I Was (Once) The Villain

003 - Sato Kimiko

Sato Kimiko posted it barely two minutes ago, yet there were already a barrage of comments.

"First, you talk about a boy forcing you to sleep with Shigeru, and now, you say that you don't have the heart to sleep with him? What a hypocrite!" A fan replied.

Sato Kimiko simply sent out a single image, a text between her and the "childhood sweetheart".

Haru: "...."

He sighed, immediately turning off his phone. He didn't know that the first thing he would see when opening up social media, was Sato Kimiko talking about a (probably) fake childhood sweetheart!

It was true that he wanted to see what big thing had changed after he was reborn, but now...

What did he care? Haru dropped the phone onto his bed and shook his head tiredly. What use was rebirth if all he was stuffed with was Kimiko and Shigeru's drama? He decided to block both of them on social media later, so he wouldn't see their posts anymore.

Two days had passed. Haru had nearly forgotten he even had friends, so he was shocked when he heard someone shouting his name from behind him.

"Haru, ah, wait up!!!" A boy with long black hair dressed in a gray trench coat shouted, hurriedly running towards him.

Haru turned around, confused. He didn't remember many of his friends, aside from Masuyo. As for Masato... he still didn't forgive him. Why should he consider a backstabber as his friend?

"Who're you?" Haru asked.

The boy with long black hair had caught up to him by now, and stood in front of him, panting from his little exercise. When he heard Haru ask him that question, his eyes immediately widened. "You... did you get into an accident? You forgot me?!" He wailed.

Haru felt like he had a headache. This boy, who was both handsome and tall, acted like a little kid in front of him. They must've been close, but as for who the boy was, Haru had completely forgotten.

He gave the boy a little smile, "You could say that." Was being poisoned considered 'getting into an accident'? Haru felt like it was much more than an accident, but he wouldn't tell the boy.

"Haru, it's me! Ayame, my name is Shimamoto Ayame!" The boy's hand desperately clung to his sleeve, tears welling up in his eyes. "How could you forget?"

Haru decided to go with the 'accident' plot that Ayame mentioned. "I got into an accident." He calmly replied. He had a lie, ready to use because of Ayame's past words, what use was there in fabricating another one?

Haru silently laughed in his mind. Your words come back to bite you!

"...Who're you to me?" He asked before Ayame could start crying. He could already see the pale drops, threatening to spill at his eyes. What an emotional boy.

"Don't you know Sato Kimiko?" Ayame asked. "I'm her distant cousin. You and I met more than a few times, and we're even close friends," He said.

Haru shook his head. Even though he now knew the boy's name, and even knew their relationship, he still didn't remember. Perhaps he really didn't meet this boy in his previous life, but because of the butterfly effect caused by his rebirth, he met Ayame in this life?

"I still don't remember," Haru said. "But if you would like to continue being friends, I am fine with it."

Although Ayame was Kimiko's cousin, Haru was not the type to think someone was untrustworthy just because they were related to a person he disliked. Ayame was a little strange, yes, but he seemed good enough as a friend.

Ayame suddenly pulled him into an extremely tight embrace, "I promise I wont disappoint you!"

Haru coughed, "You're suffocating me!"

After spending some time talking with Ayame, Haru learned that the boy was older than him by two years- the same age as Masuyo. If Ayame was older than him, Haru should stop referring to him as 'the boy', right?

No. It was still fine to call him that in his head, and It wasn't like he was saying it out loud, anyway.

While he talked, he suddenly remembered about Sato Kimiko's childhood sweetheart. Although he didn't care about Kimiko herself, he did find the "childhood sweetheart" an interesting topic. If Ayame was close enough to Kimiko, he would be able to verify if Kimiko was telling the truth or not.

"Ayame, do you know if Kimiko has a childhood sweetheart or not?" Haru asked.

Ayame paused. "Do you want to confess to her or something?"

Haru hurriedly shook his head, "No, no, she got into a lot of drama recently, and mentioned her sweetheart in a post. I'm curious if he's real or not."

Ayame smiled, "If you like her, you should've told me."

Haru was getting frustrated, and he was sure Ayame could see that on his face, because he quickly answered, "Yes, it's true. She did have one, and he was rather handsome the last time I saw him! It was really no wonder that Kimiko liked that man, but it's too bad that he had to move abroad a few years after he met her." He said.

"Although she was head over heels for him and even texted him regularly after that, I can't say that he ever texted back." Ayame contemplated, "....She got over him after that. But now that she brought him up to the public, it seems she really didn't let go of her love, even after all these years?"

Haru showed a concerned expression as Ayame talked, but inside, he smiled in delight. Shimamoto Ayame was the type of person to ramble on and on about anything, and was certainly a decent source of information.

However, Haru did not plan to use him to investigate Sato Kimiko. Instead, he wanted to hear more about her childhood sweetheart.

***

It was getting late, so Haru said goodbye to Ayame and left. Before he left, however, he found out that the boy's contact was already in his phone, yet he never noticed. It was only until Ayame pointed it out, that he actually realized it.

"If you ever want to contact me, my number is already in your phone!" Ayame had said.

Haru sighed, walking with lazy steps towards his shared house with Masuyo. How many times had he sighed today?

He really didn't know if he would contact Ayame in the near future, but he decided that since the boy was so useful for information, he would keep his number.

Haru arrived at his house, but suddenly noticed something strange.

There was someone in front of his door.

And, when she turned around, he saw those familiar, striking blue eyes and long platinum-blonde hair.

Sato Kimiko, the female lead.

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