Vol 3 Chapter 59 (1/2)
Chapter 59
I kicked the wet ground and ran after Ibuki One botherso on the weather, thereinvolved into an accident It was also a concern the fact that the sun would go down sooner than I expected and it’d be difficult to push forithout a flashlight
The passing shower beca to blow more violently The weather was just one of the bad circues here Visibility could only berain And even if it looked like I lost my way, thanks to the rain, the footprints of two people reround, so it was easy to follow them
Those footprints suddenly vanished No, they weren’t interrupted, rather they continued in the deeper forest This ied sharply and the persons intentionally bought the the flashlight, when I aiht deeper in the forest, the two pairs of footsteps gradually were entering deeper and deeper There was no reason why those people would put their feet in a dangerous forest like that
Just to be sure, I tried to illu to the beach, but there were no footprints there and the ground was clean With s Then I followed the footprints and went into the forest
Naturally, the visibility soon got worse It was safe to say it seeht already The ominous atmosphere floated around the dark forest but I pushed forward relying only on the footprints
It happened about 30 htly in my field of vision
Iht and concealed htness, I could see the light again It was a flashlight It was like it was sending off a signal Ibuki and Horikita? No Both of theht I quietly turned ht and shortened the distance
Hearing voices of peoplesmall noises in the rain, I concealed myself It didn’tabout The proble the situation was secondary
And then, shortly after, the light of the electric torch went far off It seemed to be over Just to be sure, I approached cautiously And then, there………
Near a big tree, there was Horikita’s figure, covered in mud, who lost consciousness and she really looked like she was dying
A keycard was dropped to the ground near her hand that had no force left On her injured body, traces of excavated soil Looking at the situation, it was confirmed that Horikita has been found out as the class leader by none other than Ibuki After picking up the keycard, I hoisted Horikita up in my arms
“Um…”
I felt a sense of discohed faintly and Horikita, slowly but surely, opened her eyes very weakly
“Did you come to your senses?”
“Ayano…Kouji-kun……”
Whether she could understand the situation, she uttered another faint comment
“……my head…hurts……”
“You have a high fever It’s better for you not to strain to talk”
“I see…I, to Ibuki……but, why are you here?”
Even if I told her to sleep, Horikita would concern herself with this and that proble Then, she started to understand the situation little by little
“As expected…it was Ibuki who stole my card”
“I see”
“I can’t be any more stupid than Sudo-kun and others And I’raceful behaviours”
She closed her eyes la about
“It’s not a trial where you should keep hiding for 24 hours You can be open to attack”
I intended to folloith so else but it seemed like it made Horikita sad She was too injured and in a state of total heartbreak
“It could have been avoided if I kne to rely on someone”
If you seriously wanted to protect the leader’s identity, you would have to rely on trustworthy people fro so, people would have protected the existence of the card on a 24-hours basis But Horikita had no friends who could have done it
She lookeda little
“When I was losing consciousness, I felt like I heard Ryuuen’s voice…That’s odd, he should be retired since long ago…”
“You were losing consciousness Maybe you saw him in your dream”
“If it was really a dream, it would be even worse”
I wonder if she really heard Ryuuen’s voice Even if she fell asleep and lost consciousness, her brain probably allowed her to wake her up by herself after she heard soly picked up Ryuuen’s voice
“I’m sorry”
While I was thinking silently, Horikita apologized
“Why are you apologizing to me?”
“That’s because…there’s no else I can apologize to, except you”
H that makes me think hard
“If you think that’s bad, in the future try to make some reliable friends Start from there”
“That’s difficult…nobody is willing to be my ally”
I laughed when I felt the signs of such a resigned masochism
“It’s no use even if you laugh, it’s pitiful to make fun of someone”
“No, it’s not that I think, deep inside you, you’re starting to feel that you need allies”
“nobody said that…”
The usual Horikita, noould be insulting the other party but this ti included in her words was that of «exchanging and changing» oneself Otherwise she wouldn’t have said «nobody who is willing to be my ally»
Still, it was not easy Until now, nobody had any difficulties if he could change steadily and skillfully the way he wasat soh me, rather than at me
“Such a thing…I understood it since long ago”
You should not live alone in this world Both school and society consist of a huge amount of people
“Don’t talk You’re sick”
I can persuade her to be quite but Horikita didn’t stop her repentance However, for Horikita, there are no alternatives other than rely on nobody And even if she saw a new one, she couldn’t choose it
“With th, I will rise to A class I will surely recover from this failure”
Without strength, she grabbed my sleeve and made an impassionate appeal
“I’m ready to be cursed by all the classes…I failed to that extent”
“According to this school’s systeo up to A class We need classmates’ cooperation at any cost It’s inevitable”
She had no strength to keep her eyes open So her eyes, in the end, shut Horikita’s faint grasp on
“It’s iardless of how hard it is…… in the end…I am alone”
“Ahh Shut up Stop talking There’s no persuasive or convincing power in a sick person’s words”
I ely
“You can’t bear heavy responsibilities You’re not that strong Sorry to tell you”
“You’re telling nize my dream to be in A class”
“I didn’t say that You don’t have to give up”
I looked down to Horikita suffering and groaning a little in my chest and added these words
“If you can’t fight by yourself, it’s better to fight with another I will give you a hand”
“Why……?
hand”
“Why……? You’re not the kind of person…who says such things…”
“Then, why not?”
It’s better for ue Shortly after, Horikita used up all of her strength and lost consciousness again What I have to do now is carrying this out without being noticed by anyone The easy choice would be to retire, but I don’t knohich one is the eency button on the wristwatch If the helicopter is dispatched for an eency, the soundwill echo all around
“I confused the road…it’s dangerous, dangerous”
I was proceeding with the prayer to exit froot out on a steep cliff
Another step forward and I would have fallen I tried to ht below It seemed to be about 10in the wrong direction Anyway, should I retreat back to the original route? I tried to invert my direction slowly as to not to put a burden on Horikita, but right after ―――
Unluckily, the soil undercollapsed and I lost my balance
If I were alone, I would have grabbed a tree branch and I would have stepped on it, but both of my hands were blocked with Horikita
I fell It was inevitable
I curled up my body to protect Horikita but I tumbled down the steep slope at loss for what to do For several seconds, I had the sense that I was flying I can’t remember clearly what happened after I fell
Should I say that it’s fortunate that it didn’t hurt Horikita somehow? I looked up to the sloped but withHorikita in my arms, it’s very unlikely for me to crawl up
“I screwed up”
However, now it’s not the time to be stuck here This time I will carry the still unconscious Horikita on htstick in the forest
Rain ca away th The heat that came from Horikita on er, it could be dangerous
But, here, deep in the forest, there were no caves or other man-made shelters that people could use, so, there was no other choice but to rely on the power of nature
Fortunately, the trees here were overgrown, and depending on the place, our bodies may stay relatively dry
I looked around for big trees and then Idirectly under the rain, for the rich foliage prevented a lot of rain
Gently, I left Horikita to lay down on the ground