The girl who cheered me up through a "consultation app" after I broke up with my girlfriend of three years was a beautiful girl who was secretly one of my classmates - who wouldn't fall in love with someone who told them "I'll be there for you until the day I die."? - Chapter 1

“Fuuuuuuuuuuck!”

It was ten o’clock in the evening. On top of the mountain behind my house, I, Hideto Hisayama, cried out. I had to scream, I just couldn’t help it.

“No matter the reason, this is too abrupt! It’s like the beginning of a trashy romantic comedy!”

I kick the bench with a thump. It hurts.

I think I might have broken a toenail through my shoe.

Nevertheless, I continue kicking.

I feel like I might go crazy if I don’t vent these emotions that have nowhere else to go.

“…Fuck.”

Heaving out a sigh, I sit down on the bench with a thud.

After the adrenaline from my anger subsided, I was left with a feeling of emptiness that threatened to plunge me into the depths of darkness.

And then, the heart-wrenching sense of loneliness followed.

“Why the hell… Emi…”

Emi Sorano.

She has a reputation of being the most beautiful girl in the school and is admired by everyone.

Not only does she have good looks, but she also has excellent grades and is an outstanding athlete.

She is the embodiment of the word “impeccable”.

Such an Emi was my girlfriend.

She was.

That’s right, “was”.

I broke up with her, you idiot!

Three years ago. I’ll never forget that summer of my eighth grade year.

I confessed my feelings to Emi, and we started dating.

At that time, we were both representatives of the gloomy community, but people change when they find someone they like.

Together, Emi and I became more sophisticated.

I’m not trying to be smug, I’m just being honest.

I became more conscious of what was in fashion, and my own cleanliness.

Her back, which had always been slouched, straightened up, and her demeanor changed.

According to my best friend, people in the class were always whispering things like, “Hisayama-kun and Sorano-san are a perfect couple,” or “If he didn’t have a girlfriend, I would go after Hisayama-kun.”

So this is the “Real Beast”!
The power that comes with having a girlfriend is incredible!

I’m the luckiest guy in the world, aren’t I?

Just as I was beginning to believe such thoughts, it happened.

“Ah, shit…”

I recall it, and feel as if my stomach acid was refluxing.

I recall it, and I feel as though my stomach acid is going to reflux.

I cover my face with my hands, as I feel something hot pouring out of my eyes.

Why? Why, Emi?

Why are you doing this to me?

I remember the last words Emi had spoken to me.

“──────”

The words repeating in my head made my insides seethe with anger.

“…This isn’t how it was supposed to end,” I muttered to myself.

“I want to die…”

The words that naturally leaked out melted into the night and disappeared.

I wanted to disappear with them, on this mountain from which the entire city was visible.
I stood up and took about five steps toward the cliff.

Although there’s a fence, it only reaches up to my chest, so it would be easy to climb over.

Get over it, fly away, and be free from this world, too…

“No! My thoughts are going in the wrong direction!”

I shake my head.

If I throw myself off, I’ll be able to escape this pain.

Yet, dying was definitely not the solution.

That was the only thing I understood amidst my chaotic thoughts.

The next thing I knew, I was pulling out my phone.

I was lonely.

I wanted to talk to someone.

However, I wasn’t in the mood to complain to my friends from school.

I wanted to be heard by someone who didn’t know me.

That was how I felt.

Nevertheless, it wasn’t like I conveniently had the means to satisfy that desire…

“If I remember correctly, there was that app that’s been advertised a lot as of late…”

I didn’t have it installed, but I had an idea of where to find it.

I applied a search term and installed the app that showed up.

KOKORONE—“The application designed to allow people to seek consultation on their troubles.”

Essentially, it’s an app that matches “people who want their problems listened to” with “people who listen to their problems”.

It’s popular among distressed teenagers and 20-somethings, and has been gaining a lot of traction recently.

After completing a simple registration, you will be asked to select a category of concern, answer a few questions, and then click on the “Ask for help” button.

The app then connects the call to a “healer” located anywhere in the country, who will listen to your worries.

If the person you call is a classmate or something like that… Such an unlikely scenario would only be thought of by an idiot who read too many novels.

It’s a one in 120 million chance.

One in 100 million—only.

After the phone rings two or three times, a healer connects on the other end.

“Yes, hello, this is Yuna, the healer. Please take care of me today.”

A young woman answered the phone. She seemed to be a little nervous.

“I’m Hisayama, it’s nice to meet you. Please take care of me as well!”

I couldn’t speak well to other people.

Thanks to Emi, my deep-rooted communication disorder has been cleared up to some extent, but I still get nervous when talking to a girl for the first time.

Hah… I felt a sharp pang in my heart as I thought of Emi.

It was an uncool self-destruction.

“Hisayama…”

—For a moment, the other person’s voice trailed off.

“Yuna-san?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, it’s nothing!”

I could feel the rattling through the receiver.

It made me feel a little more at ease.

“So, Hisayama-san, what is your issue today?”

I told Yuna the entirety of what had transpired.

Of course, I didn’t tell her Emi’s real name, but I told her the story of my three years with her and how it had all ended today.

“And so, I found myself single…”

“Uuu… hic…”

“What? Why is Yuna-san crying!?”

“Because… because…”

Yuna continued in a voice laced with sobs.

“I’m sure it must have been hard for you to break up with someone you had been together with for three years… And then, for Hisayama-san to reexperience those feelings as you recounted your tale…”

Those words made me feel hot behind my eyelids.

It wasn’t that Yuna had experienced the same feelings that I experienced today.

Even so… I was happy.

I was happy that she could relate to what I was saying.

The fact that you empathized with me and cried.

…Ah, no, if I’m not careful, I’ll lose control of my tear glands too.

I held it in.

My pride as a man compelled me to do so.

“S-sorry, I’m crying so suddenly…”

“No, there’s no need to be sorry… Rather, thank you. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting you to be so supportive.”

I meant what I said.

Frankly, I hadn’t had very high expectations for this app.
I was hoping that by having someone listen to me rant, I could lighten the burden that had turned my mind into a complete mess.

It turned out to be more than I could ever anticipate.

—If I could be the boyfriend of a girl like her, I’d be happy for the rest of my life.

I banished the sudden thought from my mind.

Even though I was now a free agent, I didn’t really like the idea of being bound to another girl on the same day.

After that, I vented all of the emotions that had been building up inside me to Yuna.

Each time, Yuna comforted me time and again.

She encouraged me.

“It’s going to be okay,” she said, “I’m sure you’ll have another good encounter down the road.”

I was convinced that Yuna was a sweet, gentle, and inexplicably kind person from the very core of her being.

She could empathize with and even shed tears for a complete stranger with whom she had only spoken for a few minutes.

Before I could even register it, something faintly warm kindled in the frozen hearth that was my heart.

Apparently, to become a healer at KOKORONE, you needed to pass some aptitude tests and an interview with the management.

I was also told that the standard was rather high.

It was no wonder that she passed the test.

I sincerely felt fortunate that Yuna was a healer.

Before we knew it, a decent amount of time had passed.

And naturally, it was time to call it a night.

“Thank you for today. I really appreciate you hearing me out.”

“No, it was nothing! Thank you for sharing your story with me.

As a general rule, obtaining personal information through KOKORONE is prohibited.

The reason being, to avoid the potential trouble caused by a malicious person that one might encounter.

In other words, if I end the call here, my relationship with Yuna will be over.

A feeling of regret came over me, as if my body was about to be torn in two.

Still, it can’t be helped.

That’s just the way the rules work.

“Thank you Yuna, you’ve cheered me up a lot.”

“You’re welcome… I’m very happy to hear you say that.”

My heart skipped a beat at the sound of her voice, so laced with bashfulness.

I stood up and slapped myself on the cheek, to snap myself out of my stupor.

“I can’t dwell on this forever! I’m going to forget about Emi and try to make a fresh start with a clean slate!

“……………Emi?”

In response to my statement of determination.

Yuna-san ruminated on the name, pausing every so often.

“Um, I was wondering if…”

Silence. I swallowed my words.

“That Emi, she wouldn’t happen to have the surname ‘Sorano’, would she?”

“………Eh?”

Ah.

Well.

…Yeah?

Yeah.

Right, I get it now.

“You wouldn’t happen to attend… Seiyo High School?”

“…Yes, that’s right.”

“And you’re in 2nd year, class 3?”

“I am.”

“And in the class’ seating chart?”

“Second row, third from the right.”

……………………….

“Otoha-san?”

“Yes, I’m Otoha… Otoha Yuuna.”

Yuuna → Yuna.

In my mind, it clicked into place.

“Then you’re… Hideto Hisayama,-kun?”

The answer should have been obvious.

For a moment, I was unable to formulate another word.

I didn’t think it was possible, but I drew it.

The one in 120 million chance.

No, that’s not right.

In the future, this is how I would describe what happened, and Yuuna would get mad at me and say, “Don’t say that, it’s embarrassing…”.

“It’s a one in 120 million miracle.”

TLN: Hey guys, Unu here, and wow, this took a while. I really like the author of this (Aoki Fuyu), and this novel seems like it’s going to be unprecedentedly sweet, so I thought I would take a crack at it. This first chapter was quite long for my standards, and it took a lot of time to come to fruition, but in the end, I’m proud of the result. This will be going up on my 17th birthday, and is a present from me to all of you. And hey, if you liked it and feel like giving me a birthday present of my own, you can do so through my Ko-Fi. And don’t forget to join the NeoSekai Discord to be updated when future chapters release. Thanks for reading!