Chapter 3 (1/2)

Yesterday night, after I had went to sleep, a murder took place in the next prefecture It seemed like it was committed by a phantom killer of so

That hy I thought the case would have been a hot topic at school as well, although our exa today But for my class at least, neither the case nor the tests were the talk of the town Toinstead about yet another topic

In other words, they were trying to solve the etic, and popular, and I, the ether on a day off I thought that if there was an answer, I’d have liked to know it too, but since I wascontact with my classmates as usual, I wasn’t blessed with the opportunity to ask

So happened after they met each other in the library committee - that was the scenario they seemed to have settled on for now I had hoped that I would have been left out of their fantastic denouee to do unnecessary things went to ask her directly with loud voices, and in response to that unnecessary action, she unnecessarily said so unnecessary

“We get along well”

I recognised that my classmates were all focused on me, so just in case, I paid more attention than usual to their conversation - which was also why I heard her endlessly unnecessary state to me after her proclamation Of course, I pretended not to notice them

Every time we completed a test, my almost silent class me within the shadows of their doubt and bafflenore them

An instance in which I could no longer avoid involvement came just once, at the end of the third hour, but even that was quickly resolved

The girl that had questioned her earlier with neither reservation nor consideration trotted over and started talking to me

“Hey hey, Plain-Class with Sakura?”

I thought that sheasked that That was becauseus froht now, theypersonality, and sent her to the front lines

I sympathised with ave her an answer

“Not particularly We just happened to meet yesterday”

“Hmm”

Having heard and received irl said, “Got it,” as she returned to a coterie of other classmates

In times like this, I don’t hesitate to lie Since I had to protect uard her secret, it couldn’t be helped

Even for her who said nothing but unnecessary things, the reason sheas it was theto fabricate a cover story with me

With that, the first hurdle was over At the end of the fourth hour, the test was over, and I expected to score slightly above the class average this ti to anyone, I started to pack up and go ho to do afterwards, I wanted to quickly go hos, a loud voice stoppedthe classroom

“Wait wait! Affable-Classmate-kun!”

I turned around and saw her, as grinning from ear to ear, and my classnore both parties, but since it couldn’t be helped, I ignored the latter and waited for the girl that alking over

“We need to head over to the library for a bit, it seems we have work”

For soed to disperse the tension in the classroom’s air

“I didn’t hear about this”

“Sensei toldelse to do?”

“Not really”

“Then let’s go It’s not like you were going to study anyway, right?”

I thought that was rude of her, but it was the truth, so I went along with her to the library

I have no intention to detail the events in the library, so to put it briefly - she had told a lie A lie that involved conspiring with the library teacher-in-charge even though there was no need to There wasn’t any work to be done; I earnestly inquired Sensei about our duties, but she and Sensei just laughed at me, who they had summoned Despite ised as she brought out tea and teacakes Out of consideration for the food, I forgave them

After a short tea, ere evicted fro reached this stage, I asked for the first tiless lie I was sure she ood reason

“Not really I just like being mischievous, you know?”

“This girl…!” I wanted to say it aloud as we made our way to the shoe lockers, but that’d probably be playing into the hands of someone who had been up to mischief That hen she stopped her foot htly overa face that showed her heartfelt displeasure

“It’d be good if you soet punished like the boy who cried wolf”

“You see, the Gods are properly watching stuff like how ood for you to lie”

“Though there also isn’t a rule that says you can tellup”

“Eh, is that so? I didn’t know Incidentally, has Affable-Classmate-kun had lunch yet?”

“There’s no way I’d be able to eat I did get dragged away by you all of a sudden”

To the best of h my voice With that, we had reached the shoe lockers

“What are you going to do?”

“I’ll buy so to eat from the supermarket and head home”

“If you don’t have anything ready right now, then let’s go eat together My dad and mom aren’t around today, and they only left me money, you see”

“…………”

While changing our shoes, I was thinking of rebuffing her proposal, but truth be told, I didn’t kno to answer I couldn’t cos that I felt yesterday, that “I had a little fun” - that too stood in my way

Having put on her outside shoes, she stood on her tiptoes and groaned as she stretched her body Today was a little cloudy, so the sun eaker as compared to yesterday

“So how about it? I have a place I want to drop by before I die, you know”

“……But it’ll be troublesoain”

“Ah! That! I remember now!”

I thought her sudden increase in volun that she had become weird in the head When I looked, her broere knitted and she was acting all grumpy

“Hey, Affable-Class particularly ith h we did e had fun on the weekend!”

“Yeah, I did say it”

“I alreadyuntil I die”

“I don’t really know about how it really is, but what I said doesn’t reallytalked to or questioned by our classmates - I’d ”

“Wouldn’t it be fine even if they didn’t misunderstand? What’s ih you said that yesterday”

“It’s precisely because substance is most important that it doesn’t matter even if they misunderstood”

“We’re going around in circles huh”

“Not toout, so I told ary”

“Mmmmm!”

She had the face of a child that was thinking toodifficult

“We really do go in different directions, huh”

“Probably”

“It’s not just for our eating habits, and it seems even more deeply rooted for this question”

“Guess it’s just like a political question”

So with laughter had returned to its original state Her sihtliness must be two of the reasons why she had many friends

“So, what about lunch?”

“……I don’tfun with your other friends”

“There’s no way that I’din my plans, you know I already have a date with them tomorrow But you’re the only one that knows about my pancreas, so I feel at ease with you”

“Am I supposed to be like a breather for you?”

“Yup, a breather”

“Then, for the sake of helping so lunch is fine”

“Really? Yay”

If it was for the sake of a breather, it couldn’t be helped Even if ere discovered by our class someone out, it really couldn’t be helped Even she needed a place to spill her secrets That hy it couldn’t be helped

I truly was a reed boat

“Where are we going?”

I asked, and she, looking up at the sky with narrowed eyes, answered like she was dancing

“Paradise!”

That a place called paradise could possibly exist in a world that would take away the life of a high school girl - I thought it was strange

I started to regret following her as we entered the store But even so, I understood how senseless it was that she was cursed The one at fault was me Because I’d always avoided contact with other people, and because I’d never been invited out, I didn’t realise that so was amiss I didn’t knoas possible to find out too late that the other party’s plans differed froe

“What’s wrong? You’re looking glum”

The look on her face told me that not only had she noticed reatly

The answer to her question had cole thing I could so There was nothing I could do but make a lesson of this failure and capitalise on it the next time

Yes, I are that I wasn’t the type of guy that would rejoice over being misplaced in a fancy and irl

“You see, the shortcakes here are really good”

Since before we entered, I’d found her choice of location just a little bit that it was odd, but I didn’t really give it too ht Since I’d never cauard down But surely, ould have thought that a restaurant which targeted a specific gender as its customer base to this extent existed When I saw the sales slip that the server left, I found that the box with “male” written beside it had been checked Whether it was that ed based on gender, I didn’t know, but I could understand either way

If I were to hazard a guess, the type of restaurant ere in noould be a sweets buffet Its naht then, a fast food restaurant would have been much closer to paradise than this

Reluctantly, I started talking to her grinning self

“Hey”

“What’s wrong?”

“Stop grinning Hey, are you trying to get yourself, or evento a buffet”

“Neither I’ what I want to eat”

“I guess that’s true So are you going to eat sweet things until you die today?”

“Exactly You’re okay with sweets, right?”

“I’ood with fresh cream”

“Such people really exist? Then just eat soood, and they don’t only sell sweets, they have stuff like pasta and curry - even ‘peet-suh’ too”

“That’s really good news, but could you stop pronouncing pizza like that? It makes me wrinkle my nose”

“You mean the cheese?”

I was teed to sly at her own joke I didn’t however want to be a nuisance to others, nor trouble the waiter by ain, it wasn’t as though I would have done it if were at the roadside anyway

It would be annoying to get flustered like she expected, so having reached this point, I put on a front like I had hardened h it was a weekday afternoon, the restaurant was filled with girls froh schools that had entered their exa so steak and some fried chicken, I returned to our seats to find her already happily seated down On top of her plate was a large portion of sweet things I, who didn’t really like the sweetness of western confectioneries, started to feel a little sick

“Come to think of it, murder cases are scary, huh”

Soht up that topic

I was relieved

“Thank goodness, there wasn’t a single person talking about that case today, so I was starting to wonder if it was all just a dream of mine”

“Isn’t that because no one’s interested? After all, it did happen in the countryside and not many people live there”

“That’s a pretty heartless way of putting things, for someone like you”

I thought it was unexpected It’s not like I could say that I knew her, but the girl I i like that

“But I’h I properly watched the news, and I even thought, ‘ah, I didn’t think this person would have died before me,’ okay!”

“I’ because of that one in a million chance, but have you ever met that person?”

“Do you think I have?”

“Do you think I think so? Just forget I asked What were you saying?”

“Hm, I am interested, but you see, it’s probably just that everyone that’s living a nor”

Thatlife as per nor - people that live while conscious about these things are few and far between That’s just how reality is The only ones that live while thinking about life and death every day are probably philosophers, priests or artists Not to rave illness, and the person that’s found out about her secret

“Speaking of co face-to-face with death, there’s that huh You start to live every day thinking that you’re alive”

“That resonates with reat men have spoken”

“Right? Haaah, if only everyone else was dying too”

She, who stuck out her tongue, had probably said it jokingly, but I took her words pretty seriously As is often the case ords, all of theirdepend on the sensibilities of the listener, not the speaker

I started eating the conservative serving of tomato pasta on the heart-shaped plate I was a little troubled but Ile bite of food may have a completely different value to her than it would to me

But of course, it wouldn’t be right to say that there was any funda me, who could die tomorrow due to the whim of a criminal or some other incident, to her, as to die soon because of her weakening pancreas, there shouldn’t have been a gap between the values of our rasp that are probably those that have already died

“Affable-Classirls?”

The girl that had cream stuck to her nose said so with a silly face that didn’t indicate she had just been discussing life and death It was a, so I didn’t comment on it

“What are you saying all of a sudden?”

“Even though you seeirls, you didn’t so irl I noticed it right away, you know Are you gay?”

Somehow it seemed like she noticed that I was flustered I decided to work on h it remained to be seen whether I’d make improve first or if she’d die first

“I don’t like being in a place where I don’t belong And I also wouldn’t do so at other people”

“Looks like I’m ill-mannered”

She puffed out her cheeks Since the tip of her nose re It was an expression that looked like it wasothers

“Oh no, I’ve become ill-mannered; Affable-Classmate-kun, you said yesterday that you’ve never had any friends or a girlfriend, so I just sort of assumed that you’ve never liked anyone”

“I don’t particularly dislike anyone either, so you could just as well say that I like everyone”

“Yeah yeah, I got it, I got it So have you ever liked a girl? Anyone?”

With a sigh, she stuffed her etting used to dealing with my nonsense

“Whatever the circuht?”

“……Unrequited love”

“Like when your feelings aren’t returned”

“That much I understand”

“If you understand, then tell me about it already Have you ever had an unrequited love?”

I judged that going about this in a pretentious manner would ot angry like yesterday

“H like that, just once”

“That, right there - what kind of girl was she?”

“And ould you want to know that?”

“Because I’m interested - you said yesterday that ere opposites, so I’ve been wondering what kind of person you’d fall for”

I was thinking of telling her to just reverse who she was as a person in that case, but as I didn’t want to push my own system of values onto others, I didn’t say it

“What kind of person, huh Well, she was the type of person that used ‘san’”

“…………san?”

She furrowed her brows, and her nose shi+fted The crea as well

“Yeah We were in the sairl that used 'san’ without fail Bookseller-san, shopkeeper-san, fisher-san Even for the novelists that appeared in textbooks Akutagawa-san, Dazai-san, Mishi+ma-san On top of that, she even used it on food Like daikon-san, as she called it Thinking about it now though, it was probably just a peculiarity; maybe she wasn’t even related to hu to be respectful Or to put it differently, I thought that she was a gentle and modest person And so, even more than for anyone else, by just a little bit, I had special feelings for her”

Having said that in one go, I drank a mouthful of water

“I’h”

I looked at her Without saying even a single word, she smiled and ate the fruit-covered cake that was on her plate Her s rong, she scratched her cheek as she looked back up at me

“What’s wrong?”

“Naaah”

She was fidgeting about

“It’s just that, you see, it was even ht it’d be, so I’m a little embarrassed”

“……Aah, yeah, irl”

“It’s not that, Iher”

I couldn’t think of a good response, so I i steak on the plate into ly happy, with a s at me

“So what happened to that love? But that’s right, you’ve never had a girlfriend, huh”

“Yeah You see, that girl apparently had an appearance that looked cute to the average person too, so it happened that she was going out with a sparkly and cool popular guy in the class”

“Hmm, she doesn’t have an eye for people huh”

“What do you mean?”

“Naaah, don’t mind it I see, so even you were once a pure boy with a fleeting love, huh!”

“So, I’ out of courtesy, but what about you?”

“I guess I’ve had three boyfriends up till now But just so you knoas serious about all of them There are quite a few people out there that say love in ames, but I think those people are just fools that aren’t even responsible in their own love for others”

Herand facial expressions were both inflamed with passion, and her breath closed in on ood with heat

Incidentally, with her looks, it was pretty believable that she’d have had three boyfriends before She didn’t wearbeauty, her facial features were dignified

“Hey, don’t pull away”

“I’ away, but I think there’s a little cream on your nose?”

“Eh?” The girl who didn’t understand made an utterly silly face If it was that face, maybe she wouldn’t have had any boyfriends After a while, she finally noticed it and hurriedly wiped her nose with a ipe Before the cream on top of her nose disappeared, I stood up from my seat My plate was already empty

I gotsweet this time But just as I was about to ood fortune my favourite warabi-ar syrup that sat beside the plates After snapping out of ar syrup, I poured myself a cup of coffee

While thinking of how to deal with her when she was in a bad h school girls to return to our seats Contrary to h spirits

However, I was unable to takeup till just now

Her s the table

Probably having noticed her expression, the person sitting on the seat that should have been in with looked my way The surprise she felt quickly made itself apparent on her face As for me, I felt that she was someone I had seen before

“Sa-Sakura, and, is that, Gloo-Classmate-kun?”

I finally reirl, that seemed even more indoirl that tagged along with her pretty often And if I remembered correctly, she was part of some sports club

“Yup, Kyouko, why are you so surprised? Ah, Affable-Classood friend, Kyouko”

The sirl, her confused friend, and the cautious hed in ain, I placed the cup and the warabi-mochi on the table, and sat down on an empty seat for now For better or for worse, she and I had been shown to a table for four Between the two girls that sat across each other, I was able to see the two of them without any conscious effort

“Eh, but, Sakura, you get along with Gloo-Classmate-kun?”

“Yeah, but I’ when she asked”

She srow even more confused because of her smile

“But, I heard fro?”

“Gah, that was just Affable-Class because he didn’t want to be bothered I can’t believe that Rika believed him over me, I wonder where our friendshi+p went”

Close-Friend-san didn’t laugh at the words she said in jest Instead, she shot lance Since htly She returned the nod I thought that was the end of it, but as expected of a close friend of hers, she didn’t let me off with just a nod

“Hey hey, have I ever talked to Gloo-Classmate-kun before?”

Thinking about it, it was a rude question, but it didn’t seem like she harboured any ill will But even if she did, I didn’t want to create a bad atmosphere

“We’ve spoken before When I wasunable to come”

Having heard that, the girl started to roar with laugher “Don’t call so,” she interjected

That’s just how you view it, I thought to myself, but even the concerned person’s supposed Close-Friend-saneither” Well, to me and to Close-Friend-san, whatever it as a non-issue

“Is this okay Kyouko? Aren’t your friends waiting for you at your seat?”

“Ah, yeah, it’s about tio Hey, Sakura, it’s not like I have any objections or anything, I’”

Close-Friend-san stared at her face, only looking at my face just once

“Continuing from the 11th, it’s the second time in a row, and not to irls and couples When you said you that you get along, did you mean it in that way?”

“Nope”

Since she had so confidently made a denial, I sed the denial that lay at the tip of ue

I couldn’t say that I liked this situation with the two of the worked up

Right after letting loose a relieved expression, Close-Friend-san iht back at me

“So, what are you? Friends?”

“I told you already, we get along”

“That’s enough from you Sakura, since you tend not to speak sense soht to say that you’re only friends with Sakura?”

I guess only close friends could understand her that well I thought about how to deflect the stray bullet that had inexplicably locked onto ave the most suitable reply I could muster

“I guess we get along”

I looked simultaneously at both their faces One was drained and appalled, while the other was grinning from ear to ear

Close-Friend-san gave an audible sigh Then, with a renewed vigour, spat the line, “I’ll definitely get to the bottooodbye only to her, and left

I wondered whether tomorrow’s date with a friend was a date with that person, and I was pleased that it was not me, but her, that would come under fire As for the stares from my classmates that I would receive froiven up If there wasn’t any real harm, all I had to do was turn a blind eye to it

“Woho’d have thought we’d run into Kyouko huh”

Saying those words filled with equal parts surprise and delight, she took one of my warabi-mochi, and wilfully put it in her mouth

“I met Kyouko when I was in middle school, you see She’s been bold like that since the very beginning, so I thought that she was a scary girl, but we got along right after we started talking She’s a good girl,Get-Along-kun, so please get along with her too”

“……Is it fine not to tell your close friend about your illness?”

I said so, knowing that I was raining on her parade The girl’s heart that was coloured with positive eain, it wasn’t as though I said it because I enjoyed hurting her

It’s just that I wondered if it were really fine for her to spend her little re honest with only so behindher final days with a close friend that was so much more precious to her as compared to someone like me? Unusually for me, those ords of consideration and compassion

“It’s fine, it’s fine! That girl is pretty emotional, so if I told her, she’d definitely cry every tiht? So for my own sake, I’ve decided to hide it from everyone else till the very last minute”

And thus with her words and expression, she had wilfully repelled the torrent I had suh to leave me speechless

There was just one last thing Witnessing her willpower had led the question lurking within my heart since yesterday to surface - it wouldn’t do if I didn’t ask her that at the very least

“Hey”

“Hm? What’s up?”

“Are you really going to die?”

Her determined expression disappeared instantaneously I iretted er - she quickly regained her expression, and as always, it went round and round, changing dramatically

At first she smiled Then her face turned into one of frustration Then a bitter ser, sorrow, and back to frustration At last, she looked ht in the eye and smiled

“I’ll die”