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

When Kagura Hikaru saw Kiryu Hina here, he subconsciously froze.

She was wearing a milk-white dress today, cinched at the waist, which highlighted her quite impressive figure for a high school student. She looked very beautiful.

Perhaps because the sunlight was particularly strong today, she also wore a big white sunhat on her head, adorned with a blue ribbon, exuding elegance while still maintaining a sense of approachability.

For a moment, Kagura Hikaru thought he had seen her dressed like this somewhere before, but he couldn't recall where exactly.

"Why are you here?" he asked in astonishment.

"Shh." Kiryu Hina playfully winked with her left eye and put a finger to her lips, gesturing for him to speak more quietly.

Gazing towards Ayakoji Chiyoko to make sure she was still focused on Kohinata Motoyo and the others, and wouldn't notice them for a short time, he then relaxed and tugged at Kagura Hikaru's sleeve.

"Come with me."

Kiryu Hina whispered, beckoning him with her hand as she trotted off in her straw-colored sandals.

Kagura Hikaru glanced back, hesitated for a moment, and then followed.

They turned the street corner, passed through an alley, and stopped in front of a second-hand bookstore on another street.

Kagura Hikaru looked at the bookstore and became lost in thought.

Before he could speak, Kiryu Hina expressed surprise, "Hey, wasn't it here? Where we had our first date."

"Eh?" Kagura Hikaru was stunned.

Realizing her outburst, Kiryu Hina turned and smiled, "Sorry, you probably don't remember it at all."

Even if he did, that memory wouldn't include her.

At this thought, Kiryu Hina's expression slightly dimmed.

Kagura Hikaru looked at her, "Kohinata Motoyo and Ai Cheng Karin, did you call them here?"

"Yes, I asked them to distract Ayakoji Chiyoko," Kiryu Hina said without any hint of evasion. "If she were here, she definitely wouldn't give me a chance to talk to you."

Kagura Hikaru neither agreed nor disagreed and turned his head towards the second-hand bookstore: "Why did you bring me here?"

"Just by chance," Kiryu Hina observed his expression and tentatively asked, "Shall we, go in and have a look?"

"Hmm...."

Kagura Hikaru was the first to walk in.

The shop was not big, very quiet, with shelves holding many old books, carefully categorized.

There were all types of books, including literature, popular science, and even light novels could be seen.

These were all second-hand books.

Lover of books often browsed places like this, where one might find out-of-print editions no longer available in regular stores.

However, with the internet being so prevalent now, even rare and hard-to-find titles are not impossible to source online, and there's no need to sift through a vintage shop.

This was a place forgotten by time.

Lagging behind the era.

Yet walking in such a place somehow seemed to settle one's mind.

Kagura Hikaru ran his hand over the age-worn bookcase, pulling out a book.

It was Camus's "The Outsider," looking to be about a decade old by now, with its cover turned yellow.

Kagura Hikaru stood in front of the bookcase, flipping through the book.

Kiryu Hina came to his side, quietly drawing out Nietzsche's "The Birth of Tragedy" and read along with him.

Time passed quietly.

It wasn't until his phone in his pocket rang that Kagura Hikaru snapped back to reality.

He closed the book and took out his phone, no surprise to find it was Ayakoji Chiyoko calling.

He hesitated on whether or not to answer.

A fair hand reached over and pressed the button to decline the call.

Kiryu Hina looked up at him slightly, using Nietzsche's book to cover the lower half of her face: "If you want to go find her, you could call her back. I won't stop you."

"..."

Kagura Hikaru switched his phone to airplane mode and slid it back into his pocket, then closed the book and returned it to the shelf, and said to Kiryu Hina: "Where to next?"

A smile slowly blossomed on her face; Kiryu Hina also put away her book and led Kagura Hikaru out of the bookstore.

A tacit understanding seemed to have developed between them.

Kagura Hikaru knew that Kiryu Hina was leading him on.

And Kiryu Hina knew that Kagura Hikaru acknowledged he was being led on.

It was an incredibly curious atmosphere.

In theory, Kiryu Hina should almost be a stranger to Kagura Hikaru at this point, yet he abruptly left his 'girlfriend' to run off with a strange woman.

What Kagura Hikaru was thinking right now, nobody could guess.

Not long after, the two of them arrived at a fountain square.

Indeed, it was the same place Kagura Hikaru had visited with Ayakoji Chiyoko before.

This place held a special significance for Kagura Hikaru, just like the bookshop did.

Because this was where he and his girlfriend had their last date.

That snowy Christmas Eve, the feel of her body when he hugged her from behind, the touch of his hands on her chest, was still vividly felt to this day.

"Kohinata Motoyo told me," Kiryu Hina said, her hands clasped behind her back, looking at the fountain, "She confessed to you again."

"Mhm."

"Didn't you feel anything?"

"....." Kagura Hikaru was silent.

"She likes you that much, and she still doesn't plan to give up, she even tried to drag me down too, really don't know what to say about her." Kiryu Hina sighed as she shook her head in disapproval, "Kagura, how do you see her?"

"She's just a friend, nothing more."

"Ha, so heartless, but that's what I like about you." Kiryu Hina kicked the ground, "Anyway, back to the main point, you probably don't remember this place, do you?"

"....."

"Our first date was in that secondhand bookstore, and the last was here."

Kiryu Hina looked up into the blue sky, her bewildered eyes lost in memory, "That day we met here to hang out, then I saw you with Kohinata Motoyo...and then, we broke up."

Kagura Hikaru turned his head and looked at her, "Were you really my girlfriend?"

"Of course, guaranteed genuine."

"Then why would you help me?"

"What?"

"If, as you said, you caught me cheating with Motoyo and broke up with me, why would you confront Ayakoji Chiyoko on behalf of your ex-boyfriend, what's in it for you?"

Kiryu Hina abruptly turned around, seemingly surprised, she opened her mouth then closed it, thought for a moment, and slowly said, "One can't view human emotions with such a simple notion of trade-offs... Besides, it's not like there's no benefit to it."

"Such as?" Kagura Hikaru asked calmly.

Kiryu Hina slowly reached out and tugged at his sleeve, cautiously saying, "Such as, improving our relationship?"

"..." Kagura Hikaru silently looked at her, "That's not what you really think."

"...I want to stay by your side, to keep liking you, is that reason good enough?" Kiryu Hina released his sleeve, her face turning red with embarrassment.

"Now that's the truth."

"You...!" Kiryu Hina hit him hard, "Stop speaking in riddles, you've regained your memory, haven't you!"

Kagura Hikaru, as immovable as a rock, nodded without expression, "I remembered everything back in the bookstore."

He thought Kiryu Hina would complain, but instead, she suddenly threw her arms around him.

The arms around his waist tightened gradually.

"Really... don't ever make me worry again."

The warmth of her touch.

It was exactly like what he had felt on that Christmas night years ago.

Kagura Hikaru stayed silent as he pushed her away, his hands on Kiryu Hina's shoulders, he looked into her eyes, ".....Hina, there's something you need to know."

Kiryu Hina wiped the corners of her moist eyes, looked up confused, "What is it?"

"I cheated."

"I know."

"It wasn't under threat, I genuinely fell for Motoyo."

".....I know."

Actually, when Ai Cheng Hua Lian told her about Kagura Hikaru's infidelity, she had already realized.

No matter what Kagura Hikaru initially thought, in the end, he actually did fall in love with Kohinata Motoyo.

Even though they had broken up over Kohinata Motoyo, Kagura Hikaru held no resentment towards her and was still willing to call her 'Motoyo,' speaking with her as he would with a friend.

Back then, when she threatened him using that person's reputation, Kagura Hikaru accepted it all without complaint.

At that time, Kiryu Hina understood that Kohinata Motoyo had, just like her, secured a place in his heart.

But betrayal was not his intention, just knowing that was enough for Kiryu Hina's redemption.

If it wasn't for Kohinata Motoyo's actions, all the subsequent events probably wouldn't have occurred.

Kagura Hikaru wouldn't have fallen for Motoyo, and they would likely still be a couple now.

But it didn't matter.

Let the past pass; what's important is to seize the present.

After so many experiences, when Kagura Hikaru had a car accident, Kiryu Hina finally realized, she gave up dwelling on the past, decided to follow her heart's choices, to live the present without regrets or resentment.
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And to stop obsessing over a person, a relationship.

As long as this love is real, that's all that matters.

"Kagura."

Kiryu Hina looked at him, a slight smile on her face, though her eyes revealed a bit of nervousness, her hands instinctively grasping Kagura Hikaru's sleeves.

She mustered up her courage and whispered:

"Let's start over from strangers."