Chapter 1 (1/2)

Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Who is it?

「Thanks for your hard work」

「Right Yasutaka-kun, thanks for your hard work」

While exchanging greetings with the pluer, the entry door was pushed open With a pleasant ringing of a cowbell overhead, Yasutaka left his part-time job at the Cafe 「Aru~mu」

Mid-May After Golden Week, it’s most comfortable season of the year

Even if it was just a little after 7PM, the area was already dark Going through a fahts, Yasutaka leisurely walks home

Dinner isn’t needed because he ate at the coffee shop he works at

The only things to be done after returning ho a bath

Furthermore, with his parents have been away in a different prefecture due to their job , there’s no need to hurry co back because no one is around

As the evening breeze blows, Yasutaka walks through the familiar scenery slowly

This is Nisshi+n City, Aichi prefecture

It’s closer to the countryside rather than the city

Not rural enough to be the countryside, but not urban enough to be a city

It is about 30cities, and it has been flourishi+ng to some extent in recent years

Nevertheless, here and there, much of the flora and fauna that remain, as well as rice paddies and plantations could be seen

From Nisshi+n station which is in the center of the toalk for about 10 to 15 minutes There lies the house where he lived in, till just recently, with his family

It seeh it’s an old house, the interior has been sufficiently renovated, Yasutaka thought that it’s coh

「I’m home」

Although he knew there wouldn’t be a reply, Yasutaka couldn’t help but call out with it beco a habit after many years

The house is old but it’s spacious enough Until a little while back, the lights would be on and his mother would reply from somewhere inside the house

However, now it is dark when he returns ho so roo the front door

Dark itlived in it for many years With no hesitation he entered the hallway, first turning on the lights

With the darkness dispelled in an instant, a slightly yelloarht illuminates the hallway

Though his home is spacious, it’s still in in the scale of an ordinary house Because it isn’t a mansion, it’s natural to say that it wouldn’t take , he arrives at the living room

After opening the door to the living rooht switch next to the door was pushed

The darkness that enveloped the living roo over it

「………………………………………… eh？」

In the living rooht, Yasutaka discovers so unfamiliar

The living room itself was the same as usual

A sofa set in the e TV set by aand on the opposite side, a largeroverlooks the garden Froarden, the place Mo laundry in

The back of the living room faces the kitchen It has a table and four chairs to match it for meals There are cabinets, cupboards and the like set up, nothing unusual in the living room

Or so it should have been

「……………………………………&hellip

… eeh？」

Yasutaka checks the inside of the living rooain

Un, no doubt This is the living room of my house

Whileso in my mind, I stared at it one more time

The inside of the living room is clearly different froo

No, there was only one thing that differed

「………………………………………… eeeh？」

Long pale golden hair shi+ned brightly as it reflected the light the indoor lights

Clothes of an unfan Soa my childhood friend would read

Looks to be around 15 years old? A high school student like er

Long, slender white limbs If i had to say then it was on the thinner side At least, basing it on ood proportions at school, this one’s body’s ups and downs seem poor

I don’t know the color of her eyes because her eyes were closed but even so, she was at a level cute enough to be called a pretty girl

And, more distinct than any of her other characteristics was her long pointed ears

「EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHH!?」

I’ rooirl, Yasutaka unintentionally raised his voice

What kind of situation is this?

Yasutaka is desperately thinking while staring at the girl passed out on the living room’s wooden floor

Looking back to the tiht on the door Because I opened it, I’m sure of it

Then, did this girl enter through the ?

Irooarden

It was still bright when I left for work so the curtains were left open Therefore I was able to confirm that the lock of ere securely fastened

Naturally the glass surrounding the lock wasn’t broken either

So, a different ? The back door? Or from the second floor?

Various possibilities run about in Yasutaka’s irl?

Standing at the entrance of the living room, for several minutes he worried over this or that

At this ti important

And that is if the girl lying in front of him was even alive

「Is, is it possible…… that this isn’t a ho?」

In order to ascertain whether or not she is alive, I have to touch the girl

However, could one really touch the girl’s body in this kind of situation?!

For exairl is dead, wouldn’t touching her leave fingerprints? From there, i would be doubted and become a suspect

「Bu……but …… I couldn’t possibly leave like this either……?」

So the police did not occur to him at this point in ti would work out if the police were called

The reason is surely because of the cute girl that had collapsed If this were a squalid old man, it would be reported in an instant he was discovered

For soirl

On the way, he saw a floor wiper that was used for cleaning the living room, propped up on a nearby wall

Yasutaka reached for the floor wiper and picked it up And using the handle end of the floor wiper, he poked the body of the fallen girl a little