Netori: I Shall Steal All Of My Enemies' Women For Revenge! Chapter 229: The Unfamiliar Memories

Haruto's eyes widened in disbelief. "You were almost dead, and that's what you're worried about?"

Ayaka lowered her head, her voice barely above a whisper. "I'm used to getting hurt… to being hurt by others. But this is the first ti soone has saved without wanting sothing in return."

She reached out, grasping his hand tightly. "Haruto, I like the feeling of being helpless and having you rescue ." Her gaze bore into him, filled with sothing raw, sothing desperate.

Haruto let out a deep sigh, rubbing her cheek with his thumb. "Ayaka, I'll give you love without you needing to suffer first. You don't have to be in pain for to care about you."

She frowned, her voice turning cold. "But I have to share that love with many won, don't I?"

Haruto froze. "I thought you—"

She cut him off, her grip on his hand tightening before she suddenly let go. "You thought I wouldn't get jealous?"

Her lips trembled as she took a deep breath. "I do, Haruto. It hurts so much when I see you with soone else… or even just thinking about you being lovey-dovey with them while I'm left behind."

Her fingers curled around the hem of her torn shirt as she cast her gaze downward. "I… I should be your only one, you promised that day," she whispered.

Then, as if searching for sothing long lost, she looked up into his deep green eyes. Haruto flinched at the intensity of her stare.

Ayaka still rembered it so clearly—the flower fields where they once danced, the wind brushing against her skirt, the warmth of his hand in hers, the soft press of his lips against her cheek.

His words had been like the sweetest lody, filling her heart with innocent joy.

"One day, I'll marry you. Just you and in this world."

She could still feel the weight of the flower crown he had placed on her head that day.

Her heart had raced, her stomach fluttering with excitent. It had been the happiest mont of her life.

But then… Haruto vanished. Just like that, he never ca back.

Haruto pulled her into a tight embrace. "I'm sorry," he murmured against her hair.

"I don't rember any of it… but I do know that I love you, Ayaka. Even if I have other won, that feeling won't change."

Ayaka's body trembled in his arms. Her teeth sank into her lower lip as a sharp, unbearable pain stabbed through her heart.

The boy she had loved—the one who had promised her forever—was gone.

Haruto's chest tightened with guilt, but beneath it was a gnawing confusion. 'How co I don't rember any of this? And why didn't I even realize I'd forgotten it in the first place?'

His mind raced, trying to piece together the fragnts of a past that felt alien to him.

Then it hit him—the psychiatrist. The one who was supposed to help him. 'Should I call her? This mory loss… could it be because of the dication I've been taking?' The thought lingered, unsettling him.

Reluctantly, he loosened his embrace and pulled back slightly, his hands resting on Ayaka's shoulders.

"Since you know so much about from when I was a child," he began, his voice soft but tinged with curiosity, "why don't you tell everything? That way, it's not just you holding onto those mories. We can share them together."

Ayaka's eyes lit up, the sadness in them lting into sothing warr, more nostalgic.

"Okay, I'll try," she said, her voice trembling with excitent.

She took a deep breath, her gaze drifting to the ceiling as if the mories were painted there. "We first t on a sumr day," she began, a small smile playing on her lips.

"I was in elentary school, and the boys used to bully . But that day, you… you stood up for . You kicked and punched all of them. You looked so cool!"

Haruto raised an eyebrow, a faint smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Oh, so I had a talent for fighting even back then, huh?"

Ayaka nodded vigorously, her enthusiasm bubbling over. "It was the first ti anyone had ever stood up for like that," she continued, her voice softening.

"After that day, I'd see you every day in the forest, exploring on your own. Sotis you'd be playing with your sister, other tis with your mom or your friends."

*'My mom? So we were actually close,'* Haruto thought, his chest tightening at the ntion of his mother.

"I didn't dare get close to you at first," Ayaka admitted, her cheeks flushing slightly.

"I just watched from afar. But you noticed anyway, and from that day on, we beca friends." Her smile widened.

"You'd always go back to the city when sumr ended, but before you left, you'd give a fairytale book so I wouldn't feel lonely."

Haruto blinked, surprised. "Ah, so that's why you love fairytales so much?"

"Yes," Ayaka said, her voice barely above a whisper. She leaned her head against his shoulder, her warmth seeping into him.

"Waiting for you was always so hard, but every ti I saw you again, it made so happy."

Haruto chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. "Hmm… seems like I had a talent for charming girls too, huh?"

Ayaka giggled, her cheeks turning pink. "You were popular with everyone—boys, girls, everyone wanted to play with you. But you always said playing with was the most exciting."

Her words struck a chord in Haruto, but not in the way she might have expected. 'But… I don't like interacting with people. I'm awkward, not popular at all.'

'This… this doesn't sound like . It's like she's talking about soone else.'

The thought gnawed at him. 'Did I change that much? Was it because of my mom's death?'

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The questions swirled in his mind, an enigma he couldn't solve and it made him uncomfortable.

'Should I use my psychotry on her? But… I don't think Ayaka's lying.'

"I was… so different back then, huh?" Haruto asked, his voice tinged with unease.

Ayaka nodded, her expression thoughtful. "When I first saw you at this school, you were so different from the Haruto I knew," she said.

"But now… you're starting to remind more and more of the boy I used to know."

Her words sent a shiver down Haruto's spine, deepening his discomfort.

He needed to change the subject, to steer the conversation away from the growing unease in his chest.

"Hm… I see," Haruto said, his tone deliberately casual.

He paused, then added, "Why don't we do sothing instead? Since I'm the reason you're hurt, let make it up to you. After I bandage you up, tell what you want."

Ayaka's eyes sparkled, her shyness returning as she looked up at him. "Really?" she asked, her voice barely audible.

After a mont's hesitation, she whispered, "I… I want to have sex with you again."