Chapter 21: Cloudy

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Translator: Soafp

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I rushed forward and grabbed Hiiragi's arm as she stood frozen in the middle of the crosswalk.

“What are you doing!?”

I pulled her hard. Hiiragi snapped back to herself and ran with Rooney.

A blaring horn and the screech of brakes rang out.

I reached the sidewalk just in time and pulled Hiiragi tightly against me.

Fortunately, the signal had only just changed, so the truck had not been going very fast and stopped before the crosswalk.

After the near-disaster, the driver gave two short, irritated honks and drove away.

That was close.

What had she been thinking, stopping in a place like that?

“Are you okay?”

“T-That scared me!”

“You're not hurt?”

“Yeah… Ah.”

Hiiragi's cheeks flushed.

I had pulled her close in the heat of the moment, so our bodies were pressed together.

I could hear her heart pounding against my own body.

She must have been really startled.

I confirmed she was unhurt, then stepped away—

“Ah… ah… ah…”

Hiiragi began making strange, broken-sounding noises and, for some reason, did not move away.

She was still holding my hand.

I tried to pull my arm back, but she tightened her grip instead.

“…Hey.”

“Huh?”

“My hand.”

“Oh. R-Right.”

And yet she squeezed it even harder.

Well, I could understand it.

She was probably so shaken that her body had frozen and would not listen to her.

With my other hand, I slowly pried her fingers loose.

Hiiragi let out a small cry.

“Are you really okay?”

“I-I'm fine. Totally fine.”

She gave a forced smile that did not reach her eyes and tugged on Rooney's leash.

“S-Subaru.”

“Subaru?”

Why was she suddenly calling me by my first name?

How shaken was she?

“Ah, no! Hatsukade! Th-Thanks for listening to all my problems today. I should go home now.”

“…That's sudden.”

“It's almost dinner time.”

“Your parents did not look like they had started preparing dinner yet.”

“Huh!? W-We mostly order delivery at my house!”

Rich people, huh.

Well, if she wanted to go home, there was no reason to stop her, but—

“I'll walk you home. You aren't thinking clearly right now.”

“No, it's okay!”

“No. It will be too late if something happens.”

“B-But—”

I held both her shoulders and looked her directly in the eyes.

“Listen to me. I'm worried about you.”

“Guh…!”

Stopping without warning in the middle of a crosswalk—something was clearly wrong.

She could get into another accident on the way home, so letting her leave alone was not an option.

“…Okay. Thank you.”

I walked Hiiragi home.

For once, the usually talkative girl did not say a single word.

“…Bye.”

“See you.”

Before leaving, I petted Rooney one last time.

“…Hatsukade.”

“What?”

“…No, it's nothing after all.”

What was really going on with her?

---

The next morning, Hiiragi was still acting strangely.

She was trying to behave cheerfully, but it felt like there was no emotion behind her voice.

It was as if she answered greetings with pure reflex.

“Oh, Nakina, morning!”

“Morning, Sakura… Huh!?”

But the moment Amanatsu entered, Hiiragi changed dramatically.

She sprang to her feet and firmly seized Amanatsu's hands.

“W-What's wrong?”

“I've made up my mind.”

“About what?”

“I'll never betray a friend! I'll support you with everything I have, Nakina!”

“Th-Thanks?”

Then Hiiragi gave an unnatural, hollow laugh and looked toward me.

Her face was so pale that she looked close to fainting.

Because she was the most noticeable person in class, everyone saw something was off.

But even when people asked in concern, she said only that she was fine.

It was clearly the response of someone who was not fine at all.

Hiiragi maintained that attitude until Thursday. Her remarks steadily grew more suspicious, in a tone where nobody could tell whether she was joking:

“Going on a journey to find yourself sounds nice.”

“Maybe I'll travel around the world after graduating high school.”

At this point, I had to admit something had clearly happened.

And more specifically, she became like this immediately after what happened at that crosswalk.

The clue had to be there.

After school, I sat on the sofa at home with coffee and calmly replayed that day's conversation.

My points of contact with Hiiragi were limited to Amanatsu or Shinonome.

Almost all of our conversation had been about how they could reconcile and how they should deal with each other in the future.

Put simply, Hiiragi herself was not a party to that issue.

So there was no reason for her to be this shaken by it.

What other possibility was there?

Then an unpleasant suspicion crossed my mind.

No. That could not be possible.

The conversation from Hiiragi's house to the crosswalk.

What I said at the crosswalk.

And Hiiragi's past words and her attitude.

—Friends never betray each other.

—She had faithfully loved an unnamed person who once saved her.

The dots connected by an impossible route.

Then I remembered what Hiiragi had said at the ice-cream terrace.

“I started social media because I hoped he might notice me.”

I did not use social media at all.

So I took out my phone and began by creating an account.

I entered my name and phone number, then set a password.

Her username had been Sakura Cherry.

Just before searching, I took a sip of coffee.

Despite being specially ordered Tanzanian Kilimanjaro, I could not taste it properly.

It was only bitter.

I clicked Search.

I found her account immediately.

She had sixty thousand followers.

The screen was filled with colorful pictures featuring Hiiragi.

But her profile image alone was a photo of her as a child.

Why?

Reading the profile text made it clear.

“I made this account to find the boy who saved me when I was a child! To the boy who saved me from a rampaging Chihuahua at an intersection in Monagami Town five years ago: I fell in love with you then. I've kept dreaming of seeing you again and admiring you ever since. If you find this account, please send me a DM! And everyone who sees this, follow and share it!!! Help my feelings reach him!”

Ah… My head hurt.

What had I done to deserve this?

After my childhood friend betrayed me, I had decided not to get involved in romance for a while.

Then Amanatsu reminded me of her, so I had ended up forgiving the fake confession and lending her my handkerchief.

Everything had started from there.

Just imagining the rest of my high-school life made me tired.

My phone chimed with a notification.

I opened a message from Amanatsu.

Help, Hatsukade-kun! Sakura has gotten weird! She says she's taking a trip and won't come to school from tomorrow!!

My childhood friend, Amanatsu, Shinonome, and now Hiiragi too.

Every single one of them…

There were far too many troubled people in my youth.