She Became Distressed After I Stopped Being Restrained and Started Interacting with Others - Chapter 13

After finishing our sweets, we chatted about trivial things before parting ways, and I found myself walking home alone.

The night breeze brushed against my skin, pleasantly cool.

(I actually managed to relax…)

For some reason, the time I spent with Shiori hadn’t felt uncomfortable at all.

If anything, it had been a little… nice.

The loneliness of Honoka not being there had eased, just a tiny bit.

Of course, it wasn’t that I’d stopped loving Honoka.

No—that was something that would never happen, not in a million years.

In fact, the more I was aware of her absence, the more I realized just how much I loved her.

But right now, I was afraid of letting those emotions overwhelm me.

I miss Honoka. I want to see her. I want to hear her voice.

Those feelings kept swelling inside me, tightening around my chest, and honestly it hurt.

That’s why it was a relief that, at least while I was with Shiori, those emotions had softened.

But—

I pulled out my phone and stared at the screen.

No notifications from Honoka.

…Was I waiting for her to reach out?

Before, I would’ve been the one to message her immediately.

But now, I hesitated to send anything myself.

I’d decided to stop clinging and give her space, yet here I was, still completely consumed by thoughts of her.

My heart hadn’t changed at all.

I exhaled deeply and slipped my phone back into my pocket.

Just then, it buzzed unexpectedly.

For a second, hope flickered. Could it be Honoka?

I hurriedly checked the screen.

—But the message displayed was from Shiori.

“Thanks for today. I was really happy to talk with you, Nanase.”

I stared at those short words for a while.

Come to think of it, we had exchanged contact info at the café.

I hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to reply.

But ignoring her would be weird, so I simply sent back, “Me too.”

Almost immediately, my phone buzzed again.

“About the aquarium we talked about at the café—think it over, okay?”

(…The aquarium.)

It had been a passing topic at the time, but Shiori was seriously inviting me.

(Should I go…?)

I still felt a little resistant to the idea of going out with someone other than Honoka.

(But… if it’s Shiori…)

Even though we’d only just started getting closer, for some reason, I found myself trusting her.

Maybe it was because she’d listened to me, because she’d been considerate of my feelings.

That’s why I decided I’d accept Shiori’s invitation.

Besides…

(I want to properly build relationships with people other than Honoka.)

Maybe going to the aquarium with her could be the first step.

As I looked at the message thread with Shiori, that’s what I told myself.