Episode 56 

As I was searching for the ring in the river, which was flooded because of the rain, the raindrops that were hitting me hard suddenly stopped, and I turned around to hear a voice calling my name.

I was surprised to see Sumika staring at me with a black umbrella as I searched for the ring.

“What are you doing? It’s raining.”

The umbrella she was holding for me to keep me dry was my umbrella that she had taken with her when she said dumped me.

Even though it’s my umbrella, she stole it away and uses it as if it were her own instead of buying a new one, it’s really a rotten character of Sumika.

“You can see what I’m doing. I’m looking for the ring you threw away.”

“I-I know that. I’m not asking that, I’m asking what are you doing in such a dangerous situation?”

I wonder if this guy was the kind of person who would worry about such things.

Even when I was hit by a car, she never came to visit me.

“Even if it’s a dangerous situation, I still have to find it. That’s how important the ring is. I told you not to talk to me again. Why are you talking to me?”

“I don’t care. …..No.  I want you to let me look for the ring with you.”

“….Huh? You want to look for it together?”

I couldn’t believe my ears when Sumika said that.

Sumika, a lousy bitch, was asking me to look for a ring with her?

What in the world was her intention in saying such a thing,……?

No, no.

This time, instead of the apologetic atmosphere that Sumika had for herself the last time, I can sense that she is sincerely sorry and wants to find a ring.

As proof of this, Sumika, dressed in her school uniform and still wearing her loafers, steps into the river and holds out an umbrella to me.

“At that time, the blood rushed to my head and I threw the ring into the river without thinking, but now I feel sorry. That’s why I would like to help you find the ring.”

When Sumika suddenly repents and becomes honest, I’m unable to accept her, saying, [I’m glad you repented] and I still suspect that Sumika hasn’t reformed.

Considering what Sumika have done up until now, it can’t be helped that no matter how much she repents, I won’t be able to forgive her.

“…..What’s with you all of a sudden being so honest? Even if you’re being honest, I definitely don’t want you to ask me to go out with you again. Above all, I have Kohime.”

“I know that.”

“……Then why did you become so honest?”

“I realized this when you called me a scum the other day. I think I also called Eita a scum when I broke up with you, but I realized that I was much more of a scum than you were.”

Words that could never have come out of Sumika’s mouth.

Sumika has always had a selfish way of thinking, but just because I called her a scum, is she suddenly going to be able to reflect honestly?

“…..Did you eat something strange?”

“I didn’t ! Why is it so strange for me to be honest !?”

“Oh, it’s not strange, it’s just weird.”

“Ugh…… You’re so harsh. Well, maybe it’s a weird change of heart.”

“What made you change your mind so much?”

“……After I started dating Takamiya senpai, I realized that Eita was a really nice person. When I was dating Eita, I broke up with you because I was dissatisfied. I realized that Eita was a good person, and I conveniently tried to get back together, and then I saw Eita’s girlfriend, Kohime, by his side, and I got mad, and I don’t know what happened, so I threw away the precious ring in the river, and then I apologize arrogantly….. To be honest, I knew I was doing the worst thing I could have done. But the wheels had already started moving and I couldn’t stop, or rather, I couldn’t turn back. I’m truly sorry.”

The expression on Sumika’s face as she delivered her lengthy apology conveyed that she was not apologizing to me with any agenda, but rather that she was apologizing from the bottom of her heart, reflecting on her own actions.

Earlier, I was angry at why she still had my umbrella, but the reason she still kept the black umbrella she took with her when she dumped me might have been because she regretted it.

Still, I was not satisfied with her apology.

“I’m glad that Sumika was sorry and apologized to me. When I was going out with you, I thought I should apologize for avoiding you, even though I was doing it for your sake. But I don’t think I can immediately forgive you just because you apologized. Even though I wanted to stop you from dating Takamiya senpai for your sake, you spread rumors that I had lied to get you to keep you, and that I forced you to have a physical relationship. At the end of the day, the precious ring I was planning to give to Kohime was thrown into the river, which is completely unacceptable.”

What Sumika has done to me is something I can never forgive with just an apology, and I may never be able to forgive Sumika no matter what she does to me in the future.

But I would not have felt better if I had not conveyed that feeling to Sumika.

“….I think you’re right. Even listening to myself, I think I’m a really lousy scumbag.”

“I know. Well, it’s still better that you think so.”

“……That’s why I’m apologizing to Eita and trying to find a ring with him, and it’s not because I want him to forgive me for what I’ve done. But I have to come to terms with what I’ve done.”

“……?”

Sumika looks straight at me as if she has made up her mind.

Isn’t she just coming to apologize?

“I revealed in class that all the rumors I’ve been spreading up until now were lies.”

“Ha !? hey, if you do that–!?”

“……,Tomorrow you won’t be able to talk to me properly.”

Sumika seems to be very aware of what will happen to her if she exposes the harassment she has been doing to me.

But what are you thinking about exposing your own bad deeds?

“Then why then, why would you do such a–“

“Because I wanted everyone to know that Eita is not a bad person.”

“W-what the hell…..”

“On the other hand, I wanted everyone to know that I’m the worst person ever. If I don’t do that, I’m likely to make the same mistake again. Of course, it’s mostly for Eita. I mean, if I say something like that now, I’d rather not harass you in the first place.”

What Sumika meant by “payback” was to expose the evil things she had done, to raise my reputation and to significantly lower her own.

If Sumika had not exposed it, I would have exposed her wrongdoings at school someday, so sooner or later Sumika’s wrongdoings would have come to light.

But when she revealed it herself, it seemed that she was deeply sorry for what she had done.

“Anyway, I’m sorry. I’m sure that when you go to school tomorrow, no one will look at you as a bad guy anymore. So, please take it easy and go to school.”

“…..You’ve changed, haven’t you?”

“Thanks to you.”

The next day, Sumika will have the worst day of her life ahead of her, and yet for some reason, she seems to have a cheerful expression on her face.

“Hey, stop talking about this all the time and let’s find the ring before the rain gets too heavy.”

“….Right..”

I started to look for the ring with Sumika.

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