The fireworks display is about to start.
In addition to us, couples and families who came to enjoy the fireworks display were bustling around the riverside.
At that moment, Yamato slowly spoke up.
“Hey, Yuto?… There’s something I want to tell you.”
Something he wants to tell only me…?
I wonder what it could be… But as Yamato tried to speak, his expression seemed to be tinged with sadness as he gazed up at the night sky…
I gently listened to Yamato’s words.
“Why didn’t I go to see the end-of-term test rankings…”
It was something that had been on my mind…
Both Shun and I were surprised to see that the top spot in the grade belonged unquestionably to Yamagiyama Yamato… And with a score of 499 out of 500 points… How is it even possible to achieve such a score…
Normally, one would be delighted, but Yamato showed no interest, and instead, he seemed to not want anyone to mention it… Yamato was trying to tell me something he thought he would never touch upon again…
“You know that I’ve been alone in both middle school and high school, right…? I mean, honestly, I’m smart, so I’ve always been at the top of the class.”
“It’s not like I haven’t put in effort, and the pace of studying at a Beta school was abnormal, so I’ve done what I could in my own way.”
“But you know… I was envied, resented, and alienated by others because of my intelligence… I was pushed away by others… Even though I’m smart… I was annoyed with my attitude… Playing the prince, acting so cheeky… That’s what everyone thought… Those kinds of thoughts kept ringing in my ears…”
“As a result, I didn’t even try to attract others… It’s a hassle. I’m fine being alone. Let them say what they want… Why do I have to bother trying to get along with others… So I… Before I knew it, I was always alone…”
“And then, before I realized it, I was treated as if I had fallen from grace… I’m human too, so I have my limits… But the resentment and envy escalated, and my heart reached its limit from the words I heard behind my back…”
‘Their place isn’t here, huh?’
‘We’d be better off without them around.’
‘Someone get rid of that nuisance already.’
“Haha, you know, I reached my limit and ended up getting into a fight with them, and I completely tore them apart… And then, the teacher just told me to drop out…”
I couldn’t help but hold back tears while listening intently to his feelings… My body trembled, and my hands involuntarily clenched into fists…
No, I can’t cry here… I want to understand Yamato’s feelings, the feelings he wants to share only with me…
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“P pera kjca ab ilnf cbgwjiis cbk… Ljtj! P fcnlfv oglfcvr ktb mbeiv ijeut abufatfg klatbea j mjgf lc atf kbgiv… Ccv P kjcafv ab rqfcv atf gfwjlclcu sfjg delfais, klatbea jcs kbgglfr… Tfjt, pera ilxf yjmx lc rmtbbi… P kjcafv ab gfjiis fcpbs ws raevfca ilof.”
‘I’m just so tired…’
‘So, even if I transfer schools, I’ll just be alone…’
Ktja’r ktja P vfmlvfv lc ws tfjga…
“And then, Yuto, you appeared in front of me at that moment… You said you wanted to be my friend, for my sake…”
“And you turned me around… My first friend, my best friend… That was you, Yuto.”
As Yamato finished speaking, he turned to me with a smile that seemed relieved…
But I couldn’t hold back anymore, tears streaming down my face uncontrollably… They wouldn’t stop… The tears wouldn’t stop…
Though the circumstances were different… I’ve felt similar to Yamato… There’s nothing lonelier than being alone…
The pain, especially when it’s caused by the voices around you, feels like being stabbed repeatedly with a knife; it’s agonizing…
After finally breaking down in tears, Yamato gently patted my back as he was looking apologetic…
Because I understand Yamato’s pain too… As someone who understands pain, I wanted Yamato to know about my past… I wanted him to know.
Yamato was patting my back without shedding a tear. He had opened up about his past to me.
“I’m sorry for bringing up this kind of talk during such a fun time…”
Don’t apologize… Please…
“No, it’s different… I was glad to hear it… I was happy to hear about Yamato’s feelings… But at the same time… I understand Yamato’s feelings so painfully…”
Yamato seemed a little bewildered by my words.
“Yu-Yuto…?”
“I… I was alone because… I was bullied…”
“What…?”
I began to explain the reason why I was alone without waiting for permission from Yamato…
“I had friends until I was in the third year of middle school… We were supposed to have fun together… But I had a lie that I couldn’t shake off from everyone…”
Yes… I’ve been hiding the fact that I’m an Omega, living a life filled with lies… It’s a huge lie that I can’t even tell Yamato…
“When that lie was exposed… After that day, I was subjected to unbelievable bullying… The stares of my classmates hurt whenever I entered the classroom… There was no seat for me when I tried to sit down…”
“My school lunches were drastically reduced… My shoes disappeared when I tried to go home… It was like living in hell…”
“And then, I found myself alone… No one tried to approach me… Why did I have to endure this much…?”
‘Your place isn’t here.’
‘Don’t come here; your scent will rub off on us.’
‘Why are you even here?’
“It was scary; it was tough… I wanted to escape… There were days when I even wished to erase my existence completely…”
“How could I change… Why… Those were the only thoughts that kept growing…”
“That was when… I hadn’t done anything wrong… I was fine being alone… If I could be reborn, I wanted to start over again.”
“But you can’t resist fate or life… So I thought, if that’s the case, instead of staying in my hometown, I wanted to try having a fun high school life somewhere far away…”
Yamato listened to my story, his face showing the same sadness I had seen when I listened to his story…
Yamato didn’t ask about the lie I had been carrying… But even if he did, I couldn’t tell him… That’s the one thing I absolutely couldn’t reveal…
“But you know, a lot of things changed dramatically when I entered high school… Just like I mentioned the other day… Right now, I’m incredibly happy… And having Yamato by my side, that’s the greatest happiness of all…”
“We… may be different in form, but we’re alike in essence, aren’t we?”
Alike in essence… That’s right, the weight of a person’s wounds can only truly be understood by that person…
I felt like Yamato and I could share that weight, and sensing that, I couldn’t leave Yamato alone…
I wanted to turn Yamato’s gaze towards me…
After listening to my story, Yamato shed tears with a pained expression…
“I’m… glad I met you… I’m glad I could understand how you feel, Yuto… Thank you for saving me from my suffering. Truly, thank you…”
We were able to articulate our feelings to each other…
The emotions we had locked away in our hearts were suddenly released, and as if those feelings were bursting forth, fireworks began to light up the night sky…
But still, Yamato… I’m sorry…
I couldn’t tell you about… being an Omega…
I’m sorry for lying to you… Truly, I’m sorry…
* * *
We conveyed our feelings to each other, and our smiles returned as we joyfully engraved the vividly shining fireworks in the night sky into our memories.
As I gaze upon Yamato’s profile, shining alongside the brilliance, there’s a refreshing feeling, and his smile seems softer than usual…
This must be Yamato’s true face…
I gently turned away and looked back at the fireworks, but… I could faintly feel Yamato’s gaze on me…
I was smiling while pretending not to notice Yamato’s gaze.
And just as the fireworks display reached its moving finale, as we were about to head home…
*Thud!*
Uh-oh…
A strong bout of dizziness hit me…
Yes, it’s anemia… The side effects of the medication to suppress my heat during mating season vary from person to person, but in my case, sudden and severe anemia was wreaking havoc on my body.
I was feeling dizzy as I started to lose my balance and almost fell backward when…
My body was supported by strong, warm arms, enveloping me…
“Hey, Yuto! Are you okay?!”
My body was now enveloped by Yamato’s arms, and Yamato’s face was closer to mine than ever before…
I instinctively regained my posture as I was feeling a pain in my chest, far surpassing any previous excitement, and uttered words of reassurance…
But there’s no way I’m okay! And so, with Yamato guiding me, I ended up being escorted home…
I guess Yamato would have guessed by now that Yuto was an Omega. If he’s as smart as he was described here ☺️