Chapter 101: The Promise in the Photograph

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Translator: Soafp

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On my way home from the abandoned hospital in Nishikeoka, my legs felt unusually heavy.

As the night deepened, the words of Konatsu-chan echoed in my mind over and over.

“Your story is far more sinful than the world thinks. Because… in your story, my sister was never even acknowledged from the beginning.”

Those words sliced through my heart like a sharp blade. And then, I remembered the final words Konatsu-chan had said in a strained voice as we parted.

“My sister once said, ‘I want to see Hajime again, I want to talk to him once more’… Even though she had expressed such hope… she jumped from here right after. I just can’t believe that someone like her would take her own life.”

Those words refused to leave my ears. It was as if my heart had been seized, and a deep pain filled my chest.

I didn't even try to catch a taxi, I just kept walking aimlessly. The sound of my shoes hitting the wet asphalt echoed unnervingly in my ears. The people waiting for the signal, the hurried office workers going home, the light spilling out from the stores that were open late—everything felt distant, as if it belonged to another world.

Suz-chan…

I never knew what really happened that day.

I had always misunderstood it. When Suz-chan showed up looking like that and ran off, I thought it was because she had come to dislike us. Because I had said “How sad,” Suz-chan must have been hurt, and that's why she distanced herself from us.

But that was wrong.

It had always been wrong.

Suz-chan had risked her life to save Konatsu-chan and Sanae-chan. Yet… I never knew. I never tried to know. I just thought it was my fault that she suddenly disappeared, and…

I stopped walking, and my eyes landed on a small bench in a park. In the darkness with no one around, I sat down there. I looked up at the starless sky.

“Suz-chan…”

As I called her name, my chest suddenly tightened.

Suz-chan, who had always been so kind. Always smiling, always by my side. She taught me so many things, and when I was crying, she was always there to encourage me. Before I met Miyabi and Aoi, she had always been by my side, supporting me.

But how much pain had Suz-chan been in? How much had she suffered, how much had she grieved? And in the end…

“It wasn’t suicide…”

I recalled the words Konatsu-chan had said on the rooftop of the abandoned hospital. The article said Suz-chan had taken her own life because she was troubled by her pregnancy, but was that really true?

Mizuki-san’s words resurfaced.

—”I hope this time, you won’t have to lose anyone…”

Those words, said with that kind smile from her hospital bed. I was only just starting to understand, little by little, what they truly meant.

“Suz-chan…”

My voice trembled. Tears didn't overflow, and I didn't want to scream. But a quiet sadness spread through my chest.

Maybe Suz-chan had been calling out to us that day. Maybe she had been asking for our help. But I hadn’t noticed her voice.

I buried my face in my hands. When I was in middle school, writing the prototype for the story that would become “Two and One” in the library, I had unconsciously pushed away Suz-chan's figure in my mind. Maybe, unable to bear the guilt, I had erased her from the story… That feeling wouldn't leave me.

I arrived home around midnight.

I quietly opened the door and, after confirming that no one was awake, I entered my room. When I turned on the light, everything looked the same as usual.

The textbooks on the desk, the novels on the bookshelf, the cushions on the bed—everything was unchanged, but everything seemed different. Even the air in the room felt different.

I sat down on the chair in front of the desk. Then, I suddenly remembered the old cardboard box shoved under the bed.

Kneeling down, I pulled it out and wiped the dust off. When I opened the lid, I found items from my childhood. My elementary school graduation essay, a star made from origami, photos with Miyabi and Aoi. And…

At the very bottom, there was a slightly faded album. It was from my kindergarten days.

With trembling hands, I turned the pages.

There, in the photos, was a small me and a smiling girl with twin tails.

Suz-chan.

Since that day, I had avoided thinking about her. It was too painful to think that her disappearance might have been my fault, so I tried not to remember. And so, she was pushed deep into my heart.

In the photo, Suz-chan was smiling broadly.

Somewhere deep in my heart, I might have thought, “She must have been happy after that.” “She's probably living somewhere, doing well.”

But the reality was…

I gently stroked her smiling face in the photo with my fingertip.

“I always thought you hated me…”

But in reality, Suz-chan had been kinder than anyone. Instead of holding a grudge, she had wanted to see me until the very end…

Mizuki-san’s words came to mind again.

“I hope this time, you won't have to lose anyone…”

Those words were not just a greeting. Mizuki-san must have known about Suz-chan… And then…

Did Mizuki-san have something to do with Suz-chan's death?

Konatsu-chan had said that there was a possibility Mizuki-san was involved in Suz-chan's death. And the article said she had taken her own life due to the burden of pregnancy. These two things might be connected somehow.

What if Suz-chan's death wasn't a suicide…?

Slowly, I closed the album and took out only Suz-chan's photo. I gently placed it on the desk.

When I checked the time, it was already past 2 a.m. Yet, I didn't feel tired at all. It felt as if Suz-chan was calling me from somewhere far away.

I opened a notebook and picked up a pen. I wasn't sure what to write, but I couldn't stop myself from writing. Staring at Suz-chan's photo, I slowly began to move the pen across the paper.

I could see that the sky outside the window was gradually becoming lighter. The morning sun began to shine into my room, softly illuminating Suz-chan's photo on the desk.

Before I knew it, it was already morning.

I had spent the whole night awake. My eyes were tired, and my body ached. But my heart felt a little lighter. Even though nothing had been resolved, it felt like I had taken a small step forward.

I picked up my phone and tapped Miyabi's number.

“…Hello? Hajime? What's going on? It's so early in the morning.”

As expected, Miyabi was already awake. Her usual calm voice came through the receiver.

“Miyabi, I'm sorry, but there's something I need to talk to everyone about. Could you get Aoi, Kagura, Marin, and Ranko together—if possible, today?”

There was a brief silence.

“…Got it. Something's happened, hasn't it?”

“Yeah, I need to talk about Suz-chan.”

The moment I said those words, my chest hurt. But I couldn't run away anymore.

“…Got it. I'll get in touch with them.”

“Thank you.”

I hung up the phone and stood by the window. The morning sun was gently beginning to light up the city. That abandoned hospital, too, must be bathing in this light somewhere.

The place where Suz-chan had met her end.

As I looked at my reflection in the window, I quietly muttered.

“This time, I'll protect you, Suz-chan… In a way that only I can…”

It was both a atonement for the past and a vow to Suz-chan.