My Twin Stepsisters Are Way Too Yandere!

Chapter 200: Chapter 199 - The Girl Who Never Gave Up

Rain fell steadily over the university campus.

Ordinarily, the student plaza was bustling with noise of music and conversation.

Today...

The plaza was nearly empty.

The colorful banners that were hanging in the rain were looking quite gloomy due to the dull gray color of the sky.

Akari Tachibana was standing in the middle of the plaza staring at empty booths.

Preparations for weeks and weeks.

Endless meetings.

Sleepless nights spent with the student committee.

Every little detail was thoroughly considered.

However, the unexpected downpour forced the university to cancel the outdoor charity festival.

Some students were busy packing down the tents, while some volunteers were putting away unused supplies.

Akari lowered her head.

"...I’m sorry."

One of the committee members shook his head.

"It wasn’t your fault."

"But I was the leader."

"You can’t change the weather."

"I know..."

Nonetheless...

She was unable to blame herself enough.

---

Back in town, Kuro had just completed his afternoon internship at the counseling center.

On his way to the station, his phone vibrated.

The single message appeared on the screen.

Akari: The festival got canceled.

Soon another message followed.

I think I ruined everything.

Kuro reread the messages.

Without any answer, he headed away from the station.

---

Almost forty minutes later...

Akari was still standing alone under the covered walkway next to the student center.

Volunteers had already left.

All what remained was the noise of rain.

She sighed.

"I really wanted today to be successful..."

Suddenly the familiar voice answered her.

"You’ve done your best."

"Akari?"

He pointed to a convenience store bag in his hand.

"I’ve brought coffee."

She was surprised.

"You’ve come all the way here?"

"You sounded disappointed."

"...So I decided that you shouldn’t be alone."

For a moment...

Akari didn’t know what to say.

---

They sat side by side on the wooden bench overlooking the empty plaza.

The steam was rising from the hot cups of coffee.

Neither of them was speaking at first.

However, Kuro knew that she would start talking sooner or later.

Eventually...

She did.

"I can’t stop thinking about everything I could’ve done differently."

Kuro listened to her quietly.

"I’ve checked the forecast every day."

"I’ve organized backup equipment."

"I’ve even written extra schedules."

She laughed sarcastically.

"And then it was the rain that won."

Kuro nodded.

"Yes."

"...That’s all?"

"What else should I say?"

"I don’t know."

"Neither do I."

She was looking at him.

Then suddenly started to laugh.

"You are really bad at delivering dramatic speeches."

"I’ve never claimed the contrary."

---

Silence filled the air.

The rain was still falling.

However, Kuro suddenly decided to break the silence.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Hm?"

"When we were in high school..."

"How many times have your plans failed?"

Akari instantly answered.

"...A lot."

"The sports festival."

"The school trip."

"The haunted house."

"The charity bake sale."

She counted on her fingers.

"...Actually, almost everything."

Kuro smiled.

"And what happened afterward?"

She thought for a minute.

"I’ve tried again."

"You always have."

His calm voice contained no exaggerations.

Just the certainty.

"You never stayed discouraged for long."

"You’ve complained."

"You’ve panicked."

"You’ve scared everyone."

She puffed out her cheeks.

"Thanks..."

"But every time..."

"You got back on your feet."

Akari looked at her untouched cup of coffee in her hands.

---

Kuro was looking at the rain-covered campus.

"You know what I remember most about our high school years?"

"What?"

"It wasn’t your mistakes."

She looked at him with curiosity.

"It was how you smiled the next day as if nothing could stop you."

"You have convinced other people that everything would be okay."

"Even if you were not sure yourself."

Akari blinked.

"...Really?"

Kuro nodded.

"I respected that."

It was so easy for Kuro that he hadn’t even realized what he had just admitted.

Akari, however...

Was suddenly very quiet.

---

Memories started coming back to her.

The sports festival when Kuro silently helped her to organize a new schedule after everything got screwed.

The cultural festival when he stayed late to clean classrooms without any request.

Those days when she cried after making mistakes.

Those moments when she laughed because Kuro managed to make her every disaster seem like a minor issue.

He had never stood in front of her.

He had never asked for respect.

He had just...

Been always at her side.

Without expecting anything in return.

She looked at the rain realizing her heart growing unexpectedly warm.

"...You have been supporting me for such a long time."

Kuro looked slightly confused.

"I don’t think I’ve done anything special."

"That is exactly the point."

She laughed gently seeing tears gathering in her eyes.

"You never pay attention to what you are doing."

She turned to him with her kind smile.

"...Thank you."

This time...

Her words meant much more than both of them could have expected.

For the first time after graduation, Akari didn’t look at Kuro as her reliable friend anymore.

She looked at the quiet person who had always been believing in her through every failure.

And somewhere deep inside her heart...

A strange feeling suddenly started to grow.

The feeling which neither rain nor time would be able to wipe away.

The rain slowly turned into a light drizzle.

Akari and Kuro were walking side by side through the quiet campus, sharing his umbrella. The festival banners were fluttering behind them, folded partially and forgotten for today.

For the first time in a while Akari wasn’t talking nonstop.

Kuro glanced at her. "You’re surprisingly quiet."

"I’m thinking."

"That is quite dangerous."

She gently pushed his shoulder. "Rude."

He smiled.

After several steps she said something much softer than before.

"Do you know what I realized today?"

"What?"

"In high school, whenever something went wrong, I always searched for someone who could solve my problems."

"And?"

"And somehow... you were always there."

Kuro looked slightly surprised. "I’ve just helped."

"But you kept on helping," she said. "Even when nobody needed you to."

The lights of the streetlights were reflected on the wet road while they were crossing the small bridge near the campus gate.

Akari paused and looked up at the cloudy sky.

"I think I’ve been taking it for granted."

Kuro shook his head. "You don’t need to thank "

The following day, there was no sign of rain anywhere.

The sun shone brightly through the university windows as the students moved about campus.

The festival decoration was long gone.

Nothing but a few wet patches on the ground remained, serving as a reminder of the previous day.

Akari stood outside the student council room with a box filled with pamphlets she could not use.

She let out a sigh.

"...back to normal."

Just as she was about to move away, one of the committee members rushed up to her.

"Akari!"

She stopped and turned around.

"Oh, good morning."

The young man scratched the back of his head nervously.

"I just wanted to say..."

"...I’m sorry."

Akari raised an eyebrow.

"For what?"

"I kept worrying that since the festival was canceled, everyone would be blaming you."

He looked down at his feet.

"But everyone..."

"Everyone kept praising your hard work."

"They said we were lucky to have such an admirable leader."

Akari was stunned.

"...really?"

The young man nodded vigorously.

"You even waited for everything to be cleared up even though the festival was canceled."

"You thanked every single volunteer."

"You made sure they all got back home safely."

"We noticed."

As he finished thanking her, he quickly rushed off to class.

Akari stood by herself in the hallway, silently repeating his words.

She was too caught up in worrying about what went wrong...

To notice anything else.

A small smile formed on her lips.

"...maybe I wasn’t such a bad leader."

Then, her phone buzzed.

There was a single message from Kuro.

Kuro: How are you feeling today?

She smiled as she typed in her reply.

Akari: Much better.

Another message came in immediately.

Kuro: Good.

Kuro: I knew you wouldn’t give up hope easily.

She gazed at the phone screen for a few seconds.

Then giggled softly to herself.

"...he knows me well."

Without even thinking, she saved the messages instead of deleting them like usual.

Somehow...

She wanted to keep it.

Putting her phone away, she looked out of the window to gaze at the blue skies.

Yesterday, she felt like everything was broken down.

Today...

Everything felt like just a fresh start.

Not for the festival.

Not for university.

But for the dependable and quiet friendship that developed slowly year by year.

She wasn’t yet ready to call it love.

In fact, she did not even know what to name the feeling.

All she knew was that:

No matter where she stumbled, the very first person she wanted to see was Kuro.

And that alone was enough to make her smile the entire day.

That afternoon, when classes were done, Akari left the campus gate with a light heart that she hadn’t felt in days.

She stopped by, took out her phone, and sent Kuro a message.

She stared at the screen for more than a minute, then typed in:

Akari: Thanks... for yesterday.

A reply came only a few seconds later.

Kuro: You don’t need to thank me.

She smiled and shook her head.

"...you’re impossible."

Putting her phone away, she looked out of the window into the evening sky.

Now...

The road ahead seemed much clearer.

It was another step towards...

Her hopes of walking with Kuro on that journey.