Apparently the Gal who Bullies me Likes me

Chapter 8 (Part 2)

Real Intention

We left the mall and is now sitting on a swing in a nearby park, while drinking the banana juice.

The sun has already set and the area is completely dark.

The rain has completely stopped for a while now.

The park is empty except for for the two of us and only the sound of the swings echoes in the air.

"I'm sorry if I stopped you from getting off the train."

"It's okay, I had fun."

"I'm glad to hear that."

I had something on my mind that's really bothering me since earlier. 

"Why did you ask me to go out with you?"

"It's just I thought that if we switched seats, we wouldn't have as many chances to talk."

"You are really kind."

"No you're wrong!"

"Eh?"

I was surprised at her unexpected reply.

"...I'm not a kind person."

"Remember I used to bully you, right?"

I thought that it was resolved when she apologized to me on the rooftop, it looks like it's still bothering her.

"But I thought that you were different from them."

"But I still bullied you together with Rina and the others."

That's not how I perceived it though.

"It's only for a while, and I don't really care about that."

"I do care. Short as it may be, it doesn't change the fact that I was bullying you."

It seems that she is feeling more guilty than I originally though she did.

"Also why are you going with my selfishness? 

It's because...

"It's because we're friends."

Tachibana then looks down.

"Friends..."

Tachibana then looks up and stares directly into my eyes.

"I enjoy being with Kato that's why I want to spend more time with you."

Is that...

"I'm starting to wonder if this feeling comes from guilt but I want to believe that it's not, and that I really mean those words."

Words overflow from Tachibana.

"What am I to you? Am I your friend? Your bully? Or am I..."

It feels like I'm being sucked into her eyes and it seems she's eagerly waiting for my reply.

"You're my..."

Then suddenly it started to rain.

"Oh, it's raining..."

We immediately got off the swing and we shared the umbrella.

"We already talk too much, shall we go home?"

I didn't answered her question as it seems that Tachibana also doesn't want to continue the conversation.

On the train, she spoke to me as if nothing had happened. It was the same Tachibana as usual.

The station where Tachibana would be getting off is approaching soon.

"Hey, did you have fun today?"

"Yeah, it was really fun."

"Then that's good."

"Here, take this."

I handed my umbrella to Tachibana as it's still raining outside.

"Are you sure you're giving this to me?"

"Yeah, our house is close to the station so I would be fine."

"... Thank you. After all you are really kind."

The door then opens.

"See you tomorrow, Tachibana."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow."

Tachibana gets off the train.

The train goes on while I'm looking at the back of Tachibana.

For some reason I feel really lonely when I'm alone.​

Today was a really long day maybe I'll think about what happened today when I'm lonely.

I am really glad that I could hear Tachibana's true feelings.

"I wish we had met on equal footing from the beginning."

"I enjoy being with Kato that's why I want to spend more time with you."

"What am I to you? Am I your friend? Your bully? Or am I..."

Maybe Tachibana wanted to say... No, that's impossible.

I am getting further and further away from the station where Tachibana got off.

I felt that although the physical distance between us was so far apart, the distance between our hearts wasn't.

​

Note: As this chapter is really long I will do Tachibana's POV tomorrow some changes may occur in this chapter after I'm done with Tachibana's POV because sometimes some words have different meanings when it's in Tachibana's POV.