Chapter 24 (1/2)

After that, I spentthe ‘things she wanted to do before she died,’ which she asked me to do one after another, there were plenty that made me want to ask, “Did you really want to do that before you died? You’re not just co me suffer, are you?” But I reluctantly did most of them

She said that she wanted to act out the scenes that are often seen in a where a character steals a persiets yelled at, which I actually did and got yelled at (I apologized like crazy) I also did her request of participating in an eating challenge I received an enormous bowl of pork cutlet on rice, and, of course, paid 3,000 yen without being able to finish it

I even did her request of going to a beauty parlor, pointing at a , “Please make me the same as this person” The result was a hairstyle that was no different from usual

She toldto the batting center at night after work I continued perforet marked “home run” on the third day For so paddle

She said she wanted to experience being hit on once, so I stood at an intersection don Of course, nobody called out to , “Will you please hit on me?” But they mistook it for some new pick-up technique and just shouted abuse at me

I did the one where she wanted to sing at a karaoke until her voice went hoarse Ma withlike an evil wizard

I didn’t do every single one of Mamizu’s requests That’s because there were some that were impossible to fulfil for various reasons

She told et in a taxi and say, “Please take me to the ocean” But I felt unsure as to whether the ah for that, so I decided to leave that one alone for now

There was also one where she wanted to kill a zombie, but unfortunately, zombies didn’t exist in the world we lived in, so I couldn’t kill any Of course, the one where she wanted to drive at 200 kilometers per hour was impossible as well I didn’t have a driver’s license, and probably wouldn’t have done it even if I did have one

Well, in any case, I was impressed at how she could cos I couldn’t really think of anything that I wanted to do myself

Every tis she wanted to do before she died’ and delivered hed like she was really enjoying herself As a s about it, either I quite enjoyed those days

“Thanks With that, I have one less regret,” Ma her about my karaoke session

I suddenly wondered

Did this rets in this world, just like I was doing now?

If her lingering regrets in this world disappeared one by one, ould happen to her in the end?

“Say, Mamizu” I suddenly wanted to ask her

“Hmm?”

“Maht that you wanted to commit suicide?”

Mae; she replied in the exact same tone that she used in ordinary conversation “I think about it every day”

I was startled by the way she gave that response

‘I think about it every day’

I got the feeling that it wasn’t a lie

The question I asked Mao I didn’t really remember what Meiko had answered

But after her boyfriend died, Meiko started walking around a lot

Though I say ‘walking around,’ she wasn’tout to enjoy herself

She was actually just walking But it wasn’t so for a stroll Without any hesitation, she would go out and just continue walking for five or six hours

Meiko had a policy for these walks Apparently, she would start walking whenever she felt like it, without deciding on a destination, and continue walking wherever her feet took her She didn’t pace herself or rest along the way

She died during one of these walks, at night

After she died, I occasionally imitated her and walked like that, about once aseen bythe roads aimlessly When I did this, I was careful to adhere to Meiko’s si about On my own

But just once, I did this together with Kayama

It was at night during the school trip in middle school It was apparently norhts, so the people from the class hid from the teachers and enjoyed theossip about who they liked and as going out ho, and it wasn’t the kind of at to sleep first Even if I tried, it would have been too noisy for et any sleep

And so, as I tried to slip out of the lodging house, I ran into Kayama unexpectedly at the bottom of the stairs

“Okada, where are you going at this tiht?” he asked

“… I’ somewhere”

“I’ll go, too”

I told Kayanored hiainst h, he didn’t try to talk to me

On that night during the school trip, we continued walking without saying a word

Wefro for a place where nobody was around While alking, I started wanting to not go back I wanted to keep walking until I died But I got tired and sat on the ground

Just then, a shrine caht a juice at a vending machine and threw it to me

“You’re suffering,” Kaya at me with an exasperated expression

“I’ all of the fizzy drink in one go For some reason, the drink that was supposed to be sweet tasted bitter

“I think you’re the type who can’t go anywhere” Kayama said those profound words

Kind of getting the feeling that he was looking down at o somewhere?”

“I’h I’ myself After my older brother died, I a to die just like that, so there’s no point in being serious about it So even if I hurt others, I won’t be hurt,” Kayama said

I couldn’t feel a single shred of sympathy for that response

“I’ to enjoy myself,” he said

“Do as you want,” I said, fed up with this

“So, Okada, you can just stay there, feeling troubled” Kayama spoke as if to say, “Feel my share of troubles for me as well”

“You’re annoying,” I said, throwing my empty can into a trash can

That’s right, I remember

“I soo somewhere that isn’t here”

That was the answer that Meiko had given me when I asked her that question

That’s right; as Meiko said, being here in everyday life was suffocating soht Perhaps that hy I continued visiting Mamizu’s hospital room

“I’ve alanted to tryyet another a request that sounded like she’d just come up with it

But soe to persimmons, she had a lot of requests related to food Perhaps she…

“Who are you calling greedy?” Mamizu said

It seemed that she had become able to read my mind recently

“Well, alright,” I said, a little startled “I’llit to you”

“Thanks… I don’t know if I can eat it all, though” Maloomy It was an expression that I hadn’t really seen much recently

“It’s fine If there’s any left over, I’ll eat it”

“Ah, but listen I’ inspection soon Because I’ve been feeling better recently, you see It’s possible that I can be discharged fro on the results,” Mamizu said

“Then do you want to go soo”

“I can’t really go that far away though Ah, then you think about it and decide, Takuya-kun”

“That’s different from the usual pattern”

“It’s fine once in a while, right? I want to go soo, Takuya-kun I’ll look forward to it and do hter

I decided to make the cake in the kitchen at the maid café after work Fortunately, cake was on the redients The oasn’t around, and I thought he wouldn’t get angry if he never found out

“What are you doing, Okada-kun?” Riko-chan-san asked as she suddenly showed up

“Ah, I’ a cake for personal reasons,” I said

“Should I help?”

“No… I, cakes…”

“Are you the type ants to

I wondered what I should say “Next time,” I said as a temporary measure

“Next tiht?” Riko-chan-san said as she went home

“Wait, this cake, isn’t it too sweet?” said Ma between her eyebrows

“If you’re going to say that, you don’t have to eat it,” I said

The cake was a strawberry tart cake that wasn’t on the ly made

What did she think ht was for? I felt a little angry