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“So… what exactly is this talk…?”
The next day.
I called the three of them to the hospital room.
“Today… I have something pretty important to tell you all.”
“Important… talk?”
Yukina’s words faltered.
At the same time, all three of their faces clouded over.
I hurriedly tried to smooth things over.
“No, no! It’s not like I’m trying to do anything to you guys… I just have something I want you to know.”
“…We understand. If Yuu says so, we’ll accept anything.”
Yukina stated it firmly, her gaze serious.
“I see. Well, that’s good then.”
I cleared my throat once and decided to get straight to the point.
“First, just to confirm… You three feel guilty towards me, right?”
“…Yeah.”
After a brief silence, Yukina answered.
Lowering her eyes, she began speaking in a heavy tone.
“I was almost hit by a car, and I couldn’t do anything. Not only did I fail to protect these two… I couldn’t even protect myself. I was about to get hit, but I couldn’t move… and because of that…”
Yukina clenched her fists so tightly you could almost hear them creak.
“Because of that… Yu ended up getting his leg badly injured trying to save us… Dammit! Yu… he tried so hard… Why… why did he get hurt instead of me… instead of you…?”
A gloomy atmosphere began to fill the hospital room.
If I let my guard down, I felt like I might get swallowed up by this dark mood too.
Yukina lifted her face slightly, her eyes devoid of light as she stared at me—
“…I can’t forgive it. I can’t forgive that driver, or this shitty world… But most of all, I can’t forgive myself for just watching, unable to do anything. …Yu… I’m so sorry. For putting you through such pain… And then, for getting you hurt too… I’m sorry.”
Yukina repeated her words of apology.
Just seeing her like that made my heart clench painfully.
No, no… Yukina isn’t at fault.
Everything is this shitty world’s fault… Dammit!
Yukina and the others were just living honestly, experiencing a normal youth… They hadn’t done anything wrong.
And yet, this world that decreed death for the three of them is the one that’s insane.
…Besides, I was a lost soul to begin with.
Even if I suffered serious injuries, just being able to live is lucky for me.
So… so the three of you don’t need to worry about anything.
Live your youth like ordinary high school girls, have normal crushes, immerse yourselves in club activities and studies, laugh during casual after-school chats.
Talk about “Starbucks’ new drink,” or “that celebrity,” or “the person you like”… I want you to enjoy that kind of ordinary, everyday happiness.
—Let me be honest.
I didn’t want the three of them to be trapped by guilt and gratitude toward someone like me any longer.
So, I made up my mind.
I’d reveal my secret… and if they still didn’t pull away, I’d forcefully push them away myself.
I was prepared… to be hated.
I took a light, deep breath.
Since it might be the last time, I looked around at their faces.
—They all looked anxious.
Seeing that, my resolve solidified.
“You might not believe this… but I’m not the real ‘Yu’.”
“…?!”
All three of them simultaneously widened their eyes and gaped.
They looked utterly confused.
“Wh-what do you mean?”
Yukina voiced her confusion.
“Actually… it’s not Yuu inside this body. It’s a different personality—meaning, I’m a reincarnated person. I reincarnated into this body a few days before he was hit by the car.”
“…?!?”
The three of them were stunned.
After a moment of silence, Karen was the first to speak.
“—Oh, is that all it is…!”
Kareha chuckled softly as she said this.
Tsukino and Yukina followed suit.
“Please don’t scare us like that. Is that all it was?”
“You looked so serious, we thought you were going to tell us you didn’t need us anymore…”
Their reactions were… utterly anticlimactic.
“Eh, eh…? You’re not surprised…?”
Reincarnation, reincarnation?!
I’d totally expected them to be more shocked than this…
Instead, I was the one staring wide-eyed like a pigeon hit by a pea shooter.
Then, looking slightly apologetic, Karen began to speak.
“Ahaha… Actually, as we researched more about Yuu-senpai, we noticed how drastically different your personality and vibe are now compared to your past self… So all three of us had a vague suspicion that you might be a reincarnator.”
“Seriously…?”
“…Did you think people would hate you or distance themselves if they found out you were a reincarnator?”
Karen’s voice dropped slightly.
Maybe lying would be better… but for some reason, the atmosphere felt like lying wasn’t an option—
“…Ah, yeah. Just a little… I did think that. I mean, come on, normally you’d think a statement like this is just crazy, and I never imagined anyone would believe it so easily…”
“—No, no, of course we wouldn’t doubt what you said, Yu-senpai.”
Karen’s voice dropped another notch.
Tentatively, I glanced at her face… She was smiling. Only her eyes remained, smiling faintly.
I’d never seen an expression like this before.
“So, Senpai… Judging by your expression, you still have more to tell us, right?”
“…! Y-Yeah. There’s still something I need to talk about.”
The fact that they accepted my being a reincarnator so easily was probably a good thing.
It would make the upcoming conversation easier.
“Ahem… What I mean is… I died once. So, even though I can’t play sports anymore, just being alive is lucky for me. That’s why I don’t really dwell on the fact that I got seriously injured in my leg in that accident.”
“…So, you want us not to worry about it either…?”
It was Yukina who said that.
I nodded at Yukina’s words.
“If I’m not dwelling on it, you guys don’t need to either. Besides—I’ve said it before, but the fault lies entirely with the driver of that car… no, with this shitty world.”
I clenched my fist tightly.
“If they’d just been living normally, they almost got hit by a runaway car… and only because I happened to jump in did the three of them survive. …If you think about it that way, they’re the victims.”
That’s why, that’s why, that’s why.
I think it. I wish it.
“…I want the three of them… not to worry about someone like me—”
I lifted my face.
“…to find ordinary happiness—”
I placed my hand over my heart and desperately tried to convey my feelings.
“Live normally—”
Finally, with eyes filled with resolve, I looked around at the three of them.
—For some reason, the three of them stared back at me with expressions that seemed to be a messy mix of ‘despair’ and ‘anxiety’.
“I want… it…”
My voice grew fainter and fainter.
W-why… are you… looking at me like that…?
Yukina’s hands trembled violently.
Tsukino let out a small sob, “Ah… eh…”
Karen remained completely still, her gaze fixed on me.
All three of them… were acting strange.
“…Hey, Senpai.”
Kareu gently took my hand.
And then—
“It was all our fault… that you were broken. You tried to save us, died, tried to save us again, died, died, died, died, died, died, died, died… aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa… I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything. I’m sorry I could only watch you break down. I’m sorry, I’m sorry… Please don’t break any more… senpai…”
—Karen’s heart collapsed.
What the hell… is going on here, seriously?
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