Vol 3 Chapter 16 (1/2)
VOLUME 3
Chapter 16: Nozomi’s ☆ Secret 4
When I first entered elementary school, I was a foolish child who went around saying that I could see ghosts.
Of course, everyone else thought I was pretty strange… even today, I knew that there were some people who secretly called me crazy or “ghost girl.”
Nowadays, I had learned to be a bit more tactful and keep my secret a secret. I acted like a goodie goodie honors student so n.o.body could complain anymore.
I guess my mom and dad weren’t the only ones who had twisted me.
I sometimes wondered whether these monsters that showed up when I tried to escape from the normal world were actually real.
Maybe it was all just my imagination running wild.
But it didn’t matter.
Right now, I just wanted to go away somewhere.
It was just as Tama-chan had said.
I wanted to go somewhere where I could flap my wings freely without my mom’s voice constantly ringing in my ears.
I was just a bit tired of trying hard.
So, right now… just for now, I wouldn’t.
–
“Nozomi-chan, come on.”
–
Tama-chan beckoned me over from her position on my windowsill.
Keeping an eye on the door while my mom kept on knocking on it (the door wasn’t even locked – why didn’t she just come in?), I walked quickly towards Tama-chan.
When I got right next to her, I still didn’t have any idea what to do, but Tama-chan wrapped her arms around me.
“Got you~~~!”
I felt a s.h.i.+ver run up my spine. For a second I felt like I was about to be eaten.
I buried my face into Tama-chan’s soft bosom.
It was so warm.
It was like I was snuggled up next to the sun.
“Here we go. If it gets too late Tsurugi-nee is going to get mad at me, so we’ll only leave for a bit, ‘kay?”
Tama-chan smiled, and then fell backwards.
We were on the second floor.
There was nothing behind Tama but the night sky.
“Fwah…?!”
Surprised, I let out a weird squeal.
I felt myself falling down, still held in Tama-chan’s arms.
I should’ve hit the ground by now, but no matter how much time pa.s.sed this sensation of weightlessness never ceased.
I frantically looked around me, and saw that I was now floating through s.p.a.ce.
Countless stars twinkled around me, and the darkness seemed to stretch endlessly on all sides.
“I’m sorry, Nozomi-chan.”
Seeing me cower in fear, Tama-chan took the opportunity to nestle her face into the top of my head and nibble on my hair, doing whatever she wished.
“Tsurugi-nee warned me already… everything is Tama’s fault.”
Tama’s voice was filled with regret, something I had never expected to hear from her.
“Tama, you see, Tama was jealous of Kagami-nee, and wanted a normal friend. Tama is a G.o.d, so if she wanted, anybody would like her, right? So Tama couldn’t tell. Did Tama just order you to be her friend without knowing it? Or did you really want to be Tama’s friend? Tama couldn’t tell… and Tama was always scared.”
As always, Tama-chan was going on and on about something I could neither make heads nor tails of.
But… I guess Tama-chan also had her own things to worry about.
Knowing that, I felt just a bit closer to her.
“But, Nozomi-chan was just a bit different. She was just like Tama and could fight against alterations just a little bit. So Tama was so happy and thought she could finally find a normal friend. So Tama went up to you and tried to protect you, but that just made all the other G.o.ds jealous…”
Tears leaked out of Tama’s eyes.
“Tama wanted to protect you, but like Kagami-nee, she couldn’t do it too well, and so Tama thought Nozomi-chan might get spirited away and eaten. That’s why Tama has to get away from you… we can’t ever be friends. Tama was being selfish. So, Tama will grant Nozomi-chan’s last wish and then go away.”
I wanted to say something at seeing Tama-chan getting so sad, but nothing came out.
I had studied a lot of things up until this day.
But I didn’t have the slightest clue what to do, what to feel in this situation.
I was the one who had been the idiot.
“You…”
Those were my true thoughts.
“You aren’t my friend.”
I had a loud, stupid cla.s.smate who never made any sense.
She was a strange creature, and I had no idea why she had become mixed in with my life.
Tama-chan, trust me… you haven’t had much of an effect on my life at all.
So, please, Tama-chan.
A truly good girl like you shouldn’t ever be apologizing to someone like me.
The feeling of weightlessness suddenly stopped.
When I looked around, I found myself in a strange world.
It clearly was not Earth.
The sky was painted a dull silver, while countless stars and what looked like five moons glittered above.
The ground was also silver-colored, and from it sprouted many buildings that looked like they were made of emerald crystal.
I was completely bewildered.
“Umm, so, umm.”
Tama took me by the hand and began to walk, looking like she was used to this place.
“So, Tama became friends with these aliens, and was invited over to play many times… but this is the farthest place Tama knows, so that’s why Tama brought you here.”
“A-Aliens?”
I pinched myself on the cheek thinking this might all be a dream. Nope, the pinch definitely hurt.
“Don’t get too far from Tama, okay? The air here is really weird, so you won’t be able to breathe. And then you might die. Ah, it’s Kyupii-chan.”
Tama mumbled some terrifying things before raising a hand in the air.
Taking a closer look, I saw a table set right next to the emerald city. The table itself stood out like a sore thumb and was occupied by a surprisingly handsome man.
“Kyupii-chan is the prince of this planet.”
Tama-chan casually explained that to me, but my mind was in disarray.
Kyupii-chan (the Le Pet.i.t Prince who looked nothing like anything I would ever call “Kyupii-chan”) gave us a smile and a strange, cheerful greeting.
“BoNjOuR!”
Why French?
“It’S bEeN sO lOnG, tAmA-cHaN! YoU nEvEr CoMe To PlAy AnYmOrE, sO i’Ve BeEn So LoNeLy! Is ThAt YoUr FrIeNd OvEr ThErE?”
He looked at me, and I looked down in fear.
Rather than an alien, he looked more like just a suspicious foreigner. Tama-chan explained for me.
“This is Nozomi-chan. She’s Tama’s friend… or she was.”