"Neh neh, Sakamoto, I"m going to go boil some black tea, but you can"t go looking through my room while I’m busy."
"Oh, yeah, of course. Kasumi."
"A-and, even if it’s on accident, you absolutely can"t open the second drawer in my desk."
"Okay, I got it, I absolutely won"t open it then."
"Don"t open it… it"s filled with a girl"s secrets…"
"Alright…"
"You promised. This is a girl"s secret… A secret that would make Sakamoto pleasantly surprised…"
——Klunk.
"………"
Did you really want me to look that badly?
"This is serious now."
I watched Kasumi leave the room, and then raised my head towards the ceiling.
Yes, on this day, I"ve unexpectedly came to Kasumi"s room.
It was about a week after I decided that I would revive Hikari Yumesaki. I did everything that I could to find a clue; browsing on the Internet, flipping through the books at the library, searching for the mysterious black-robed person, and in many other ways.
And on this day, after school, I went to the library to flip through books, and accidentally b.u.mped into Kasumi. At first, I only carelessly spoke a couple of words.
"Sakamoto, my house is near from here. Won"t you drop by to have some tea?"
"Eh? Uhm, but…"
"Don"t worry, you are more than welcome to come over."
"Erm, no, well."
"…Did you already forget about that double date incident?"
And just like, that I was whisked off to the Sanada house. I want to say that it was a rare opportunity——but when I gave my answer, and saw her pump her right fist, I really hoped that it was just a figment of my imagination.
Anyhow, it"s cosy, but it"s still my first time paying a visit to a girl"s bedroom. Being in such a fortunate situation, I couldn"t help but feel like I was being tricked, especially since this room——
"Top Ten Secrets to Successfully Deceiving Guys"
"The Secret Techniques for Capturing Guys"
"Choose Carefully! How to Make Boys" Heart Race by Acting Spoiled"
"Beginner"s Introduction for BDSM"
"…Why does she have these books?"
There"s nothing else more terrifying. Also, there seemed to be something in the second drawer from the bottom.
But that"s when another problem came in.
"Excuse me. Sakamoto, stop it! You can"t be looking through Kasumi-chan"s room!"
Ack, here she is again.
"I-I wasn"t fishing for anything…"
As a certain someone entered the room with a mischievous smile, I instinctively answered back with a stiff expression.
That"s right, this person was Kasumi"s legendary (?) older sister who"s in college.
I did hear Kasumi mention that her older sister was home, and that person had been entering the room several times because her little sister had brought home a guy, and purposely teasing me. Right now, she"s sitting on the bed, leaning towards me——ah, wait, why is she leaning so close——Stop, stop! Don"t press your face so close! My face is about to turn red!
"Hey, what is your relationship with Kasumi-chan? Can you tell Onee-chan?"
"W-we"re just cla.s.smates…"
"Really~? But Onee-chan here knows that Kasumi-chan looks at a secret photo of you every night… Ah, I"ve said too much. Teehee☆."
This person… No, more importantly.
Although I felt dumbstruck, I sized her up, and gulped. Wow… I guessed that she would be really pretty, but in all honesty, her beauty far surpa.s.sed my image of her.
I guess using the word "moe" would be the easiest way of describing her. The sleeves of her sweater loosely approached her hands in a seductive manner, the collarbone that was exposed from her clothes large collar exuded an incomparable s.e.xiness. Her glittering hair was dazzlingly silky, and her nails and earrings were pretty. But there was also one noticeable trait that no one can ever forget.
"Come on, you"re not being honest here. Come now, tell Onee-chan."
"Ugh…"
Some certain "objects" pressed close, and I felt hotter.
I don"t think I have to explain anything, just that she really was Kasumi"s older sister. The older sister"s was unexpectedly superior to her little sister"s "Super Big b.o.o.bs"!
That slightly soft sensation has been pressing against my arm for a while now. Stop, stop. I"m just a virgin, I"m just Bakatsuki, I really can"t take it much longer!
"Sorry for the long wait, Saka… Kyaah! Onee-chan, what are you doing?"
Woah, the power of a virgin I was born with swelled in my body, and the person who came to my rescue was none other than Kasumi. She hurriedly rushed over, and quickly yelled angrily at her own older sister.
"There"s nothing wrong here, right? Sakamoto is just an ordinary cla.s.smate from your cla.s.s, right? However, Kasumi-chan, what"s this about hiding an ordinary cla.s.smate"s gym clothes."
"Wh-wh-what are you talking about? U-Unbelievable! Get out!"
The agitated and moody Kasumi starting flailing punches at her older sister, but well, this scene was kinda something. Two sisters, standing next to each other, and the destructive powers of their b.r.e.a.s.t.s were overwhelming. And then, I must"ve misheard some shocking words, probably just me though.
Just when I was pondering this, those two began to whisper among themselves.
"(Now now, Kasumi-chan, I was just bringing you something. Did you bring him home with that in mind)?"
"(——!? W-What are you saying, Onee-chan! I don"t need it! I already have some!)"
"(But you never used them… anyway, it"s not a bad thing to have more of them.)"
"(Argh! I"ve already said that I don"t need it!)"
Her older sister pulled out what looked like a small box (?), and they were both shoving it to each other. Ahhh, if the large b.r.e.a.s.t.s were to b.u.mp into each other in this kind of cramped s.p.a.ce… I had a thought, and it turned out the way I expected. Kasumi was pushed by her older sister, and completely lost her balance.
"Ah, watch out!"
"Watch out!"
And then she fell towards me and the bed I was sitting on, so I hugged her out of reflex——
"Ouch… S-Sorry, Sakamoto————"
"Uh——————————"
The situation took a turn for the worse.
If I had to explain, I was currently fully embracing Kasumi. Furthermore, since the force of that impact overcame my balance, I fell onto my back. And I didn"t know why, but Kasumi was pressing down on my body, and that pair of impressive soft mounds evenly pressed down on my face. From an outside perspective, it looked like she was giving me a great service——
"S-S-Sakamoto, I"m sorry! Are you alright? Sigh, Onee-chan, you"re an idiot! That was dangerous!"
No no, Kasumi.
Why are those things pressing against me even as you say that, and why aren"t you moving? The real question is, why are you hugging my head so firmly? Also, why am I able to see you giving a thumbs up to your sister with a smile from the corner of my eye? Eh? Her older sister is also giving her a big thumbs up?
As such, after going through this nerve-wrecking experience, it was already 8 o"clock by the time I realized.
"Why don"t you stay for dinner?"
"You can also stay for the night too. We don"t have enough rooms, so you can sleep in my room."
"I"m sure something good will happen…"
Kasumi said, and it made it difficult for me to say that I wanted to go home, but I still firmly resolved myself to decline her kindness, and so she had no choice but to watch me leave from her front door.
"Do-do your best, Sakamoto."
"Eh?"
Just when I got on my bike, Kasumi said those words to me.
"Although I"m not clear on what you"re up to…but you"ve been working quite hard lately, always coming in and out of the library, or hurrying home after school…"
"…Oh."
"Even yesterday during break time, you were in the computer lab looking up things and shouting, "As long as it"s for Mom, this kind of trouble is nothing!" …."
……That idiot.
"B-But, I still don"t think you should put on a black robe, and make "Kuhuhu" sounds on the street. Play-acting a weird, suspicious person is fine and all, but I know that you were scolded by a policeman. What did you actually mean when you said, "I want people to mistake us for accomplices, and now I"m waiting to be contacted!" ?"
……That idiot!
"Um, anyway, I probably can"t help with anything… I"ll be cheering you on. Because I really like… seeing you working hard, Sakamoto."
"Oh, thanks."
"Really like", was there any special meaning behind these words? I couldn"t tell, but just by seeing the smile on Kasumi"s face, I could feel strength well up inside me. I"m truly grateful to have known you.
"I"ll be going then, Kasumi. See you at school."
"………"
Huh? What"s wrong? Why do you look like you"re wanting something——
"Give and take…"
"…….Oh."
I reached out and patted her head. Although I"m not quite sure what happened, Hikari Yumesaki seems to have made a promise with Kasumi that whenever they would say goodbye, I would have to pat her head. Whatever, that idiot probably acted on an impulse again.
Kasumi narrowed her eyes and smiled, just like a small animal seeking love and attention, looking quite happy. Sigh, now that there was something "given", something must be "taken’. I was curious, and fearful.
"I"ll work hard, definitely."
The light blue moon and starlight adorned the indigo night sky, and looked brighter, more dazzling than usual.
I casually pedaled my bike, like I was swimming in water, and silently made a small promise to myself.
________________________________________
"Hikari-chan just had a very amazing thought! You might have to start calling me a genius from now on!"
"Yes, yes, so what is it, genius?"
Two days later, this was the first line written in the diary.
"A clue to reviving… I thought of an amazing way to find this clue!"
"Oh, something only a genius could come up with."
In contrast, I muttered coldly. After all, she"s the type of girl who went around on the street with a black robe draped over her. Honestly, she wasn"t reliable at all, and she was the kind of idiot who even went online and searched, "Black Robe WiOOpedia".
As I thought about these things, I continued reading without having any expectations——
"……….!"
I couldn"t help but silently gasp, as if I was in the depths of an endless tunnel, and saw a glimpse of light.
"This method——may work?"
Takayuki Kazeshiro.
A former cla.s.smate of Hikari Yumesaki, he was one of the few who knew about our personality switching phenomenon and a friend. He"s p.r.o.ne to making mistakes, but he"s quite cerebral. Having an unrequited love for Hikari Yumesaki, he was also my love rival.
"We"re going to increase awareness of the situation here?"
After school, I made a call to that guy.
"Yeah. Through the internet and other methods, let"s spread information about our current situation."
This was the proposal that Hikari Yumesaki had written in today"s diary entry. The rest went something like this:
"Let"s start by spreading out information about switching personalities every other day!"
We had been looking for clues all this time, but this was going about it in reverse. Putting it in another way, Hikari Yumesaki was proposing that we spread our personality switch story around the entire world, allowing the people who have information come forward themselves.
"Does such a person even exist?"
"I don"t know, but there"s no proof that they don"t exist, right?"
As Kazeshiro said, there was no proof other than us that there were other people who knew about a personality change incidence, but maybe, it could just be that we didn"t know about them.
"But even so, how much are you guys planning to make this public? You"re not going to spread out personal information, right?"
"Well, you"re right about that, but anyway, we got a draft written out. I just shared it with you, have a look."
And then I waited for Kazeshiro to read the email.
""A dead person revives by sharing a living body. What is needed for this to work? If you know the answer, please mail the address below." …So that"s how it is. For someone who wouldn"t understand, they would think that this is a weird post. However, someone who would understand would probably understand."
"Mhm. If the answer is "One half of your life span", bingo."
The truth was that I wanted to reveal more stuff, but I wouldn"t know what would happen beyond that. In any case, I decided to just reveal minimalof information, allowing the other party to have enough to come to us.
Hikari Yumesaki most likely wanted me to openly praise her for coming up with this idea, since this was written in the diary:
"Sure enough, in the end the one person you can always rely on is Hikari-chan! Sakamoto, pat my head! You have to brush your hair aside while blushing, like a tsundere! Just like Akiboshi from my favorite light novel!"
Such words were written, and an ill.u.s.tration of Hikari Yumesaki with dog ears and a tail wagging back and forth, and who was looking forward to being praised, was drawn on the side. This idiot"s gotten drunk with success.
"Alright, understood. I will also a.s.sist you. Now then, what should I do?"
Just as my mind was wandering off, Kazeshiro asked me this. Oh, that"s right, the next part is the important part.
"I"ll be setting up an email address, so you spread that post around on all the social media websites you know. Every one of them!"
"Alright, got it."
Maybe it was because he felt swayed by my high morale, but Kazeshiro replied back with a bit of energy.
And so, the two men ended this conversation, and immediately got down to work.
I was responsible for creating a free email address, and Kazeshiro was responsible for spreading the post around. For the time being, we tried a multifaceted approach, like social media, anime upload sites. Anyway, we posted it on every place we could think of.
"I"m begging you… please work…!"
Time quickly flew by while we were busy spreading the post around.
As for how our online responses went, we only got a lot of troll emails, which we basically disregarded. However, we obviously couldn"t give up, so we continued spreading the post around.
"Hmm… Ah——"
And so, around two weeks later.
At 4:29am, on a certain early morning, I woke up in front of the computer.
I felt a little tired, and it would appear that Hikari Yumesaki was up early searching around. It"s rare to see that sleepyhead idiot wake up early.
The computer had traces left of that idiot"s hard work, and entered into the search engine were the keywords "multiple personality beautiful young girl". As usual, she forgot her original intent.
"Ah."
And then I noticed something. There were three not so nice looking rice b.a.l.l.s on my desk, along with a cup of tea that was still warm. The journal on the side was opened up, and in there was a note left behind by that idiot.
"Good morning, Sakamoto. Thank you for always trying your best, but please don"t overexert yourself. Although I don"t want to disappear like this, I really don"t want Sakamoto to have a painful look on his face."
"………"
c.r.a.p, I feel a tear in my eye. However, that was only for a short moment.
"Heheh, lol, how was that? I tried donning the image of a proper wife; doesn"t that maidenly? As expected of Hikari-chan! By the way, one of the rice b.a.l.l.s has a pleasant surprise, so try and guess which one!"
Those words completely dispelled the feeling I had a moment ago. That idiot never does anything seriously.
"Alright, let"s do my best. I need to at least meet that idiot"s expectations."
I became filled with determination as I ate the rice b.a.l.l.s.
Regret is the punishment for those who didn"t try their best. I forgot who it was that once said that short quote. I must save Hikari Yumesaki. I will definitely save her, no matter what I have to do——
"………"
…What the h.e.l.l is this whipped cream rice ball?
________________________________________
"Hey! Sakamoto, wake up!"
"What is it this early in the morning…?"
A few days pa.s.sed, and it was a certain freezing morning, almost winter.
As I was lazily sleeping, I was woken up by the ringtone, and Kazeshiro"s voice came out from my cellphone.
"We finally got an answer yesterday! Look at this email!"
I couldn"t move for a second. Could it be?
To be honest, I thought it was impossible. We couldn"t look for clues, no way anyone else would have realized. However, maybe. Finally,
To confirm the email, I hurriedly switched the computer on. I couldn"t wait for another second. I restlessly clicked the mouse, and opened up my email inbox.
There were two emails from an unfamiliar sender.
As I nervously held my breath, I opened the first email. The first line only had a brief sentence, and it was precisely the correct answer that we had desperately been looking for——
"It"s one half of their lifespan, right?"
"——————Yes!"
Without thinking, I cried out, and clenched my fist.
We finally got it. I never thought there would be someone else who knew about the two minds in one body phenomenon.
"Hikari notified me yesterday. And as promised, I entrusted her with "that doc.u.ment"."
"Ok, that"s fine. Thank you!"
"That doc.u.ment" was a reply email prepared in advance for when someone answered with proper news.
"I keep switching personalities with a dead person every other day. I"m looking for more information on this."
Hikari Yumesaki sent this email yesterday afternoon at 5:11 PM, and the second email came at 5:20 PM. In other words, the second email contained the sender"s real ident.i.ty.
"………!"
I gulped my throat, and clicked the mouse. And on the opened page was——
"Me too! I also switch personalities with someone every other day! I never thought that there would be someone else similar!"
"Nice!"
This is great! There actually was someone else other than us!
I struck a victory pose, flipped open the notebook, and looked over the news that yesterday"s me left in there.
"How"s that! Hikaru-chan is justice! Cute is justice! That means Hikari-chan is super cutttteee! You see! You see!!!"
"Ah, yeah, you"re the cutest!"
I couldn"t help but yell, and from the cellphone came, "Huh!? What are you saying!?" That wasn"t meant for Kazeshiro, but whatever! Kazeshiro is super cute too! c.r.a.p! I can"t control myself anymore!
In the end, in order to calm myself down, I ended the call, and set off to wash my face off.
I ate some bread as I returned to my room, and went over the email again. It looks like that was all the email I received yesterday. The last email that Hikari Yumesaki received included, "Please wait, even though I really want to talk with you, I need to discuss this with tomorrow"s me first. I"ll be sending an email." That was fine, we had to take the next step carefully anyway. Since we haven"t confirmed that the other person was on our side yet, we also couldn"t say that there was enough to obtain information on how to save Hikari Yumesaki.
After I calmed down a bit, I continued reading the diary entry. The first line read——ah, that"s right——Hikari Yumesaki"s request.
Hm, I was thinking the same.
"Sakamoto, we finally found a clue. So, for what to do next… I want to meet with that person, and talk with him face to face. Although I don"t know what kind of person he is, I also don"t know if I can be saved or not, but I think that we can definitely find some way to take a step forward, and I must find this way or else. For Mama, for Kazeshiro, as well as for you… and for me."
"Of course, that"s what I think too."
Looking at the sender"s writing style from the email, it"s probably a guy. I don"t know the exact details of his situation, but I should still meet with him at least once.
Once again, I pulled out my cellphone and made my second phone call of the morning to Kazeshiro. It seemed that Kazeshiro shared a similar view with me, and he wanted me to set up a meeting time and to not leak as much of our information as possible.
As such, after discussing with Kazeshiro, I began to write a reply email to that anonymous guy.
"Sorry for keep you waiting, I"ve been informed by yesterday"s me on what has happened so far. There"s a reason why we"re looking for friends now. Actually, there"s a problem with the switching time. To be exact, the time of switching for the person residing in my body living inside me got shorter, by thirty minutes. So, I have a suggestion. Can you come meet with me? I want to talk with you face-to-face, and discuss ways to resolve to our own problems. That"s my request to you."
"…Please… this has to work…!"
I waited for him to reply, and then I realized that he"s probably still asleep this early in the morning, so I reluctantly went back to bed. But of course, I couldn"t fall asleep like this, so I could only wait for the sun to rise, and proceed to go to school.
During cla.s.s and during break, I anxiously checked my cellphone constantly to see if I had gotten a new email, but I never did get one. In the end, I didn"t receive a reply at all the entire day.
"I don"t know what their schedule is like."
I switched with Hikari Yumesaki in the early morning of every other day.
Looking at the email, it seems that they also switch every other day, but I didn"t know the exact time. I received the email yesterday, so the sender must probably share the same schedule as Hikari Yumesaki. But even so, what is that guy"s other half doing? Was he waiting to discuss this with the counterpart tomorrow? If so, that other half will send an email to tomorrow"s me, and similarly, I"ll send an email to the sender"s partner…
It might get tricky, so I decided to just go to sleep. I probably won"t get a reply today anyway.
And so, I wrote in the notebook, "I didn"t receive a reply today, and it seems that the email will only come on your days. Talk it out with Kazeshiro before replying." and then I went to sleep.
With much restlessness, I awaited the day two days later, Sunday.
I was woken up by the morning alarm, the thought, "I have to read it!" took over. I quickly flipped open the notebook set beside the pillow, and looked over Hikari Yumesaki"s message. The first line read——
"We did it! Sakamoto! Good news! Thanks to Hikari-chan"s seduction techniques, they agreed to meet with us! Quickly head over to Kanagawa this afternoon! Remember to buy some watermelon from Miura for me!"
"There aren"t any watermelons during this period, are there?"
——Well, whatever. What is important is that Hikari Yumesaki succeeded in arranging a meeting with them. She"s unexpectedly capable!
"But wait, Sakamoto! It seems that they have the most unexpected information! Maybe I really can be saved!"
"Oi oi… don"t raise my hopes up so suddenly…"
I tried hard to resist quivering my lips. Come on computer, hurry up and turn on! I need to check my email!
After opening up my email, woah…. My inbox was crammed full of emails. It looks like the meeting was arranged because of this relentless emailing back and forth. Hikari Yumesaki, you"ve done well.
I got excited, and nonchalantly opened one of the emails sent to me.
Let"s hope that this can help change our future——
"So it"s really the same for you guys too? We"ve also been struggling because of a time reduction. However, seeing from what you guys have been doing, you don"t know of the "revival technique".
Well, no problem! Let"s meet and talk about everything that we know face to face. But sorry, can I have you come over to Kanagawa? Because of a certain reason, I can"t travel far.
I"m looking forward to this. Let"s get to know each other well, even though I don"t know who you are, LOL.
By the way, my name is Hayato. Please take care of me!"
The hour hand on the clock pointed towards 2.
Riding on the relatively empty train with my body shaking back and forth, I opened up the journal, and sorted out my thoughts again. It looks like Hikari Yumesaki had Kazeshiro come over yesterday, and they negotiated with the other party through several emails.
"I originally wanted to talk about a lot of things with him through the emails, but Kazeshiro said that it was still too early to share personal information——that we should wait until we meet first."
Hmm, that would be the right way, since we don"t know what will happen.
"And then when we began talking about the meeting, they sounded like they wanted to meet right away, but then Kazeshiro said that we couldn"t pick one of Hikari-chan"s days…"
I let out a bitter smile after seeing those words filled with unhappiness, and I applauded Kazeshiro"s proper response.
"But the thing is, they were really persistent on meeting today. But Kazeshiro wanted me to not give in no matter what… and then they gave in. We might"ve made things difficult for them."
She was always so headstrong and playful, but it looks like she still takes note of weird things. However, we know that, from those words, they seem to prefer not to let "today"s them" come out and meet.
In other words, the time schedules should be like this——
"Hikari Yumesaki × Hayato"
"Me × Hayato"s counterpart"
Hayato didn"t want to let his counterpart, A, come out and meet us. Looking at this, it appeared Hayato wanted to meet with us himself. If possible, the most ideal would be for Hayato and I to me. Given the time frame, this wouldn"t work though. It appeared that I couldn"t receive Hayato"s replies during the given time, so that meant that I shared the same time as A. A in turn didn"t care about the mail. What was he up to?
Hikari Yumesaki too voiced some complains at the back end of the entry.
"Isn"t Kazeshiro a bit overprotective? He was annoying me, so I said "you"re too noisy", and that made him depressed. But he really is so annoying!"
You better apologize to him, because he"s only worrying about you out of love.
"And anyway, he said, "Just in case, you have to come alone," and then Kazeshrio said, "I want to come too." He was really annoying, so told him off, "You don"t have to go so far!" You really don"t trust us at all! Hmph!"
Kazeshiro…he"s just feeling anxious, you know?
On one hand, we have a rowdy girl who doesn’t play by logic, and on the other, we have a fake delinquent who just isn’t good at communicating. To be honest, letting Mr. Cool Guy Kazeshiro go meet with them is the safest option.
"In the end, we arranged a meeting with the other party. He said, "I"ll tell you through email, just message me when you arrive at the meeting place. I"ll tell my other half about this first." That"s why, Sakamoto, you have to do your best! Don"t use your fierce appearance to scare them, okay? As long as you give off a smile, and look like a hidden hottie, you should have more self-confidence!"
"Even if you say so…"
To be honest, I don"t have the will to do that. I"m not good at talking with people during first meetings. Actually, my communication skills has always been poor.
But despite feeling gloomy, I still confirmed the meeting place again.
It was at a certain train station near the sea in the Kanagawa prefecture. That was the destination I was about to head to, and it was also the place they lived. It wasn"t near, but it wasn"t too far and inaccessible, so I guess it"s a silver lining. He mentioned in the mail that he couldn"t travel far due to certain reasons. What did he mean?
Anyway, after going through several hardships, we finally got to deciding a meeting with them, and they even knew a way to revive. For Hikari Yumesaki, I must ask them clearly about this topic.
"Although, there"s something I"m concerned about."
However, the next part of the entry gave off a sense of unease.
Hmm, so here"s where the problem appeared.
It was an email that the other party sent, and written in there was something noticeable.
"The thing is… my other half is a bit strange; not a bad person though. Anyway, just to note, the name"s "Chiaki", and I hope you two can get along!"
Chiaki.
Just as the person responsible for sending the emails, Hayato, said, it seems that the person I was about to meet was a strange person.
I hate this… I"m already bad at talking with other people. Now that I think about it, how old are they? And who is exactly residing in whose body? They could be different from us, and their split personalities are different ages. Sigh… I should"ve asked beforehand.
But there was also one more noticeable part in the email that Hayato sent. And that was——
"I"m looking forward to it."
Looking forward? Looking forward to what? Huh, I really don"t get it.
Hikari Yumesaki was also feeling worried about me, the socially awkward person who was going to the meeting.
"Listen closely, the first impression is important. Sakamoto possesses a really fierce weapon in your appearance, a very powerful weapon. Scare her, and then go "Nice to meet you~♪ Yo, I"m Akitsuki Sakamoto❤", this kind of gap moe will definitely make your popular! I"ve been using this strategy to make new friends up until now!"
She left behind those words. How am I going to say "Yo❤",? If I met a fierce-looking delinquent who says "Yo❤" to me, I would come up with a million excuses, just to try and think of a way to leave. Although, this idiot has used this method to make new friends up until now…
"…Whatever. Hikari Yumesaki,."
I said as I grasped onto the other show of consideration from Hikari Yumesaki.
It was a small, handmade talisman from Hikari Yumesaki, for praying for victory and success. Embroided on it was "Sakamoto the Boss". I held onto the talisman, and prayed from my heart. Alright, three more stations and I"ll have arrived. Got to succeed here.
I made my resolve in my heart, and looked straight out the window and into the white, foamy waves.
"I"ve arrived…"
After riding the train for about an hour, I arrived at a completely empty train station, which looked into the large, open sea.
It wasn"t a city, nor can it even be called a town, and it gave off a very shady feeling. Carrying a sense of excitement from visiting a new place, I first got off the railway platform. Alright, next comes the main part of the show.
"He said he wanted me to send him an email when I arrive right."
I pulled up the draft that I had prepared beforehand, and got ready to send it to his inbox.
"I"m Sakamoto, the person who arranged to meet with you today. I"ve arrived at the train station, where are you?"
"Send!"
I silently shouted out loud, and sent the email. Ahhhh, I"m feeling so nervous right now, don"t get b.u.t.terflies now… I really hope they"re not a scary person…although I don"t have the right to say that about others.
Maybe because I was nervous, but memories of everything that"s happened flooded my thoughts. I haven"t told anyone before, but because I wanted a friend, I"ve used a SNS site in the past before. I happily exchanged emails through the website with a girl who I was quite friendly with, and one day she said, "I want to see what you look like~", and I thought, "Now that we"re so friendly with each other, she must be a nice girl, there shouldn"t be any problems." so I squeezed out a smile and sent a picture of it to her, but then she blocked my emails. Why did I have to remember this now? c.r.a.p, now I want to go home.
I tried hard to hold back the faint tears that were leaking out——
"It"s here!"
From the vibrations of my cellphone, I knew I had received an email.
My heart raced as the sound grew louder and louder, and a sense of anxiety engulfed me from all sides. I gathered up my courage and opened the email——
"I"m waiting for you. I"m the high school boy wearing light blue uniform and a red tie, with hair dyed coffee brown, and carrying a white gym bag. I"m at the south entrance near the taxi cabs, so why don"t you come find me."
"………Sigh."
I didn"t know why but I let out a long sigh that had been held in for a while.
High school student. It looks like Hayato and Chiaki were at least close to the same age as us. It was Sunday and yet they were wearing their uniform and carrying a gym bag, they might have been at a club activity.
I put my cellphone back, and looked around. A light blue uniform, right? And then——
"There!"
I noticed by the taxicab exit there was a high school boy who was busying playing on his phone. A light blue uniform, coffee brown hair, and a white gym bag. There was no mistake, that guy was Chiaki.
Gulp——I gulped my throat, and took another deep breath for the who knows how many times of the day.
Although I felt a bit unsteady, but in the end, he was still just a high school student, a common one too. Just from looking at him, he has a mild appearance. He probably gets treated well. Really, how lucky of him.
"Alright, let"s go."
I took a step forward, and thought back to the smile and the lines that I had practised countless times in my head——But then, Chiaki sent an email, almost as if she wanted to cripple my resolve. Eh? What is it?
"Subject: Oh and, just in case, you have to say the secret code"
"Huh, so that"s what it is."
This was honestly a safe method. Then what"s the secret code I have to say? I checked the inside content of the email for a second.
"The secret code is, "Wow you"re so cute, you"re just my type.""
"………………………………."
Huh?
Eh… W-What the h.e.l.l is this person saying? That"s the secret code, right? C-Cute?
"………"
Sigh, even though this unusually strange secret code is unmistakable, the thing is…never mind.
I remembered that Hayato said something about being "strange" before, but to this degree——I encouraged myself, and took another step forward. Don"t be scared! Gather up your courage!
And then I finally reached him.
"E-Excuse me!"
"…Yes?"
I accidentally spoke with a cracked voice, which made it hard for me to talk, but I still gathered up my courage and talked to Chiaki.
It was probably because he was suddenly being talked to by a taller-than-180 cm, fierce-looking delinquent, but I could only see a stunned look on his face. Alright, say it, gather up you courage——get ready!
"W-Wow, you"re so cute! You"re just my type! Ahaha!"
"………Huh?"
…Eh? W-Why do you look so confused?
Eh? Why are you trembling with such a ghastly pale face——Eh? What"s wrong? Eh?
Just as I was being confused, a high school girl who was standing nearby talking on her cellphone charged over.
"Hey! What are you saying to my boyfriend! Having that kind of taste is gross!"
Huh! T-Taste? Eh——
"No, I-I"m just saying the secret code——"
"Huh? What are you saying? I don"t understand at all! Let"s leave, Tetsu-kun. This guy is dangerous!"
Ignoring my bewilderment, the high school girl finished talking so furiously, and dragged away the pale-faced, body-trembling Chiaki——No, no, wait!
"Hey, wait a minute! Why are you running away!?"
"Hey——don"t touch Tetsu-kun! Just what do you want!?"
No, no! I was just following the instructions and saying the secret code!
Maybe it was because I had fallen into confusion, but I couldn"t help but blurt out:
"Wait! I"ve always wanted to see you! Do you have any idea how long I"ve longed to meet you? Can"t we talk? Hey——I"ll treat you gently! So let"s spend some time together——Oh"
In a second, the trembling Chiaki had tears drop from his eyes.
The girlfriend beautifully threw a fist into my face, and immediately followed up with some scorn.
"Are you r.e.t.a.r.ded!? How gross! You"re disgusting! Go kill yourself! Don"t let me ever see your face again!"
After she finished yelling at me, she dragged away the frightened and limp Chiaki and they swifly left, leaving behind my dumbfounded self, along with the suspicious glances from the pa.s.sing people…
Eh? Huh… what happened——
"I didn"t think you would actually follow through. That humorous image of you made me quite amused."
"————Wha!"
A stunning voice suddenly came from behind me.
Although her words were harshly cold, the sound of her voice was clearly beautiful.
I subconsciously turned around. Could it be——I held onto a hope.
"The thing is… my other half is a bit strange."
I thought back to what Hayato had mentioned. In the next moment, I completely understood what he meant.
"Nice to meet you, Sakamoto. I am the Chiaki Tsukimura who arranged to meet with you today."
"Eh——————"
She had completely exceeded my expectations.
An earbud in her right ear, and a beautiful, red wheelchair.
However, what really caught my attention was——
"You"re………Chiaki……….-chan?"
A frigid autumn wind blew past the wheelchair, and her long, straight hair swayed along with it.
An incomparably cold voice and a pair of deeply profound eyes, one glance was enough to capture how pretty she was.
What reflected in my eyes was a strangely beautiful young girl.