Don't Call Me By My Username! - Chapter 28

A month had passed since then and the world had entered spring. Cherry blossoms were in full bloom. Every day, TV programs featured cherry blossom viewing or special programs about the beginning of new life.

The last time I saw Akira was on that rainy day. I still had the clothes from Akira which I couldn’t return.

In the end, what was I to Akira? Mr. Masuda told me all that, but I still never really knew the truth.

Even when I was told that Akira was no longer coming to school, I couldn’t believe it right away. I wanted to think that it was just a bad joke, but then the next day and the day after that, Akira didn’t show up . . . I felt a great sense of loss, like there was a gaping hole in my heart.

I thought I might be able to see him if I went to his house, but he had already moved out.

I was later told that on the days I was absent from school, Akira had asked for a favor directly from the principal because he wanted to devote himself to taking care of his father. The takeover and sorting out all the paperwork would take a few days to complete, but his father entered critical condition much earlier than expected.

If I had known that I wouldn’t be able to see him like this, I should have listened carefully to Akira at that time. I was afraid to hear Akira’s true feelings, but I wanted him to tell me the truth from his own mouth, and not from Mr. Masuda. I hadn’t even told him about my own feelings yet—

For the past few days, I had been having trouble sleeping well and had started to sleep while holding Akira’s clothes in my arms more often. When I sprayed the perfume that I put on my side table, it felt like Akira was hugging me, and my body would heat up. Driven by urges I couldn’t control, I spent my days comforting myself by fantasizing about doing things with Akira.

Maybe I could find Akira on the Real Love app. I opened the application and stared at the registration screen, but I stopped in the end. After repeating the same thing over and over several times, I became disgusted with myself and fell into a state of self-loathing.

When I was getting tired of this endless loop and it was getting hard for me to even look at my phone, I received a message from Kazuki.

<Want to go to the karaoke with me sometime?>

I thought about refusing at first, but it might be a better change of mood than being alone.

Kazuki must have been looking out for me.

So many people . . .

The meeting place was under the clock tower in front of the train station.

It was a common meeting place for the locals.

As expected in the middle of spring break, the area around the clock tower was crowded with youths.

Ah, that reminded me. It was just like this when I first met Akira. It was only a few months ago, but it felt like an eternity.

I was crossdressing at that time, and my stomach hurt so much that I just wanted to go home, but now even all that felt so nostalgic.

“. . . Haru . . .?”

Yes, at that time I also heard a low voice like this, then Akira looked down at me . . .

“Huh?”

As a familiar baritone voice called my name, I looked up in surprise.

The moment I saw the face of the other person, I almost stopped breathing.

“Wh . . . why?”

“I should be the one asking you that . . .”

Akira was right in front of my eyes—

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