Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16818023212603480991/episodes/16818023212610385292
Yagi Saki
Takuma was beaten and ran away, and I was about to be taken away by three men.
I was too scared to move my legs, and the men were cursing, threatening, and lashing out at me.
When I saw the exit to the park, a young man in a jersey stood in my way and yelled !
“Get away from that girl !”
The man tried to kick him, but was kicked and knocked down in the opposite direction !
Ah !
“Bastard~!”
Seeing this, the two men who were holding me attacked the young man !
I was free, but I could not escape.
On the contrary, I was so scared and weak that I crouched down.
The young man knocked the biggest man down with a single blow ! Amazing, strong !
I caught a glimpse of the young man’s face.
Ah !
Kingo !
Is that Kingo?
Kingo beat two of them, but the last one hit him from behind,
He was kicked around even more when he fell down, and he stopped moving !
“Kingo ! Kingo ! Kingo～!”
“Shut up !”
After knocking Kingo unconscious, the man woke up his unconscious friend.
The unconscious men woke up, but the damage was too severe and they seemed unable to move quickly.
The men were groaning, shaking their heads lightly, moving their hands and feet, and little by little, they were recovering.
Yet I remained crouched down, scared.
Somebody, help me !
Takuma !
…Kingo !
I heard sirens in the distance!
It’s a police car !
And more than one !
The men began to panic, forcing me to stand up and start walking.
But when a police car stopped in the direction they were going,
The three men left me alone and ran off in different directions like spiders scattering !
Eight police officers jumped out of the police car,
They chased the fleeing men two by two.
Only one police officer, a fat, kindly-looking old man, ran up to me as I slumped down in the car.
“Are you all right? Are you the victim? They’re the ones who did it, aren’t they?”
I nodded my head in agreement.
“What about the man lying there?”
“He was beaten up a lot trying to help me.”
Another policeman was watching Kingo.
“It seems this boy called 110.
He’s losing consciousness, I’m calling an ambulance !”
“Roger that. Then you, tell me briefly what’s going on.”
“I-I was passing this park on my way home with my boyfriend when three men came out of the other side and tangled with us.”
“Is that your boyfriend lying on the ground?”
“…No.”
Hearing my answer, the policeman’s expression disappeared.
“…..Do you know who the three culprits are?”
“I don’t know any of them.”
“Do you know the man lying on the ground?”
“My childhood friend Samejima Kingo, a sophomore at Itayado High School.
He lives with his family and has an older sister, Momoko san, who is a college student.”
“….What happened to your boyfriend?”
I couldn’t answer and fell silent, but then I heard a noisy voice from the other end.
“Let me go ! I didn’t do anything !”
“I was assaulted ! This is police brutality～!”
The two men who had been knocked down by Kingo returned after being arrested.
It seems that the criminal who beat up Kingo got away.
When the two arrested were pushed into a police car,
An ambulance finally arrived and placed Kingo on a stretcher.
He still seemed to be unconscious.
I boldly asked the police officer.
“Um, can’t I stay with Kingo?
I had known Kingo since childhood, and if he hadn’t come,
I don’t know what would have happened to me…..”
“I’m sorry, but I need you to prioritize the interview.
His sister has been contacted.
Then, will you come with me to the station?”
“…Yes.”
As I was walking toward the police car, a loud voice called out from behind me.
“Saki ! Are you okay !”
“Takuma !”
Takuma ran up to me, grabbing both of my shoulders and checking me over and over with concern.
“Are you okay? I’m sorry. It took me a while to call the police.”
Takuma got into the police car with me and we were taken to the police station for questioning.
Takuma ran to the police box in front of the station and asked for help.
There was no way he was going to make it in time.
After all, Kingo was the one who saved his life…..
When I left the interrogation room after the long interview, my parents came running to me with a worried look on their faces,
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine. Kingo saved me !
But he was beaten up so badly that he had to be taken to the ambulance.
That’s why I wanna go visit him ! I wanna say thank you !”
“Eh. Kingo kun?
What do you mean? Why?
Oh, it doesn’t matter, is Kingo kun badly injured in the ambulance?”
My mom was very surprised and asked a series of questions one after another.
“Maybe he just happened to be passing by?
He stood up to the three men who tried to kidnap me.
He even called the police and tried to help me until they arrived.
But they hit him so many times that he was in a daze when they took him to the ambulance.”
“Oh, I hope he’s okay. Which hospital? What should we do?”
She was so worried that she was more flustered than I had ever seen her before.
“It’s too late at night to visit him.
Ask the police where he is hospitalized,
In the morning, when it’s safe to visit him, we can all go visit him and thank him.”
“I agree. That’s all we can do.”
With my dad’s calm words, my mom seemed to be able to force her impatience to subside.
“But, please explain to me again what happened.”
“Erm, Takuma and I were on our way home when three men attacked us as we were walking through the park.
Takuma covered for me, but they beat him up and went to get help.
Then, as they were about to take me away, Kingo walked by….
He beat two of the three, but the last one hit him from behind.
In the meantime, a police car arrived, and one of the criminals got away,
They caught the two.”
“I see Thanks to Kingo kun, your life was saved…”
My mom was very fond of Kingo,
I thought she would be happy to know that Kingo saved me,
However, she became silent with a bitter expression on her face.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★
The next morning, I knocked on Kingo’s hospital room at exactly the start of visiting hours.
“…Yes.”
I heard Momo chan’s feeble voice, the first I had ever heard, and the door was opened.
When an exhausted Momo chan appeared, the three of us bowed our heads in unison.
“Thank you for saving Saki.
How is Kingo kun doing?
Is he alright?”
My mom greeted very politely, even though the other party was Momo chan.
It was as if she was addressing a stranger.
“Eh, hm? Why?”
Momo chan was extremely surprised, and when her eyes met mine, she glared at me,
Then she said a few words to my parents and quietly closed the door.
When I finally listened, I could faintly hear voices speaking through the door.
“Kingo, Yagi-san’s family is here, was the person you saved Saki?”
“So it was real !”
After that, I couldn’t hear it well because it was in a small voice.
After a while, the door opened again and Momo chan appeared with a mysterious expression on her face.
“Kingo still has a bit of a fever, and his wounds seem to hurt.
Maybe that’s why, but Kingo doesn’t wanna talk to Saki san.
He says he’ll see Uncle and Auntie……”
“That’s a lie ! Because I’m Kingo’s precious childhood friend !
Let me through ! Let me see Kingo !”
Momo-chan glared at me as I raised my voice unintentionally.
“Quiet !”
“…..Saki, let’s respect Kingo kun’s wishes.
Let’s leave it to your mother first.
“But ! Kingo would never say something like that to me !”
“This is a hospital. Let’s leave it to your mother first.”
My dad gently took me by the shoulders and urged me to a bench in the hallway.
Why?
Why?
We are no longer lovers, but we are still dear childhood friends !
People hurriedly appeared from the other side of the room.
They were my classmates from the first grade: Kumagai Yuri, Kioka Yuka, and Sudo Yutaro,
When they noticed me, they all frowned.
The three of them stood a short distance away from me.
My mom came out of the hospital room a few moments later, fluttering and crying !
“Mom !”
“It looks like the injuries are only external.
They will examine him again today, and if there are no abnormalities, he will be discharged from the hospital tomorrow.
…….I’ll tell you everything after we get home.”
Does that mean I won’t be able to see Kingo?
Even though he’s right behind this door !
He’s my childhood friend, the one who saved me,
I can’t even thank him in person?
That’s impossible !
“Hey, Kingo, please !
Open this door !
Please !”
“This is a hospital ! Don’t make a scene !”
I shouted so loud that the nurse had to warn me.
The door opened and Momo chan peeked out.
She went through me and smiled at three of his classmates.
“Yotaro kun, Yuri chan, and Yuka-chan, you’re here.
Thanks for coming all the way out here.”
Does Momo chan know about these three?
How come the three of them can see Kingo?
“Why…”
Kioka, who apparently heard my muttering, looked at me coldly.
“Hey, did Yagi san get word from Kingo that he’s in the hospital?”
“Eh? Kingo helped me when I was tangled up with a man,
That’s why Kingo got injured, and…”
“Wow, seriously?”
After Kioka was stunned, she started talking to me as if she were trying to talk to a stupid child.
“We received a call from Kingo saying that he was hospitalized.
You didn’t receive any, Yagi san?
I see.”
“No way…”
I exclaimed, and my mom gently held my shoulders.
When I returned home, my mom moistened her mouth with tea,
She began to speak with a clouded expression on her face.
“I’ll tell you what Kingo kun told me in conclusion.
There is no need for Saki to thank him directly.
Kingo kun doesn’t even consider Saki as a friend or a childhood friend anymore.
You happened to be in the same class last year, but he doesn’t want to have any relationship with you.”
“No way…”
You dumped him on the day of the entrance ceremony and told him to be just a classmate because you didn’t want to be misunderstood by your new boyfriend or others. In fact, the only time you spoke to him while you were classmates was once, because you don’t want to take remedial class and ask him to tutor you. And that’s why he wonders if you’re still his childhood friend, or even friend.”
My mom began to spill tears.
“No way ! I can’t be friends with you when you have a boyfriend !
Not to mention, we were in the same class !”
“I agree.
If you want to keep your distance from your ex, I think that’s the right thing to do.
But if you want to remain childhood friends, I think you were wrong.”
“No…”
When I got stuck, my dad started speaking, choosing his words carefully.
“Saki. I talked to a boy who was his classmate a little bit at the hospital.
I asked him how Kingo kun felt right after he was dumped by Saki.”
“That’s…”
“He was feeling down for the whole month of April.
He couldn’t make any new friends.
He didn’t have any friends from junior high school nearby, so he was all alone.”
My mom began to sob uncontrollably at my dad’s words.
“…Saki, didn’t you notice Kingo kun like that?
Didn’t you know?”
….That’s right. I’ve always been crazy about Takuma.
I was crazy about my dream of becoming a music star, which was only possible because I was with Takuma.
I saw Kingo looking down from time to time,
I never went near him because I felt bad for Takuma.
That’s right.
I didn’t try to help Kingo, who was feeling down the whole time, and who had become lonely.
And yet, I asked him to help me study with Takuma…
I’m such a jerk !
“She asked me to take care of Kingo kun over and over again !
It was her last, last request !
Even when his father abandoned him, I couldn’t do anything !
I didn’t even get a call from when he was hurt so badly !
He saved you from such a dangerous situation, but you couldn’t even thank him directly !
Even though he got hurt because of that, I can’t even apologize directly !
I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”
My dad was gently patting the back of my mom, who was sobbing.
“No…..
I wanna apologize to Kingo! I wanna say sorry !”
Hey, Mom, what should I do?”
I asked, tears spilling down my face, but my mom just shook her head from side to side as she cried.
“! ! !
Hey, Dad, I don’t know what to do…”
“If not as a father, then as a teacher…
It would be the same as dealing with bullies, wouldn’t it?
If Kingo kun is refusing to see Saki,
Kingo kun’s wishes would take precedence.
He knows you’re in front of his hospital room, but he refuses to see you.
… Saki, don’t go near Kingo kun.”
“No way…I can’t see him anymore?”
As despair came over me, my dad looked at me with pity.
“…..You can’t get close to him, Saki.”
My dad looked at me with pity as I began to feel despair.
Foolishly, I did not notice that my childhood friend was gone for more than a year,
On top of that, I didn’t even realize that I had cut myself off.
How could I even say thank you to the person who saved my life?
I couldn’t even meet my childhood friend who had always been so close to me, let alone apologize to him !
How could I have hurt Kingo so much and not realize it myself !
I, I’m the worst !
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