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"Well, I don't want to say too much," I begin.
Shiro nods quickly but allows me to continue.
"I guess... I've been feeling really stressed out from all of this stuff. Entrance exams, not seeing him... my boyfriend. It's kind of been a hard time." I look down at my shoes.
It's no secret in my mind that that conversation with Asahi could've gone much better. I want to try to let myself off of the hook with the explanation I just gave Shiro, but I can't help but feel angry at the words I said. Yet somehow, at the same time, I don't know if it would've been the right choice to continue to let Asahi set aside his doubts. I'm not sure if there's anything that could've steered us away from this conversation, even if it came as a surprise.
With these things in mind, I realize that I haven't said anything since. I look up at Shiro, who continues to gaze at me with concerned eyes.
"... I guess maybe the distance is a bit challenging for you two, huh?" Shiro finally responds, and I take a moment to myself before nodding.
"I'm not sure. Maybe. I mean, I think we're both a bit stressed right now. Me with the exam, him with Nationals... I didn't even get to ask him how his games went today. They already won two." I shake my head with regret.
"Yeah, I understand that. Actually, I was in a similar situation when I was in third-year too." Shiro responds coolly, and I revert my gaze to him.
"Really? What happened?" I ask.
"Well, long story short," Shiro says, "my girlfriend of a year at the time and I were doing great up until entrance exams. We didn't plan to go to the same university, but we were really serious about trying to make it work. But... well, you probably understand the rest."
"... Oh," I reply.
"And sometimes I think, you know, if I could do it all over again, maybe we should've broken up as soon as we knew we didn't wanna go to the same place."
"Why though?"
"I don't know. We ended up being too busy for each other. We came to resent that, and then later resented each other. Maybe we would've ended on a better note if we had just realized how difficult it would be to maintain, but I guess we just idealized it too much." Shiro shrugs.
