingredients were just—" "Leftover, right? Yeah, yeah, I got it." Laughing, Hayato slapped Ryou on the shoulder repeatedly. "But hey, make sure you eat it properly. Yuu got up early to make this, didn't she?" "Got up early?" "No, that's not..." "Yuu, you've got dark circles under your eyes. Make sure you get some sleep." At Hayato's words, Yuu looked down. Ryou stared intently at the heart-shaped tamagoyaki. She got up early to make this for him. And a three-tiered box, at that—how long must that have taken? "Yuu... thank you." Ryou picked up a piece of tamagoyaki with his chopsticks. When he put it in his mouth, a gentle sweetness spread across his tongue. It was seasoned like dashi-maki, so it would taste good even after cooling down. "Is it good?" Yuu asked, looking up at him. The beauty mark under her left eye seemed to tremble just a little. "Yeah, it's really good!" When Ryou answered with a smile, Yuu let out a relieved breath. Then, she gave a small laugh. "I'm glad..." That smile was so completely like her usual self. Ryou's chest tightened again. "Hey, hey, did you forget I'm here? Is this you two being lovey-dovey? Huh?" "W-We're not being lovey-dovey!" Ryou denied it in a panic, and Hayato burst out laughing. But Ryou had noticed. Tucked into the corner of the lunch box was a small memo slip. Yuu probably hadn't noticed it. Hayato hadn't either. Ryou secretly picked up the memo. When he unfolded the small piece of paper, Yuu's rounded handwriting was lined up there. "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you for so long. But please, let me keep making lunches for you until the very end." Ryou clutched the memo tightly. His heart pounded faster. His throat tightened, and he couldn't say anything. "Ryou? What's wrong?" "N-Nothing!" Ryou hurriedly shoved the memo into his pocket. After school— Ryou was walking down the hallway near the faculty room. The shouts from club activities could be heard in the distance. The soccer club was doing sprints on the field. The sound of volleyball spikes echoed from the gym. (Where did Yuu go?) She'd been in the classroom just a moment ago, but then she suddenly disappeared. As he walked along thinking about it, the door to the faculty room opened. The person who came out was Yuu. (Huh?) Ryou stopped in his tracks without thinking and hid behind cover. Yuu had a serious expression as she stared at the envelope in her hands. Written on the envelope were the words "Study Abroad Application Documents." She seemed to have just received it from Fujiwara-sensei—the teacher in charge of the study abroad program, a thirty-five-year-old woman who handled the window for Aogiri High's recommended spots at overseas partner schools. Yuu stared intently at the envelope and took a deep breath. Then, she tucked the envelope into her bag. (She got them... she really is.) The strength drained from Ryou's entire body. He'd understood it in his head. That Yuu studying abroad was already decided. That her words yesterday had come from a place of resolve. But. (But still... she's really going.) His chest ached. Yuu started walking down the hallway just like that. Unable to call out to her, Ryou stood rooted to the spot for a while. Yuu climbed the stairs. The stairs leading to the rooftop. Aogiri High's rooftop was normally locked, but you could get in with permission from the student council. Yuu was a student council officer. Ryou followed after Yuu, careful not to make any noise with his footsteps. When he opened the heavy iron door to the rooftop, a cold wind blew through. Yuu was standing in front of the south-facing fence. The slanted autumn sunlight dyed her black hair orange. Yuu stood alone, looking down at the cityscape of Naruse. The "Himawari-dori" shopping street at the south exit, the riverside park along the Naruse River, even the distant shopping mall "Costa Naruse"—she could see it all. "...Yuu." When Ryou called out to her, Yuu slowly turned around. "Ryou... why are you—" "...Sorry, I followed you." Ryou walked closer to the fence. "You saw... earlier?" "...Yeah." Yuu looked down for a moment, then lifted her face again. "You know, Ryou... I didn't want to cause you trouble, not until the very end." "Cause me trouble..." "I couldn't tell you about studying abroad for so long. Because I knew that if I did, it would definitely make things hard for you. You're kind, Ryou, so I knew you'd worry about it a lot. I know you'd be sad that I'm leaving..." Yuu's voice began to tremble. "But I thought that keeping it from you forever would be even worse. So... yesterday, I finally said it." Tears spilled from Yuu's dark eyes. Those tears sparkled, illuminated by the orange sunset. "I'm sorry, Ryou. I'm being so selfish..." Ryou couldn't say anything. (Don't go.) Those words were right at the tip of his tongue. But he couldn't get them out. (If I tell her not to go, what will Yuu do?) Studying abroad was Yuu's dream. He'd never pried into it, but she'd always said she wanted to become someone who could help others. Studying abroad was the first step toward that. If Ryou were to say "Don't go," Yuu would surely be troubled. The kind-hearted Yuu might be swayed by his words. But that would be wrong. He couldn't obstruct Yuu's dream with his own selfishness. (Then, can I tell her it's okay to go?) He couldn't do that either. He didn't want to say it. He didn't want Yuu to leave. He knew that was just the selfishness of a child screaming inside his heart. Unable to say anything, Ryou clenched his fists. His nails dug into his palms, hurting a little. A pacifist. Indecisive. A guy who just didn't want to be disliked. In this moment, in this situation, was there really anything he could say? "Ryou... you know," Yuu wiped her tears and looked at Ryou. "I love you and Mika-chan

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Episode 2

Name: Aogiri High IF Route: The Love Ryo Was Meant to Find, and the Other Heroine is You!
Author: Novelia

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