Chapter 63: Vanished.

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Translated and Edited by: luccayn.

Common Honorifics:
-san: A polite suffix, but not excessively formal.
-kun: A common suffix among friends and younger people.
-chan: A common suffix among people you're close with, mostly used for feminine nicknames and girls, since it's cutesy and childlike.
-senpai: A common suffix and noun used to address or refer to one's older or more senior colleagues in a school, workplace, dojo, or sports club.

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Without any warning, Hareta Kou disappeared.

The ones who delivered this news to me were Yamakawa and the others, who were staying in the same room as me. After the teacher finished roll call, we returned to our room to get ready. During that short period, it seemed he had already vanished from the hotel.

“Hey, Shinji. Do you know anything?”

“No, nothing.”

“Really? Last night, he said meeting you had changed him. But in the end, did he just run away after all?”

“Who knows. Well, it's not really our problem, is it?”

“Even so…”

Their concern was proof that their relationship with Hareta had improved. It felt strangely surreal—a harem protagonist with three good male friends.

“You guys should go enjoy Kyoto. You've got the best sightseeing route planned, after all.”

“…What about you?”

“I’ve got things to do. Don't worry about it.”

A brief silence. A hint of resignation flickered across their faces.

“You were looking forward to this more than anyone, but now you're stuck dealing with all this. Shinji, man… you really have the worst luck.”

“Can't be helped. Guess I was just born under an unlucky star.”

At that, Hamabe and Higashide each patted my shoulders, and lastly, Yamakawa did the same.

“Good luck. We'll keep an eye out for him while we walk around town.”

With those parting words, they left the hotel entrance with Nose and Kamata, who were in the same group.

“What do you mean by this?”

I turned around to find the heroines standing there, looking worried. Haruna was the first to step forward, right up to me.

“Just what you heard. After breakfast, Hareta disappeared. No clues left behind.”

“Disappeared? But why!?”

“Who knows? Maybe he got sick of being around me, or maybe he found dealing with you all too troublesome. Something like that, I'd guess.”

I happened to glance at Michiru's expression. She was clearly angry. But perhaps she instinctively understood that stirring things up wouldn't help. Instead, she quietly muttered, “Idiot,” before turning to calm the other three down.

“It's okay. There's no way Kou-kun would ever hate us.”

“But if that's the case, then…”

“Let's find him. Kou-kun must be struggling with something. Something he can't talk about, so he didn't want to make us worry. That's what I believe.”

Her words, piercingly honest to the point of being painful to hear, passed right through my ears without resistance. Watching Yusa immediately start making a phone call, I shoved my hands into my pockets and slipped out of the hotel.

“Hey! Shinji-kun!”

Michiru chased after me right away. Without stopping, I walked toward the taxi stand.

“What's going on!? Why won't you help them!?”

“If they rely on me now, they'll never be happy. They'll just end up carrying regrets for the rest of their lives.”

A sedan taxi's rear door slowly opened. I tossed my bag inside first, then sat down. From my seat, I looked up at Michiru.

“Are you getting in or not?”

At my firm words, Michiru glanced back at the other three for just a moment before stepping into the taxi.

I knew where he had gone. So I told the driver to head for Arashiyama. The car's low engine hum filled the air as we merged onto the road.

“What do you mean? Are you really just going to leave them like that? We have to tell Kou-kun about the three of them—their pasts!”

“That's already done. I even left a hint for the heroines.”

“Huh!?”

“Last night, after you guys left, I told Hareta. That's why he disappeared.”

“…Are you saying Kou-kun couldn't handle the weight of their pasts?”

I only tilted my head slightly in response. As if I'd know the answer to that.

“Wait… How did you even figure out their pasts? And what hint did you leave?”

“It was all clear back at Kinkaku-ji. I just pieced it together. As for the hint, check your phone—I sent them a message.”

“Something that important, and you just handled it all alone again…”

“Well, I already saddled you with Saori. Felt bad asking you for more.”

As the scenery outside the window passed by, I muttered,

“Thanks. I'm glad you're here, Michiru.”

Through the rearview mirror, I caught the driver sneaking glances at us. But he wasn't looking at me—his attention was completely stolen by Michiru, who had frozen up like an idiot.

I wondered what kind of face she was making. It piqued my curiosity just enough that, for once, I didn't stop myself from checking. As we entered a tunnel, I looked at her reflection in the window.

“S… s… ah…”

She mumbled something incoherent, barely holding herself together. Well, she certainly had a face worth staring at.

“Alright, let's talk about something from a while back.”

As we emerged from the tunnel, I spoke to the ancient capital stretching before us.

What was about to begin was my monologue—the story of the three heroines who, drowning in sorrow, had thrown themselves into the distorted romance of a harem.

The painful path that Hareta Kou had to face was as full of suffering as the past that Michiru and I carried.

But even so, I didn't want Michiru to look uneasy about it.

So I awkwardly forced my facial muscles to move, and for the first time in a long while, I managed an unpracticed smile.

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