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

Chapter 176 Regret

The rain outside was pouring down harder and harder.

The raindrops reflected the light through the darkness, like endless silver needles threading through the night.

What a torrential downpour it was.

Kagura Hikaru sat by the window, resting his chin on his hands, staring blankly through the small window outside the bathroom, accompanied by the rumbling noise of the washing machine.

He was at home now.

There is a saying that being inside and watching the rain outside, even if a roof shields your head, yields two completely different sensations.

At home, there is a feeling of safety being securely sheltered by the house, while outside, you can feel the wind on your skin and the fine raindrops brushing against your cheeks.

The sound of running water echoed from the adjacent bathroom.

And the noise of the shower water hitting the skin.

Kiryu Hina was right now bathing just a door away from him.

A short time ago, on the way home, he had encountered her drenched from the rain under an umbrella, the feeling of being battered by the storm still vivid on his skin.

Yes, Kagura Hikaru had taken her home.

There was no reason not to bring her; even if it were someone else, he would have done the same, as helping each other is a good human virtue.

Kagura Hikaru nonetheless asked her for the reason.

"Why are you all soaked, where is your umbrella?" Find more to read at My Virtual Library Empire

She said she hadn't held it tight, and the wind blew it up to a rooftop. There wasn't a convenience store selling umbrellas nearby, so she had to stay under the eaves of that store to take shelter from the rain.

The tone of her voice at that time, Kagura Hikaru could only describe as 'feeble.'

Thus, it naturally led him to the second question.

"Are you sick?"

Just a bit dizzy, I'll be fine after I rest for a while, she said.

Having been pale and unsteady since noon, and now having been rained on as well, this condition couldn't merely be dismissed as 'dizziness.'

Therefore, Kagura Hikaru disregarded Kiryu Hina's opinion and carried her back to his own home.

Since she was in such a condition, it was natural that she couldn't hold the umbrella, and the result was that they were both wet by the time they arrived home.

When a drenched Kagura Hikaru arrived at his doorstep, carrying a drenched beautiful girl, his stepmother was quite startled.

The stepmother had first seen Kiryu Hina during a sports day before the summer vacation but didn't retain much of an impression and evidently had forgotten her.

But Kagura Hikaru's father knew her.

As a child, Kiryu Hina often visited Kagura Hikaru at the hospital.

Since middle school, they had been inseparable.

Thanks to his introduction, the stepmother almost changed the dinner to red bean rice (celebration meal).

What a tattletale.

After they entered the house, Kagura Hikaru first let Kiryu Hina take a hot shower. After changing out of her clothes and getting them washed, her stepmother prepared new clothes for her to change into.

That's why now, wearing a set of dry clothes, he sat outside the bathroom waiting for Kiryu Hina to finish her shower before it was his turn to go in.

Click.

The sound of water inside the bathroom stopped, and a minute later, the bathroom door opened.

Kiryu Hina came out wearing a light blue long-sleeve nightgown, her long hair cascading down, either from shyness or from the steam of the hot water, her face was flushed as she stepped out.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Kiryu Hina said with an awkward smile.

"Come out, it's my turn to bathe."

"Oh, yes....."

Kagura Hikaru passed by her and walked into the bathroom.

Fifteen minutes later, he finished his shower and when he came into the living room, he saw his stepmother waving at him.

"Kagura, that girl you brought, she has a fever."

"Did you take her temperature, how high is it?"

"Around thirty-nine degrees."

"Give her some fever-reducing medicine."

"Yes, she has taken the medicine already and is now lying in the guest room." your stepmother said with a sly expression,

"Do you want to go see her?"

"..."

In the end, he went, using the reason of visiting a sick person.

Of course, he had some questions to ask as well.

Kagura Hikaru gently opened the door to the guest room on the first floor, and upon entering, he saw Kiryu Hina lying on the bed, her face pale as she looked at her phone.

"Aren't you sleeping?"

"Ah, yes, I was reporting to my dad."

Kiryu Hina put down her phone, turned her head, and with a frail smile full of apologies said, "Sorry for causing you trouble."

"Not at all."

"Can I stay here tonight?"

"Why, isn't your father coming to pick you up?"

"He's currently out of town on a business trip and said he won't be back until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest."

"What about your stepmother?"

"She's in London gathering material."

"...Is that so."

"Sorry."

The sick Kiryu Hina seemed much weaker than usual, even pitiable.

This made Kagura Hikaru feel somewhat estranged.

What was her plan then?

She had deliberately waited there just to get him to take her home, what was she planning this time?

Kagura Hikaru didn't intend to keep his questions to himself and asked straightforwardly, "It wasn't a coincidence that we met, right? Your home isn't nearby, and you specifically waited on the path I take home, you came to find me, didn't you?"

"...Yes."

"The reason, does it have to do with Ayakoji Chiyoko?"

"Are you questioning me, Mister Hikaru?" Kiryu Hina turned her face towards him, her eyes somewhat sad, "What if I said that I had no ulterior motive, that I just wanted to see you?"

Kagura Hikaru sniffed, sensing a mix of truth and lies.

As expected, her purpose wasn't entirely pure.

"Would you do something so pointless, I don't believe it."

"...Is that so."

Kiryu Hina seemed to have thought a lot in that moment and then took a deep breath, "Yes, my coming here today indeed relates to Ayakoji Chiyoko. However, getting a fever was truly unexpected."

"If you want to inquire about the progress of our relationship, then it should still be going smoothly," Kagura Hikaru said emotionlessly, his eyes calm, "I'll find an opportunity to suggest visiting her home, I will inform you when the time is right."

"...What if, I asked you to terminate the plan..."

"You're not thinking of backing out, are you, after I've already deceived and hurt Ayakoji Chiyoko?"

In that moment, Kagura Hikaru's aura became exceptionally intimidating.

"You're not going to say that all of this was just a joke, a revenge against me... You wouldn't say that, would you?"

"I...."

He lowered his hand, walked up to the bed, and looking down at Kiryu Hina, his expression ice cold, said, "Finish this matter soon, end this connection, and then we can go back to being strangers."

"..."

Strangers.

That word, like a needle, pricked Kiryu Hina's ears.

She stifled the urge to cry, and smiled laboriously, mimicking the playful tone she used to use, "Saying such things to a sick person, that's not very nice, Mister Hikaru."

"True, it was inconsiderate of me to say that."

Kagura Hikaru looked as though he had lost interest in the conversation, "Rest well, your family will pick you up tomorrow, then?"

"Yes."

"That's good."

Without any reluctance, he left the room, shut the door, and even turned off the light for her.

The room returned to darkness.

Kiryu Hina lay there with her eyes open, staring at the invisible ceiling, drawing her limbs helplessly under the covers.

She could feel Kagura Hikaru drifting further and further away from her.

When had he begun to feel disappointed in her... Yes, it was when she had forced him to date Ayakoji Chiyoko.

Deceiving, concealing from someone, and embracing her with a heavy heart, that experience, even the past Kagura Hikaru had gone through it, and it had brought painful memories to him and those around him.

And the past her, once a victim, now found herself on the side of the perpetrator.

If only she had shown a bit more empathy towards Ayakoji Chiyoko at that time, she wouldn't have resorted to those measures, and she wouldn't have put Kagura Hikaru in such a difficult position, leading to the current situation.

The Kiryu Hina of now truly felt regret from the depth of her heart.

What should she do?

Tell me, Mister Hikaru.

What should we do to return to how things were before...