I explained everything to Tomoko. How she was actually feeling towards me, how Ayane's parents treated Ayane harshly, she just sat and listened with full concentration.
"Look Takashi, I also have something to tell you."
Tomoko was looking dead serious. I tried to focus on her face but couldn't make any eye contact.
"S-say."
Tomoko hold my hands, i could feel the warmth inside her:
"I already met Ayane before meeting with you."
"W-what?" I said, i was surprised.
"I saw her crying near a ramen store. She was all shaking and muttering herself. So I sat near her and asked if everything was okay. But she told me to leave her alone. I didn't. "Why are you crying?" I asked again. I knew i was pushing too hard, but this time she looked her left and right to see if anyone is near, then told me her problems.``
"Wh-what did she say?"
"Same stuff. Her toxic parents,her coping mechanism and self-hatred…"
"S-so she said nothing about me huh?"
"She said that something also happened today and when I asked what it was, she just said "couple stuff".
"C-couple stuff" I looked in disbelief. "I see…"
Tomoko squeezed my hand
"Ouch!"
"Takashi, even though she treated you like garbage, it was her coping mechanism and her feeling towards you is real. Look, i dont say she is right, she is completely wrong for doing these terrible things to you. But even if these things happened, you have to leave the past in the past, ok?"
I didn't say anything. I just waited for her to tell me more.
"So anyways, after that she followed me through the park after our first date. Then she said she wanted to talk to me. And spilled out all of the things that happened. It was… kinda surprising to see her being your ex, not gonna lie…"
"Hey, miss. Here is your order!"
McDonalds' waitress came when we were talking.
Tomoko handed the money and thanked her.
Waitress smiled
"Enjoy your meal!"
When she is gone, Tomoko continued:
"Then i hid that i was your current "girlfriend", i thought she would be mad at me if she learnt…"
"T-tomoko… s-she guessed it…"
"Huh?"
"She guessed it… when we were talking at my house, she said she guessed you were my rental girlfriend at the beach…"
"Really? I- I see… This is bad…"
There was silence for a couple of seconds…
"T-takashi, do you know why she followed you to the beach?"
"…"
"She followed you when you were hanging out with your friends… She saw everything and felt terrible after ruining your relationship with your friends. In case if you didn't notice, she followed-"
"I know… W-we a-also talked about that…"
"She cried when we were talking on the phone, Takashi… She said she wanted to kill herself, she said she doesn't deserve to live"
"O-oh…"
"She wanted to apologize, but when you left and ran away, everything got even more messed up… We talked after that fight at the hotel. I got out of there and talked with Ayane. She was both pissed and sad, she said she was going to raid your house…"
"A-and s-she did…"
"Yeah…"
She took a bite out of her food. I realized I forgot to order something.
"And that's pretty much it. That's why you should talk with her. And settle everything up. She's in a far worse situation than you, Takashi…"
"I- I know, f-fine. I'm g-gonna t-talk to h-her."
"Good, now. Let's enjoy the rest of the festival! Shall we?"
Tomoko got up from her seat. She fixed her hair and smiled at me.
"Let's go Takashi, let's have some fun and hang out together, as your "girlfriend"
I smiled:
"O-ok."
//////Meanwhile//////
"We arrived at Shinoramae Train Station! Everyone, get up from your seats!" train driver said.
Finally I am going to meet him after all these years. I am ready to talk with you again, Takashi. I, Yumi, will finish the job I Left unfinished. I would be very curious about your reaction when we met again.
I'm back, Takashi!