After breaking up, my ex asked me to win her back

He dreamed of a cherry blossom.

The pale pink petals fell like snow, carried away by the wind.

Kagura Hikaru was dazzled by the Sakura Fubuki, lost as he looked up, watching the petals drift away.

In the direction the petals drifted, a girl approached.

She had snow-white skin, long hair framing her face, a beautiful complexion, and wore the Bunkyo Middle School's short-skirt uniform—she looked like Aphrodite walking on earth.

As she got closer, Kagura Hikaru gradually recognized her.

It was Kohinata Motoyo, his friend.

She, himself, and his girlfriend, they had all met in the drama club, always together.

That time had been so beautiful it felt unreal.

He supposed this friendship might continue for a long time, maybe ten years, perhaps twenty, or even longer. Continue your journey with My Virtual Library Empire

Even if they went their separate ways after entering society and lost contact, when they met again after a long time, Kagura Hikaru could call out her name without hesitation.

"Suse," Kagura Hikaru said to the approaching girl with a smile.

Kohinata Motoyo stopped in front of him, slightly lifting her head, smiling at him—

"Kagura."

"I like you."

"Go out with me."

No one could be saved by those words.

They were the seductive whispers of a demon.

The apocalyptic trumpet of an angel.

In front of Kohinata Motoyo, Kagura Hikaru fell into an abyss, tumbling into darkness, deeper and farther away from the light.

The moment he felt his back hit the ground, he suddenly woke up.

"Ha... ha..."

He slowly sat up, his head throbbing painfully, his back and the sheets completely soaked with cold sweat.

But he had not been woken up by pain but by fright.

"Suse confessed to me...? Why did I have such a dream?"

Kagura Hikaru sat on the bed, covering his forehead, feeling an uncontrollable sense of shame.

He admitted, Suse was a very charming girl, no less attractive than his girlfriend, and as a normal male, he was inevitably drawn to her.

But dating Suse, even in a dream, he should not think about it.

Betraying a relationship was the thing he despised the most, his father and his mother also were...

Wait, what about his parents?

Didn't they just divorce normally? Why did he think of emotional betrayal?

The deeper he thought, the more intense his headache became, forcing Kagura Hikaru to cut off his thoughts, stagger out of bed, open the drawer, take out the painkillers that Ayakoji Chiyoko had placed there the day before, swallow one immediately.

Whether it was a placebo effect or the painkillers were really strong, within a few seconds, Kagura Hikaru felt much better.

He ran his fingers through his hair and went downstairs to the restroom to wash up.

The sun was already up outside, its fierce rays were just like in summer.

Looking out the little window in the restroom at the scenery outside made Kagura Hikaru's mood quite good.

He liked looking at the landscape under the sun; it reminded him of his visits every summer to his old home in Wakayama, where the sky was vast and high, the air was clear and blue, with lush forests and clean streams, few people, very quiet.

Although it was the countryside, inevitably inconvenient, Kagura Hikaru was very fond of the days spent there.

Next summer vacation, he'd invite Chiyoko to come and stay for a few days; it would be nice if she enjoyed it too.

Thinking of his girlfriend, a natural smile spread across Kagura Hikaru's face.

He took a shower, changed clothes, went to the dining room to eat the breakfast his stepmother had prepared, then returned to his room to take down the wet sheets and put them in the washing machine to clean, replacing them with new sheets.

It felt great not to have to go to school early in the morning and leisurely go about my own business.

However, today I still had important things to take care of.

Today, the gauze on my head needed to be changed, and I needed to reapply my medication; my stepmother would probably drive me to the hospital around noon.

If my father had been at home, he would have been the one to do this.

But I heard he might have gone on a business trip to China?@@novelbin@@

The day I woke up in the hospital, my father called to check on me and mentioned this, asking Kagura Hikaru to bring back some local snacks.

It had been many years since I'd had anything from China, and I strangely missed it.

Oh, and my mother—the one by birth—also called, saying she was currently traveling in New York and should be coming back to the country in a few days.

On the phone, Kagura Hikaru cautiously inquired about their reason for divorce.

After losing my memory, I had also lost the memory of my parents' divorce.

It was tough to talk about it with my father, but my mother was outgoing and generous, closer to me, and likely wouldn't mind such a direct question.

However, unexpectedly, my mother glossed over the topic.

It seemed that no matter what, Kagura Hikaru had to accept this reality; his father had remarried and there was another wife now, a gentle and kind stepmother with whom Kagura Hikaru, despite his feelings, wouldn't take it out on her.

But awkwardness was inevitable since he had to live under the same roof with a "stranger" of a woman and adjust to everything anew.

After playing games till noon and having lunch, Kagura Hikaru was driven by his stepmother to the hospital where he had been treated before.

The hospital was crowded at noon, with many people visiting during their break.

Kagura Hikaru waited in line for half an hour before it was his turn, and the nurse helped him change his gauze and medication.

After finishing up, as he planned to go back to find his stepmother, he saw her sitting in the corridor of the hospital, talking to someone unexpectedly.

"You are... Classmate Kiryu?"

Kagura Hikaru walked over, surprised to see Kiryu Hina appearing in front of him in the hospital.

Just now, she was having an animated chat with his stepmother.

But she was wearing a school uniform, which meant today wasn't a school holiday.

"Shouldn't you be at school right now? Are you here to get treatment for an injury as well?"

"No, Classmate Kagura, I am here to see you," Kiryu Hina said, tucking her hair behind her ears and smiling.

"To see me?"

"Actually, I asked Hina-chan to come over, Mister Hikaru," his stepmother continued. "The doctor said that to cure your amnesia, you should try to engage as much as possible with things related to your lost memories. I was quite worried about how to do that, but I ran into Hina-chan yesterday afternoon, and when I brought up this matter, she said she could help."

"So, you came here?"

"Yes, does Classmate Kagura not welcome me?" Kiryu Hina said with a smile.

Kagura Hikaru narrowed his eyes slightly.

His instincts told him that this Kiryu Hina definitely had some ulterior motive.

Additionally, it was obvious that she did not get along with Chiyoko.

Could it be that she wanted to use him to find out Chiyoko's weakness or something compromising?

And those comments yesterday that sounded like attempts to sow discord...

Seeing that Kagura Hikaru was silent for a long time, his stepmother quickly tried to smooth things over, "Mister Hikaru, Hina-chan had also visited our house before. You got along very well before the accident, so don't worry about her. Moreover, Hina-chan even took a special leave from school to come here today, let her help you."

"..." Kagura Hikaru looked troubledly at Kiryu Hina, "You say you want to help me recover my memory, but how exactly are you going to do that? You don't know what could trigger my memory."

Kiryu Hina gave a helpless smile and said, "Of course I know, I already told you, I used to be your friend."

She stood up, still having her school bag slung over her shoulder, and said to Kagura Hikaru, "Today I plan to first take you to Yoshou Elementary School."

"The elementary school I attended? Why, I don't have any memories from elementary school lost."

"No, you do."

Kiryu Hina said assertively, "So, are you coming?"

"..."