I Married the Girl Who Used to Bully Me - Chapter 2

My head hurts. Everything before my eyes is distorted, as if I’m viewing the world through a thin film.

Staggering as I walk, I’m once again carrying Misaki’s bags. This has become my role now.

If I refuse, she’ll probably get angry. She might even break up with me. So, I can’t refuse.

The weight of the middle school backpack digging into my shoulder feels as real as the heaviness in my chest.

The voices around me grow distant, leaving only the sound of my own breathing and my shoes tapping against the ground.

The same loop plays in my head; my father’s angry shouts, the dull thud of being hit, Misaki’s smile, Akiyama-kun’s cheers. All tangled together into an unbearable weight.

But then, a tiny voice quietly echoes in the back of my throat.

“One chocolate, one happiness.”

The magic words Misaki and I promised each other.

Whispering them in my heart makes me feel just a little more at ease.

“What are you mumbling about? It’s creepy.”

Chinatsu, walking slightly ahead of me, furrows her brows as she speaks.

“What, casting a curse or something?”

“Ikkun, stop it. He’s technically my boyfriend, so don’t embarrass him.”

Even as she teases, Misaki looks at me with a smile.

“You should just break up with him already.”

“I think so too~”

Distant. Farther and farther away. Misaki has changed—no, it’s me. I’m the one left behind in that time.

“Man, you’re making that gloomy face again.”

The voice belongs to my only friend, Shintsuka.

With his muscular build, his father’s a bodybuilder Shintsuka boasts impressive muscles even as a middle schooler. We’re in the same class and often talk like this.

“Hey, you should try working out too. It’s great. Clears your head, builds confidence. And most importantly girls love it!”

“So, have you ever had a girlfriend?”

“None—wait, what kind of question is that? Look, my girlfriend is muscle. Right now, I’m dating my pecs. Up until recently, I was with my calves, y’know.”

He lovingly strokes the “head” of his muscle “girlfriend.” It’s a sight I’ll probably never understand.

But Shintsuka’s eyes are serious, his voice full of passion.

“You’ll get it if you try! Working out isn’t just exercise, it’s a battle with yourself!”

“Working out, huh… Maybe I’ll give it a shot.”

As I think about it, the morning chime rings through the classroom.

Truth is, I do work out. Every night, forced by my father. Those sparring sessions and workouts are battles with no escape.

But there’s a reason I can’t show my body to anyone.

My arms, legs, back covered in bruises.

The marks left by my father’s hands are carved into my muscles, beneath my skin, stinging even when I smile.

Before I know it, school’s over.

“Hey, your grades dropped again?”

“Sorry…”

“Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry! Is that all you can say? It’s so annoying. Seriously, why did you even change?”

I clench my fists.

You’re the one who changed.

The old Misaki would never blame me like this.

Back when we’d laugh together, talking about books and stupid things. Those days are never coming back, are they?

“Sorry…”

“Ugh, that again—so irritating. I wish you were more like Sosuke-kun. He made it to the national soccer tournament, top of our grade. Compared to him. ugh.”

Her words press heavily against my chest.

The stress keeps piling up.

Pisses me off, pisses me off.

Then just date him instead.

Just dump me already.

My fists tighten.

“What’s with that look? You wanna fight?”

Misaki smirks, as if she’s noticed my frustration.

Seriously, she must think I’m weak. That smirk says it all. She knows she can win, so she’s toying with me.

I can’t look away, my fists still clenched.

Frustration and anger swirl together, boiling inside me.

“I’m going to watch soccer with Chinatsu and Sosuke-kun later. You’re coming too; bag carrier duty, got it?”

Ah, I’ve had enough.

I’ve endured it all this time, in my own way.

But now it’s enough.

Something inside me shatters with a sound.

I don’t have to keep suffocating myself behind a smile anymore.

“I’m not going.”