Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/822139843121925685/episodes/822139843209386538
“――Senpai!! Hello!”
Just before noon.
With her cheerful voice, Karen came to visit me.
It seemed she’d come alone today.
“Um… How’s your injury? Are you okay?”
Karen started worrying about me the moment she entered the hospital room.
“Ah, yeah! I’m okay somehow. It still hurts a bit, but it should be fine as long as I don’t move it.”
“I see…! I’m glad to hear you’re on the mend…!”
Karen gave a bright smile.
…Huh?
It wasn’t that gloomy face like before…?!
Could it be that time had eased Karen’s guilt?
If so, that was fortunate.
“—But, if you hadn’t gotten hurt in the first place, Yuu-senpai would be enjoying school life right now, wouldn’t you?”
“Huh…?”
“I’ve been thinking about it these past few days. What could I possibly do for Yuu-senpai, after causing you such immense suffering and taking away your precious time? …Then I realized. What I can do for Yuu-senpai is—”
Karen gazed at me with her lightless eyes.
Then, suddenly, she brought her mouth close to my ear—
“…is to offer this body…”
The next instant, Karen’s voice, sweet enough to make one melt, tickled my ear.
…Apparently, my assumption that her guilt had lessened was mistaken.
“Ka, Karen… Even as a joke, you shouldn’t say things like that—”
“—It’s no joke, you know? I’m serious.”
“…”
Am I losing my mind?
No matter how much atonement it is, offering your body to a complete stranger… That’s just plain crazy if you think about it normally.
“C-calm down! Karen’s just a little flustered. Come on, just settle down for a moment…”
“…Yuu-senpai, I’m perfectly calm. I’m serious about this…”
Karen leaned forward on the bed, tilting her head slightly.
At the same time, the cross pendant hanging from the necklace around her neck swayed.
That cross was tattered and worn, seeming to perfectly reflect Karen’s current state of mind.
There was no way she was calm.
I pushed her shoulders back slightly.
“Karen, you should take care of your own body.”
“…And you’re the one saying that, Yu-senpai?”
“Ah…”
Karen shifted her gaze to my bandaged leg.
Me… I can’t really talk, can I…
Then, Karen let out a small sigh.
“Well, but… if you’re going to be so against it, I’ll skip it today.”
“Th-that would be a huge help…”
Thank goodness…
I breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, Karen gasped, “Ah,” and stared at the potted plant on the desk.
“This… it’s dried up again, hasn’t it… I didn’t notice.”
The potted plant was dead.
But the way it had died was a little strange. It wasn’t completely dried out and brittle… it was just limp and wilted.
“It’s in a sunny spot and seems to get enough water, so I wonder why…”
“…It’s probably my fault.”
Karen answered, looking down slightly.
“Actually, every time I came to visit Yuu-senpai, I watered it, and before I knew it, it was soaking wet… Then I realized it had died.”
“I-is that so…”
So it died from too much water…?
…Did she really come visit me that many times…?
I was only in bed for three days, right?
Just how many times did Karen come to see me…?
Then, my eyes fell on the withered flowers in the vase.
No way… those too?
“So, what about that vase?”
“It was similar. Every time someone visited, I changed the water, and it seems the flowers got stressed out and died.”
“Huh… really…”
“Both are supposed to be flowers that don’t wilt easily. Maybe they were weak to begin with? …I never want to use that florist again.”
“Ah, ahaha…”
Changing the water too often made the flowers die…?
No way, I’ve never heard of that.
Multiple times a day… no, dozens of times…
“…Wait a minute, then…”
My gaze shifted to the tattered cross pendant Karen wore around her neck.
N-no way… that pendant got worn out because she kept clutching it, praying for my safety…
“Hehe, did you notice? You hit the jackpot, Yu-senpai…!”
Karen smiled sweetly, as if she’d read my thoughts.
But deep in her eyes, I thought I saw something indescribable—a pitch-black darkness.
“Huh?! …So… it got like that because she kept holding it, praying for my safety…? It wasn’t already worn out…?”
“Hehe, I only bought this three days ago. But if you hold onto a cross constantly—before bed, while sleeping, right after waking up, while changing clothes, during breakfast, while brushing your teeth, while fixing your hair, on the way to school, while talking with friends, during class, at lunch, on the way home—then… before you know it, it gets all worn out.”
Like a child who’d done something mischievous, Karen giggled, “Ehehe.”
“…”
So that means… she’d been holding it constantly, all the time?
“Ah… but there was one time I wasn’t holding this cross.”
“H-huh…”
“Fufu, that was—”
Karen leaned forward on the bed—then wrapped both hands tightly around my right hand and squeezed it.
No way—
“—When I’m holding… Yuu-senpai’s hand like this…”
“…”
With eyes tinged with a faintly dark emotion, Karen smiled at me.
…Apparently, I’d been mistaken.
I thought Karen felt the least guilty among the three of us… but it was the opposite.
She seemed like the one who cared the least—yet she was the one who cared the most deeply.
A chill ran down my spine, cold sweat breaking out, and goosebumps covered my entire body.
“Yu-senpai? Is something wrong?”
“…No, it’s nothing.”
“I see…”
Just then, a ping sounded from a smartphone notification.
Not mine… but Karen’s phone.
“…Sorry, I have to go see my dad later today.”
“Oh… right. Well then… guess this is goodbye.”
“Yes…! Yu-senpai, let’s meet again tomorrow!”
Karen gave one last cheerful smile before leaving the hospital room.
“—What should I do…?”
In the suddenly quiet hospital room, I buried my face in my hands.
I never realized Karen felt this much guilt…
Probably more than anyone else in the trio?
My stomach hurts…
Seriously, what should I do…?
As I agonized like that—
“—Uh, um… it’s me… Yukina… Is now okay?”
Several tens of minutes later.
As if taking her place, Yukina arrived at the room.
“Hey, come on in!”
When I replied, Yukina, dressed in her uniform, entered the hospital room.
“Yukina…! I’m so glad you came to visit me.”
And so, I welcomed Yukina.
—It was then.
For just an instant, I saw something like an amulet clutched in Yukina’s left hand.
—That amulet was tattered and worn, just like the cross Karen had carried.
No way—
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