I stood and stared blankly at the message that was sent to my phone. It was Ai's message, saying that her sister cried last night when she heard that I'm with a woman. Why did she cry? It's something that doesn't concern her. Why?
"Why?" I messaged.
"I don't know," messaged Ai.
Even I don't know the reason. It's not something that's worth crying over. I can't imagine tears falling from Mei Shimizu's eyes just because of hearing that I'm with a woman. That's not enough reason to cry. She doesn't even have the right to cry about it.
"Are you sure that she cried?" I messaged.
"Positive," messaged Ai.
I stopped walking for a while, trying to gather all of my thoughts and everything that happened. I'm trying to take in the information that was given to me and come up with an answer to what I should do about it. Out of concern, Tanaka also stopped on his tracks and turned his head towards me.
"Hey, are you alright?" asked Tanaka.
I looked at him slowly and turned my eyes back on my phone. I shook my head and decided to continue walking.
"Hey, if something happens, I can listen to it," said Tanaka.
"No, everything's fine," I said.
"Okay then," said Tanaka.
I glanced at Ai for a moment, and I could see the unbothered look on her face. She's acting like we're not even talking secretly in front of Tanaka. She's good at making poker faces, too. You can't read her at all, but she can read you like a book.
Back to the topic at hand. What should I do? I didn't expect that she would cry over something like that. Curse you, my sister! Just as I concluded that what I'm feeling in my heart is jealousy, this happens. Wait, why am I trying to connect my situation with hers?
Argh, nevermind. If she cried because of what happened, then it's not my fault. This isn't my problem, and I'm not the one who made her cry. This is not something that I should apologize for since I didn't do anything wrong.
I decided to ignore the situation and placed my phone in the back pocket of my pants. After I did, I suddenly felt the vibration that came from my phone. I took it out once again and saw the notification of Ai's message. I opened my screen lock and looked at the message.
"You aren't going to do anything about it?" messaged Ai.
"No, it's not even something that I should solve. It's not my fault that she cried," I messaged.
"It is, and you know it," messaged Ai.
I turned my head and saw Ai looking straight into my eyes intensely. I know what she's doing; she's trying to guilt-trip me. She's trying to place guilt inside my heart and apologize to Mei Shimizu. However, that's not going to make me move.
I felt the vibration of my phone once again and read another message from Ai. Tsk. This girl really is trying to manipulate me. I didn't stop walking, even if I had read the message. We continued walking silently until we reached an intersection where Tanaka would separate from us. Since his house is in the opposite direction of mine.
"I'll be going," said Tanaka.
"Got it," I said.
I waved to Tanaka, and he waved back. He walked away from us and went home. Meanwhile, I stopped walking and looked straight into Ai's eyes. Since it's just the two of us, we can talk about this matter without hiding from anyone.
"Let's continue this with face-to-face conversation," I said.
"I don't know about that; you're facing the other direction and not my face," said Ai.
"Stop with the jokes and out with it," I said.
"Out with what?" asked Ai Shimizu.
"Did she really cry?" I asked.
"Yes," said Ai Shimizu.
I pulled out my phone and opened the message that she sent to me. I turned it to her and showed her the message that she sent to me. It was ridiculous. Does she really think a message like this is enough to manipulate me?
"This won't work for someone like me," I said.
"It seems like it's working though," said Ai Shimizu.
"How can you be so sure with that?" I asked.
"It's written all over your face," said Ai Shimizu.
Here we go again. This ability of hers is so annoying. I hate that she knows what I'm feeling and thinking just by looking at my face. That's not even how psychology works!
"If guilt trips won't work, then taunting will. You seem like the type of guy who has a lot of ego and pride inside of him. Manipulating someone like you is something that I have never done before," said Ai Shimizu.
"How is that?" I asked.
"See? You're not even denying it," said Ai Shimizu.
"Tsk, this is a waste of time," I said.
"Where are you going?" asked Ai Shimizu.
"That's none of your business," I said.
"That's not the way to your home," said Ai Shimizu.
"I know," I said.
I didn't pay attention to her anymore and kept on walking. I walked silently as I placed my hand in my pockets, thinking about the words that I would say to her.
.
.
.
"Good work for today," said Mei Shimizu while synchronizing with the teachers.
The meeting of the teachers has come to an end, and it is time for them to go home. Mei Shimizu picked up her bag and started walking out of the meeting room. However, Yuki Takahashi, the mother of Keisuke Takahashi, approached her and started a conversation with her.
"Are you going home, Shimizu-sensei?" asked Yuki Takahashi.
"Yes, is there a problem?" asked Mei Shimizu.
"No, not at all. Would you like me to give you a ride?" asked Yuki Takahashi.
"Oh, no, I don't want to trouble you," said Mei Shimizu.
"It's not trouble at all," said Yuki Takahashi.
"I would like to accept the offer, Takahashi-sensei, but I have a bike. It's good exercise for someone like me," said Mei Shimizu with a smile on her face.
"I see. Take care then," said Yuki Takahashi with a bright smile on her face.
"You too," said Mei Shimizu.
Mei Shimizu finally stepped out of the meeting room and went to the parking area of the school where the bikes are parked. Once she arrived at her bike, she let out a big sigh.
The woman who made some noise she heard from the video call with Keisuke Takahashi is still bothering her. She knows that it's not something to cry about, but her tears wouldn't stop falling yesterday.
The pain that she felt was too much for her that it caused her to break. She stood silently and held the chair of her bike, not speaking a word, and fell deep into her thoughts. Mei Shimizu stood still for a while until she was finally ready to move on. She closed her eyes and shook her head. She pulled her bike from the parking lot and sat on its seat.
"Wait," said a familiar male voice behind her.
The familiar voice made Mei Shimizu widely open her eyes, feeling surprised while also feeling happy at the same time. She slowly turned her head, hoping that the familiar voice was someone that she assumed.
"Mei Shimizu, I need to talk to you," said Keisuke Takahashi.