Chapter 169 (2/2)

「I never thought that my brother would do something like this. So I cried guiltily and asked for the teacher to give me a copy of the copy you got of your test answer sheet!」

Since it was now all out in the open, Mai now breathed out a sigh loudly.

「My brother has become a degenerate. It’s sad to see my brother sink so low.」

「Well, if you have any pity, no, I was thinking that maybe you’d be kind, I was thinking…and maybe let me off.」

I asked for pity, as anger oozed from Mai, and she said, almost as in prayer,

「Brother, during this lunch, we’ll formulate your NEW study plan.」

Then the bell beginning instruction sounded without any emotion.

「…okay…there go the sentimental days of my youth.」

My days hereafter will be filled with studying.

☆

「Nhhg…impossible…stop!」

It was on one day off, that I was studying as hard as I could at Yuuto’s house.

Yuuto lived alone in this room, in an expensive apartment building in the city.

Yuuto was an illegitimate child, in other words, he had a lot of complex family matters. Since he had lost his mother during his elementary school years, I heard that he received money to support his life from his father.

However, he wasn’t on good terms with his father.

The first time I heard about his father was when Kenta and Suehiko visited.

「…well, if you finished this far, you’re pretty good at math. I think you can pass the test.」

「Really? Yesssss! I can do it!」

After hearing circles showing correct answers being drawn over and over, I heard from Yuuto that I had passed and without thinking jumped up into a victory pose.

Even though I was just about to take my college entrance and thought that I was thankful that someone could look over my studies and laugh, saying 『You’re fine, you have the basics down』…this and that aren’t the same.

I was the type to study all night the night before a test, that didn’t protect the time allocated to study.

That’s why I had this victory pose!

「Okay, next is the social studies test, Kaito.」

「Whaaa?」

「Don’t say what. You got a lot wrong in that one, right? Sorry, but this time I can’t be your ally, okay? Mai-chan with threaten me…she asked me to do this.」

Yuuto said while averting his eyes and with a pale face.

Damn sister. My almost completely handsome friend was reduced to a weakling by her.

「Well, it’s bad to just push ourselves this hard for this long. Let’s take a break and get some coffee and something sweet.」

「I’d like a Snow Mark coffee, okay?」

「Sure, but…that’s not coffee.」

I watched Yuuto leave the room with a grimace, and shut the door with a fwump.

In order to cool my head from all the numbers I had been thinking about now that I was alone, I put my pen down on the low table and fell back on the floor, still cross-legged.

(I wonder if Mai is okay…)

I zoned out while listening to the tick, tick, tick of the clock.

Today, Mai was going to the 100 day memorial service of the death of her friend Satomi.

It was a memorial service only for the family, pretty much, but Satomi’s family said 『You should come too, Mai』so she attended.

「…」

I remembered Mai leaving the house with a mix of loneliness, sadness, and a smile that morning.

「Ah, no, no, now I can see why Yuuto is so weak to her!」

Hup! I sat up, and decided to search around Yuuto’s room.

I couldn’t let Mai’s sadness bring me down. I had to do something stupid so that I wasn’t always thinking about Mai all the time.

「Okay, then, let’s take a look at this. Let’s see if there’s any dirty mags of his that I haven’t found yet.」

Just like the crazy stuff we did before…just like always.

But…this time I really couldn’t think about it.

「…」

Looking at his room, voices, thoughts, something was lost.

Almost like were shut in a cage that had closed us off.

A red pen had Xed off the faces of pictures of those posted in SNS feeds, bulletin boards, internet posts, and newspaper articles…walls upon walls of them.

This sucks, damn it all, why…I can’t give up…why.

WHYWHYWHYWHYWHY, WHY WHY, a screaming, cutting voice seemed to cry out.

All there was…a year that I didn’t remember, and a year of pain that Yuuto felt.

It wasn’t a place that I could just enter myself.

I shut the door, hit the wall with my fist, and then put my head in my hands.

「Why, why did this all happen to me.」

I said to myself, alone, quietly alone.

Yuuto came back, and he handed over the food and drink I wanted, we took a break, and then again began to study.

As a result, I couldn’t say anything about what I found, and just blew it off as if I saw nothing.

Also, I had no idea about what I should do.

「Okay, are you ready to go to the hospital?」

While I was answering questions silently next to Yuuto, who was quietly reading a novel, I noticed that the clock said it was already past 3 PM.

「Damn, this time already?! I need to hurry up a little bit.」

I remembered the time that I had to see the doctor that we decided on last week, so I hurried and got ready to return home.

「Make sure you review when you get home okay? I don’t want to have to go over all this again.」

「I know. I don’t want to get them wrong and have my Spartan sister kick my ass over it. I have to be the one that lords over her.」

「Damn you and your sister-fetish.」

「It’s not a fetish…it’s just…normal.」

I said as I reached the entrance and opened the door.

「Okay, Kaito, get better quickly.」

「Yeah, see you at school.」

I left his room, and made my way slowly to the hospital.

I walked to the psychological clinic, and expected to see the doctor that my previous doctor Maeno had introduced me to after being hospitalized.

In order to return the memories that hadn’t come back during my hospital visits, I instead went here to find the cause.

「If I can just remember where I was, I wonder if I can then help Yuuto?」

From the day I returned after the disappearance, there was something telling me that somehow there were chains inside me creaking, holding back something that was trying to break free.

However, there was no answer as to what that was.

But still, I knew it. Until I could remember it, it was like the heat of melted magma being fanned by winds inside me.

The answer to the reason for it all still hadn’t emerged.